Deadly Sight
by GRAPEfedGODDESS
Summary: Sloane, a quiet student in the Midwest, struggles to balance having a normal life with the responsibility that comes with her 'gift'.
1. Chapter 1

***** NOTICE: While this story takes place in the world that Charlaine Harris has created in the Southern Vampire Mystery series, it's not a Sookie Stackhouse story. All of the characters are my own, but world and plot are very Charlaine-esque. Also, at least most of the places I mention actually exist*****

Once again, my conscience had gotten me into a situation where I was uncomfortable. Well, not just my conscience; my quirk, too. And it's not that I was about to do something illegal or immoral; just the opposite actually, it's just that vampires made me a little nervous. Sure, I have plenty of vampire acquaintances; you can't go very long living in a college town without at least knowing of one or two. I just never really made an effort to really get to know one. And you can put your high horse away right now: I'm not bigoted at all. It's just…well, they tend to look at me like I'm a juicy steak. It's unnerving.

I was sulking, slumped at the end of the bar at Rum Runners, a half regular bar, half piano bar frequented by Michigan State students. I happened to know that this bar recently came under new management—vampire management. Usually packed, the upstairs piano bar was almost empty, partly because it was Tuesday, an unpopular night for barhopping even in college towns, and partly because the semester was yet to start and most of East Lansing's population had yet to arrive. As a year-long East Lansing resident, the time between semesters was my favorite time of year. Everything was usually blissfully quiet. Sure, there were a few early arrivals here, but they were on the first floor, which was more of a regular bar. I was the only Michigan State student upstairs, listening to the dueling pianos and biding my time while nursing a water.

I have a few quirks. I mean, who doesn't? But my quirks aren't strange OCD-type compulsions. Mine are tell-anyone-and-you're-heading-for-a-nice-padded-room quirks. For instance, I am especially sensitive to who is and who isn't a vampire. Those of the night persuasion are as obvious to me as if they had 'BLOODSUCKER' tattooed across their forehead. I don't know what it is, really, that make it so obvious; they don't sparkle, they don't have invisible horns only I can see; it's just obvious. The same goes for shifters. There's nothing special about their outward appearance. It's like I can sense their aura. When I see someone who looks perfectly human and just happens to turn into a wolf at the full moon, I don't think 'human', I think 'wolf'.

That's why when the 30-something wolf dressed in a cheap suit approached me and asked to buy me a drink, I couldn't help but smile at the humanity in his approach. He didn't sniff my butt or mount my leg. He just sat on the stool next to me and asked what I was drinking.

"Just water," I replied, trying to simultaneously hide my giggle and make my voice loud enough to be heard over the pianos. His sheepish smile that exposed his slightly crooked but exquisitely white teeth made me laugh harder, even though I had seen this entire interaction yesterday as if it were HDTV streaming in my head.

I liked to call my little quirk 'advanced intuition-ism', but most people would call me psychic, a term which I hate. It makes my quirk sound like a parlor trick, like something I might be able to control. No, if only things worked that way. Sure, sometimes I could control it, but not often; that is a secret Sydney and I will take to our graves. And no, it doesn't always manifest in the visions like you see in movies. Sometimes it does, but sometimes it's a lifelike dream, sometimes it's just a feeling or an overwhelming urge. The latter has made it difficult for me to make and keep friends without them thinking that I was either erratic or crazy. Nothing like absolutely refusing to sneak out of the most popular girl in school's house during a fifth grade Girl Scouts sleepover to help you earn the 'weirdo' reputation. And sent home with your parents after a panic attack that subsequently got the little princess of a hostess in a bunch of trouble.

My advanced intuition-ism was the reason I was here tonight. Hopefully, I could change the outcome.

"What's so funny?" asked 30-something. I shook my head _never mind_ sheepishly, as if I wasn't going to tell him. I learned the hard way to keep my advanced intuition-ism a secret. Only three people knew: my parents, who refuse to believe I'm anything more than a lucky girl with an overactive imagination, and my pagan, tarot card reading best friend Sydney, whom I love dearly. I told her about every vision I had, up until this one. I knew she'd insist on coming with me, and I couldn't risk her getting hurt. 30-something nodded to the bartender, who slid another glass of water in front of me with a sarcastic eyebrow raised.

"Thanks, I guess," I said. The water was free, so the gesture lost much of its meaning. Plus he was already staring at my chest, which didn't make me want to get to know him at all.

"My name's John. What about you?"

"Sloane," I answered. "What do you do, John?" I knew the answer to the question. Being precignizant, conversations can sometimes be tedious. Everyone has that great aunt that tells you the same story about Uncle George's colonoscopy every ten minutes—it's like that, only all the time.

"I'm an assistant professor at State. I teach art history. What about you?"

"I'm a student at State, actually."

My answer had the desired effect. He frowned slightly; I could see the wheels in his head trying to calculate my age. "I'm 22."

"Oh," was all he could manage for a second. Suddenly, as if knowing my age flipped some sort of switch, he went from outright flirting to 'teacher' mode. "What are you doing up here? All the college kids are downstairs."

"Actually, I'm a grad student; therefore no longer a 'kid,' and I'm meeting someone."

I shouldn't have mentioned I was a graduate student, that made me fair game for him. "Oh? Your boyfriend?"

I sighed out my loneliness. Knowing how and when you are going to break up before the guy even asks you out made it incredibly difficult to date.

"No, no boyfriend. I'm meeting a woman." I was purposely vague. While I often got BluRay quality video in my visions, I didn't always get sound. Since I hadn't yet perfected lip reading, I didn't know the name of the woman I was here to warn.

John's eyes lit up. "Girlfriend?"

I smiled but shook my head 'no' as I glanced away impatiently. Before he could ask the obvious question and I could outright shut his advances down, the woman I was waiting for entered the bar from the back room. She was gorgeous, and a vampire. She might have been turned when she was about my age, maybe a little younger and still had that youthful vitality to her look. Her exquisitely wavy auburn hair just barely brushed her shoulders while framing big emerald eyes, and the slightly upturned lips on her heart-shaped face gave her a look of constant amusement. She was wearing bright red lipstick, striking against the pallor of her face and managed not to clash with the red in her hair. A red silk floor length dress to rival Jessica Rabbit's matched the red on her lips to a tee and which fit beautifully on her petite figure. The thigh-high slit in her dress permitted a glimpse of gold stiletto sandals. She wore a large diamond and teardrop ruby cocktail ring on her left hand with a matching necklace scribing the strike and dip of her clavicle. Strangely, even though her figure was petite and the gems were large, they didn't seem to overwhelm her. Instead, they turned what would look gaudy on me to regality on her. And even though she and I shared many of the same attributes, she was intimidatingly beautiful and I was decidedly plain.

Behind her were two very different men. The one on her left was only slightly taller than she was in the heels; maybe 5 foot 9 inches tall with a strongly gracile bone structure. He wouldn't fill out any doors, no matter how many weights he lifted, but I also wouldn't bet against him in a fight. Hailing from east Asia, his once toasted almond coloring had blanched to a more ivory pallor. Even though age drifted from his skin like a cologne, his hair was cut short in a modern style. He obviously worked to blend in with the trends of the day. And the only word to describe his face was stoic. His nose was wide, flanked by strong cheek bones and a stronger jawline. These ivorine planes were uninterrupted by facial hair except a small soul patch. His eyes were almost black and in perfect accordance with the lips. I'm not sure have ever smiled. He dressed simply in a simple white button down shirt, dark jeans, black dress shoes, and a gold wedding ring, the simplicity of which contrasted starkly with the woman whose hand he was holding affectionately. On the woman's right was a more robust male, someone who would have to duck under the shower curtain rod. Even though his shaggy hair was as dark and as wavy as mine, I noticed how strikingly alike he and the woman looked; with the same full lips and heart shaped faces. However, his eyes were light hazel with streaks of green and gold, and he was anything but petite. A roughly cut, scruffy version of the smaller woman. He was dressed completely in black; black button down shirt, black dress pants, and black shoes. There was only one simple piece of jewelry: a platinum ID bracelet with the name 'O'Hara' on it.

I hadn't caught that much detail in the split second after they had entered the bar but I had studied them for what seemed like hours in the past week's worth of dreams filtered through the eyes of another. Annoyingly, my quirk had limitations. Sometimes I get sound, sometimes I just get images. Secondly, I never see through my own eyes, I always get the someone else's perspective. Lastly, I have never been able to get the vampire channel. The later made this particular job all shades of difficult, since John the wolf and I were the only humans here, and John was now utterly focused on the woman in the red dress. His preoccupation made it more difficult to tell how this was all going to go down, and more importantly, when.

I rubbed my clammy hands on my jeans. _Now or never_, I thought. I rose from the bench and walked purposefully toward the trio, approaching the woman first. In all the dreams, and even now, she was the one who appeared to be in charge. I was about to break all the rules I had made for myself regarding my quirk, but I had to. I hadn't foreseen this working any other way.

"Excuse me, ma'am? All the vampires in this bar need to leave. In fact, everyone should leave. Two card-carrying members of the Fellowship of the Sun are about to barge in here with guns loaded with silver and start shooting…"

Before I could get my whole spiel out, O'Hara had me up against the wall, holding me a foot off the ground, great paws around my throat. "How do you know this, woman?" he demanded. In his anger, hints of an Irish brogue appeared. He shook me slightly for effect, which just ended up giving me a lump on the back of my head.

I could only croak out one word. "Psychic."

For the first time, the woman spoke in unaccented English. "David, brother, put the woman down. She came as a messenger at great peril to herself. This is not how we show gratitude." David wrapped an arm around my waist before he let go of my neck, then slowly lowered me to my feet. When my feet first touched the ground, my knees wouldn't cooperate. They just buckled as if I were a two-year old that didn't want to be put down. O'Hara supported me just long enough for my knees to start functioning and for me to lean heavily against the wall. I was trying not to gasp for air and/or pass out; no amount of psychic forewarning prepares you for your first assault.

"My apologies miss. Now what do you know of this attack?" Now calm and collected, there was no hint of an accent in his voice.

He was still holding my elbow. Apparently, my wobbly state of mind was not lost on him.

I made the explanation succinct because my throat was raw. "Two men in Fellowship shirts. From the stairs. Just start shooting." I glanced at the Asian man. "You die." I looked back to David. "You're hurt protecting her."

"When?" the Asian man demanded in his sharp, staccato accent.

I glanced at my ineffective medium, John. "Soon."

"David. Lee," said the woman. After a silent conversation, Lee brushed a kiss on the woman's cheek and rose to stand by the stairs with David. While the woman in red took my elbow and guided me to a booth in the back. The bartender, who had heard the entire thing, slid a new water in front of me and gave me an appreciative smile.

"My name is Emma O'Hara. You've just encountered my brother, David O'Hara, and my husband, Lee Wong."

I resisted the urge to extend my hand. "Sloane McIntosh." I got a slight bow from the waist in response.

I audibly gasped as I got the sudden urge to duck. "Now!" I tried to yell to the vampires, but it came out more as a raspy whisper. Just then, the two men from my dream bounded up the stairs, guns blazing. Before I knew what was happening, each of the vampires was draining a gun-toting assailant.

"Oh. Oh." I couldn't believe what I had just seen. When David and Lee returned from disposing of the corpses, Lee slid in the booth next to Emma, while David waited for me to move so he could slide in next to me. One small problem: I couldn't move. I was staring at him, I knew what he wanted me to do, my body just wouldn't respond.

He flicked an amused glance at Emma. "She seems to be in shock." He slid one arm under my knees and one around my waist and scooted me farther into the booth so he could sit next to me. I was still staring at him when he'd settled into his spot and glanced back at me.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side," I whispered. David rocked with laughter while Emma and Lee smiled. That seemed to bring me back to the present. My head was starting to pound from being smacked into the wall, and my throat was so sore I wasn't sure I could get more than a gargled whisper out. I leaned my head back into the booth and closed my eyes, absently rubbing my temples.

"Are you not well?" asked Lee. I didn't open my eyes to see his face, but his voice was devoid of all emotion.

"Just a headache," I replied.

"I'm afraid I might have done that, Sloane." David must have heard Emma's and my conversation earlier. I was sure I hadn't told him my name. "Maybe I should see that you get home safely. It's the least I could do."

I turned to look at him. He was completely serious. "I can drive myself, but thank you."

"Just a minute ago you couldn't move. You are in shock and bruised. Please let me drive you home."

I could see I wasn't going to win this battle, but I was going to fight it anyway. "I need my car tomorrow."

"I will drive your car for you, and run home. Hand me the keys." I had no other excuses. I reached into my back pocket and handed a vampire I barely knew the keys to my pride and joy. "Where are you parked?"

"Street parking, just out front." With that, David deftly slid out of the booth and extended a hand to help me. I wasn't feeling completely steady, so I took it. I turned to Emma and Lee. "It was nice to meet both of you."

"And you, Sloane. You are welcome back at any time," said Emma.

I smiled and turned to my new chauffeur, motioning that I was ready to go. When we got to the front door, David pressed the unlock button on the key fob, and the lights to my white hatchback blinked. With a flourish of his arm, he gestured me toward the lights and helped me into the passenger seat. At a full foot taller than me, he struggled to slide into a seat adjusted for my petite frame. Once we were both situated, we pulled from the curb.

My house wasn't far from the bar. In five minutes and with minimal directions, he was pulling into my driveway. My house was a WWII special; small and simple, but sufficient.

As David got out of the car, he courteously grabbed my purse that I'd stashed behind the driver's seat, and was helping me out of the car and up to the front door before I could even think about getting the passenger side door open. After was what surely to him the most agonizingly slow progress up to my front steps, I quickly unlocked the door and slipped in. All I wanted to do was fall into bed.

"Erm. Are you going to invite me in?" David was standing at the threshold to my house, my purse in hand.

"Oh, yea. Sorry. Please come in," I croaked in response. He followed me to the kitchen, depositing my purse on the couch as we passed.

At that moment, my roommate and best friend came bounding down the stairs. Her long, dirty blonde hair was caught up in a sloppy ponytail, with mismatched pieces making bids for freedom from the hair tie. Her well-endowed chest was constrained by a t-shirt from our high school and long pajama bottoms covered her surprisingly boyish lower half. Her oval face was devoid of makeup, which I always thought made her blue eyes seem brighter. Those eyes were frantic. "Sloane, where have you been? I've been worried." The words caught in her throat as she noticed we had company. "Oh, hello. I'm Sydney," she managed while offering her hand.

David kept his arms at his sides as he introduced himself "David O'Hara. Pleasure to meet you," he said with a slight bow.

"Um, so….I'll just be going back to bed, then." Sydney winked at me, then gave me a you're-going-spill-everything-later look.

"Night, Syd." My voice wasn't at all better, but I was past the drowning cat sound.

David took a seat at the kitchen table as I grabbed myself a lemonade and some Advil. "So you saw the attack. How?"

"Recurring dream." I was going to keep this simple. No need to get into the long version of the mechanics of it all with someone I was hoping to never see again.

"Are they always dreams?"

I sighed. "No, sometimes they're true visions, sometimes they're just feelings. Sometimes just urges. That's how I knew when the attackers were coming; I got the urge to duck."

We sat in silence as he processed this information. I took the opportunity to take a couple of swigs. The sugary acid burned as it worked its way down my hoarse throat. A couple of minutes later, he spoke again. "Did you see the whole thing?"

I sighed and leaned my head against the palm of my hand. "What do you mean?"

Frustrated, he fidgeted. "Did you see…my reaction?"

I shrugged ever so slightly. "Unfortunately."

"And you warned us anyway," he commented, surprised at my answer.

I thought momentarily about my reply. "Yes."

"Why?"

I sighed. If only I knew the answer to that. "I don't know. I guess, if I knew that something bad was going to happen, and didn't do anything about it…I don't know."

He seemed to ponder this for a while, too. "I should let you sleep." He rose from the chair he was in. With a quick turn towards the door, he said, "Goodnight, Sloane."

"Bye," I replied as I sat and watched him walk out the door. I should have walked him to the door, but I just didn't have the energy. Once I was sure he had gone, I walked to the front door and locked it.

Sydney was waiting for me at the top of the stairs. "What did he mean, 'reaction.'"

When dealing with Syd, nonchalance is key. If I act like nothing's wrong, she's more likely to take bad news in stride. "He just overreacted to the news I was giving him, that's all. He strangled me a little bit and hit my head against the wall."

Apparently that approach wasn't going to work tonight. Syd stared at me. "Start from the beginning. What did you see?"

I told her everything, starting with the dream, about John the wolf, and about the attackers. I told her about the vampire trio, all the way until present moment. She looked appalled, worried, and sad. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to sleep." She looked like she had another twenty questions brewing in her mind. I held up my hand in a 'stop' motion. "I'll still be here in the morning."

Without even undressing or washing my face, I fell into bed. My dream was blissfully like a Salvador Dali painting: confusing and decidedly un-lifelike.


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke the next morning, I could hear Syd milling about outside my door. Her jeans would rustle, which would be followed shortly the impatient tap-tap-tap of her fingers against the wall. I laid back in bed and snuggled in the down comforter; it didn't take me long to decide to take the day off. That was the good thing about graduate research, especially with my boss. My schedule was generally my own. If I didn't want or need to come in, I didn't.

"Just get in here," I said to Ms. Fidget on the other side of the door. It was either that, or let Sydney pace in front of my door for the next hour. As soon as I closed my mouth, Syd was standing in the doorway, holding a very large bouquet of red roses.

"These came for you this morning," she said giddily. "There are more downstairs. Here's the card." She flicked the card in my direction; the small envelope landed just short of my reach on the bed just before she did.

_Sloane McIntosh, _

_I am profoundly sorry about last night. Let me make it up to you tonight at dinner. I'll pick you up at eight._

_David O'Hara_

_PS: I did not know which flower was your favorite, so I sent one of everything. Please let me know which you like best. _

Syd set the roses on my bedside table and flopped on the bed next to me before I had finished reading the short note. "Who are they from?" she asked. I handed the card to her. She took a second to read the note to herself before her eyes shot up to meet mine. "You're going to go on a date with a man who tried to kill you? Not good, Sloane. Not good."

I shrugged. I didn't want to think about last night or the impending date. "I apparently don't have a choice. And he didn't really try to kill me," I said as I moved to sit up against my headboard.

We sat in silence for a few moments while Sydney debated how motherly to get. The more motherly, the more she was going to try and forbid me from doing something I didn't really want to do in the first place. Apparently, she was going to keep her motherly instinct in check. "I'm getting my cards. Meet you in the kitchen," she said as she popped off the foot of my bed. I may be the one with the foresight, but Sydney had her own kind of precognition. When used properly, tarot cards can be remarkably accurate, and Sydney was one of the best readers around.

My first stop was to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I could see I was rumpled. I had a faint bruise circling my neck that I didn't really want to think about. Since I hadn't bothered to pull my hair out of its ponytail before I fell into bed it had mashed into a hurrah's nest. After wrestling it out of the hair tie and brushing it out, I looked less human and more leonine. I hadn't bothered to get it cut in years, and my hair now fell down past my shoulder blades in a frizzy mane. That's why I usually don't brush my normally curly hair—brushing it just makes it bigger. I washed the remnants of makeup off and brushed my teeth. Even now that I looked more alive, I still wasn't feeling quite myself, so I pulled off my clothes and jumped in for a quick shower. After some rosemary mint shampoo and hibiscus soap, I felt almost human again. Almost. I threw on jeans and a button down shirt, and ambled down the stairs. With the best of intentions I brought my brush with me.

Sydney had the last key to my humanity ready and waiting for me on the kitchen table. A tall glass of Pepsi was waiting for me, along with a bowl of Cheerios. I fell into the chair and dug in. "Thanks, love," I mumbled, spoon halfway to my mouth.

"Not a problem, now shuffle." She handed me the deck of cards.

I complied, leaving the spoon in my mouth and mumbling, "What problem am I focusing on?" I knew that, in order for tarot to work, you need to focus energy toward a problem or a question.

"Start with last night," she replied. I focused on the events of last night while shuffling the well-worn cards. After a minute, I cut the deck and handed the cards back to Syd before pulling the spoon from my mouth and continuing to funnel Cheerios down my throat. She laid them out in her usual Celtic cross. Long ago, she had tried to teach me how to read the cards. I knew what each of the positions meant, I knew what each of the cards meant, but I could never accurately interpret what the end meaning was. That was a gift of Sydney's. She sat in silence, studying the cards and considering the meanings.

"Just tell me what I need to know," I said before taking a break from my bowl to focus on my favorite form of caffeine. It was too early for the cryptic messages Sydney was known for.

"Don't freak out, but everything's about to change."

"Perfect," I mumbled as I glanced over to her celtic cross formation. The Tower and The Devil together in the same tarot? I have no idea what that could mean. And The Hanged Man was never a good card to get. "Good or bad," I finally asked.

"That's what has me stumped, I can't tell. Maybe a bit of both?" My tarot had never stumped Sydney before.

"That's just fantastic." As I took the last bite of cereal and last swig of Pepsi, I was human. And feeling more observant. I looked up at Sydney and saw the array of flowers surrounding us. "Holy shit."

Syd saw me eying the flowers. "Yea, I know. He must have bought all the flowers in Holland." There were bouquets of roses in several colors, daisies, mums, lilies, orchids, asters, and many, many more. Vases covered the kitchen counters. "I left your favorite by the front door."

This I had to see. He must have literally sent every bouquet the florist offered and more, because hydrangeas aren't necessarily what you consider a giftable flower. But there, in a white porcelain vase, were a dozen hydrangea blooms in assorted colors. Even the rarer white and even the green hydrangeas were represented in the bouquet. "Oh, wow."

"Yea, no kidding, hun. He wants you bad."

I rolled my eyes as I fingered the light blue flowers. "I don't think it's that." In fact, I seriously doubted it was that.

"Then why?"

"I think they—the vampires from last night, I mean—want to keep me happy, and more importantly, keep me close. You know, so I can forecast the future for them." From what I know of vampires in general, they were not above acquiring and using things or people they deemed important. And I saw the gleam in Emma's eyes. She immediately knew what I could be worth to her, and the wheels had started turning.

"Oh. That's not good."

No, obviously not. The last thing I wanted to be was under somebody's thumb. I already worked my ass off in the lab to get my grad research done, took time out to attend class and teach, and occasionally had to act on particularly persistent visions, the last thing I needed was to be on the constant lookout to make life easier for a few vampires.

I couldn't believe what I was getting into. I sighed into my hands. "What am I going to do? I don't want to get in any farther."

Without anything else to say, Syd just nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

I had no idea what to wear. I hadn't been on anything that resembled a date in years, and even then, I knew where I was going. Where do vampires go for dinner? Isn't a True Blood a True Blood where ever you drink it?

I needed help. "Syd!" I yelled down the stairs. I stood amidst most of the contents of my closet in nothing but a towel. At least a foot and a half of wet hair dripped down my back, drying in impossible tangles. Indecision was uncomfortable for me, especially considering the circumstances. I shouldn't care what I wore; since I didn't even want to go in the first place, right? I turned, sour look on my face, as Sydney appeared in the doorway. "Syd, what do I wear?"

She tried very hard to contain her mischievous smile, but she failed. "Hm. Nice jeans and a nice sweater? A dress? What message do you want to send?"

I sighed, propping my hands on my hips. "I don't know. 'Thanks for the flowers and dinner, see you again, oh, let's say, never'? Just pick something for me; I am going to brush this mess out," I said as I grabbed a handful of my hair. "I need to think."

Beauty time was my 'me' time. While my mind wandered, things (visions and life insights) became clearer. I could make sense of situations that had never made sense before. As I had hoped, it had the desired effect, only on a less than desirable topic. Instead of gaining insight on what to do about David, Emma, and Lee as I stood, trying to sort the chaos that had taken over my hair, I got a flash of someone else's mind, something yet to happen. It was just a blurry picture, no movement or sound. Just a man I didn't recognize, in a room I've never been in, surrounded by unmistakable fear; and echo what my avatar would be seeing and feeling at a later date. I gasped, dropping the brush as I retreated as if the key to freedom from these visions was physical distance. "Oh, great," I mumbled to no one in particular as the vision faded.

.

Once my hair was dry and soft, feeling physically refreshed but mentally weary, I went to see what Syd had picked out. Dark wash wide leg dress jeans, a gray tank, and a cream colored v-neck sweater with gray embroidery. I had originally bought this outfit for grad school interviews; you never know what to expect on those. I had one interview at the University of Chicago where all we did was walk around the Magnificent Mile and talk science. At Virginia Tech it was a day full of interviews and questionnaires. In all of my interviews, though, practicality was key.

"Perfect," I whispered. The outfit gave a very businesslike feel to the evening, which was exactly what I was going for.

"Heels or flats?" Syd asked, holding the possible choices up for me. I wore the suede stiletto peep toes to my grad interview because of the sheer height they afforded me. In a male dominated field like mine, any display of power and dominance, even just sheer size, gives a woman a leg up. However, they had an unfortunate corollary of making my butt look a tad too fantastic. The cute flats Sydney had picked, left me at my nature-given altitude of 5 foot 2 inches, not an advantage. Which message did I want to send: that I was a strong, sexy woman who wouldn't get pushed around, or not as stunning, but meek and easily dominated? I opted for heels.

.

When David arrived, I was in the corner of my room designated as my office, finishing up the first problem set for the introductory course I helped teach. The doorbell sounded, but I left Sydney to respond and leaving David to stew in the foyer. Hey, if he was going to force me to go out to dinner to him, I was going to make him wait at least as long as it took for the butterflies in my stomach to settle back down.

"He's here, Sloane," Sydney said as she peeked her head into my room.

"Thanks, love. I'll be right down." I was ready to let him stew. I took my time to finish the last problem, and took a last look at myself. I had let my auburn hair dry to its natural wave with nothing but a curl cream, which gave it a curly, wild appearance and sparked the look with some eyeliner and mascara. It was simple, but it suited me. I added a touch of lip gloss to the ensemble, centered the small diamond necklace my parents had given me for my 18th birthday, and headed out.

When I made my way downstairs, Sydney and David were sitting in polite silence in the living room. I stopped at the threshold between kitchen and the living room, frozen. As if in slow motion, David looked toward me. As soon as he saw me David rose from his seat.

"You look lovely," he said with a slight bow, his hands carefully held behind his back. His outfit was similar to mine; dark dress jeans, a charcoal gray sweater, and shiny black shoes. His unruly hair was brushed back out of his face. Well, at least I dressed for the occasion, whatever that may be. "Shall we?"

"I guess. I'll be home soon, Syd," I said, flicking the vampire a warning glance. If that wasn't hint enough that I was going under protest, I didn't know what was. The knowing smile that tugged at David's handsome mouth let me know he had gotten the hint and was eager to change my mind. I rolled my eyes.

David led me out to his black Mercedes sedan, which he had parked behind my own car in the driveway. "Where exactly are we going?" I asked. Courteously, he opened the passenger door for me before zipping around to the driver's side.

"Troppos," he answered. "Emma, Lee and I are considering buying it. We need a taste-tester, so you're ordering a bit of everything." I clenched my teeth against the snide comments that seethed in my mind. What a misogynist, to tell me what I can and cannot eat. _He probably grew up in a time when women had no voice and that was the norm. Give him a break—this time,_ I told myself.

The engine of his sleek luxury car purred as we sped through my neighborhood. He was going a little fast for my tastes, but I hate backseat drivers, so I wasn't going to say anything. Instead, I clasped my hands tightly in my lap and looked out the window. It's always easier to handle fast drivers when you can't see the rate things are coming at you. By the time we were moving through the streets of downtown Lansing, it had gotten a little harder for me to handle.

"You and Emma are really siblings?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the gruesome death in store for me if he lost control of the car. It was a good try ... but it wasn't having the desired effect. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, but I could still feel the Gs pulling as we cornered.

I jumped when he answered, not expecting him to have the mental capacity to both keep us (well, me) alive and answer my silly questions. "Yes. I was born in 1881 in the Irish countryside. She was born in 1883. When we were young, our parents both died of fever. I was still too young to work, but found a ship's captain that would allow me and my sister shelter and menial work on his ship."

Just a few more deep breaths and I would have this impending panic attack under control. I hoped. "Oh."

I exhaled with deep relief as we pulled up to the curb in front of the restaurant, situated on the ground floor of a stately old building near the capitol building. I had lived in the area my entire life and never been here. I didn't have the money to get in the front door.

In the blink of an eye, David was out of the driver's side and holding the passenger's door open for me. Oh, thank God. Solid ground. I didn't think there was anyone up there, but I said a little 'thanks' to the heavens for arriving in one piece as I stepped out of the car. Once I was safely on solid land, I could think again. "And Lee?"

"The boat we were on traveled regularly to the orient, which is where they met and fell in love. Someday, they will tell you their story," he said as he ushered me into the restaurant.

The hostess, dressed in a sharp black suit and pumps, was waiting with an uppity smile. "Table for two?" she chirped, two menus already in hand.

David was the one who answered, as I was out of my element. "Yes, reservation for McIntosh," he said with a slight wink in my direction. I shot him a questioning look. The hostess checked a list, and then turned to lead us to our table. Again, always the gentleman, David properly waited for me to precede him, bringing up the rear himself. He leaned in close as we walked, "I'm incognito. I want to be treated as any other person who comes in, not as a prospective owner," he explained. Our table was a secluded booth in the back, away from the business dinners and young professionals networking at the bar. Looking at the people that surrounded us, I felt under dressed. Everyone else here was in business attire; sheath dresses in various shades of black, grey, and navy, black suits with conservative ties, wing-tips shined to a blinding gleam. But hey, I matched my date, and isn't that what really matters? I read somewhere that you're supposed to dress for the occasion, not the location.

I sat, silent, waiting for the real reason David asked me out to surface. Apparently, he was content to just look at me, which made me less than comfortable. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, the waiter arrived to take our drink order. David ordered an entire bottle of wine.

With a smile and a nod, I dismissed the waiter before leaning over the table and whispering, "David O'Hara, are you trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me?"

He smiled. "Of course not, Sydney would never let me." That was the truth. I was glad he realized that someone was going to hold him accountable if something happened to me, however lightly the comment had been made.

I smiled back at him and glanced at the menu the waiter had left. "What am I supposed to order?" I asked with grated teeth. David looked puzzled. "You know, since I'm now the O'Hara family personal taste-tester. What do you want me to try?"

A small smile crossed his lips as he studied the menu that had been left for him. It was amazing to me that normal people didn't easily recognize vampires as I did. "What looks good?"

"It all looks good," I answered. Indeed, it all did look good. They had a diverse menu of American classics, all of the items seemed as if they had their own gourmet touch. As I studied the options before me, the waiter returned with a bottle of white wine and two glasses. He poured a small amount into a glass and offered it to David, who promptly motioned to me. Wide eyed, I took the glass from the waiter and took a small sniff. I had no idea if I was doing it right, but neither David nor the waiter made any comment. Once I finally got a chance to taste it, the wine was really good. Not knowing the protocol, I smiled at the waiter and nodded my head slightly. He obviously got my meaning, because he topped off my glass and poured another for David.

With a smile and a flourish, the waiter asked, "Have you two decided what you'd like to eat?"

Surprisingly, David was the one to answer. "Yes, in addition to the Chef's Tasting Menu, we will have his Tasting of Vegetables."

The waiter stared at David for a minute, his face mirroring the disbelief on mine. The waiter glanced at me, and when he saw that my reaction matched his own, he scrambled. "Yes, sir," he said, scribbling furiously on his small pad of paper.

Finally recovered, the waiter started toward the kitchen. When he was out of hearing range, I said, "You are trying to kill me! I can't possibly eat all that!"

David winked. "It's not all for you. I'm here, too, you know."

Again, I was staring at him in disbelief, my mouth hanging open I'm sure. "You're going to eat? Food?"

A small laugh escaped his lips. "No. But the wait staff doesn't know that. Not everyone can tell what I am so readily." I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I took another sip of my wine. David was making an effort to put me at ease, and it was working. I could feel myself relaxing, becoming used to being around him. I wanted to fight the feeling, but then again, I really didn't. "Which was your favorite?"

I had no idea what he could be taking about. I looked at him a moment, I'm sure the confusion was plain on my face. Finally, I asked, "The food? I don't know, it hasn't come yet."

He laughed. "No, Sloane, the flowers."

Now I was laughing with him as the first round of food came. "You didn't notice? Sydney put them front and center."

"The hydrangeas?" he asked. I nodded my head yes as I took my first bite of a spring roll. "I had a feeling."

Chew, chew, chew, swallow. "That must have been a special order; florists don't generally offer hydrangeas."

"It was. The blooms are feminine, yet resilient, and incredibly beautiful. Like you." I could feel the heat of my blush on my cheeks. I took another bite of spring roll to try and hide my reaction.

I had just swallowed the last bite when I got another flash. It was much like the one I got in the shower, but different people in different places. Five, maybe six men, all white in their mid to late twenties. I only slightly recognized one of the several locations as a nondescript kiva that could be in any of the buildings on State's campus. The fear, however, was the same paralyzing terror I had felt in the shower, magnified a thousand-fold.

"Sloane? Sloane, are you OK? Was that too forward? I'm sorry, Sloane." When I opened my eyes, David was sitting next to me on my side of the booth, holding my hand and gently cupping my face with his palm. His face was the most expressive face I'd ever seen on a vampire. His concern and fear were mirrored in his voice.

I was still shaky and I couldn't calm my breathing down. "What? No, it wasn't you. I'm OK." However steady I could make my voice, I couldn't keep my hands from shaking violently as I reached for my wine.

David took both of my hands in one of his and caressed my face. "Sloane, you've been unresponsive and shaking fiercely for almost 5 minutes. You are still shaking. Something is wrong."

Five minutes? Sydney had seen me in these daydream-like states during particularly long visions, but they've never lasted more than 2 minutes, and she said I looked blank, not fearful. "It's just….I saw something. I couldn't really make anything out, just the people's fear. Lots of fear." I was physically and emotionally exhausted.

I gulped down the last of my wine. David switched my empty glass for his full one. "Finish that glass, then I'm taking you home. I'm going to call Emma," David said as he pulled a tiny cell phone from his pocket and hit speed dial. I struggled to not spill the nearly full glass of wine onto my lap as I sipped from his glass. "Lee, where's Emma?" he said as he helped me to keep my hands as steady as possible. "Hm, I was afraid of that." Pause. "Yes. I am going to take her home and stay with her. It has her spooked." Pause. "Tomorrow." With that, he hung up and shoved the phone back into his pocket while I was finishing the last of his glass of wine. Without warning, David wrapped his arm around my shoulder and shoved my face into his chest.

Seconds later, the waiter appeared. "How is everything?"

David spoke in low tones, like you would around a sleeping baby. "Just fine, thank you. Let's skip the dessert course, please. Also, I'd like the check and can you box some of these?" I closed my eyes as David's hand started to smooth my hair. The waiter must have sensed the urgency in David's voice, because he was back in record speed with a To-Go box and the check. "Are you well enough to walk?"

"Yes, really, I'm fine." My tremors were gone, so I boxed up some of the tastier items and slid out of the booth as soon as David was standing. I walked slowly and he followed close enough behind to catch me if I fell. As soon as he had gotten me seated in the car, with my seat belt tightly buckled, I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes in preparation for the race back home. Oddly, I wasn't rocketed back into the seat when we pulled away from the curb. I opened my eyes to investigate, and noticed David driving more cautiously than most humans. He glanced at me, concern in his eyes.

"Why aren't we traveling at breakneck speeds? Is there a cop or something?"

"No cop. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I noticed how nervous you were on the way here."

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes again, this time able to relax and enjoy the luxurious leather seats. "You're not like other vampires. You're so human."

"It's a talent of mine." I had heard of this before. Many vampires, when they are old, develop special talents. Some can fly; some can communicate telepathically with other vampires. David retained his humanity.

"Hm," was all I managed to mumble. Sheer exhaustion, coupled with the most comfortable bucket seat I've ever been in and the melodic purr of the engine were lulling me into a dream-like state.

The drive home might have taken 3 minutes or 3 hours. When we arrived at my house, David shook me slightly from the driver's side. "Wake up, Sloane. Sydney would never let me take you out again if I had to carry you inside."

I refused to open my eyes. "I'll just sleep here," I muttered.

David sighed heavily as he opened the passenger side door. "You'll freeze," he warned while reaching across me to unbuckle my seat belt.

"It's August." In Michigan, August is oppressively hot and humid. Despite my desire to stay right where I was, I opened my eyes. I knew I had to get up, and I tried. Then I tried again. Each time my hands fell short of the door frame, giving me nothing to brace myself on. "Help me up," I managed to mumble. David tugged my shoes off and helped me out of the car. I took a couple of careful steps before I stumbled. I hadn't had nearly enough to be drunk, but my body acted as if I was. David roped his arms around me and lifted me into the air, then carried me into the house.

He was right; Sydney was livid. "What did you do to her? You didn't bite her, did you? Did she say you could?"

I managed a slight smile. "He didn't bite me, Syd."

"I think I overestimated her tolerance for alcohol," David said as he sat me on the couch and turned to Syd. "Do her visions always drain her energy this much?"

"She had a vision? Wait, start from the beginning. How much did she drink?"

"Two glasses of wine," I replied. I hate people talking like I wasn't in the room. "I'm not drunk."

Sydney sat next to me on the couch and felt my forehead for a fever while David leaned against the fireplace mantle. For the first time, I saw how striking he truly was. That perfectly strong jawline, the rugged, day-old stubble. Those piercing, complex green eyes.

"What happened?" Sydney asked.

David started nervously clenching and unclenching his hands. "She was eating, smiling, and laughing, and then out of nowhere she looked terrified," he said, the slight Irish accent coming through again. "I tried to talk to her but she wouldn't respond. It was as if she could not even see me. She was shaking violently and distant for almost 5 minutes." I closed my eyes and leaned back. All I wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep for 3 days.

"No," Sydney said as she pulled the afghan from the back of the couch and arranged it over me. "That's not her norm. What did you see?"

Without opening my eyes or lifting my head, I answered, "Pictures. Men I don't recognize in places I've never been. The only real feeling I got was the fear." Then, whether I was ready or not, sleep pulled me under.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke wearing nothing but the gray tank top and my bright pink lace underwear from last night. It wasn't the first time I'd woken up and not remembered exactly when or how I got where I was; I am, after all, over 21. But I hadn't had _that_ much to drink last night. Still, I felt incredibly hung over. My body and my head ached, my mouth was dry. I rolled out of bed, stumbling and catching myself on the bedside table before I could slide on my robe and wander down the stairs.

The kitchen and the living room were dim and empty, which meant that Sydney was at work. I bypassed the inviting living room couch and went immediately for my morning (or afternoon, in this case) glass of ice cold Pepsi. Taped to the 2 liter bottle, was a note in Sydney's flowery print:

_Hun,_

_I'm at the Handel's. Mrs. Handel needed to run into work. Call me the second you get up, I need to know you're OK._

_Syd_

_PS: Don't worry, I made him leave before I undressed you._

I smirked. Sydney was, among other things, a fantastic nanny. The kids adored her, and she loved them right back. But that's a phone call that had to wait until I had at least one good, long swig of Pepsi in me. I poured myself a tall glass, completely skipping the ice, before reaching for my purse in its usual location: the very corner of the kitchen island. It wasn't there. I tried to think back to last night, wondering where in the world it might be; I remembered that David had brought my purse in. Now where had he put it? My eyes retraced his footsteps, finally zooming in on the chair next to the fireplace. Rolling my eyes, I moaned as I pushed myself up to snag my prize, rifling through my purse for my cell phone. I had 5 missed calls, all from a number I didn't recognize. The number had only left one voice mail and that shortly after sunrise.

"Ms. McIntosh, this is Jeremy Sota, the O'Hara's daytime person. Mr. O'Hara requested that I make sure you are OK and insisted I get you anything you may need. I am going to call every hour, on the hour. Please call me as soon as you get this message."

I swigged down the rest of the Pepsi and poured myself a bowl of cereal before I decided to make the shortest phone call first. I dialed the unknown number.

On the third ring, he answered. "Sota."

I took a bite of cereal as I tried to muffle my snicker. "McIntosh," I answered; I couldn't help myself.

I think there was a sigh of relief on the other end of the line. "Oh, Ms. McIntosh, thank you for returning my call. How are you? Is there anything you need?"

He asked as if I was just getting out of a long stay at the hospital. I swallowed my mouthful of cereal before answering. "I'm fine, thank you, and no, I don't need anything. I'm going to get dressed and go to work, so you can stop calling me now."

There was a short pause. "Oh. Um, OK. Mr. O'Hara made it sound like you were really sick. Just give me a call if you need anything."

I wanted to explain to him how I was perfectly capable of fending for myself, but decided not to. He was only doing his job, or trying to get laid, or whatever it was he was doing. "I'm really just fine, but if there's anything I need, I'll call. Goodbye."

"Bye," he answered quickly before I hung up on him.

Next came the long conversation. I was tempted just to send a text, but I couldn't do that to Sydney. I finished the bowl of cereal, slurping up all the milk while I was at it, and pressed number 2 on speed dial.

"You're finally up," she answered.

"Yes, I'm alive." I figured I was in this for the long haul, so I grabbed the box of leftover appetizers and threw the remaining spring rolls in the microwave. How could I possibly be this hungry?

There was a quick beat before Sydney started to gush. "So?" she just about squealed.

I flinched before pressing the 'start' button on the microwave. "So what?"

If I thought she was being loud and obnoxious before, I was wrong. "The date!" she shrieked. "Now that I know you're OK, I need details. Where did you go? What did you talk about?"

I took a quick second to smirk to myself before facetiously answering, "Sydney, are you gushing? I didn't think you knew how…"

She breathed an exasperated sigh. "Just spill."

I grabbed the heated spring rolls and settled in to my favorite kitchen chair. "He took me to Troppos and ordered two variations on the Chef's Tasting Menu and a bottle of wine. He didn't eat, obviously, which means we're eating leftovers for the next week. We talked about a little of everything. His life, flowers, everything. He's, strangely, very easy to be around."

"Did you….kiss?" she whispered into the receiver.

I let out a small guffaw. "Yea, right after my terrifying vision and just before I passed out in his car." Sarcasm was dripping from my voice. "Seriously, when would that have happened?"

"Do you want to kiss him?" she asked. Now she was just prying, but I was indulging her curiosity. She very rarely got to do the best friend thing when it came to me and men, and I could tell she was having fun with it.

Nonetheless, I had to think about my answer. "Um….yes? No? I mean, he's delicious like cherry pie, but…I don't know if I want to get into the whole dating a vampire thing. The hours aren't ideal, for one, and from what I've seen, there's a lot of drama. Not to mention, what if he doesn't want to date me? I come with all sorts of baggage myself. I think he's just supposed to keep an eye on me for Emma, anyway."

It was Syd's turn to let out an amused giggle. "Oh, Hun, he wants you big time. I had to un-invite him from the house to get him to leave you last night. After he carried you upstairs like a precious little child, of course."

I wasn't going to dignify that with a response. Mostly because I was blushing so hard all blood was diverted from the snark region of my brain that, you know right next to my super-duper hippocampus. Instead of managing something witty, I answered, "Well, I'm going to get dressed and run into the lab for a while. See you tonight."

She laughed before asking, "Are you sure you should go to work?"

I was tired of being treated like a child. If I wasn't feeling well, I wouldn't have gone in. But I was OK. "I'm fine. Come keep me company if you're really worried. Besides, I don't really have a choice; research waits for no man…or woman."

I could hear the kids in the background giggling. "Maybe we will," Sydney replied. "Tootle-loo."

I giggled, just like every time she uttered that particular goodbye. "See ya."

.

Work was supremely uneventful. A couple hours after our conversation, Sydney stopped by the lab with two large chai teas (as close to coffee as I was ever going to drink) and the Handel children, Carter and Alex. Carter, a 9-year-old boy, was immediately immersed in Nickelodeon's online games while Alex, a 5 year old girl, drew me pictures for my office with the stash of crayons Sydney always had in her purse and a selection of colored Sharpies the lab stocked. Sydney and I gossiped while I worked. Some lab work can be like that; mindless and time consuming. I welcomed the company, truthfully. The lab could get lonely sometimes.

I had done all I was going to do by around 5:30; just after quitting time. Sydney took the children home while I drove over to my office. That was one disadvantage of such a large campus: while I was lucky to have my state-of-the-art lab located in a brand new building in the center of campus, my office was tucked away in Giltner Hall, an ancient building several blocks to the north. It was only a few blocks away, making driving somewhat ridiculous, but I wanted to have my car nearby; the sun would be setting soon and campus is just a little too deserted at this time of day between semesters for my liking.

When I arrived at the basement office I shared with two other PhD students, I was greeted by an unwelcome sight. VAMP LOVERS MUST DIE was spray painted across the door in bright crimson, the spray paint still wet and dripping down the wall. The freshly grafitti-ed door was standing ajar. Slowly, I pushed the door open, hoping my super duper intuition was on high alert today. "Hello?" I said hesitantly as I peeked around the open door.

My heart was pounding, my palms clammy. There was no one inside. Papers were strewn across the floor, desks overturned, computers smashed. More anti-vampire rhetoric was plastered against the walls. I dug my phone out of my purse and called Melissa and Debbie, the other two PhD students that had claim to the office. I had just enough time to get my heart rate back in check before the two arrived.

"What happened here?" Melissa asked after taking in the destruction. She was a totally freckled beanpole with fire red hair. Her grey eyes blinking frantically behind her thick-rimmed glasses, which would have been perfectly complimented by a pocket protector. Actually, I think she might have owned one.

I shrugged, pretending to be a lot cooler than the almost complete panic I had felt just a few short minutes ago. "You know as much as I do. I found it this way, and called you."

"This is probably aimed at me, guys. I'm sorry," said Debbie, a Were-doe, as she propped her hands on her hips. Her skin was dark mahogany, her square face covered in its usual colorful makeup, today in various shades of teal. Her long, dreadlocked black hair was pulled back by a cord with small peacock feathers attached to the ends, a great accent for her deep purple maxi bohemian skirt. Her boyfriend of over a year was one of the many newly turned vampires in the area, although his turning wasn't completely (or even remotely) consensual. They had known each other when he was still human, but when he was turned violently and against his will, she was the only of his friends that stayed by his side and helped him through the trauma. It was a true testament to their love, considering the animosity between shifters and vampires.

I blushed a little before speaking, ducking my head to hide the automatic reaction. "Actually, it could be me, too." The two, who were in the middle of a conversation about getting the office back into shape, both quieted and shot me identical quizzical looks. They both knew I didn't date (though they didn't know why), and I could tell they both thought I was too introverted and focused (read: obsessed) on my lab work to even know a vampire. And, to an extent, it was true. As a rule, I didn't like making new friends, and if I wasn't at home, I was either in class or at lab.

Melissa piped up first, the first to recover some sort of speech. "Do tell."

I told them the extremely abridged version: that I had gone to Rum Runners, and met one of the owners, who happens to be a vampire. He and I went on our first and last date yesterday evening.

Debbie shook her head as she silently giggled. "Oh, girl. You're too much." She was genuinely happy that I had met someone (even if I had hinted at the fact that it hadn't worked out), and that warmed me.

Melissa called the campus police while Debbie and I tried to determine if anything had been taken. The only things of value in the office were the computers, which were now in a smashed heap. The cops came, took our statements, and left without much ado. While break-ins were nothing new to the campus police, they seemed fairly intrigued by the graffiti.

.

It was well after 8 o'clock when I finally shuffled through the front door. After relaying the ordeal to Sydney, and some comments of 'what is the world coming to' and 'crazy zealots', I only had 10 minutes before David, Emma, and Lee were ringing my doorbell.

I grumped the entire way to the door. I had had a long day; the only thing I wanted to do was sit on the couch and maybe work up the energy to make dinner sometime tonight. I did not want to listen to some random girl child's 15 minute spiel about Girl Scout cookies. Is it even Girl Scout cookie season? I didn't know anymore.

Surprise flashed across my face when I was met with three pallid faces instead. "Hi," I said as I smoothed out the shock on my face. "What can I do for you?" I was in no mood to entertain, even though Sydney (ever hopeful) had picked up some True Blood on her way home.

The three vampires stood like silent statues on my front porch. "May we come in?" David finally asked.

I smiled when I remembered what Sydney had said about uninviting David. "Sure, please, come in," I said as I stepped aside. I showed the three into the kitchen and offered them a seat at the table, where Sydney was sitting shuffling cards. "There's True Blood in the fridge, if you'd like one." That's as hospitable as I got. David, who was looking particularly pale, made a beeline for the fridge and popped three True Bloods in the microwave. He heated them for just a few seconds before mixing them slightly.

Emma was studying the dozens upon dozens of flowers strewn across the counter tops, making it borderline impossible to do anything in the kitchen except stand. "My, the flowers are lovely. And there are so many of them."

"They're from David," Sydney answered with a sly look on her face. Emma and Lee both turned to look at the taller vampire, who kept his back to the crowd and focused on the microwave.

"I'm sorry," I said, remembering my manners at the last moment. "Sydney, this is Emma, and Lee. Sydney is my roommate and best friend." I felt the need to explain the relationship to Lee, who was staring at Sydney curiously. David handed a warm True Blood to each of the other vampires and gulped his own down. Neither of the other two vampires drank their True Bloods; instead, they both shot glances at David before returning their attention to Syd.

"What are you doing?" Lee finally asked Sydney.

"Laying out tarot cards," she answered without looking up. It was a vague answer, but it seemed to satisfy them.

I'd love to sit here and watch them watch her for the rest of the night, but I had things to procrastinate doing. "So…what's up?" I asked. As far as I knew, vampires aren't in the habit of just dropping by humans' homes for a little chit chat. They were here for a reason.

Emma slid right back into leader mode. "We have reason to believe that the Fellowship of the Sun is attempting to create a stronghold in the area. We think this may have something to do with your vision," she said as she took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Yup," I answered as I propped my hip against the back of the couch.

Three heads swiveled to me. "You knew this?" asked Lee. He moved to stand behind Emma, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"It wasn't hard to figure out," I answered. "They left quite the message in my office."

David went rigid. "What happened?" he demanded.

I glanced at him a moment, taken aback momentarily by the venom now in his voice. "Someone broke into my office when I wasn't there and tossed it; left anti-vampire graffiti on the walls."

David slammed his empty bottle on the counter violently. "You were the target."

I was really very confused by the extremity of his response. "Probably not," I answered directly to him. "I share the office with a woman who's been dating a vampire publicly for quite a while now. It's more likely to be meant for her. Nonetheless, it's dangerous."

Emma stood, and she and Lee conferred silently for a moment. There were no words, not even lip movements. Just a few meaningful glances and a head nods. When their silent conversation was over, she turned and said, "Well, if you find out anything else, please let us know. We will try to stop it, if we can." She took a few steps toward the door and was followed by Lee. "David."

Instead of falling in behind Emma, he didn't budge. He glanced back at her dismissively before saying, "I'm staying here. I put her in danger; I will get her out of it."

Lee turned and snickered. "Shall we send a coffin?" David glared at Lee, who continued to snicker as he left through the front door.

Emma embraced me in an awkward and uncharacteristic hug, which I automatically returned. "Thank you," she whispered in my ear.

If I was dumbfounded, then David, who was staring at his sister's back, was doubly so. "For what?" I finally asked when I recovered the ability to speak.

"For making him David again." She gave me a quick peck on the cheek, and was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

David and I had gravitated to the back patio surrounded by the lush landscaping the previous owner had installed. Well, I had moved to the back patio, David had trailed along like a shadowy mole. Sydney returned to her room, from the candlelight and the music, I could tell she was realigning her karma. Or playing video games, it really could have been either.

"You know," I said without even looking at the silent vampire sitting at my side, "I don't need a babysitter; I'm a big girl. You needn't feel obligated to be here."

He shifted his weight, it seemed as if he didn't know what to say. "I like being around you," he finally muttered. "You make me feel…young." He had a way of being sweetly awkward. I smiled to myself, hiding behind my lemonade.

I didn't know how to respond to that, so we sat in silence. After more than a half an hour of sitting in silence, comfortably watching the fireflies, my back and butt were protesting the imprint of the iron chair. They had been a donation from Sydney's mom when we first moved in. We had tried seat cushions, seat pads—nothing worked and they just seemed to get ruined during a wet Michigan summer. So we gave up on trying for comfort and just lived with them as they were.

I stood, stretched, and started my stroll around the patio, trying to get the blood circulating in my limbs again. The back yard was like The English Garden, purposefully overgrown, with the soft scent of Syd's pots of lavender and some self sown flowering tobacco the previous owners had started probably 20 years ago. Weeping cherries 30 feet high anchored the corners of the yard just inside the 5 foot privacy fence, their hanging branches swaying in the light breeze.

I was standing halfway between the cascading sentries, just between of the mulched flower beds and the freshly mown grass, when I yelped in surprise as a searing pain shot through my right shoulder. I looked down, confused, pulling my tank to the side to see what could have caused such a horrible pain. I was looking at my unscratched skin when the same searing pain shot through my left thigh, which dropped me to my knees with a pained grunt. David was at my side as soon as he saw me fall, fangs out. "What's wrong?" he said as he hovered just beside me.

I was gasping for air; it felt like I was drowning in my own body. "I don't know," I spat out. "It hurts so bad. My shoulder and my leg."

David caught me as I collapsed onto my side and slowly lowered us both to the ground, me cradled against his chest. "How?" he asked as he examined the shoulder I had indicated, obviously just as confused about the cause of my pain as I was. He touched the area, which sent more rivers of pain shooting through my body. I screamed out in pain, tears finally working their way free from my eyes at the intensity.

It couldn't have been 10 seconds after I had screamed when Sydney sprinted through the back door and knelt at my side. "What? What?" she asked frantically, alternately searching my body and keeping a close eye on David. She was wary of him, which was good; I didn't have it in me to be wary of him at the moment. Hell, if he could make this pain go away, I'd love him forever.

I tried to reel my brain back into a track other than _fuck, ow, make it go away._ "I think I was shot," I finally muttered between gasps. "Or someone will be." Gasp. _Fuck, I'm drowning in my backyard. Why can't I breathe? _"I think I'm feeling someone else's pain." While the two invisible stigma felt extremely hot, the rest of my body was getting very cold to the touch. I could feel warm blood that wasn't there trickling out of each phantom wound.

"What do I do?" David asked Sydney as he cradled me gently in his lap. I started to simultaneously sweat and shiver.

Sydney pushed up from her kneeling position. "Bring her inside," she commanded. I moaned, biting my lip to keep from screaming bloody murder as he picked me up, which sent a tentacle of pain through my leg. David felt me tense in pain; he immediately slowed his movements and steadied me against his chest. Stepping carefully, he carried me into the living room, positioning us on the couch, my back leaning against his chest. I shivered as he wrapped his arms around my torso, holding me to him and cradling the arm affected by the phantom wound. I was still gasping for breath, which was starting to make me light headed.

"Shh, calm down, Sloane," David cooed as he held my head back to his chest. "Your pulse is too rapid." Unconsciously I was fighting against him as much as my weakening body could. Now that I was aware of it, I forced myself to lie still, which made a small portion of that pain melt away.

Sydney, who had disappeared up the stairs as David was settling the two of us on the couch, reappeared with the quilt from my bed. She threw it over David and me, cocooning us by tucking the corners underneath us. "Sloane," David whispered into my ear, "I'm going to start breathing. I want you to copy my rhythm with deep breaths." I could feel as his chest started to rise and fall in a deep, regular rhythm. I tried to slow down my breathing to match his, but it was still shallow and irregular. As my breath began to mimic his respiration, I could feel my pulse start to slow and the anxiety melt away. Unfortunately, this left nothing for me to feel but the horrible pain.

I could think more clearly now. I leaned my head back against David's shoulder, voluntarily this time. "It's the same," I managed to mumble. I felt like I was falling away when I closed my eyes, frantically dragging the lids back open whenever they managed to fall shut. Focusing on my breathing and keeping my eyes squarely focused on the patterns in the ceiling were keeping the pain and the falling feeling at bay.

David was still focusing on continuing to breathe, so it was Sydney who asked the question. "What's the same?"

"The visions, they're all related." It was getting harder and harder to keep from sinking into oblivion. Everything was slowing down, even my pulse pounded in my ears in slow motion. I wanted to explain, but I couldn't make my lips form the words anymore.

Suddenly, everything was still. The rhythmic movement of David's breathing linking me to consciousness had stopped. "Her pulse is getting too slow. Sloane, open your eyes." It sounded like he was yelling at me through glass wall, everything was muffled and far away. I tried, but the only thing my eyes would do was flutter. I was being pulled into a swirling blackness.

Just when I thought I was going to be pulled completely under, everything came rushing back. There was no pain, no oblivion; everything whipped back into focus overwhelmingly fast. I shot into a seated position with a gasp. "Oh," I said as I glanced around for a moment, re-calibrating myself. It took a minute before I thought to pull the strap to my tank top down and touch my unmarred skin. It didn't even sting. I pulled the blanket down and probed the jean covering the second phantom wound. Nothing. "Oh, wow," I sighed in relief. "I never want to do that again."

Sydney took a deep breath, shot a glance skyward, got up from her vigil beside the couch, and left for the kitchen. David turned me slightly so he could look me in the face. "It's gone? Over?" he asked as he hesitantly touched my shoulder after I nodded yes. He hugged me to him. "Yes, let's never do that again."

Sydney returned with a glass of water, handing me the glass and helping me hold it until I could steady myself enough to not slosh it over the side and into my lap. "Well. You've never done that before," she said as she sat back on her heels.

"Thank God," I murmured. I had never been a religious person, but I'd be willing to consider it if I never had to do anything like that again.

"So, why did it stop?" she asked almost frantically. "Not that I'm thankful, just….David said you heart was slowing, then it stopped, and then poof! You're all better." She was failing miserably at sounding nonchalant. This most recent episode shook her just as much as it shook me.

I took a long swig of water and leaned back into David. I pushed the water onto the coffee table as he pulled the quilt back around us and wrapped his arms around me. He whispered in my ear, "You were dead. Never do that to me again."

I couldn't actually see David, as my back was resting against his chest, so instead I squeezed his arm in response. "I think whoever it was died, or will die, so the connection ended." Or something like that. I was making this up on the fly; I hadn't taken the time to really consider how my ability worked. And if knowing that if this ever happened again and no one was around that I would automatically come out of it made them feel better, then I was willing to sound more sure than I actually was.

This time it was David with the questions. I could feel his chest rumble as he said, "Who?"

I shrugged before settling into the oddly cool sensation of his embrace. "I don't know. Not me and not any vampires. It could be anyone else."

"Why not you or vampires?"

Sydney answered the question. "When she has a vision, she has to see through someone's eyes," she explained. "The whole 'if a tree falls in the forest' idea. For some cosmic reason, she can't see through her own eyes or through vampires' eyes."

"Do you know when? Is there a limit to how far in advance you can see?" he asked quietly as he ran his hand up my forearm to my elbow to my bicep and back down again. It was an innocuous gesture, but he made it seem incredibly intimate. I was glad he couldn't see me blushing. Unfortunately, Sydney could. I glared at her as she winked at me.

"I don't know," I answered, "I've never really tested it. But it felt soon. Maybe a couple of days…"

David shifted us just long enough to retrieve his cell phone from his pocket, then made sure we were comfortable again before fiddling with it. I cuddled back into him as he dialed a number. "Yes, this is David. Please find Emma for me." When he was sufficiently distracted, Sydney winked at me and pointed upstairs. 'I'll leave you two alone,' she mouthed as she walked out of the room. "Emma. Please send my box," David said; he frowned as she responded. "Yes, and it's getting worse. Her heart stopped for almost a minute." He hugged my tighter to him as she responded. "We think the attack is coming within a couple of days. They're going to shoot at least one human."

David hung up and wrapped his arm around me. "I'm not going to let you out of my sight."

"Except for during the day," I responded automatically. I kind of liked the sound of that, but being what my dad called a 'smartass' was in my nature.

I could practically hear his teeth grinding. "Someone who understands will have to be with you. Besides me, who knows?"

"About my visions? Only Syd, and I'm not making her babysit me." I checked my watch; it was already midnight. "I need to sleep; I have to go into work tomorrow."

I pushed myself up, only able to get off the couch because he let me, grabbed my half-empty glass of water, and headed for the stairs, David trailing close behind. After setting the water on my bedside table, I went straight into the attached bathroom. I blushed when I realized that I usually wore just a t-shirt and my underwear to bed. Maybe I'd have to break down and go get some pajama bottoms even though I had never liked them. I always felt like sleeping in pants was too constricting. And nightgowns? All that material just ends up around my neck, anyway. T-shirts are more economical.

I looked around the bathroom for options, just then realizing that I had forgotten to grab my ratty old t-shirt off my bed. So now, not only did I not own a pair of pajama bottoms, but I had forgotten to bring the only thing I did wear to bed with me into the bathroom. _Fuck it,_ I thought to myself as I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair down from its ponytail perch. _This tank top is comfy enough. _Once I was ready for bed, I pulled off my jeans and bra, leaving me in the tank I had been wearing all day and my panties, and headed for the bedroom. David was standing against the far wall, gaping.

I was sure I was bright pink. I had done a good job of psyching myself up for being half naked in front of a vampire I barely knew, but now that I was standing here—I was borderline mortified. _Should have just slept in jeans, _I thought. "Sorry, I don't own pajama bottoms," I said sheepishly as I hurried toward my bed, covering my lower half with the blanket as fast as I could. After making sure that my alarm was set and on, I turned off the lights and tried to get comfortable. Tried, being the operative word. Have you ever tried to sleep knowing someone was watching your every move? Several minutes passed with David just standing in the corner, watching me in the dark, my eyes, in turn fixed on his approximate location. "Are you just going to stand there all night?" I finally asked. I could see his outline, but I couldn't see his face.

"Yes," he answered matter-of-factly. "I am not letting you out of my sight, remember?"

I couldn't believe I was about to do this. I took a shaky breath as I turned toward him. I couldn't see the look in his eyes, but I was sure he could see mine and the intentions in them. I pulled back the quilt he had carried back upstairs. "Well, you're making me nervous. Come on, get in."

I swear there was an anticipatory leer on his face as he stepped into the light cast from the moon. Seductively, David toed off his shoes and unbuttoned his shirt before sliding into the bed next to me, pulling me into him again.

Oh, wow. Wow. His chest and abs were firm, the type of sinewy strength that comes from manual labor, and his arms were equally strong. His shoulders were mounded and muscled, too. I curled into him instinctively; it had been so long since I'd been with anyone that my body was taking over, and I really couldn't complain. Looks-wise, I could do worse. Much worse. Not sure I wanted to take on all the vampire baggage, but pulsing want was pooling in my center anyway. No turning back now. I couldn't wait to see this in the light of day—assuming I ever would. "Your belt buckle is cold," I said as I ran my fingers up the midline between his abs.

David moaned before he responded, "Would you like me to take it off?" I could hear the sly smile in his voice.

I couldn't help but feel giddy, responding with a wide smile I tucked into his side. "Please," I responded as nonchalantly as I could. I sat up, allowing him to get out of the bed. Slowly, he unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his jeans, and slid them to the floor, leaving him in nothing but black boxers. It was all I could do not to catapult myself out of bed at him. I think he heard when the breath caught in my throat; he smiled quickly before wiping the look off his face and climbing back in bed with me.

There was no mistaking it; we both knew where this was going. "Are you sure you want this?" he asked quietly as he crouched over me.

"Absolutely." I grabbed his neck and pulled him down on top of me, much to his pleasure. His skin was a shock; not cold, but not warm either. Room temperature. He moaned lightly as I kissed him, working one of his hands up underneath my top to my ribcage. He stopped kissing me long enough to pull my tank over my head. He took an eyeful and his fangs immediately came back out.

"Stunning," he mumbled under his breath as he started to make his way down my body. He nibbled at my neck, slowly kissing, licking, and tasting, making his way down to my breast. I bucked against him as he took my nipple between his fangs; he wrapped an arm around my back to hold me to him as I did. He exhaled lightly on the same nipple, which sent waves of pleasure down to my core and sent me grasping for him.

"Oh, God, David. More," I whispered between moans and gasps of pleasure. His free hand reached between us and ripped off my panties as he moved down my stomach to my belly button, but I couldn't have cared less about the destruction of my property; I loved the passion. I grabbed handfuls of his hair as he started to lap at my center, moaning a string of incoherent 'yeses' and 'pleases'. "David," I groaned.

"Again," he grunted as he took handfuls of my thighs, almost to anchor himself more than to keep me in the right position.

"Yes, please," I begged.

"Say it again," he said as he looked up my body at me.

"Please, David," I moaned for him. In a flash, he was in me, moving slowly as he nipped at the soft area between my neck and shoulder. I screamed as I climaxed, making my whole body numb. David slowed, and swung us around so I was sitting on his lap, my core still wrapped around him. I could taste myself on him as I kissed his lips, which drove me crazy. He grabbed my hips and started rocking me rhythmically on top of him. I started to take control, bucking and rubbing myself against him as the pressure built in my center again, stealing nibbles of my taste on his lips every once in a while.

"Bite me. Come in me and bite me," I whispered into his lips. I was about to climax, and I wanted him to come with me.

He didn't lose a step in his rhythm as he answered, "No, I'm not taking your blood until you're safe." His mind might have been saying no, but the rest of his body was screaming yes, yes, yes! I could feel his muscles tighten beneath me and in me just as the mention of getting to sink something else in me.

I'm a take-charge kind of woman, and since I could feel how much he wanted it... "God dammit, David! Bite me!" I grabbed his head and shoved his head to my neck. Instead of latching on, he flipped me onto my back on the bed and bit my inner thigh. I thought it would hurt, but it didn't; instead, the feeling was like freezing your entire life, then having those first few moments of warmth. It was everything; it was perfect. Within seconds, while I was still relearning how to breathe, he was back on top, coming inside me, leaving us a twitching heap of pleasure.

I couldn't have moved, or even formed a coherent thought if I'd wanted to. He seemed to pick up on that; he pulled me to him and tucked us both under the covers, settling my head in the crux of his neck. It wasn't long until he started to run his fingers up and down my ribcage, which was slowly lulling me to sleep. "Mmm," was all I could manage to articulate. I flung an arm over his waist and tucked my knee between his legs.

David laid a kiss on my forehead. "Sleep, _a thaisce _[eh hash-kuh]." I voiced another grunt, this one questioning. "It means 'my treasure', or 'my jewel'. It's Gaelic. Now, sleep." Shortly after, I drifted away.


	6. Chapter 6

I woke disoriented at 7:30 in the morning to a blaring alarm and an empty bed. Well, an almost empty bed. There was a note propped gracefully on my pillow. I groaned at my delightfully sore body, rolled over, slapped the alarm, and grabbed the note.

_My Sloane,_

_Sydney agrees with me, you should not be alone while you are having such intense episodes. Please do not give her grief, she and I are doing what's best for you._

I grumbled. My ability was quickly becoming a disability. I didn't want people, especially Sydney or David, to treat me like an invalid or a child. And when did David and Sydney start conspiring behind my back? Jesus, they were already acting like old married people and they just met.

_My box was delivered last night. It is in the cellar. Please be here when I rise, I want to see you as soon as possible. _

_Be careful._

_Always yours, _

_David_

Awww. How could you not smile at that? Always yours—very romantic, yet not too possessive. I checked my alarm and rolled out of bed, clutching the note. I slipped the note into a cigar box my grandfather had given me as a child along with all of my other little treasures. A high school picture of an old friend, ticket stubs, a military patch with three strikes of lightning on a blue spade. All things that meant something to me, more because of who had given them to me or the good times they represented than because of what they were. I smiled for a moment as I ran my fingers over the mementos before I tucked the box back under my bed.

Quickly, I threw my hair into a messy ponytail, showered, got dressed, and raced downstairs. I was hoping that if I left quickly enough, I could get the jump on Sydney.

But I had forgotten that Sydney always has been and always will be on child-time. Which means up at 6, in bed at midnight. Of course she was already awake and ready to go. She sat at the kitchen table, her legs tucked up under her, drinking an herbal tea and reading a torn paperback when she noticed me.

Her face lifted in an ear-to-ear grin. "Good morning, hun. How was your night?" she asked teasingly as she chuckled to herself.

"Oh, shut it." Her grin was infectious, but it didn't keep me from getting down to business. "So I can't talk you out of tagging along all day? I'm just going to go clean my office," I said as I packed my laptop into my backpack. I generally made myself scarce this time of year. Today was undergraduate move-in day, where the better part of 45,000 immature teenagers descended on East Lansing like locusts. What's worse, most of their parents came with them. Which meant East Lansing was going to be full of giddy teenagers and depressed parents, all wandering the campus without a clue as to where they're going.

Sydney grimaced. We had both been in the area long enough to mark this date on our calendars. "Really? Campus?" she whined.

"Sadly. I have to rearrange my office after the fellowship's stunt." Classes start on Monday, and I needed to be ready to teach an introductory biology course to non-science majors. "You're free to stay here…"

Sydney didn't fall for that; she poured the remainder of her tea into a portable mug and bookmarked her paperback. "Well, let's go."

It was only 8:15 in the morning, but it was still difficult to find a parking space. After parking three blocks away, we worked our way through the throngs of excited students gripping campus maps and into the ancient building. Debbie was already sitting under her desk, hooking up her replacement computer. "Hey girl!" she said with a smile. "Here to help?"

"Yea, and I brought reinforcements," I said as I angled my thumb in Sydney's direction. Debbie and Sydney had met in passing, but I reintroduced them. "You're better at the computer thing than I am, Syd. If you could set that up, I'll start sorting paper and taking out trash bags." She gave me a mocking salute, and we got moving.

Much later, Sydney had my computer up and running, networked to the printer and my laptop, and Microsoft Outlook all set up. I was almost done with the sorting too, but there was one more thing I wanted to get done before I left for the day. I caught Sydney's attention and motioned for the door. When she protested, I mouthed 'just for a second.' Unwillingly, she made an excuse to leave.

"Hey, Deb?" I asked quietly. In order to say what needed to be said, I was going to have to reveal a bit of myself, and that made me very nervous. I trusted Debbie, but some secrets are best kept to oneself, and I thoroughly believed that mine was one of them. Most of the time.

"Yup."

I took a deep breath and charged into it. "The Fellowship is in Lansing now..."

She turned, her interest piqued. "I guess. And?"

"I know you're a Were-doe. Just alert the other shifters in the area, OK? They're planning something big that's going to hurt innocent people, probably humans."

"Wait, how did...I never…" Stunned fear was plastered on her face, and I could see the panic growing as she realized what my knowledge meant.

I placed a hand on her shoulder to try and help calm her, but she shied away from me before I even touched her. I let my hand drop and said, "Let's just leave it at this: there's more out there than shifters and vampires."

She was silent for a full minute as shock rocked her. She looked less than convinced and more than a little shaky. "OK."

I was regretting my direct approach, but in for a penny in for a pound. I sighed loudly. "To the grave, OK?" She simply nodded, with a deer-in-the-headlights expression. Sydney, who had been eavesdropping from just outside the door, came into the room and shot me a very guarded look. She knew exactly what I was going to do, and she was not on board with the plan. With an apologetic look for Sydney, I said, "The short story is I can see things. I can see people's natures, which is how I knew what you are. I can see the future, too." It took a while, but she nodded again, more speculation working its way into her eyes. "I can't see what they have planned clearly yet. But the visions are getting stronger."

Sydney guffawed—from anger at my plan to sarcastic in a millisecond. "Understatement of the century, right there. They're killing you, Sloane."

I rolled my eyes in her direction. "I survived," I said, defending my visions. For what reason, I do not know. "…and I would have survived even if you and David weren't there. My heart restarted on its own."

The deer-in-the-headlights look was completely gone; Debbie now looked concerned. Instead of asking for details, she held up her hands in a 'stop, I surrender' position. "No more details, I don't want to worry about you, too. Just let me know if you…know…of anything else. I'll pass along the message." She was worried that the Fellowship was coming after her and her vampire boyfriend now, which wasn't my intention, but as long as she was warned and she warned the right people, I was happy.

"Ditto," I answered as I gave her a rueful smile. I had upset her world order enough for one day, so it was time for Sydney and I to leave. I quickly packed up my laptop, swung my backpack over my shoulder, and headed out the door.

We were at the car before Sydney decided to speak again. "That was stupid," she hissed. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

I sighed and got in the driver's side. "I know. I just…I needed to tell her. You know. I felt like I needed to tell her. There must be a point where she needs to know. The shifters might have a hand in stopping things."

Sydney slid in on the passenger side. After a deep breath she turned to me. "Let's go to Okemos. I need to go to Triple Goddess." Triple Goddess Bookstore was where Sydney got most of her divination supplies. It was located in the small, affluent suburb's non-existent downtown area, and was the opposite direction from home. With another exasperated sigh, I complied, taking off and heading east.

I pulled up to the old farmhouse-turned-bookstore and cut the engine. Shadow, the store cat, was sitting on the porch sprawled in a sunbeam. "You can stay here; I'll just be a minute," Sydney said as she unbuckled her seat belt. I was happy to stay in the car. That store, and the gray-haired hippie woman who ran it, gave me the heebie-jeebies.

She was literally in and out. Not even a full 5 minutes later, Sydney emerged from the store with a reusable bag full of goodies. She tossed the bag in the back of the car and buckled her seatbelt before starting off on some tangent about the smell of musty books, I believe. To be honest, I was only half listening. Driving through East Lansing during Welcome Week can be dangerous. I needed to focus on the road.

When we got home, Sydney fished a small necklace out of her bag. "Put this on," she said as she tossed it to me. It had a black leather cord with brass findings. The pendant, dangling from a brass hook, was a small green stone with a symbol that looked like an italic _H_ carved into it.

I recognized the idea, but had no idea what the symbol was. "Let me guess, the Egyptian symbol for fertility?" I asked teasingly, trying to lighten her sour mood.

"Nope, not even close. It's the Hagall rune. For luck," she explained as I clasped it around my neck. Just as I finished securing the necklace, she tossed me another one with a similar motif. Instead of black, the cord was white, and the stone, with an upper case Y on it, was blue.

"I'm wearing two necklaces?" I asked as I eyed the contrasting necklace.

"No, that one's for David," she said nonchalantly as she unloaded the rest of the goodies from her bag. My mouth fell open. Not two days ago she was trying to convince me to play hooky on our date and ready to run a stake through his heart if he so much as looked at me cockeyed, and now she was branding him with her runes too? When she looked up, she explained, "It's Yr. Protection."

"Wait," I said, confusion on Sydney's sudden turn of opinion overtaken by confusion about the different runes. "Why do I get luck and he gets protection?"

"Luck has always been on your side, and you should always work with what you already have," she explained. "And he's going to need protection if he ever hurts you. I'll stake him." She winked at me.

I smiled back, giving her a hefty eye roll as well. "Thanks, roomie." I glanced at the clock as my stomach rumbled. It was already 4 o'clock. "Lunch?"

"Sure."

I looked in the barren fridge. I generally did the grocery shopping, or else Sydney would come home with nothing but Oreos and chocolate milk. "It looks like our choices are….frozen pizza," I said as I abandoned the fridge and moved to the freezer. I always stocked a few in the freezer for occasions like these.

She was busy unpacking and sorting through the other things from her pack: dried herbs in baggies, incense sticks, and more. "'Sgood for me," she responded. I unwrapped the pizza and preheated the oven. When the pizza was baking and the timer set, I checked that the protection amulet was in my pocket and negotiated the dank steps to the unfinished basement.

David's box didn't look anything like I was expecting it to. It was silvery, and shaped more like an escape pod from a low-budget sci-fi film than a true coffin. Beside it, on a large cardboard box that read 'Christmas Décor', was a pile of folded clothes. I set the necklace on top of the navy Henley and went back upstairs. It felt oddly voyeuristic to have seen him in his resting place, knowing he had no idea I had been there.

I ate fast, like I had been starved all day. I couldn't remember the last time I was this hungry. After finishing more than half of the pizza myself then pouring myself a bowl of cereal to top it off, I sat down to check the backlog of e-mails in my University account. I had several from students in my class, already having trouble with enrollment in the class or scheduling conflicts. After answering those (mostly with 'sorry, but there's nothing I can do'), I read the two from my advisor. In the first, she wanted to know how the research was coming, what classes I was taking/teaching this semester, and wanted me to e-mail her an updated copy of my data and my thesis, all very regular. The second was quite different, dated late last night.

_Sloane:_

_Heard about the break-in at the office. You OK? I ordered new computers for you guys from University Stores, they should be there in the morning. Please let me know if anything else is missing or broken._

_Melissa said you were acting more erratic than usual. I'm here to talk. You have my cell number._

_Jeanne_

My next e-mail was from Debbie. It was purposely vague and guarded. I'm sure there were people at the NSA trying to tease out the hidden meanings.

_Sloane,_

_I alerted the proper authorities about the incident. They're on top of it. _

_Deb_

Instead of writing an e-mail, it would be quicker to call Jeanne. I had specifically picked her as my lead advisor because she was laid back and easy to talk to. I dialed her number from heart.

"You've got Jeanne Ross." I was used to this unique greeting by now, but it never ceased to give me a chuckle.

"Hey, Jeanne. How's it going?" She spent most of her working life on the phone, and was quite good at distinguishing telephone voices. I rarely had to identify myself over the phone with her.

"Sloane." She sounded relieved. "I'm fine, but how are you?"

I didn't really know what to say. I couldn't tell her the real reason I was being distant and erratic, and I couldn't come up with a convincing excuse. You'd think I'd have more practice at hiding my strangeness, but I never really got good at it. "A little under the weather, actually," I finally answered. At least that explained why I was and would be spending so little time in the lab for the next couple of days.

"Sorry to hear that," she replied automatically. "Take it easy on the lab work until you feel better. Any news on who was behind the break-ins?"

"Nope," I answered quickly, although I had a pretty good idea to motive. This conversation wasn't going where I wanted it to. Time to change the subject. "Listen, I have to go, pizza's about to come out of the oven. I'll work on the updated data and thesis as soon as I feel up to it." Sydney looked up, puzzled as she registered my lie. "I'll talk to you later."

"OK, feel better," she responded just as I was about to hang up the phone. I didn't want to dodge Sydney's questions tonight, not about me just sidestepping Jeanne's, at least. Without another glance in her direction, I headed up for a more thorough shower I didn't need. I just wanted the heat to engulf me; I wanted to feel wrapped in warmth and comfort. I cranked the water up to scalding, stripped off my clothes, and just stood there under the water, letting it stream down over me. It had the desired effect. In a matter of minutes I felt mentally and emotionally washed clean. I felt fresh and new again. Once I was out of the shower, I French braided my hair so it would dry nicely and threw on some skinny jeans and a kimono style top. I tried to sit down at my desk and get some work done, but I just ended up staring at the walls. I couldn't focus enough to work on my data at the moment, not when my life was exploding and being reconstructed before my eyes. I had a boyfriend, I think. A date and sex, that's a boyfriend, right? A vampire boyfriend. Jesus Christ, I had _bite marks_. I don't know what concerned me more: that my boyfriend had bitten me, or that I didn't care that my boyfriend had bitten me. I glanced at my bed and replayed last night in my head over and over—I had to get out of here. I grabbed my quilt from my bed, the same one David had wrapped around the two of us last night, and curled up on the couch in the living room. Sydney was in her own room, lighting incense and most likely playing computer games, so I had the TV to myself. And I needed the distraction.

I cocooned myself in my quilt and slumped into the well-worn couch. TBS was showing the movie Young Frankenstein. I had seen it several times as a child, and it was funnier every time. Despite several shots of caffeine I had ingested during the day, my eyelids were getting heavy from lack of sleep. It wasn't even 6 o'clock yet, and David wouldn't be rising until around 8. I had some time to take a nap, so I closed my eyes for a couple of minutes, half an hour at the most. Just a quick cat nap to get me through.


	7. Chapter 7

I knew I was sleeping; it was more of a gut feeling than anything else; I knew I was having a vision because, even though it was through the eyes of someone who had clearly had too much to drink, the vision was eerily realistic. Ordinarily there's that slight difference; the colors are duller, the people aren't as extreme. In this vision, there were several white college-age jocks, meeting around a large table in a familiar college hangout: The Riv. I groaned mentally—not my favorite, but it was right downtown and the food was cheap. I recognized several from the vision at Troppos—that was a vision I wouldn't soon forget. When the drunkard checked his phone I caught the date and time for the clandestine meeting. They will be there tonight at 11 o'clock.

When I woke with a start, David had replaced my pillow with his lap and was smoothing my fly-aways from my face. "Hello," he said with a smile. He automatically flicked back the tendrils of his own hair that fell across his eyes as he looked down at me.

"Hi," I whispered as I eased the kinks out of my body. Waking up from visions is always disorienting, but opening my eyes to a handsome man really does help the transition. His fangs ran out as my head rubbed against his lap. I giggled as I sat up and kissed him.

He fingered the necklace Sydney had left for him. "Who, or what, do I need protection from?" he whispered as he pulled me into his lap. His mind was going one place and one place only—to the bedroom.

I was surprised he not only knew what it was, but also what it meant. "Me, if you're not good to her," Sydney said as she came down the stairs, fixed herself another mug of tea, and went right back up the stairs with only a glance in our direction. He and I both snorted at her response.

David noticed my amulet after he managed to unwrap my cocoon enough to sneak a hand up under my shirt to my bra. "Luck?" he asked with a gentle caress.

My mind was quickly pacing David's, which was making staying on topic difficult. "Ask Syd," I said as I pried myself out of his lap. I hid the evasion with the excuse I was going to the kitchen for a glass of water. "Who's on babysitting duty tonight?" I asked as I was walking back into the living room.

David rose from the couch and wrapped his arms around me. "I am on babysitting duty every night," he murmured lasciviously. He started tugging at the hem of my top up with one hand, using the other to lift me off the ground by my butt. "Shall we?" he asked as he started to carry me toward the stairs.

"Mmm," I moaned, letting him have me for a few moments more. "You're making this difficult." I gave him another kiss for the road before wiggling out of his embrace. I pulled my shirt back down and righted my clothes before asking, "Are you ready to go?"

He looked slightly disappointed, but his interest was piqued. And focused below the chin. "Where?" he asked, only barely able to keep his hands to himself.

OK, just one little touch. "I had a dream," I said as I cuddled right up into him, leaning my body against his from knee to shoulder. He sighed happily in response, his hands automatically going right back to what they were doing before I wiggled free. "Here's what I think the plan is. The Fellowship hired a bunch of goons to do some sort of surgical strikes against you guys. When it didn't work, thanks to me, they started planning something bigger. They're meeting at The Riv tonight, and we're going to eavesdrop."

"No, we're not." He lowered himself back onto the couch, pulling me down with him.

I popped right back up, saying, "OK, then just me." Quickly, I grabbed my purse and headed for the base of the stairs. "Syd!" I yelled up to her room. "I'm going out. Be back late, so don't wait up." Before she could respond, I was out the door.

Damn vampire speed. David was leaning against the driver's side door before I even rounded the corner to my driveway. "I thought you understood I wasn't letting you out of my sight," he said tightly. Uh oh, angry vampire. I walked to him, smile on my face, and cuddled up against his side to diffuse some of that anger. Almost instantly he was doing the vampire equivalent of purring; a small hiss of pleasure coming from between his lips. When I pulled away to shoo him out of the way of the driver's side door, he grabbed the keys out of my hand and pocketed them. "I'm driving," he said as he lifted me off the ground, forcing me to hold on for dear life. I ooffed as my back hit the passenger side door of the car, but his lips were right there to muffle it. "I would much rather spend the night with you wrapped around me," he whispered into my mouth between kisses. I moaned at the sensuous picture he painted.

"Keep you safe, first," I whispered back, my body (or, more appropriately, my libido) and my mind warring on what to do next. "Then I'm all yours."

He growled before setting me back on my feet and opening the door for me. "I will hold you to that."

.

His car was truly divine, now that I had a chance to actually enjoy it. The leather smell, the sleek wood. And it was just like him, beautiful. The 10 minute drive to downtown East Lansing was entirely too short.

The Riv was a zoo, as was all of downtown. It was the Friday before classes started, a time lovingly known by the community as Welcome Week. It's just after all of the students have moved back in and the parents have gone home, leaving the students without some much-needed supervision. All the bars were packed with the 21 and up crowd who, after a summer under their parents' roof, are just ready to break some laws. The underage drinkers clustered at one of the many house parties held up and down Albert Street, drinking themselves into oblivion, more worried with getting caught then getting alcohol poisoning. Luckily, the bouncer recognized David as the owner of Rum Runners, and as a courtesy let us in immediately. We also miraculously nabbed a booth in the corner, pushing past throngs of students in various stages of stupid on the way. Maybe this rune thing really worked.

I settled into the booth and closed my eyes to focus while David went over to the bar to get us drinks. He was gone before I could tell him non-alcoholic for me; I guess I would just drink what he brought me. Besides, a little alcohol might help in the vision-goading process. Trying to force a specific vision is impossible, so I didn't try. Instead, I focused on why I was here and what I was going to do. I replayed my dream in my head, focusing on different aspects of it on each replay. I focused on me approaching the table. Suddenly, I got what I was looking for—the weakest link. "Yes!" I shot up from the booth. David had silently slid across from me when my eyes were closed. He looked startled. "I'm going to go talk to them," I said excitedly. "Stay here." Before he could object, chugged half of what I assumed was straight lemon vodka and stumbled toward their table. At least now I had the smell down.

I stumbled up to the table, purposely bumping into the weakest link: a tall slender collegiate type with thick glasses and a shy face. "Hey, sorry." I mumbled as I staggered past. Acting drunk was harder than it seems. I purposefully took an obvious double take at Mr. Shy. I tried to make my voice sexy and slur at the same time as I purred, "Hey, you." I set my drink down on the table before I sat on his knee, wrapping my arms around his neck playfully. This felt ridiculous to me, but I had proof it would work.

He blushed. "Do I know you?" His voice was deeper than I expected it to be; a medium baritone. Of the group, he was probably the most sober, but also the most starved for a woman's attention, which was the only reason this was working.

I giggled and brushed my chest against him as I pushed some wispy strands away from my face. "Do you want to?" I asked. The rest of the table was stunned. At the moment, I was glad I had worn a top that showcased my ample chest. I also had a feeling the tight jeans that hugged my hips would come in handy later. After his cronies at the table settled in to watch their buddy play this out, they kept encouraging him to keep me at the table.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me more securely onto his lap. "Sure. Whatcha drinking?"

I looked down at my glass, genuinely confused as to the answer. I looked back up at him and giggled again. He liked giggly airheads. "I don't know!" I glanced up at the booth I had left David at, but it was empty. Quickly I scanned the room. He had deposited himself at the bar, as close to the table as he could get. He was cradling an untouched beer in his hands and glaring at me.

Mr. Shy took a sip of my half-empty drink. "Vodka and lime." I was almost right. He motioned to one of the scantily-clad waitresses and ordered another round for the two of us.

I took another big gulp of my drink and fake-hiccupped. "Let's dance!" Before he could do the usual guy thing and decline, I grabbed his hand and pulled him from the chair. There was a deejay set up in the corner of the bar, close to where David was sitting. I pulled him onto the makeshift dance floor, right next to the angry vampire, and started grinding up against him. "What's your name?"

He was content to just stand there and let me rub myself all over him. Typical. "Tim. You?"

"I'm Anne." Sloane is an unusual name, and I didn't want this coming back to bite me in the ass. I giggled again for good measure. "Nice to meet you, Tom." He didn't correct my mistake. He would have been almost cute if he wasn't planning to kill people. "Are your frat brothers mad at me for stealing you?" I drunkenly nodded, then stumbled, toward the table.

He caught me and pressed my back up against him. "I'm not in a frat, and they'll just have to wait. We were almost done with the planning, anyway."

It was working too well. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself up to his ear. "Are you guys going somewhere?" I pressed myself harder against him. "Can I come? When are you leaving?" Making your voice sexy, heavy, and drunk at the same time was a feat. I should get an Emmy for this performance.

"We're not going anywhere, but you're welcome to come home with me tonight." He reached down and squeezed my ass. Oh, ick. I turned to so I didn't have to look at him while we were dancing. I found David, and made an 'ick' face at him. His angry face lifted slightly. He stood from his stool and raised eyebrow. I mouthed 'stay there' and turned back to Tim.

I giggled and winked sloppily at him. "Are you planning a party?"

He smiled slyly as he reached for my chest. "You could say that."

I was about done with this. If he didn't spill soon, I was going to knee him in the balls. Stealthily, I slapped his hand away with a smile. "When? I'll be there."

"Tomorrow, but I hope I don't see you there. It's not for…nice girls like you." I fake pouted.

I had probably gotten all I was going to get out of him. "Hey, I have to go to the bathroom. Stay here," I said as I deftly dodged his next advance on my chest. I gave him a wink and stumbled toward the small one-stall ladies room and locked the door, just glad to be free of him. I looked at myself in the mirror, readjusting where Tim and pulled my top to the side and undoing my now messy braid. When I took another look in the mirror, I got a flash. I was seeing me, in this bathroom, being pushed up against the wall. I was fighting a male arm, which was trying to tear my top off.

"Oh, shit." I unlocked the door, but before I could escape, Tim and two of his cronies were standing in my way. Tim pushed me into the opposite wall, while his friends closed and locked the door behind them. I screamed, but I was drowned out by the blaring music on the other side of the door. Tim slapped me across the face, effectively stopping the scream. I tried to fight back, but the goons each grabbed one of my arms, holding me in place against the wall.

"This would have been so much easier for you if you didn't leave me high and dry. Now I am going to have to take what I want." Tim was right in my face, trying to unbutton my jeans. I spit in his eyes and tried to kick him. He caught my leg mid swing and wiped the spit off of his face. "Feisty bitch." All I could do was grunt and double over as he punched me in the stomach. He yanked me free of the goons by my hair and bent me over the only sink. He was holding me down with one hand on the back of my neck as he tried again to unbutton my jeans with the other. I was scrabbling for purchase, but since he was behind me and I couldn't grab onto anything. I mule kicked, hoping my heel would do some damage. I connected, and Tim went down to his knees, clutching his junk.

I made a dash for the door, but my feet got tangled up with the asshole on the floor and couldn't work the lock _and_ make it out of the door before one of the goons snagged me and threw me back into the room. The door was still open, so I thought I'd at least try. "David!" I screamed.

The goon threw me into the wall so hard I could hear my head crack. I tried to fend him off, but I was seriously disoriented by the head/wall encounter just a few moments ago. He had me pinned against the wall, yanking at my top just like in my vision when David rushed into the room. Tim, who was still uncoiling from his fetal position, tried to grab David's arm to stop him, but he got thrown across the room like a rag doll for his troubles. Next was the goon trying to get through my shirt. David grabbed him and threw him into the other goon. The two of them landed on Tim in the corner. Without the goon's arm holding me in place, I sagged to the ground. I could feel a sticky wetness pooling at the back of my head, my jaw was sore, and my stomach leaden.

David was next to me in an instant. "Dammit, Sloane. I need to get you out of here." He picked me up gently, laying my head against his shoulder. As he swung me around and out the door, I could see a dark red smear on the wall where I had been slumped.

Instead of going out the way we came in, which would have required a march through the crowd, David went farther down the narrow hallway to the kitchen at what felt like blazing speeds. My vision blurred and grayed. I must have lost time, the next thing I knew I was lying in the back of David's car and he was racing through the streets of East Lansing. I raised my arm to feel what the wetness in the back of my head was. When it came back, it was red. "I'm bleeding?"

David glanced back at me. "Yes, head wounds do that."

I lost more time. Next I knew, David was carrying me up a flight of stairs. "Where?" I could barely manage one word statements. My head and stomach ached heavily, and my body was very cold.

"We're at my home." He stood at the door and kicked at it slightly. Immediately Emma opened the door, and David whisked me into his living room. After grabbing a hand towel from the front bathroom (why does he have hand towels?) and pressing it to the back of my head, he laid me on his couch. _Fuck, that hurt _I thought as pain gripped my stomach. I meant to say it out loud, but my lips wouldn't form the words. Once I was as stationary and as comfortable as possible, Emma lifted the hem of my shirt to expose my stomach. She started to feel around lightly, until she hit a spot that blazed pain through my body. I jerked involuntarily as a scream escaped my lips.

"She's bleeding internally; she needs a hospital," Emma said as David cleaned the tears from my face. _Does Emma have medical training? Why does a vampire have medical training?_

"No hospitals," David responded quietly as he looked down at me, one of his hands wrapped around mine and the other touching my hair. He turned my head so I was looking at him, ducking his head enough so that I could see his eyes. "Sloane, I want you to drink my blood. It will make you feel better." He brought his wrist to his mouth. Seconds later, he pulled it away, both his wrist and his mouth bloody.

I closed my eyes. I'm not usually that squeamish, but blood is my own personal trigger. Seeing him bleed made me feel even more light-headed. "No," I whispered. I didn't want to become a vampire, especially not now. I needed to be breathing to finish my thesis.

His voice came from right beside me; deep, low, and only for me. "I can't risk losing you, Sloane. I think I am in love with you. It's the only way you'll heal." I tried to say no again, except I couldn't do anything but open my mouth and cough. I could hear the crunch as he reopened the now healed wound and shoved his wrist to my mouth. "Drink." I had no choice, drink or drown. I swallowed several mouthfuls of metallic blood before he pulled his wrist away and laid a light kiss on my now bloody lips.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke in a very large bed in a very dark room. I waited a moment, getting a sense of my body before I tried to move; taking everything one step at a time, so far so good. I turned my head to the side, keeping the rest of my body as still as possible. To my surprise, David lay inert next to me nude but for pajama bottoms. It must be daytime, because he was out cold. I cautiously lifted one arm, bracing for pain that never came, and poked him. No movement. Awkwardly, with a smirk on my lips, I got to my feet. I raised the bottom edge of David's silky dress shirt that had served as my nightgown and looked at my stomach. No pain, no bruise. I felt the back of my head. Not even a scab. It was obviously daytime and I wasn't dead to the world, so I wasn't a vampire. I was just as I was when I woke the day before. Now that I knew I was in one piece, I looked around. There were four doors in this room, all closed. I deduced two were closets because of the louvered doors. Two options left. I guessed, choosing the bathroom correctly on the first try and turning on the light. There was a large multi-headed shower, a soaking tub, and a sauna, as well as all the normal accoutrements. Wow. Perched on the pedestal sink was a note inscribed with two different styles of handwriting. The first was a perfect cursive that looked just like my grandmother's.

_Sloane,_

_David's blood will have healed most of your injuries, but has other side effects as well. Your senses will be heightened, for one. This may or may not include your foresight. Please be careful, I cannot predict what effect his blood may have on that part of you. _

_I left some clothes for you. I hope they fit._

_Emma_

Underneath that, was the almost illegible scribblement I already recognized as David's handwriting:

_Love, _

_I heard the entire conversation between you and that man. Please be careful today. Just because the attack will be aimed at vampires does not mean they will not also aim for easier prey. Because of Emma's status, you are surely a target. _

Emma's status? What the hell does that mean?

_Please, please, please be careful. For me. _

_I love you,_

_David_

At the bottom of the page was what looked suspiciously like a royal blazon. A purple circle with a red scepter and ax crossed behind a star. Fantastic. I had unwittingly taken up with some sort of vampire royalty just before the Fellowship planned to attack. I didn't even know vampire had royalty. What did they rule? Lansing? Michigan? The Midwest? The world?

Underneath the note was a pile of expensive clothes. After a quick shower to wash the remaining blood out of my hair, I dressed in the sundress and took a look at myself in the mirror. Damn, I looked good. My skin was perfectly smooth and glowing, my hair seemed more auburn than usual and it was shiny. Even my eyes sparkled more.

I went downstairs and looked in the fridge, not expecting much. Surprisingly, David had stocked several 2 liter bottles of Pepsi, some fruit, and other odds and ends. Curious, I looked in the freezer. There were individual serving cups of Ben and Jerry's ice cream in several flavors. He knew his way into a (human) woman's heart—chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. I fumbled around the kitchen cabinets before I found a lonely glass, and drank my Pepsi and ate the more sensible breakfast choice, a pear. My purse was sitting on the kitchen counter innocently, as if that was exactly where it belonged. First order of business was to check my phone. I had a text from Sydney: _call me_. I cringed before dialing the number. The shorter the text, the angrier she was. Two words was not good.

"Where did you two go last night?" she demanded as she picked up the phone.

Yup, angry. "The Riv," I answered, trying to flatten my voice to utter nonchalance.

"You hate The Riv," she accused. True. She knew me too well and would see though any attempt to cover up the real reason, so I answered her with silence. She sighed. "What did you see?"

Despite the overwhelming urge to say '_nothing, hun, just a night out'_, I had to answer her truthfully. "We were just eavesdropping on a group of guys. Nothing dangerous." Well, mostly truthfully.

"Then why didn't you bring me?" she pouted.

Was she genuinely hurt I didn't invite her, or was she seeing through my bullshit yet again? "You babysat me all day. It was his turn."

"And?" I knew what she meant.

"It's today, sometime. I couldn't really get him to spill more than that."

"Get him to spill? What do you mean?" I filled her in on the details, up until when Tim tried to get firsties on my gang rape. "Nice thinking, hun. Then what? You're skipping the part where you didn't come home."

It was the first time I had lied, or even equivocated, to Sydney, and I felt terrible. However, I was glad she swallowed it. "David took me to his place. I stayed the night here." Well, maybe it wasn't a complete lie. I was all shades of gray this week.

"Nice!" Despite her huffy attitude, I had a feeling she genuinely liked him.

"Look, can you come pick me up?" I looked out the window to determine where I was. Across the street was Oldsmobile Stadium, home of the Lansing Lugnuts, a minor league baseball team. "He's got a condo in the Stadium District." I knew for a fact that there was a Caribou Coffee on the ground floor of the building. When the coffee houses in East Lansing get too crowded during the semester, it is one of my favorite places to come and study. "I'll be in Caribou."

"Sure, I'll be there in 20 minutes." I chugged my pop as I looked in my purse. David had remembered to give me back my keys, which meant I didn't need to go searching for them. I did, however, need to search for my shoes. I found them on the floor, next to the couch and a bloody hand towel. I slipped on the sandals and threw the towel in some cold water in the sink. After much searching, I found a pen and notepad in what seemed to be the only drawer in the kitchen that wasn't empty.

_David,_

_Thanks for everything last night. I owe you big time after that performance. _

It wasn't the first time a vision made me to do something I really didn't want to do, but it was the first time I had made someone that cared about me watch, and I felt horrible. I felt especially bad because of what he had to watch me do. And then I felt bad all over again when I thought of what he had to deal with afterwards.

_Trust me, I WILL make it up to you, as soon as you're ready to forgive me. I am going to run into work for a while. I'll be careful. Please stay home, and make Emma and Lee stay home tonight. Don't be anywhere the Fellowship would expect you._

I couldn't decide how to sign the letter. I think I love him back, as stupid as that sounds after just a few days, but I couldn't tell him I loved him the first time via letter. If I left anything less than 'I love you', would he feel awkward because he thought I didn't return his feelings? In the end, I decided on:

_Forever yours, _

_Sloane_

With that, I grabbed my purse and keys, and walked out the door. Fifteen minutes later, Sydney and I were sitting in Caribou Coffee, each with our indulgence. I got the chai latte, she had a double teddy bear with extra whipped cream, or something frilly like that. I never particularly liked coffee, but with the flavored syrup, whipped cream and sugar in Syd's drink, I wasn't sure it could still be considered anything of the sort. She was trying to do the best friend thing and grill me on my relationship with David, but she was so out of practice. I got the distinct impression that she was secretly looking for bridesmaid dresses for our wedding, something that was still illegal in the state of Michigan.

It was 5 o'clock before we left the coffee shop, and so far there hadn't been a word about any attacks or shootings. Maybe when (or if) Tim and the assholes woke up, they decided to push it back until they could regroup. Or just forget about the whole thing. I was really hoping the later, because I couldn't stand being on edge for the foreseeable future.

Sydney had driven my car to pick me up instead of her own clunker, probably because mine started without the aid of a hope and a prayer and got triple the gas mileage. I slid into the driver's seat as Sydney's phone rang. "Hello, Mrs. Handel," she answered. Pause. "I am so sorry to hear that, of course I can watch the kids tonight." Pause. "Sloane and I are in the area, I can have her drop me off if you can give me a ride back home?" Pause. "Sounds good." She hung up the phone and turned to me, a slight look of panic in her eyes. "Mrs. Handel's mom is in the hospital, so she and Mr. Handel are going to see her as soon as possible. Can you drop me at their place? Can you stay out of trouble for a couple of hours alone?"

I tried as hard as I could to hear that conversation, but couldn't. Maybe Emma was wrong about the heightened senses thing. "I'll be fine."

We were a stone's throw away from their place, so I dropped Sydney off and headed straight for campus. Classes started in two days; there was way too much stuff for me to do. I went straight into the freshly painted office and got to work on updating my data and my thesis before attempting to memorize the 100-plus faces I'd be teaching this semester.


	9. Chapter 9

It was 8:15 before I finished updating everything and sent it off to Jeanne; I had been working for hours. I could tell from the angled shadows that the sun was in its final approach to the horizon. I stood and stretched to get the blood flowing again. Just as I reached for the sky, pulling all my vertebrae back into alignment, I felt another presence in the office.

"Hello Sloane," said the voice behind me. I turned to see a beaten and bruised Tim standing and blocking the only exit. He had a black eye with a set of butterfly bandages in the center of his bruised cheek, and he'd brought two rolls of duct tape, one around each wrist. He limped toward me and grabbed my arm. "Or should I call you Anne?"

"No," I screamed, even though there was probably no one in the building to help me at this hour. He hit me across the cheek with the butt of a gun he had pulled from the small of his back, sending my head whipping toward my shoulder and knocking me off balance enough to stumble.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Sloane? How did you heal so fast?" I could taste the metallic saltiness of blood in my mouth as he spoke, sending waves of nausea through my stomach.

"Fuck you," I whispered before trying to spit the blood on to the floor. A trickle of blood started to work its way down my chin, guess I need to practice my spitting technique. My nonchalant answer enraged and distracted him. Now was my chance. I formed as tight a fist as I could with my free hand and swung. Instead of letting me go when I connected with his ear, he kept his grip as he recoiled, then threw me face-first to the ground.

I landed with a painful thud. "Oh, you will," he responded. He sat on me to hold me in place, pulled both of my hands behind my back and managed to duct tape them together despite my struggling. "Eventually." I tried to stand when he left go of me, but could only manage to wiggle into a seated position, even with the help of a wall. My hip was killing me from the impact with the floor, and squirming was just making it hurt more. Still, I struggled against the tape. If only there was something sharp lying around the office somewhere, I could cut it open. After a quick scan, I couldn't find anything.

He was examining his punched ear in a mirror we had hung to check ourselves before class. "Why are you doing this?" I asked with forced calm.

He dropped to his knees, straddled my legs, and ran a hand up underneath the knee-length dress Emma had lent me. I tried to kick, but his ass pinned my legs in place. Once he held his other hand on my chest, I couldn't even headbutt him. "You're with the fucking vampires. At first, I was just going to help attack vampire owned businesses to send a message, but when that bloodsucker came to help you last night, well...now I can kill two birds with one stone." He grabbed my ankles and yanked me so I slid down flat on the floor again, face up. Keeping that hand on my chest to hold me down, he one-handedly pulled my panties off and threw them across the room. "We'll just leave those here for boyfriend to find."

I started to scream again as loud as I could. I could feel tears sliding down my face. He pressed himself against me, forcing his legs between mine so I couldn't get him in the balls like I had last night. I squirmed, I fought, but I didn't know if I was helping or hurting myself. He duct taped my mouth and bitch slapped me again. The tape muffled my pained grunt. I tried fighting him, but all I could do was squirm beneath him.

He grabbed the gun out of his waistband and pressed it into my shoulder, on target for the phantom wound of the day before. "Let's leave a little blood here, too. Just to make sure he gets the message," he said just before he fired the weapon into my shoulder at point blank range. I screamed out in pain, muffled by the duct tape, as tears squeezed from my eyes. As I continued to bleed, I got weaker, to the point where my fight had been reduced to a half-assed thrash. He stood, looming over me, watching me bleed with a deranged smile on his face. It wasn't until I stopped moving all together and let the pain wash over me that he stopped getting his kicks out of my predicament. There was a growing puddle of red beneath my shoulder before he flung me over his own, careful to shield himself should I decide to kick. At this point, it wasn't much use. I was getting too weak to do much damage.

He struggled to carry me up the one flight of stairs, his limp making it harder than it would have otherwise been. I was splashing a trail of blood, leaving red dots from my office all the way to the loading dock, where a van was idling. He threw me in the back where I landed like a rag doll.

I was blissfully alone in the back during the long ride. It was completely dark, so I was sure David was up by now. I hoped he'd go to my office looking for me (if he knew where it was), find traces of my blood, and call in reinforcements. I felt better thinking that someone was looking for me, even if they didn't have a chance at finding me now. Not even I knew where we were.

We had arrived in an unlighted, seemingly unfrequented area when I was jerked back into the here and now. He hoisted me back over his shoulder to carry me inside a small A-frame house, waking up just about everything that hurt along the way. I couldn't do much more than whimper in response. He carried me in the back door, which opened into a small out dated kitchen. Through the kitchen, I craned my neck to see an empty dining room, and a barely furnished living room beyond that. He carried me into the living room and dumped me onto a clear tarp covering the floor in front of him. Another kind of pain gripped my good shoulder as I landed on it, and I let out another small whimper.

He leaned down and tore the tape off my mouth. "Scream as much as you want, no one is ever going to find you here," he said as he loomed over me. "And stay on the tarp. I don't want to clean up a mess when I'm done with you." He turned on the TV to a local news station before moving to unbutton his jeans. I just laid there, flattened by the mundanity of a guy staring at the TV while getting ready to rape me, tears hopelessly trickling from my eyes. There was nothing I could do to stop him at this point. I was at his mercy, and it was obvious he wasn't feeling very merciful tonight. A slight glimmer of hope washed through me as he froze momentarily, a breaking news story about several anti-vampire shootings in the Lansing and East Lansing area catching his attention:

"_Breaking news on a story developing right here in the Lansing and East Lansing area. Starting at approximately 8 o'clock this evening, several vampire-owned businesses were targeted by a group of young men carrying guns loaded with silver bullets. The first was The Post, a popular college hangout, then Buffalo Wild Wings, both owned by reclusive vampire named Lee Wong. Most recently, Rum Runners, a Lansing piano bar owned by vampires David and Emma O'Hara, was targeted. Thanks to bar patrons at all three locations, all three perpetrators were stopped and apprehended before anyone was hurt."_

"God dammit! You warned them, didn't you?" I could hear my ribs crack when Tim kicked me, releasing another muffled whimper of pain. "You bitch!" he said as he straddled me, this time to punch me in the face. The punch, which landed near my temple, split my hairline. For the second time in two days, I had a scalp wound, losing more blood. Tim dragged me by my hair out the front door, throwing me violently to the ground and banging my head against the barren dirt under an evergreen tree. A sticky perimeter of bloody dirt was forming around me. I coughed, and the metallic taste of blood returned to my mouth. "I'm going to fuck you and bleed you dry, just like the fucking vampires do." He produced the gun and fired into my thigh, again at point blank range. I let out another scream, but it came out just an echo of what I intended it to be. "Isn't that what you want? I can bite you, too," he said as he pulled his pants down, easily kneeing my legs open despite my weakening resistance. Before he could position himself to enter me, he was gone.

After a dark and blank bit of time, David was kneeling beside me, Lee visible over his shoulder. I coughed again, sending more fresh blood into my mouth. It was getting harder and harder for me to breathe or keep my eyes open. "She's coughing up blood. Call Emma." Lee disappeared as David produced a large sword. For a moment, I was sure he was going to just slit my throat and end it there. I don't know what inspired such a thought. The disturbing part was that I wouldn't have minded so much. At least then the pain would be over. Instead, he leaned over me and slit the tape between my wrists. "I am so sorry; I should have been here sooner."

I could barely move my mouth to make the words. "My knight," I mouthed. He cracked a hint of a rueful smile as he smoothed my bloody hair out of my face.

Suddenly, Lee was back. I don't know if he was moving that fast, or I lost a bit of time, but I felt as if, in the blink of an eye, he had reappeared over David's shoulder. "She says you cannot give her enough blood this soon after last night to heal her," he said as he looked down at me. For the first time, I saw the glimmer of an emotion on his face: fear. He was afraid, but I didn't know what of. Consternation helped to bring some semblance of thought back. "She does need a hospital."

I cried out weakly when David tried to pick me up. He stopped immediately, carefully setting me back down exactly where I had been. "What hurts?" he asked.

I had to force myself not to laugh weakly at the comment. I knew it would just hurt if I did. My eyes fluttered for a bit before I could force them open. "Everything," I said first, a small cough accompanied by a fine mist of blood. "I think…shoulder dislocated…broken ribs."

David supported my arm and lifted me to a sitting position, allowing my head to loll back against his shoulder. He nodded to Lee, who put down his sword and knelt by my side. "This is going to hurt," he said delicately. "Count of three, ready? One..." Lee wasn't going to wait. He yanked my arm back into its socket and I let out a gurgled scream. "Three," David said with a glare at the Asian vampire. Without so much as an apologetic glance, Lee dropped my arm and grabbed his sword, shoving it into a scabbard attached to his belt. God, maybe they _were_ knights. They had the hardware.

The reclusive Lee Wong held out his hand. "Keys," he said, his accented English terse. "I will drive." My eyes drifted closed before the exchange, only to open again as David lifted me from the ground carefully. With delicacy David held me, loading both himself and me into the back seat of his Mercedes at the same time. Again, two days in a row, I was bleeding in the back seat of his car. I drifted in and out of oblivion as we raced back into town, David cradling me in his lap and licking the blood from my hairline while putting pressure on my shoulder and leg. I was losing the battle. I was finally safe, my mind and my body blissfully unconscious.


	10. Chapter 10

I woke surrounded by beeping and whirling machines, the smell of antiseptic and a pair of cool arms. "I hate hospitals," I moaned. I had hated them ever since high school. I guess places really can be imprinted with bad memories, making them toxic for the rest of time. I looked down to assess the damage, but instead of a hospital gown, I was in a pink tank top and pink and teal pajama shorts. I was also covered in bandages.

David, who was lying, holding me, on an hospital bed that crackled as he shifted slightly, the focus coming back to his eyes. "I went to your office and found your underthings and a pool of blood. I feared I was too late." He kissed my forehead lightly, then my cheek, then my lips. He was treating me like a porcelain doll.

I cuddled into him, resting my head against his chest. "I look that bad, huh?" I asked. I must have looked horrible, because I didn't feel like I deserved porcelain doll status. But then again, I hadn't really tried to move yet. This may be a false, drug-addled sense of well-being.

"Worse," was his pained comment, his hand automatically gripping my fingers more tightly. "He fractured your skull, dislocated your shoulder, and broke several ribs, one of which punctured a lung. Not to mention your face, and…" Painfully and slowly, I turned into his embrace, quieting him. He wrapped his arms around me more securely, finally prompting a twinge in my side, but I didn't dare make a sound. I didn't even flinch. Who knows what kind of mindless panic that might have set off in him.

I took a deep breath, coming to terms with the dull pain and asked, "Where is he?" I had a feeling I knew, but I had to know for sure. I needed to know he couldn't get me anymore. If I was ever going to sleep again, I needed to know.

He looked me in the eye, studying my face for a moment before he answered. "I killed him, like I should have the first time he…touched you."

"Good," I answered honestly. I had never truly wished another human being dead until now, but I had always been a survivalist. If it was him or me, I choose me. I was just glad to be alive.

I spied what looked like a large sippy cup on the bedside table. My mouth felt like I had been eating salty cotton for a week. I extended a finger in the cup's direction, not in hopes of being able to reach it without untangling myself from David; I knew the chances of that happening. "Is that water?" I asked. Without jostling me, David grabbed the cup and helped me get upright enough to drink it. I downed the whole thing in seconds and handed him the empty cup. "Not that I'm not incredibly grateful that you did, but how the hell did you find me?"

If he could, he would have blushed. He fidgeted nervously until I smacked him lightly on the chest, surprising him with the action and me with the solidity of his chest. "Remember how Emma mentioned there would be side effects to drinking that quantity of my blood?" he answered.

_Where was he going with this?_ I asked myself. I narrowed my gaze and answered, "…yes…"

He brushed back my hair before gently caressing my face. "Well, there are side effects for me, too. Now I have the ability to…feel you. I can feel what you're feeling, if you're angry or sad or happy. It also makes it easier for me to track where you are."

I wasn't particularly thrilled that he now had some sort of internal GPS glommed onto me, but I was sorry he had felt my unbridled terror all night. "I'm so sorry," I whispered.

That caught him by surprise. "What could you possibly be sorry for?"

"I'm sorry you had to experience my fear. I'm sorry you had to spend time to come find me when you were had more important issues to deal with."

I curled back into his arms as he kissed my forehead. "Nothing is more important to me than you. And I am glad I felt it. If I had not, I would not have known you were in trouble, or where to find you. If we were just a minute later, you might not have survived."

I remembered what Tim was about to do just before he disappeared from my view; flash-backs of his demented grin as he lowered himself on to me burned my eyes. I shuddered and buried my head into David's shoulder. I could smell that David smell of sugar-dipped masculinity and copper, which helped to stem some of the fear from gripping me all over again.

After several minutes of silent comforting, David spoke. "I thought you couldn't use yourself as a medium," he asked. He was talking about the stigmata-turned-real gunshot wounds, which surprised the hell out of me, too.

"Me too," I finally vocalized, putting the thoughts that I was having into words. Truthfully, I never had been able to use myself. I guess it's not like I had many instances where I was to be in such a critical situation; maybe the vision had to be life-saving for it to be of myself? Or maybe I was growing as a clairvoyant, the side effect of David's blood finally rearing its ugly head. I pushed those thoughts aside; I wanted to just be happy I was alive for the time being. I could think about repercussions later.

"I thought the medium—you─died in the…episode," David asked, his words breaking through my contemplation.

I rubbed his chest, really smiling for the first time since I woke up. "I guess you changed the outcome," I whispered. "Thank you." Again, we sat in silence for some time. He was rubbing my back so gently I could barely feel it, which was putting me to sleep.

Before I could drift off, Emma was standing over me, examining my medical chart. One second I was drifting to sleep in David's arms, the next Emma was clacking my chart against the side of my bed. "How is my patient?"

"I thought vampires couldn't practice medicine," I said sleepily. When the vampires came out of the coffin, so to speak, and announced their existence to the world, they were banned from several public professions, including practicing medicine.

"Not in an official capacity, no, but your physician was a student of mine and owes me a favor." She moved around to the bag of clear liquid hanging from a pole and injected something into it. After examining the bruises on my face and the bandages around my shoulder and thigh, she lifted the hem of my tank top up just enough to examine a bandage wrapped around my ribcage. I felt a twinge as she pressed into it. "Feed her just a touch more. I'll be right back."

Emma left the room, shutting the door, as David's fangs popped out. A slight thrill ran through me when I thought about where extended fangs could lead, but instead of throwing me down on the bed and making me a very happy woman, he bit his finger and offered it to me.

"Eww, no," I said, crinkling my nose in response.

He sighed loudly, rolling his eyes for good measure. "This was easier when you were unconscious. Please?"

I pursed my lips and shook my head emphatically. The sight of his blood was making me light headed again. "You're going to have to knock me out again."

He smiled slyly, his still visible fangs giving it a devilish effect. He leaned into me, giving me a long, sultry kiss. I moaned in delight; maybe this would make me a very happy woman. Just when I thought my core was going to erupt, he bit his tongue and let the blood drip into my mouth. I was enjoying this kiss too much to let a little blood stop it. He shifted himself on top of me, biting his tongue again when the punctures healed. I gasped when he accidentally nudged my broken ribs, tightening my whole body in response. He stopped immediately. "Sorry, I am sorry," he said as he held himself away from my body.

I pouted. "Don't stop," I pleaded, running my hands along his back underneath his shirt.

He lightly rubbed my injured shoulder. "When you're not so broken," he said as he tucked me into him and wrapped us both in the blanket. I grabbed his arm and looked at his watch: 6:35 AM.

"It's almost dawn," I mumbled. Whatever Emma had injected into my IV bag was kicking in, and I was getting increasingly drowsy. My words were starting to slur. "Don't you have to go?"

"This is a light-proofed room; I will not leave until you want me to go." My last conscious thought faded as I wondered why a hospital would have a vampire-ready room.


	11. Chapter 11

Artificial light was streaming though a faux window when I woke. David was lying next to me in nothing but the jeans he had been wearing the night before. Beyond him I could see Sydney sitting, reading a paperback, his vintage t-shirt hanging over the side of her chair. I think her mothering was going systemic—all she needed was a pair of knitting needles and she'd be in the running for mother of the year. David's hair was a hot mess, fanning out from his head in a curly black halo. His jaw was slightly relaxed, which allowed me to see that he had passed out (died? fallen asleep?) with his fangs down. Mmm, yummy. Was it wrong that I wanted to lick them? A slight smattering of barely-visible freckles I hadn't noticed before covered his nose and cheeks. I stole a long glance at the chest I had been sleeping on—it was truly a work of art. His broad shoulders were chiseled and cut, his pectorals and abs well defined. A 'V' made of muscle framed his small waist. His skin was the color of homemade vanilla ice cream. A small happy trail started just below his belly button and disappeared beneath the waistband of his pants. Was I drooling?

I glanced back up at Sydney, making sure no one caught my oogle-fest. "Hey," I said after clearing my throat. It looked as if I was left to appreciate David's holy-hotness all on my own.

She looked up from her paperback, oblivious to my ogling session. "Hey, hun! I thought you were never going to wake up!" She bookmarked her page with an old picture of the two of us in high school and tossed it to the bedside table.

"How long have I been out?" There were questions that I had forgotten to ask David last night, this being one of them.

"Five days." She must have seen the worry on my face. "Jeanne got another PhD to cover a couple of week's worth of teaching, and she said not to come back to the lab for at least a month. She was here earlier, but you know her." I did, she had one of the most hectic schedules I have ever seen. I'm not sure if she ever got a chance to eat or sleep.

"So?" I laid back down on David's shoulder and carefully slid my arm around his waist. Not too sore. "What happened?" I asked. She looked at me like I had asked her the square of the log of pi. "With the attacks?" I clarified.

"Oh! That feels like it was so long ago, now. Shifters—which I'm still coming to terms with, by the way—were stationed discretely at all of the places that they thought might be targeted. There were 5 attackers in total, one hit The Post, one hit B-Dubs," what the locals call Buffalo Wild Wings, "one hit Rum Runners, and one attacked a biweekly meeting of a religious tolerance group on campus, which leaves the one that came after you." She looked slightly chagrined at the end of that sentence. "The three that hit the bars were stopped by the groups of shifters. No one was guarding the religious tolerance meeting and a man was shot, but will recover. The cops caught that guy shortly after while riding an unregistered bike on campus." I rolled my eyes; idiot. I noticed she felt no need to explain what happened to Tim. "You got the worst of it hun, and I'm sooo sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," I said dismissively. "You and David can't watch me 24-hours a day."

"I think David's mad at me for letting down my guard," she replied sheepishly.

"Then just tell him to shove it. That's what I'd do," I said with a smile and a wink, which predictably cheered her right up. "Can you help me up? I have to use the bathroom." Before I could finish my sentence, she jolted up and helped me to my feet, dragging the IV pole behind me as I slowly ambled to the bathroom. Surprisingly, I wasn't the shot-and-beaten kind of sore, I was more the haven't-moved-in-days kind of sore. After tending to my business, I stole a glance in the mirror. The bruises on my face were almost gone, only greeny-yellow shadows of what they must have been. The large gash on my hairline was now a small, pinkish scar I could barely see. I lifted up my tank top and inspected the bandage around my ribs; there was almost no bruising and there was only got a slight tenderness when I fingered the sensitive areas. I tried the range of motion of my injured shoulder; it only stung slightly as I gingerly rotated it. I prodded the bandage on my thigh, getting just a small twinge in response.

When I emerged, a slim, older wolf in a lab coat was standing in my room, talking to Sydney. He was quite tall, with short black hair that was graying at the temples. His light russet skin, strong cheekbones and jaw line made me think he must have some Native American ancestry. When he turned to me, I could see his eyes were the color of warm chocolate. "Ms. McIntosh, I'm Dr. Patrick Lupe. It's nice to see you up and about," he said as he helped me back to the bed. Once I was on my back again, he took the liberty of taking my blood pressure and examined my various wounds. "Well, I don't see why you can't go home tonight, if you'd like."

"I would, very much," I answered as I sat up again. I knew I was piling up medical bills by the dozens after a week-long stay at the hospital, and the basic health insurance provided by the Graduate Union wasn't going to cover even half of it.

He picked up the chart from the end of my bed and tucked it under his arm. "I'll get the paperwork rolling, then." He gave me a quick smile and headed for the door, stopping at the threshold of the door and turning, as if he had forgotten something. "And thank you for the forewarning. It would have been bad for all the supernaturals in the area if the Fellowship was allowed to gain a stronghold in Lansing. The pack owes you; please remember us if you ever need anything."

I gave him a smile. "Anytime." I had a feeling he was the head dog (har de har de har) in the local Were pack. It would be nice to be on his good side.

I started to get dressed while the paperwork was started. Unfortunately, Emma's beautiful dress was ruined, but Sydney had thought to bring me a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a button down shirt. She had also washed the mud and blood off my favorite pair of sandals. Sydney and I have never been shy about our bodies around one another, so I shucked the new pajamas and threw them at her. "Where'd these come from?"

She caught them and folded them into a neat pile, smile blossoming on her face. "David had Lee pick those up for you," she snickered. There was a quick beat before Sydney and I guffawed in unison. Lee, the reclusive, always serious, no nonsense, stick in the mud vampire went pajama shopping for his brother-in-law's girlfriend? I just couldn't see it. I laughed so hard my side started hurting again, but I just couldn't stop. I collapsed back onto the bed, curling into a ball and repeating, "Oh, God, it hurts," as I continued to laugh hysterically. When I regained my composure several minutes later, I straightened out and put on the old jeans over a pair of new panties. I didn't want to know where the panties came from. I would never be able to look Lee in the eye again if I knew he got me fire engine red lace boy shorts. Sydney held up the other half of the set. "You want to wear a bra? I don't know how that'd feel on your shoulder…"

I considered my options quickly, and decided on the bra. I don't care what the circumstances are, prancing around with your C-cups being buffeted by the wind is neither appropriate nor comfortable. Sydney helped me hook it in the back, and I pulled on the white button down. The shirt was old and worn, and with a bright red bra underneath, horribly see-through. This was not going to work. Draped on another chair across the room was a man's dark blue oxford, so I traded. I rubbed the collar up against my face; it smelled like David.

Just before we were going to leave, a small piece of paper slid under the door. Sydney was the one to pick it up. "Oh boy."

She handed me the piece of paper. On it was a list of charges totaling a sum I wouldn't be able to pay off in years. At the bottom, the balance read $0.00 and a note that said, '_Thanks from your supernatural community_'. Oh boy, indeed. I shoved the bill in my purse and headed out the door.


	12. Chapter 12

I was lying in my own bed, clad in only panties and old track t-shirt from high school, my reading glasses perched on my nose, reading a book when David knocked on my bedroom door. "May I come in?" he asked, carrying a single blue hydrangea. I had been melancholy all night for no particular reason, and seeing him made me feel slightly better.

"Of course," I replied with a smile. I dog-eared my page and set the book on my bedside table. I opened my arms for him, but instead of coming to lie with me, he just sat at the end of the bed, head bowed. Uh oh. "What?" I asked, the lift in my mood instantly evaporating. I had a feeling this was going to be a bad night.

He didn't even look up. "How do you feel about marriage?"

What the hell? I paused for a moment, only able to blink witlessly as I forced my brain to make the 180. "Um…indifferent, I guess?" I answered, my eyes boring holes into David. "I haven't really thought about it. Why?" He had to know that vampires and humans couldn't marry in Michigan yet…

He looked up at me, face stony. "I want you to close your eyes and clear your mind. What do you feel?"

I complied, if only to see where this was going. Curiosity really did kill the cat. I relaxed, closed my eyes, and focused on my breathing. I got a flash of Sydney in about 2 minutes. "I don't feel anything. Syd's going to cut her leg on one if the kid's bed frames in a bit, though." She was babysitting the Handel children again.

He looked exasperated. "Try again."

Again, I did. What was he looking for? I went through the same routine, and just got another flash. I shook my head. "I don't FEEL anything. I just see Lee kicking the shit out of some guy because he asked Emma to do something obscene."

This was pissing him off, I could tell. His teeth clenched, his hands tightened into fists. He took a deep unnecessary breath and said, "Again."

This was the last time, I promised myself. I took my own deep breath and closed my eyes. This time I focused on my rising pulse. I opened my eyes. "Another vision. Nothing important. What are you getting at?"

The anger dropped from his face, replaced with concern. "Have you ever been able to do that before?"

"What?" He was really starting to piss _me_ off, and it showed in my voice. I pushed myself farther up in bed, sitting cross-legged and demanding an answer.

"Summon visions like that. Three in a row." He was now standing alongside my bed, leaning in toward me.

Shit. My eyes got wide, my pulse ramped into overdrive. "Uh oh."

He sat on my bed again, this time near my torso. "I take that as a no," he said, dejected.

I was in full-fledged panic mode. "No. Is it just because of the blood? Will it fade? How else am I changed? I know I don't have enhanced senses…" I was seriously freaking out. It took me 22 years to get used to my quirk, and now the rules were in the crapper?

"Shh, it is OK, Sloane. Most likely, it will fade in a couple of weeks. But you cannot feel me?"

I was seriously confused now. I looked at him, head cocked to the side. "What?"

He stood for a minute, trying to form a question that wouldn't just raise more questions. "Can you feel what I'm feeling?"

I thought about it. I was pretty sure the confusion and anxiety were all mine. "I don't think so."

He looked relieved. "Good."

That pissed me off. "Oh, so you get to know every little emotion that passes through my psyche and track my every movement, but you don't want me to know what you feel? You don't want me to know where you are? That's hardly fair! Are you planning on doing something—or someone—I wouldn't approve of?"

The anger was back in his eyes. "What are you accusing me of?"

"You're only with me to keep an eye on me for your own use. Did Emma put you up to this, or was it your bright idea to exploit me? If you think I'm going to be the royal fortune teller, you can just fuck off right now." My temper tantrum was off and running. No stopping it now. I crossed my arms across my chest and flinched as the quick movement sent a jolt of pain through my arm and my ribs. At the exact same moment, David flinched. Inexplicably, I was suddenly sad.

"Don't hurt yourself, Sloane." He sounded miserable.

My temper tantrum ended as I realized what had just happened. "David, I felt that. You're sad."

His eyes widened as he stared at me, before dropping his head. "I was afraid of that." He was so sad my chest ached. I clutched at my heart. "I'm sorry, Sloane. I should have…this should have been your decision."

"What?" The two people's pain, sadness, and anger ricocheting back and forth was a lot to bear. I crumpled back against the headboard and pulled my knees into my chest.

"When a vampire gives a human a certain amount of blood, they become…permanently linked. Like a marriage, but more physical. It requires a communion of blood. I should have felt it coming and been able to stop feeding you my blood in time to prevent it. I do not know what happened. Perhaps the drugs in your system dulled the bond, perhaps I was too afraid for your life to care. I do not know the answer. But I am sorry; I would never have forced something like this on you."

I couldn't take it anymore. My fear, pain, and anger churning with his sadness and regret was reaching an explosive pitch in my body. "Out," I whispered as tears started to run down my face. I needed to try anything to make it stop. He dropped the hydrangea on the bed and slowly left the room. I started to sob.

.

It wasn't even a half hour later that Emma was sitting on the end of my bed, rubbing my back. The emotions had only been getting stronger since David left, which left me lying in a fetal position, unable or unwilling to move. I felt hugely depressed, and possibly suicidal. "He's too much," I whispered. "How do I dull him?"

She quit rubbing my back and produced a cell phone. Quickly, she shot off a text message before beginning rubbing my back again. "Is it getting better?"

Most of the depression was lifting, leaving my own anger and confusion. "Yes."

"You'll have to forgive him. This is the first time he's had a bonded, so you are both new to this. He must not have considered how much more strongly we feel things." She continued to rub my back gently for several minutes before she spoke. "Do you truly believe I sent David to control you?"

I regretted saying that out loud, especially to David. "It crossed my mind a couple of times," I whispered.

She was quiet for another minute. "You would make a ruthless vampire. In truth, the thought also crossed my mind, but only after David was…involved, and he refused." She stopped rubbing my back and stood. "Would you not foresee that move on my part?" she asked as she straightened her navy sheath dress.

Probably not, but I wasn't going to let her know that. "Most likely," I lied seamlessly. She left the room, leaving me alone in my empty house.


	13. Chapter 13Parte Deux

**PARTE DEUX**

It had been weeks since I had encountered any vampires what-so-ever; ever since the night David dropped the bonded bomb. It took a couple of days, but David had learned to effectively dampen the bond that existed between us. Still, even with the bond muted and my life back to (relative) normalcy, I was miserable. Sydney had noticed my increasing irritability, and for a while took a hands-off approach to my funk. She finally couldn't take it any longer.

"Come on, Sloane," she pleaded, hands unintentionally clasped in front of her as if she were praying. "You need to get out and do something non-school related." Once I was healed, I had thrown myself into teaching and research as a distraction from my misery. "It's going to be so fun!" Sydney had been trying to get me to offer myself at a bachelorette auction benefiting a local low-income daycare program. She had already put herself on the block and was now working on me. "Really, all you have to do is come to the auction in your Halloween costume. I'll even buy you the costume." The auction, which was for a date for Halloween night, was set for three days before Halloween.

"In my mood, no one would bid on me. That would be embarrassing, and that's the last thing I need." It wasn't the real reason I was dragging my feet, but I wasn't admitting the real reason to myself, let alone Sydney.

Sydney put on her patented pouty face. _Oh, crap,_ I thought. _Don't look at her…but how do I turn away? Look at that face… _"For me?"

I had never been able to deny that pouty face. Luckily, she played that card very rarely. "I guess," I said with a sigh. "When do I need to be where?"

She was so happy she hopped up out of her chair and did a little dance. "It's at the MSU Auditorium this coming Wednesday. It starts at 7:30, but you need to be there 15 minutes earlier." While she was already up, she grabbed a bag from behind the couch. "And wear this to it. All the girls are wearing the costumes they'll be wearing on Halloween."

She handed me the bag from a local Halloween store. "This costume better not have the word 'sexy' in the title."

"Would I do you wrong like that?" She may have sounded confident I'd like the costume, but she was slowly backing away toward the door.

I pulled the costume out of the bag. It was nothing but black latex. The picture on the tag showed a barely-there Cat Woman costume. True to her word, there was no 'sexy' in the title, but there should have been. "Syd! What were you thinking?" I put the costume back in the bag and threw it at her. "There's no way I'm wearing that."

"Oh, come on! Live a little!" I scowled at her. "David's gone. Wear something sexy, go on a date with a man who appreciates your…assets, and possibly get laid. I think it would do you some good."

"Syd, no." There was no possible way.

She crossed her arms under her breasts. "Just trust me. I have a plan." With that, she winked at me and handed me the costume. "This plan is right up your alley."

Someday, my curiosity was going to kill me. "Like?" I asked as I took the bag back from her.

"Just trust me. It will be so much more convincing if you're not in on it. Now try the costume on, I want to make sure I got the right size." Sydney and I knew each other's bodies like the backs of our hands, but costume shop sizing can be iffy. I shucked my clothes and pulled out the different pieces. First was the latex skirt that was so short it required a matching latex panty to be even close to decent. Next was the latex halter bra that there was no chance of wearing something under. After the putting on the ears and attaching the tail to the hook on the skirt, I pulled out the thigh-high stiletto boots at the bottom of the bag. "Damn, Sloane. You're a hot mama."

"I feel ridiculous," I said as I worked my way upstairs to look at myself in the full length mirror in my room. I did look hot. The barely-there skirt and bra hugged and accentuated my curves. Sydney had followed me up the stairs and handed me a tube of bright red lipstick and black eyeshadow and liner. "This is going to be awesome."

"It better be." I couldn't help but smile for the first time in what felt like ages. "What are you going to wear?" I asked. Before I could ask her to just tell me, she held up a 'one moment' finger and pranced into her room across the hall, emerging again in a few minutes in her costume.

"What do you think?" she asked with a twirl. She was dressed as Tinkerbell in a green strapless dress that barely covered her butt cheeks, knee-high white boots, and silver wings. If Tinkerbell were the same size (not to mention real), Sydney and she could be identical twins. "Think the wings are too much?"

"It wouldn't be Tinkerbell without the wings," I replied.

.

It was Wednesday night, and 7 women were standing in an anteroom off the main stage putting the finishing touches to their almost non-existent costumes. I could see one woman's lacy purple underwear when she bent over to strap on her platform heels. I looked away, choosing a spot somewhere over Syd's shoulder to look at instead. "Remember I'm only doing this for you," I said nervously as Sydney finished my smoky eyes.

With one last swipe of the eyeliner, she was finished, giving me a quick peck on the cheek before packing up our mutual makeup bag. "And I'm doing this for you," she replied with a grand smile.

I stood, nervously tugging at the bottom of my skirt, willing it to become a decent length. "There aren't going to be any kids out there, right?" I asked. "Because this," I pointed at my costume, "really isn't appropriate."

"Nope, eligible bachelors only," she answered.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, tucking my arms around my exposed torso. "Good."

An elderly woman dressed as either a dark hippie or a happy-go-lucky witch charged into the room as Sydney started to tug at her own costume. Nice to know I wasn't the only one that felt like an uncomfortable slab of meat. "OK, ladies, ladies!," she woman yelled. "Please fill these questionnaires out and give them back to me." She practically threw a piece of paper and pen at me, barely taking a moment to glance at my face before moving on to the next girl. "When I call your name, I want you to come out and strut your stuff while I'm reading your vitals. There are more men out there than we have women to auction, so really strut it. Maybe we can start a bidding war." She looked over all of us one at a time, this time with a more thorough eye. "OK, here's the order I want you ladies in," she said as she started to shove us into some semblance of order. She lined us up based on some internal checklist, putting Sydney first and me last.

I could hear the applause and cat calls when Sydney sauntered onto the stage. After several minutes, she reappeared in the anti-room. "Yea! $250!" she said with a little dance. She worked her way back to me as the next woman was being called onto the stage.

"So? Who bought you?" I asked. I needed a distraction from my impending embarrassment, and I was curious as to what kind of guys were out there. I was a little afraid there'd be nothing but widowers out there, and I would have to go on a date with someone that reminded me of my grandfather.

"Oh! He's really cute!" she gushed. "He's slim, and he's got short blond hair and blue eyes! He wears glasses, but they're the really hot kind of glasses, the rimless kind?" She continued to gush for the next half hour when it was my turn to sell my services, so to speak, but I had stopped listening. "You're up, hun!" she said with a hug and a little shove towards the stage.

The hippie/witch woman was just announcing my name, so I stepped onto the stage. "Next up is Sloane McIntosh, a graduate student at State in the life sciences. Her favorite food is spicy Creole seafood dishes, and she enjoys curling up in bed with a good book. So which one of you gentlemen would like to keep her bed warm during these cold Michigan nights?" I was momentarily speechless. First of all, I'm not used to having spotlights follow me around. Secondly, I know nothing about Creole food. I glanced at the woman momentarily, who made a face that said, _move, dammit! _So I got moving, strutting my way to the center of the stage and finally got a chance to look out into the crowd. The house lights were on, which allowed me to recognize several of the bachelors in the crowd as friends from my research lab. Knowing that Sydney had purposely stacked the crowd with friends strangely made me feel better, not worse, about the situation. I started really playing up the costume, twirling the tail and downright dancing on stage. Before I knew it, bids for a date with me were above $300. "Going once, going twice, sold, to the gentleman in the back in the blue shirt for $345." I looked out into the crowd to see who had shelled out that much money to spend Halloween with me. Mustafa, a lab-mate that I had known for several years, was waving at me and winking. I laughed at the Were-Moose and blew a kiss to him. I sauntered off stage after he caught my kiss and held it to his chest.

Sydney was already dressed in her street clothes, waiting for me to come back. "So?" she said as she pulled the bun down from the top of her head.

"You stacked the audience!" I cried. I was grinning from ear to ear.

"It wasn't hard. I just had to subtly mention you'd be auctioning yourself and got every male from your lab ready and willing to come." I started peeling off the latex and replacing it with something more appropriate: jeans and a torn MSU sweater. I prefer comfortable clothes.

"Yea, uh-huh." I rolled my eyes as I pulled my jeans on.

"So? Which one bought you?"

I stuffed my feet into my shoes (slip-ons; I don't have time to be tying my shoes) and we started walking out the door to meet our future dates. "Moose." The irony of a Were-moose that had acquired a nickname that described him so perfectly was not lost on me.

Sydney went to set up her date while I went to talk to Moose and a couple of my friends that had stayed with him to talk to me. Moose was not a tall man, maybe 5'9" tall, but he had considerable presence. Of Egyptian decent, he had golden brown skin and an afro of long, curly hair which resembled a lion's mane. He had strong, warm features, with perpetual 5 o'clock shadow and bright white teeth that were always on display during his 100-watt smile. His Adam's apple bobbed as he laughed along with the group of men.

"Hey, Mac!" Adam called. For unknown reasons, many of the guys in the lab had taken to calling me Mac.

"Hey, guys," I replied with a sheepish smile. I turned to Moose. "So, where are we going on our date?" I had immediately flipped into the one-of-the-guys mode I was always in with them. I elbowed him in the ribs for good measure, causing him to grunt quietly.

"I hear Rum Runners has quite the Halloween party," Moose said, over playing the suave in his voice. I would have giggled if my jaw hadn't dropped.

"That's what I hear, too," Sydney said as she materialized at my elbow. She gave my arm a good squeeze as a warning.

I told Sydney I would go with it, so that's what I was going to do. I composed myself and managed a nonchalant response. "That sounds great, Romeo. Pick me up at 8:30?"

"Sure," he said. "See you in lab." Moose and the other lab-mates turned to leave, and Sydney and I retreated to my car.

I unlocked the car and slid into the driver's side as Syd deposited our gym bag in the back seat. "Now you have my curiosity piqued. What do you have up your sleeve?" I asked as she joined me in the front of the car. I had a feeling I knew, and I was all too willing to go along with it. She really did know how to cheer me up.

"Oh, nothing. Just enjoy your incredibly attractive friend who happens to have the hots for you Saturday. If something happens, something happens. If someone tall, dark, and dead happens to see and gets insanely jealous, well, as you once said, 'tell him to shove it'."

I had to giggle at her deviousness. Despite the fact that this plan had trouble written in large, capital letters all over it, I drove home in a better mood than I had been in for weeks.


	14. Chapter 14

Moose was the only one in the lab when she arrived the next morning. We greeted each other with a routine grunt and nod. I never want to interrupt someone in lab, even to say hello, until I have an idea of what they're doing; you never know when a simple greeting is going to make someone forget whether they were on count 147 or 157. I purposely set to work at the bench across from him, pulling on a set of small latex-free gloves and collecting glass bottles of materials. I needed to know how much he knew about Sydney's devious plan, and now that I knew he wasn't deep in thought, it was the perfect time to prod.

"Three hundred and forty five dollars is a lot of money," I said as I opened up a bottle of urine-colored liquid and started decanting it into smaller volumes. I was never very good at subtle. I needed to work on that.

Without even looking up, he answered. "It was a bargain," he replied, his hands moving deftly as he uncapped tubes, filled them, and replaced them on his rack.

I blushed involuntarily. Luckily, Moose was looking down, so he didn't catch the diversion of blood. "So, why Rum Runners?" I asked.

He stopped working, capping all of his open bottles and setting down his pipette. "Actually, Sydney suggested it when she told me you were doing the auction. Is it your favorite club or something?"

"Not quite," I answered with a sigh. I guess Moose knew nothing about the plan, putting us in somewhat of the same boat. At least I knew there _was_ a plan. I put down my extraction kit so I could look him in the eye and explain. "An ex of mine actually owns it. I'm not sure what Syd's getting at with suggesting it, really."

He actually smirked, cocking a hip as he asked, "So, we're going to make him jealous?"

I blushed harder; this one I couldn't hide. "Are you OK with that?" I said as I dipped my head, pretending to be working. "We could go somewhere else if you want, I mean, I don't want to use you…"

"Oh, I'm in. This is going to be great," he said before his smile dimmed slightly. "Wait, who's your ex? He's not huge is he? Can I take him?"

I smiled at his nervousness, suppressing a laugh at the mental picture I was getting. "David's tall, but he's not too scary. It would be a fair fight."

His jaw dropped about a foot, a movement I caught even as I looked down at the bench in front of me. I stopped and looked up, as he seems to have put two and two together. "You dated David O'Hara?"

"Yea," I answered. "You know him?"

He looked almost awe-struck. "I know _of_ him. He and his sister and brother-in-law are famous."

My curiosity was piqued. "Oh? For what?"

He shrugged. "I can't believe you don't know. I guess they're just…different from other vampires. You know, compassionate, warm. They still think like real people. I think they're the only vampire family in existence that's stayed together." That I already knew, but I didn't know it made them famous. "You've met Emma and Lee, then?" I nodded. "What are they like? The three of them, I mean."

I sighed and went back to my work, followed shortly by Moose. "David is….awkward, and overprotective, and slightly overbearing. He is kind and funny and incredibly infuriating. Emma is like her brother; almost motherly in her overprotective-ness. Lee is the quiet type, but he's very protective toward Emma. He comes off as indifferent, but he's not."

Moose just nodded and went back to what he was doing. We worked in amiable silence for almost an hour before he spoke again. "You're going as Catwoman," he said lightly. "What should I be?"

I almost suggested he go as a Moose, but I didn't know how he'd take that. "I don't know. We could go as a pair, does Catwoman have a sidekick?"

He hesitated. "She's supposed to be in love with Batman," he said, blushing slightly at the intimation we go as lovers.

I giggled lightly. "I'm sorry, I can't see you in tights or a cape." I tapped my fingers against the black counter top as I recovered from the thought of him in tights. "You could go as a knight, or a pharaoh, or a roman warrior." I was really running out of ideas. "Or maybe a pirate," I added with a shrug.

"Hmm," was all he replied. After several moments, he asked, "what do you want me to go as?"

I smiled and looked up at him, saying, "Surprise me."

Sometimes I hated working in a male-dominated lab; this had been set up for someone a foot taller than me. I climbed onto the counter top to grab the backup jar of reagent which, for some reason, is stored 9 feet off the ground. Moose came around the bench to grab me by the waist and lower me back to the ground. "Thanks," I said as my feet hit the floor.

"Not a problem." Tentatively, he let go of my waist. "We should get you a ladder."

I laughed as I looked at the clock; it was 2:20. I had 40 minutes to finish my experiment and get across campus to teach my sections. "Shit," I mumbled; I went to work, double time.

I just finished my lab work, but was going to be late to section. "Want a lift? I'm going in that direction…" The voice startled me; I thought I was alone in the lab. Moose was sitting in the chair by the bank of computers, watching me work.

"You're still here?" I asked as I shoved my laptop back into my backpack and slung it over my shoulder.

"Yup." He was hiding something. I knew it. It was the first time my quirk had made an appearance since the beginning of the semester.

I grabbed my purse before I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"What do you mean?" He was actually fidgeting under my stare.

I motioned toward the door, and he grabbed his bag and locked up the lab. "Why are you still here?"

He unlocked his car, which was parked just outside the building, right beside mine. "Just watching out."

I slid into the passenger side; I'd just have to walk back to my car after class. I'd be easier than driving my own car and trying to find a parking space anywhere close at this time of the day. "Berkey, please," I said as I buckled my seat belt. I wasn't sure he knew where I needed to go. "For what?"

"For you. Ever since…well, ever since you were attacked, we just want to make sure you're OK here," he said as we pulled away from the building. Come to think of it, I hadn't been alone in either my office or the lab since I came back to work. It was kind of sweet in an awkward way. I smiled to myself, but I'd be telling them to cut it out real soon. I don't like that babysat feeling.

We pulled up to Berkey Hall, an older building on north campus used by a variety of departments for recitations and small classes. I grabbed my bag and hoisted it over my shoulder. "Thanks, you're sweet." Before he could respond, I hopped out of the car and ran into the building.

.

The mood on campus had reached a fever pitch by All Hallow's Eve. I had the unfortunate task of teaching a 3 o'clock freshman-level class on Friday afternoons, one of the latest classes held on Fridays. To ease the excitement of my students, I had encouraged them to wear some part of their Halloween costume; all those who did would get extra credit. I had attached only the ears and tail of my costume, and had Sydney finish my cat eyes that morning. I was touching up my bright red lips when the first gaggle of students walked in. One freshman phenomenon: they tended to travel in packs. One of the girls was wearing bee antennae, another had fairy wings. The guy's costumes were less creative. One was wearing a hat that said 'Larry the Cable Guy'. Color me unimpressed.

"Come over here before you sit down so I can give you credit for your costume." It had taken me weeks, but I had finally memorized all of their names. It's not that there were that many of them, the recitation section only had 25 students, it's just that they tended to dress and primp similarly. Especially the girls. "OK, I got Kara down as a bee, Jeff down as Larry the Cable Guy." I shot him an unimpressed look as he grinned from ear to ear. "Jessica, what are you going as?"

"Oh, it's just a generic fairy costume. I liked the colors." The wings were covered in pink and purple swirls. I should have known, she was always wearing pink and purple something or other.

"Great, I got you down. Ben's going as a doctor?" I said as I looked at the guy with a stethoscope around his neck.

"Gynecologist, actually," he replied, tugging on the aforementioned prop as he did. What is it with 18-year-old boys? I rolled my eyes. I didn't bother to mention that gynecologists generally don't need a stethoscope.

"Of course," I said dryly. "I got you down." I looked around the room to make sure I had gotten everyone. The shiest girl in the class was hovering behind Ben, trying not to be noticed too much. She had old aviator goggles and a cream colored scarf on. "I didn't see you back there, Amy. What are you going as?"

I had never heard her speak much above a whisper, and she wasn't going to start now. "Amelia Earhart," she said sheepishly to the floor, as if it sounded like a great costume while she was alone in her room, but now she was rethinking it.

I smiled genuinely at her. "What a creative idea. Double extra credit for creativity." I happened to know that she didn't need the extra credit at all, so I didn't feel bad about adjusting her grade even higher. The girls in the gaggle, who had just noticed Amy behind them, were commenting on how perfect her costume was, while the guys were grumbling about the extra extra credit. Amy was turning beet red at all the attention she was getting, shuffling to sit in her usual spot and trying to just melt away.

I motioned for this group of students to sit. The all took their usual spots: Jeff and Ben in the far back corner (all the better to snore through class), Jessica and Kara just in front of them, and Amy smack dab front and center. The rest of the less punctual students filled in as they entered. It was Jessica who spoke usually spoke for the peanut gallery. "What are you going as?"

I blushed slightly at the mention of my horribly inappropriate costume. "Catwoman."

Jessica was so bubbly it made my cheeks hurt. "Oh, cool!" she cried, her head bobbing the entire time. "What are you going to do? Any upper classmen parties we should know about?"

"Actually, I auctioned my night off as part of a bachelorette auction; I'm not usually one to go out to the parties, so I wouldn't really know about that." Trouble seemed to find me, I didn't need to go looking for it. "We're going to a party at Rum Runners, so I better not see any of you there." Rum Runners was 21 and over, no one in this class was over 19.

I had caught Ben's attention. "Hey! I saw a flier for that auction. Why didn't you tell us you were doing it? I would have come and bid. I would have made you do my homework." This set the guys to guffawing about the possibilities.

"Well, for exactly that reason, Ben," I replied. "I didn't even know I was going to until last minute, anyway. My roommate roped me into it."

Jessica's bubbly attitude preceded her question onslaught. "How cool! Who bought you? Is he cute? How old is he? For how much?"

Class was about to start and students were filtering in faster and faster. When there was a break in the costume parade, I answered her. "A friend of mine actually bought me, he's about 25, I think. And he paid way too much." I wasn't even going to touch the cute question. It's not that he wasn't, he was just…Moose. It's like thinking your brother has nice pecs-just weird.

At exactly 3:00 and not a minute later, I started explaining the idea behind evolutionary biology.


	15. Chapter 15

Sydney had insisted on a girly-girl's day before our big dates. She woke me up at noon to begin the extravaganza, practically pulling me out of bed by my pony tail. I was never really a morning person and I hadn't been getting any decent sleep lately, which was pushing my usual wake up time (which at this point was more of the point at which I gave up on sleep and got out of bed) back farther and farther. My dreams had been vague and impossible like normal dreams, but they were more vivid and generally terrifying. I had woken up screaming several times in the last week alone, which left me completely exhausted in the morning. So when she came into my room, chipper as a bird, I wanted to shoot her. It wasn't until after I got out of my shower that I recovered enough from my frazzled rage that she would risk being in the same room with me.

First on the agenda was treating ourselves to mani/pedis at the local mall. Sydney insisted I get fire engine red to match the lipstick I would be wearing tonight. I told her if I was wearing red, she was going to have lime green toes and neon blue nails. I should have known she'd end up loving it. Next was lunch at The Chapbook Café, which specialized in a delicious but pricy quiche that Sydney and I saved for special 'us' days like these. Next on the agenda was some window shopping (neither of us could afford to buy anything, but it was always fun to try on the clothes). After we had exhausted the local mall, we headed back home for a chick flick and home facials.

"So where are you two going tonight?" I asked as we settled on the couch.

"Thomas and I are going to Rum Runners," she said as she winked at me, face slathered with a seafoam green mask, blonde hair pulled back in a messy bun. "You think I'm going to miss this? Not for the world."

I clinked her mug with my lemonade, mischievous smile blooming on my face. "You're impossible."

.

After much primping and prepping, Sydney was completely ready to go by 7:30, when her date knocked at the door. She and Thomas (never Tom) were going out to dinner, and they would meet Moose and me at the bar.

He was dressed as some sort of Prince Charming: cream colored poet's shirt, black leggings, riding boots, and a fake sword in a belted scabbard. I had to hold back my laughter when I answered the door, turning my back to him to pretend to call Syd, even though she knew full well he was here. Her golden hair was up high, face done in shades of blue and silver shimmer. She had even brushed her collarbones with the shimmer powder for extra pizzazz.

"8:30," she yelled over her shoulder as she slid into Thomas' car. I just nodded and waved from the front porch as the two rode off. I was willing to bet there wasn't going to be a more ridiculously clad pair at the restaurant.

.

Moose knocked on the door fifteen minutes early while I was up in my room, putting the finishing touches on my hair. I had decided that the costume really required that I straighten my hair for the proper effect, so I had plugged my seldom-used straightening iron into the outlet in my bathroom and went at it. As long and as thick as my hair was, this was something I did very rarely. As I finished the last section of hair and secured the ears in place, I took a long look at myself. To someone in the know, it would still be obvious I had fairly recently ingested vampire blood. My skin, although pale, was glowing and perfectly smooth. Even those scars that had been visible on my thigh and shoulder were faint. My eyes seemed greener and they shone, despite the subtle dark circles. My hair was shiny and silky, and though I hadn't gotten my hair cut in ages, after I'd straightened it hung down below my shoulder blades, I had no split ends. Even my teeth seemed whiter.

I hustled down the stairs as fast as I could in the stiletto boots and got the door. Moose was standing on my doorstep shirtless, holding a potted plant. "I'm not taking you out to dinner, so I thought I'd get you something instead," he said sheepishly as he held the potted jade plant out for me to take.

I took the plant from him and set it on the table in the foyer, next to the wristlet I had packed for the night. "These are hard to kill. That's good, because I'm a horrible gardener." I twisted the pot until the best side faced out and grabbed the purse. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Ever the gentleman, he extended an elbow in my direction, and I wrapped my arm around his. Luckily, he had parked behind me in the driveway. I didn't know if I was going to be able to manage walking across the grass in these boots without sinking my stilettos into the grass. Moose held the door open for me; flourishing grandly at the passenger seat. Giggling, I slid into the older Firebird and stole another glace at my companion. He was wearing what could only be described as a wrap skirt with a purple and black panel in the front with gladiator sandals that laced up to his knees. Golden cuffs encased each wrist, with a matching collar necklace. On his head was a golden band.

"Pharaoh, huh?" He looked like he could be Egyptian royalty.

He simply nodded in return. "Where should we park?" he asked as he pulled out of my driveway. I suggested a little-known lot off Pere-Marquette Street, and we were off.

.

Once out of the car, Moose extended an elbow for me again. I took it gladly, none too steady on the uneven ground. Sure, I can manage the highest heels easily when the surface is flat, but the sidewalks of Lansing are far from flat.

Apparently, news about the vampires' Halloween party had gotten out, because there was already a long line outside of Rum Runners of college-aged fangbangers. "Whoa," was all Moose managed.

"Don't worry, I have connections." Maybe a bit too merrily, we skipped to the beginning of the line, where a group of 21 year old girls dressed in barely-there black miniskirts were trying to bribe the oblivious bouncer into letting them in. The girls quieted as Moose and I approached. "I'm on the list," I said as I gave the bouncer the biggest smile I could muster.

The mountain of a vampire looked down at me. "I have no list."

I was about to formally request an audience with Emma or Lee (not David) when I heard an accented voice behind V Mountain. "Let them pass." I glanced behind the huge vampire to see Lee, dressed as an honest to God ninja, sitting on a bar stool monitoring the door. Behind him were two more giant vampires dressed head to toe in black. These vampires must have been twins; they both had long, braided rows of black hair, and the skin the darkest shade of ebony. One had a long scar that traversed the ridge of his cheekbone.

I shimmied passed V Mountain, Moose right behind me, to talk to Lee. The girls in black were loudly voicing their objection to our entrance. "Happy Halloween," I said to Lee. "I didn't think bouncer was in your job description, though."

"I saw the blonde enter earlier, looking smug," he said. He must be talking about Sydney. "I figured you could not be far behind." His face flickered into the shadow of a momentary smile before he turned his attention to Moose. "Shifter," he said as he bowed deeply in greeting.

"Lee," I said, remembering the two had never met, "this is Mustafa. Moose, this is Lee."

Moose mimicked Lee's bow. "An honor to meet you," he bit out. He sounded as if he'd rather be just about anywhere but taking to Lee.

It looked like Lee was done talking for the night (or the year), so Moose and I made our way into the crowded bar. The rumors were right, this was quite the party. A live band was set up on a corner of the dance floor, and most people in the bar were swaying to the music. I spotted a blonde up-do in the corner farthest from the music, and we started making our way there.

"I didn't really want you to know I was two-natured," Moose shouted over the music. The shifters and Weres had made their announcement almost a year ago, but most were indistinguishable from ordinary humans, so many opted to keep their secret a secret.

I had to turn back to him and shout in his ear as we passed the band. "I already knew. Don't worry, though, your secret's safe with me." Before he could ask how I knew, we had reached the circular table that Sydney and Thomas had secured. I took my seat next to Sydney, Moose on my other side.

Sydney leaned toward me, cupped her hands around her mouth and mega-whispered into my ear. "It's working. The booth at the end of the bar." I glanced in the direction Sydney had mentioned. David was glaring holes into my body from across the room. A momentary feeling of jealousy and anger flooded the bond before David could get a hold of himself. I was quite proud that my satisfaction with his discomfort didn't show on my face. OK, so maybe I was feeling a little vindictive tonight, but lack of sleep was making me snarky.

Sydney winked at Moose, who scooted his chair closer to me and threw his arm around my shoulders. "You two are going to get me killed," I mumbled. I pasted a smile on my face and leaned into Moose's embrace. When the bartender came around, I ordered a double screwdriver. I am usually not much of a drinker (alcohol in excess messed with my visions), but I was going to need it if I was going to survive tonight. The four of us talked for several songs while we finished out drinks. Every once in a while I stole a glance at the far booth, every time my gaze was met with at least one set of angry eyes.

When I finished my first drink, Moose leaned in. "We're still going for this, right?" he whispered. He wanted to know if I was still into making David jealous.

I laid my hand on his upper thigh and turned into him. "One hundred and ten percent," I answered with a smile that might have been a little too bright.

He grinned as he stood, extending a hand to me. "Let's dance." I took his hand and we moved to the corner of the dance floor, an area visible to Sydney, but more importantly David. The band had since quit for the night and the club's deejay had taken over, playing mostly hip hop. Moose and I swayed and ground to the music, really playing up the we're-on-a-date moves. Moose's hands rarely left my hips, and I leaned into his surprisingly tight chest more that I would normally. Sometime during the second song, Sydney and Thomas had decided to join us on the dance floor.

I could tell David was losing control of the bond, as more and more of his emotions leaked through—lust, anger, jealousy, regret. We were here to make him jealous (OK, and just a little bit uncomfortable), but not to torture him. I grabbed Moose by the neck and pulled until his ear was down to my level. "I have to go to the bathroom, then let's sit for a minute."

Our table was still empty, so Moose sat down as I made my way to the bathroom. Emma was right behind me as I walked through the door. "You are doing this to him on purpose," she said, emotion thick in her voice. She looked sad, even dressed as the Queen of Hearts.

I had a feeling my best option would be to play dumb. "Hmm?" I replied as I leaned against the counter, pretending to check my makeup in the mirror while keeping an eye on the vampire at my back.

Pure, unadulterated, homicidal rage flashed on her face. "You are taunting him! You are torturing him! I will not tolerate it!" She gripped my shoulder, whipping me around to face her with incredible strength. I would be bruised tomorrow.

David's rage was still coursing through my veins, so instead of fear, I got defensive. "I am torturing _him_? Ha! He practically forces me into some weird vampire marriage thing, acts disappointed that he is now somehow permanently attached to a lowly human, then completely ignores me for the next two months!" At this point, I am screaming and waving my hands at her. "Now, not only am I the recipient of his constant irritation, but I can't sleep either because he turns my dreams into incredibly vivid horror movies!" I slouched into the black leather chair in the corner and rested my head in my hands. "Now I'm being forced to parade in front of him in this." I motioned to my costume.

Emma's expression had softened into wary curiosity. "Forced?"

I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. "Yes, forced. Mustafa bought me." Only after I had finished that sentence did I realize how bad it sounded. "He didn't really buy me, I guess. I auctioned off a date with me on Halloween for a local daycare center. I didn't get to choose the costume or the location. I didn't even really get to choose to be auctioned." I wasn't going to go into the specifics of why this location had been picked or who had picked my costume. I figured Moose could handle himself better with a bunch of vampires than Sydney could. I opened my eyes and looked Emma right in the eye. "Do not tell David a word of this conversation. He doesn't need to know how miserable I am."

She laid a hand on my shoulder. "He already does." Before I could blink, she was gone.

I took a minute to compose myself before facing Moose again. My mirrored image looked tired and worn, despite the help I was getting from the vampire blood. When I had persuaded a smile back on to my face, one that didn't look pained, I walked back out to the table. A new screwdriver was sitting in front of my seat; I sent a little prayer of thanks up to the powers that be, I needed another drink. Emma was back in her booth across from David, both of them watching me closely. Compassion and concern flooded the bond as I walked past. She had to have told him. I glared at Emma, completely ignoring David.

I sat at the table with as much composure and nonchalance as I could muster, then proceeded to swallow the waiting drink. "You OK?" Moose asked as he put a hand on my shoulder in brotherly concern, not fake lust.

"Of course." I smiled falsely back up at him.

"Are we still doing this?"

"Absolutely," I answered, more vengeance in my voice than I had originally planned. I was still feeling the rage from my outburst at Emma and at Emma for telling David, and I was ready and willing to take it out on both of them. He made a show of throwing his arm around my shoulders and sidled me closer to him. Moose had mercifully picked chairs with their backs to the O'Haras, so I could at least relax the fake smile a bit. We watched Sydney and Thomas dance for a couple of songs before my first yawn made an appearance.

"Tired?" he asked.

"Always," I mumbled to myself. I wiggled out of his embrace and stood, flexing and stretching my muscles to try and get the blood flowing again. "I just need to get moving again." I motioned to Sydney that we were going upstairs, and we worked our way in that direction.

Upstairs had much the same Halloween ornamentation, but was much mellower since the pulsing music and frantic dancing downstairs were muffled. Moose and I made a slow circuit upstairs before deciding to go back down to keep an eye on Sydney. I had to catch myself on the railing after I snagged my heel on the bottom step. Moose turned and studied my face. "Are you sure you're OK? You look like you're about to pass out."

I closed my eyes for what I promised myself would be just a second. When I pried my eyes back open, Moose was hovering. "I'm really OK," I said as I urged him to give me a bit of room. But I was anything but OK. The vodka was amplifying my exhaustion. "Want to dance?" I asked.

Moose wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me. "No, I'm taking you home. Let's go tell Sydney we're leaving." He guided me towards the dance floor where she and Thomas were practically on top of each other. As soon as I locked eyes with Sydney, I mouthed 'home', to which she blew a kiss in response. When we turned for the door, David was blocking the way. He and Moose sized each other up for what felt like 5 minutes before he spoke.

"Good evening, Sloane."

I was really not in the mood for this. "Hi," I replied sharply.

"Did you enjoy the party?" he asked, ignoring my tone.

I kept it short and sweet. "Yes."

"Are you going to introduce me?" he asked acknowledging Moose's presence for the first time.

I did a whole body sigh. "David, this is Mustafa. Moose, this is David."

It was Moose's turn to talk. I could almost feel the chill in his voice on the back of my neck. "She's told me about you." I closed my eyes again for just a second as I leaned my head against Moose.

Concern flooded the bond. "Are you not feeling well?" he asked, a touch of Irish brogue adding music to the question.

I opened my eyes and looked him right in the face. "No." Moose seemed to get the hint, because he immediately maneuvered around David and toward the door without another word.

I started undressing as soon I was in the car. First went the boots, then the ridiculous ears and tail. I threw them in the back and leaned into the seat. The clock on the dash said it was 1:17AM.

I closed my eyes for the entire ride home, which was delightful. When we pulled into the drive, Moose started to gather the pieces I had thrown into the back.

"Leave them," I mumbled. He caught me around the waist as I stumbled barefoot up the front steps, but I managed to open the front door on my own.

"Is your room upstairs?" he asked as I dropped my wristlet just inside the door.

I was too tired to wonder about the oddity of that question. "Yes." Without delay, Moose whisked me up the stairs and stopped outside the pair of bedroom doors that happened to face each other.

He roped me into a brotherly hug before he left. "Get some sleep."

I managed to pull off the black latex and wash my face before I fell into bed. I was out before my head hit the pillow.


	16. Chapter 16

I woke screaming in the middle of the night for the fourth time in a row. I dreamed I was again lying on the tarp bleeding in Tim's barren living room, this time surrounded by Tim and his friends from The Riv, all flashing weapons of some sort. I looked at the alarm clock on my bedside table as I clutched a comforter to my chest: 2:55AM. I had been asleep a little more than an hour. I sighed and lay back down.

"Do you do that often?" asked a light voice. I screamed again when I heard the feminine voice in my room. I instinctively shied away from the sound, landing clumsily on my feet and switching on the bedside lamp. Emma was standing near the door, dressed in a purple track suit.

I spoke when my heart started beating again. "You shouldn't do that to traumatized people."

Emma started toward me slowly as she said, "David was worried about you when you left, so I told him I would check on you." She casually sat on David's side of the bed, propping herself up against the headboard and crossing her legs beneath her. "Do you do that often?" Emma repeated, I sighed and answered her question. "Lately, yes."

"I could try and glamour you to help you sleep."

I turned out the bedside light and got comfortable again. "No thanks, I generally don't let cat burglars control my mind."

Another few minutes of silence went by before she spoke again. "You should talk to him," she said.

"_He's_ ignoring _me_, remember?" I had tried to call him several times in the first couple of weeks. When he hadn't answered or returned my call, I quit trying.

She laid a hand over my own, patting it comfortingly. "Come to the club tomorrow night," she said. It sounded more like an order.

"I don't want you to order him to talk to me," I replied. "If he doesn't want to see me, I am not going to force the issue."

"I will not order him to do anything; he is my brother. You need to talk about what the bond means." No argument there, so I just kept quiet. "I will not even tell him you are coming," she added after a few moments. Was that supposed to entice me?

I sighed, admitting there was logic to her argument. This needed to be fixed as soon as possible, and it was becoming clear that it wasn't going to fix itself. "Fine," I answered. I was relatively free tomorrow, anyway. "Did you tell David?"

She paused before answering. "I honored your wishes and did not discuss our conversation with David, although I still do not understand what you meant by this auction."

I explained the idea behind the bachelorette auction. When I was done, she answered with a simple murmur. Although she didn't leave, she let me lay in bed until just before dawn, when she finally left. "Come tonight," was all she said before she walked out of my room.

.

I finally got up around 11:30 the next morning. I hadn't been able to get back to sleep the night before and was completely exhausted. When I got downstairs, I noticed a pile of black latex in the foyer. Moose must have dumped it there before he left last night.

Sydney was sitting in her usual seat at the kitchen table eating a sandwich. I didn't even bother with the glass of Pepsi this morning, the little jolt of caffeine wasn't going to even make a dent in the exhaustion I felt.

"You should go to a doctor or something. You need sleeping pills," Sydney said. I had actually considered over the counter sleeping pills, but decided they probably wouldn't help. It wasn't my ability to fall asleep at issue, it was the bone-rattling nightmares.

"Yea." It was going to be a day of few words for me.

I could tell Sydney was just bursting at the seams to tell me just what she and Thomas did after we'd left. How awesome he is, and this, that, and the other. I just wasn't in the mood for gushing. She knew me well enough to not start. I would have tried to listen, I would have tried to pay attention to her uncontrollable gushing, but I would have probably failed. _There's nothing you can do about it now,_ I told myself, speaking of what had caused me my most recent rash of nightmares. _I'm here. They're not. They'll never be here again. I won. So why the hell am I so strung out about it? _

I couldn't take Syd's silent stares. Instead, I grabbed the pile of homework that needed to be marked and sagged onto the couch, not even bothering with a shower or getting dressed. After grading the problem sets, taking twice as long as usual to finish, I watched a few made for TV movies on lifetime before giving up on TV all together and just staring into space. This inability to sleep needed to be resolved soon, because my productivity this week was at an all time low.

During November in Michigan, the sun sets quite early. At 4:30 I forced myself to get dressed and head out to Rum Runners. The sun would be touching the horizon in about 45 minutes, which meant I'd most likely beat the vampires there.

.

"I'm counting to three missy, and if those keys aren't in my hand…one…" Sydney said, one hand perched on her hips and the other out expectantly. I sighed, dropping the keys into her outstretched pal,. After a few minutes of arguing, I agreed to let Sydney drive me to the bar (she thought I wasn't aware enough to drive safely). I just didn't have it in me to argue with her. The sun was setting as she pulled up in front of the bar, which meant I probably had at least 15 minutes before anybody fanged showed up.

No one was actually hanging at the bar, but the day bartender was finishing off his shift, prepping a basket full of lemons down into tiny slivers.

I went straight back to the booth Emma and David had chosen the night before and lounged lengthwise on the worn black leather bench, leaning my head against the wall and propping my legs up on the rest of the booth. I blinked tiredly a few times, trying to get my eyes to focus, but my eyes still drifted closed. Before I could fall asleep, I could feel David slide into the booth opposite me.

I spoke without opening my eyes. "Thanks for sending Emma to scare the daylights out of me last night," I said.

"I apologize if she startled you, that was not my intention," he replied quietly. I opened my eyes and turned my head toward him slightly. "You look ill."

I snickered, turning my head back to center and closing my eyes. "Thanks." I had skipped the makeup today and the bags under my eyes had become my distinguishing feature. "So I'm here. You're speaking to me. This is progress." I freed my hair from the sloppy ponytail and rested my head back against the wall, this time more comfortably.

"Yes," he replied. The twins who had been guarding Lee last night emerged from a back room to flanked our booth. I shot David a questioning look. "Those who wished the Queen dead in September are still at large. Until the problem can be completely resolved, we have increased security."

I looked at Emma, who had slid into the booth beside her brother. "Queen?" I asked. Giggles bubbled out of me before I could stop them. "That's, well, ridiculous."

It took me longer than I'd like to admit to regain any semblance of composure. When I did, Emma spoke. "You two need to come to an agreement. Like it or not, you two are now tied. Neither of you can function as things stand," she said, a touch of disdain in her voice. With that, she left, her two bodyguards padding in her wake.

I spoke first in hope that we should get this done and over with so I could go home. The carbuncle of a migraine that had been festering all day was in the process of becoming a full-fledged problem. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you last night."

David motioned for the bartender before he addressed my apology. "Would you like something to drink?" he asked.

I doubted that a club full of vampires would have a bottle of Advil sitting around. "Double scotch, on the rocks." David gave me a look as the bartender delivered my drink along with a True Blood for David. I took a few deep swigs of the scotch and leaned my head back against the wall again, rubbing my temples.

He took a slow drink of his True Blood, which left his lips bloody. "I know. I overheard your conversation with Emma while you were in the ladies' room last night. I am not disappointed in our bond, I thought you wanted me out of your life."

"What made you think that?" I asked as I took another swig of my scotch. Nothing but ice left now.

"You told me you wanted me 'out.'"

"Not you, your…emotions. I could feel so much of you it actually hurt, I just wanted it to stop." A quick thunderstorm pattered raindrops against the floor to ceiling windows at the front of the bar.

David seemed to digest this new information. "Please excuse me for a second, I must make some arrangements," he said as he eyed the rain beginning to fall. Instantly, David was gone, leaving me alone in the booth. I was trying hard not to fall asleep; the last thing I needed was to wake up screaming in a public place, no matter how deserted it was at the time. However, the scotch was having the desired effect. The pain from my migraine, while not completely gone, was more manageable. It also amplified my exhaustion just like those screwdrivers had last night.

David returned in what seemed like an age, but it could have just as easily been 2 minutes. "Sloane?" he said quietly. I could hear him loud and clear, but I couldn't respond. My eyes didn't want to open, I couldn't make a noise. I could feel the back of his fingers trail from my temple down to my chin. "Sloane." He was trying to wake me, and I was trying to wake, neither of us succeeding.

"Let her sleep, she needs it." Emma, whose voice came from behind David's, was in full doctor mode. "She can sleep on the settee in the office. She may need some privacy when she wakes." A cool pair of arms slid under me, and suddenly I was floating. It didn't feel like I had moved, but I was quickly being set back down on something much plusher a bench seat. The cool pair of arms laid me flat on my back, with my head resting on an equally cool pair of legs. A touch I recognized as David's softly rubbed my temples like I had been doing earlier. This helped the remainder of my migraine to fall away, allowing me to drift into unconsciousness.


	17. Chapter 17

I woke in a much different position than I had fallen asleep in, but in much the same state. The terror of a dream I couldn't seem to remember wouldn't pass, and I woke screaming yet again. I wrenched myself out of the cool pair of arms that bound me, only opening my eyes when I slid to the hard floor. I scrambled to a safe distance before finally taking the time to look back to see who had been holding me. David looked like a deer in the headlights, his arms still extended. I relaxed slightly when I realized the arms that had been holding me weren't hostile.

"Jesus," was all I could manage until my heart stopped beating out of my chest. "Jesus." As the fervid rhythm moved out of my chest, it was replaced by a heavy pounding in my head. "Shit," I said as I pressed my palms against my temples and winced.

David rose slowly and crossed to where I had scrambled. He sat next to me, and I immediately leaned into him. I could use some comforting and I didn't much care where it came from. Some comforting and maybe a long swig of liquor. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his lap yet again and folding me into his chest. We sat on the floor of the office for a few minutes before David spoke. "You believe I am I doing this to you," he whispered, one hand pressing my head to his chest as he put pressure on both of my temples for me.

I didn't know how to answer. "I really don't know," I whined. I tried to match my irregular breathing to the rhythm of David's fingers on my back. "It's only been happening the last week or so. I haven't changed my routine, I haven't changed anything."

"Neither have I," he replied. "Your fear has felt very real. The first night I felt it, I rushed to your aid, but you were fine, lying in your bed. I did the same the next night. The third night, I was already in your room when you woke screaming."

I had completely forgotten that he could feel everything I felt. "Sorry," I mumbled.

"You have nothing to apologize for, I do. I am sorry I let it get this far." He continued to massage my temple for another minute before he raised my head to look me in the eye. I was miserable, but he looked happy, renewed. He kissed my forehead before he spoke. "What do I do? Tell me how to help you."

"I don't know," I said again as Emma and Lee along with the twin bodyguards swept through the door. She was carrying a black bag. One of the twins behind her was carrying a large glass of water.

"I thought I heard you were awake," Emma said. She set the bag down at David's feet, sitting Indian-style at his side, where she could get the best look at me. She reached back without looking, grabbing the water from the twins and handing it to me. "What are your symptoms?"

"Huh?" I swallowed half of the glass of water in one big swig.

Emma was very patient with me as I willed my mind to switch track. "We'll start with the headache," she asked. "Where does it hurt?"

"It's a migraine," I answered as I pointed to my temples. She opened her black bag and pulled out syringe and a small bottle of clear liquid. I was lightheaded and nauseated at the sight of the needle. I don't like blood, and I'm not a huge fan of needles. Anything else I can handle, but those were my two personal kryptonites. "Uhhh, thanks, but no thanks. I don't do needles," I said as I tried to wiggle away, but David tightened his arms around me, lifting my chin and kissing me deeply. He is fantastic at distractions. I didn't even notice as Emma plunged the needle into my arm.

"There," Emma said as she pulled the needle out of my arm, giving David the all clear to stop kissing me. "That should take effect shortly. What else?"

I was still feeling slightly weak from the needle. Or the kiss, I couldn't tell. "Umm…" I said as I tried to catch up. What could be considered symptoms? I doubted this was going to solve the problem, but anything was worth a try. "The nightmares, really. Everything else is a result of that. Tired, irritable, lack of concentration…"

"What about your gift?" David whispered out of consideration for my migraine.

"What about it?" I asked. The medication, whatever it was, that Emma had given me was working miracles; the pounding was almost gone. I leaned my head against David's chest in earnest this time, small smile forming on my lips.

"When was the last time you had a vision or a feeling?" he asked.

I had to think about that one. Over a week, that's for sure. Maybe two? I couldn't even quite remember what it was about. "I think over two weeks."

"Is that normal?" Emma asked. David took my smile as a sign; he stopped massaging my temples and was now working on my shoulders.

"It's not anything to be worried about, I think. Sometimes there's just not anything worth knowing about ahead of time." I shrugged out of David's embrace and stood slowly, fumbling for my cell phone in my pocket, but it wasn't there. David rose with me, pulling my cell phone out of his pocket.

"It was ringing and I did not want it to wake you," he explained sheepishly. I opened the phone, which David had turned off for quite possibly the first time ever, and turned it back on. I had 4 missed calls and several text messages, all from Sydney. I texted her back.

_With David at the bar. I'm OK. Going to be a while. Don't wait up, I'll get a ride_.

It wasn't even 8 yet, but I had a feeling we weren't even close to done here. Sydney responded in record time.

_Things going well?_

_Relatively_, I responded.

I shut my phone and shoved it in my pocket. "So?" The 6 of us were now all standing in the office, the 5 vampires watching me. That's not a comfortable position for me, being the center of attention. I fidgeted uncomfortably. "Now what?"

My stomach took that opportunity to growl. "You eat," David said as he took my hand. "What would you like?"

I had been craving a Jimmy John's sub all day but was too lethargic to get one. "Let's walk to Jimmy John's," I replied.

I bundled up into my coat since the temperature had dropped as the sun set. I still stuck close to David's side as we walked down Michigan Avenue, using his broad shoulders and his impressive height to block the wind coming from our left. He stopped as we reached the round-about at Washington Square, unsure which way to go. "It's on the left, over there," I said, pointing to the black façade a block and a half away. I don't know why I assumed he knew where it was; it's not like he'd eaten there.

The walk was a few blocks, and in the brisk November air, it felt wonderful. David and I talked about everything and nothing. He asked me what it was like when I had a vision, and I asked him what it was like to in essence be a human vampire.

"There is an interesting set of innate abilities that come with vampirism. It is really the best of both worlds, if you can imagine. I get the strength, immortality, and general rock star status that comes with being a vampire," I laughed as he winked with the last statement, "but I still remain me."

"So you like being a vampire? You were never bitter about it?" He was quiet for some time. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer if that's personal."

"No, no, I want you to understand my world. I was very angry at first. Not so much at being a vampire, but at the circumstances behind it, what I needed to do to protect my family. But I quickly came to terms with it. Now I would not have it any other way." He reached around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. My body decided to break the mood with a long yawn. "Tired?"

Obviously. "It's more of a constant state at this point," I replied.

When we reached our destination, I ordered an Italian sub and he a True Blood. More and more fast food restaurants in the northern states were carrying vampire-friendly meal selections. Jimmy John's didn't have any indoor seating, so David and I started back in the direction of Rum Runners. The pimply kid behind the counter had heated David's blood, so he started drinking that immediately, but I wanted to wait until I could sit at a table to eat my sub, instead, sipping my Pepsi while we walked. It was quite possible that I was becoming addicted to Pepsi; my entire body did an internal sigh of relief as that first swallow hit my stomach.

He grabbed my hand as we passed his condo building. I was walking without a destination, just mindlessly moving forward. He slyly pulled me into his building, which happened to be kitty-corner across the street from Rum Runners (he had the ultimate commute to work). He took me up to his condo and sat me at the table. "Eat," he said as he slid me and my chair closer to the table.

"What's the plan?" I asked suspiciously, setting my Pepsi down on the table in front of me. I didn't think I was going to like this.

He smiled widely at me. "You eat, I call Emma," he said with a wink. My stomach growled again, but before I dug in, I shot him a suspicious look. Apparently he knew I wasn't going to like this.

I finished my sub in record time and was swigging the last of the Pepsi when there was a knock at the door. David opened the door and took a small package from one of the twins before I could even stand up. It was slightly odd to see them separated. The singular twin seemed sad without his other half.

"Are you finished?"

I balled up the sub wrapper and threw it and the empty can away. "Yup."

"What is your nightly routine?" He was sitting at the table, observing me as if he was truly curious, but I knew better. He was getting at something.

"Why?" I stood, keeping the table between me and David. I didn't have a rat's chance at actually getting away from him should he spring at me, but I felt better with this slight advantage.

He rolled his eyes. "Humor me."

I shifted from foot to foot. "Well, when it starts to get cold I take my shower at night," I answered, still keeping my watchful eye on the vampire. Drying my mane in the morning took too long, and going outside with wet hair meant crunchy curls on my head. "And I brush my teeth and wash my face. Depending on how tired I am, I may read or grade papers. I usually go to bed around midnight. Now tell me what the plan is."

"You're sleeping here tonight," he replied nonchalantly.

I took a deep breath and sat down opposite him. "Nice try, but I already had my nightmare for the night. I'm spent, done. I'll have to wait to get another couple hours of horrifying sleep until tomorrow night."

"Humor me."

There was no possible way I was going to get out of this, and spending the night cuddling with David did sound nice. I like a good reunion as much as the next girl. "Fine, but you owe me," I said as I narrowed my eyes.

He lifted me off my feet into a bear hug and kissed me. "Shower first, then," he said as he carried me toward his bedroom.

I pretended to grumble all the way to the master bathroom, but truthfully a shower sounded great. The chill outside had seeped into my bones as we walked, and I couldn't manage to get warm. I was sure to close the door with David on the other side before I peeled my damp clothes off and jumped under the hot stream of water. David had stocked his bathroom with all of the products I use: my rosemary mint shampoo and conditioner, the hibiscus soap, the lemon oil moisturizer. He even had the same razor and shaving cream that I use. I decided to go through my entire routine. If David was going to buy all this for me, I was going to use it. I took my time shaving and moisturizing my legs, then shampooed my hair twice before I conditioned. I didn't emerge from the shower until I was pruney and the entire room smelled like girl.

When I did finally turn the water off, I pulled the curtain back to see David, extending a large black towel for me. "Jesus, David!" I said as I stumbled back, almost losing my footing on the slick shower floor. "How long have you been standing there?"

He smirked. "A while." He wrapped the towel around me. "You smell perfect," he said as he took a long sniff of my hair.

I grabbed the other oversized towel from him and wrapped it around my head. He leaned against the wall, watching me. "Thanks, you can go," I said before I really started to dry myself off. Having an audience to your nightly routine is extremely disconcerting.

He started unbuttoning his shirt. "It's my turn to shower." I ogled as he stripped down to his boxers; slowly taking off the shirt and dropping it to the floor, then unbuckling his belt, unbuttoning his jeans, and letting them drop. He stopped before he pulled his boxers all the way down, showing me the goods. "Some privacy, please?" he asked innocently.

I shot him a look. He just saw me completely naked and dripping wet and now _he_ wants _me_ to give him some privacy? Right. Two can play at that game. I dropped the towel and his eyes glazed over as he memorized my body. Slowly, I scooped up his shirt and pulled it over my shoulders, buttoning it from the bottom up. I didn't even finish the third button before David ripped the shirt off me and pressed me up against the wall, kissing me passionately. I returned his passion, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. When his fangs popped down, I stopped kissing him, pushing him away from me. "You just might want to make that a cold shower," I said as I turned my back on him. Luckily I wasn't shy with my body (at least in front of some people), because I turned and walked out of the bathroom stark naked, closing the door behind me. I couldn't keep the grin off my face.

I grabbed another button down from David's closet before I went to explore his place. I'd been in the living room and kitchen, so I moved right by those and down a short hallway to what was obviously an office. There were several diplomas on the wall, all in David's name. A bachelors in business from NYU, masters in communication and a law degree from Harvard, a PhD in psychology from Boston College. Whoa.

I closed the door and returned to the living room. I must have taken more time in his office than I realized because David was waiting with nothing but a towel slung low around his hips. I was suddenly distracted by that perfect inguinal 'V'. "Look at me," he demanded.

"I am," I replied, not bothering to stop ogling him.

He moved closer to me, raising my chin until our eyes met. "In the eyes," he replied. I didn't want to look away from his body, but admiring his perfect hazel eyes wasn't a bad second. We locked eyes for several seconds.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked; he looked baffled.

"You cannot feel that?" he asked as he searched my face.

"What?" I didn't feel anything.

"I cannot influence you."

My mouth dropped. "Not at all?" He nodded no. It took me a second, but I finally realized what he was trying to do, and I got pissed. "Wait, what were you trying to make me do?" Anger flared at the pit of my stomach. How dare he?

"I was trying to make this easier," he replied calmly.

He walked to the kitchen and opened the package the singular twin had dropped off earlier. With his perfect back to me, he was quickly assembling something, purposefully hiding it from my view. "What are you talking about?" I seethed. He could be incredibly vague sometimes, and that was just adding to my anger.

In an instant, he had crossed the living room and wrapped a supportive arm around my waist. "This," he said as he plunged a needle into my shoulder. I screamed, trying to fight him; an exercise in futility. With his strength, if David didn't want me going anywhere, that meant I wasn't going anywhere. I looked up at his face, ready to rage at him, but I was met with eyes that were scared and hopeful at the same time. "Forgive me," he whispered. The anger that had just pulsed through my veins quickly fled before fear.

I was incredibly lethargic all of a sudden. My grip on David's arms loosened and my arms fell to my sides. My knees gave out, David catching me before I fell to the floor. "Why?" I asked before my head drooped into his chest.

He scooped my limp body into his arms and carried me to the bedroom. "Emma gave me something to help you sleep. I knew you would not have taken it on your own." He laid me on the bed and covered me with the comforter.

I worked as hard as I could to get the fragment of the sentence out. "Bad…visions…worse…" My eyelids were becoming too heavy to support; they slid closed without my permission.

"Forgive me, Sloane. I love you."


	18. Chapter 18

I woke more rested and refreshed than I had in a week. Sure, it wasn't the recuperative sleep that I'd needed, for that people must dream, but it was better than what I had been getting. At least my whole body didn't hurt. That doesn't mean, however, that I had forgiven David for what he did last night. I looked at the sleeping vampire next to me. "Asshole," I said as I slapped him across the face. "Bastard." Now that I had violently taken my frustrations out on him, I felt better.

It was almost noon and I was already running late; I had to get into the lab before that 3:00 class. I pulled on the jeans I had been wearing last night, but stole one of David's sweaters before I went into the kitchen to chug some Pepsi and raid the fridge. I made a mental note to get myself some cashmere; this sweater was fabulous. There was a note on the kitchen counter.

_Dearest,_

_Please forgive me, I only wanted to give you what you so desperately needed. I could not let your condition get any worse. _

_It occurs to me you are again stranded because of my actions. Please take my car today._

_I will always love you. _

_David_

David's keys were on the counter next to the note, along with a small jewelry box. Inside the box was a small key and another note.

_Keep this with you._

I couldn't help but smile. I linked the key into my key chain and grabbed David's car keys. Maybe I'd mess up his luxury car as revenge. I was at the very least going to return it on empty, garnished with parking tickets.

I didn't have time to run by the house to change, so I was going to have to parade my walk of shame across campus. I was wearing yesterday's jeans and a man's sweater without a bra. What's worse is I was going to have to teach a group of freshman like this. David owed me big time.

I slid into the luxury car; in the cup holder was a small medicine bottle. On the prescription label was a post-it from Emma.

_For your migraines. One a day, at most._

I noticed the prescribing doctor was Dr. Patrick Lupe. I didn't have a migraine at the moment, so I left the bottle where it was.

I illegally parked his car outside the lab in a permit-only spot and ran into the lab. The lab was packed with grad students, Moose included. When he saw me, he stopped what he was doing. "Found this in my car last night," he said as he grabbed a pair of cat ears from his backpack and tossed them toward me.

Everyone else in the lab was watching, mouths agape. "Thanks," I mumbled in response. I could feel my cheeks burning. I shoved the ears in my oversized purse, along with David's keys.

People in the lab started to find reasons to leave until it was just Moose and I. Again, he finished his work before I did and was saddled with waiting for me to finish. Instead of watching my every move, he decided to play on his laptop as we talked.

"You look a little better today. Did you finally get some sleep?" he asked, his fingers moving furiously as he killed zombies with a chainsaw.

A grimace crossed my face for a split second as I remembered what David had done to me the night before. "Yes," I replied, distaste evident in my voice.

He must have heard my distaste, because he paused his game and looked up at me, confusion on his face. "You didn't want to sleep?"

I shook my head. "Not like that. Let's move on to the next topic." I couldn't think if anything good to get the conversation going in a better direction. "So."

"So, buttons," he replied as he started the game back up.

We worked (well, I worked, he played) in silence for several minutes before I noticed something was wrong. I was starting to feel light headed; the room spun and my vision blurred. I grabbed the edge of the counter top for support. "Whoa," I said as I closed my eyes, hoping to reset whatever was going wrong.

Moose looked up from his laptop. In a split second he had moved his rolling chair over to me. "Sit," he said, one hand on my shoulder, guiding me down into the seat. I would much rather have lain on the floor, but sitting would have to do. Everything was still spinning whether or not I closed my eyes.

Moose handed me a rough wad of paper towels. When I looked up at him, confused as to what I was supposed to do with it, he said, "Your nose is bleeding." I wiped my hand under my nose, frowning at the bloody smear. I looked down at my front, there was a fine line of blood trailing down David's sweater.

I held the scratchy paper under my nose. "I'm fine, just give me a minute," I said, the words coming out muffled and whiny. I noticed the pounding in my head had returned at some point while I was working. Lab work is like that, it sucks you right in, so much so, that it can make you forget you had a headache or were hungry or haven't slept in 3 days.

"That is not fine," Moose said. "You need to go to the hospital."

Slowly, I pushed up from the chair, trying to avert the vertigo I had felt earlier. It seems moving cautiously did help; the wooziness didn't come back with quite the same force . I glanced at the clock. "No, I need to go teach," I replied. I tossed the bloody paper towels into the bio-hazardous waste container and walked out the door, purse in hand.

Moose was right behind me. "Fine. I'm coming," he said as he unzipped his sweatshirt and handed it to me, leaving him in just a tee shirt in close to freezing weather. I was about to protest when he shushed me. "Shifters have extra body heat. I'll be fine. And you need to cover up that blood."

I handed him my purse. "You really want to sit through a lecture on phylogenetic trees?" I asked as I zipped Moose's hoodie up over David's sweater. Through some contortionist's feat (or the fact that both shirts were huge on me), I managed to replace David's sweater with Moose's sweatshirt without showing any skin.

"Sure," he replied with a shrug.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. I was really getting annoyed at being fragile little me. "Fine. You're driving." I handed him the keys to David's Mercedes.

He whistled as he noticed the insignia on the key fob. "Who'd you steal this from?"

"It's David's, feel free to total it." I pointed him toward the sleek black car. He unlocked it with the fob and I slid into the passenger seat, reaching for the medication I had left in the cup holder. I tossed David's bloody sweater in the back and swallowed one pill.

Moose watched me swallow the pill. He grabbed the post-it I had tossed onto the dash. "Migraines? Nosebleeds? Insomnia? Sloane…"

I snapped. "Don't even..." I took another deep breath to calm myself. "I'm fine. I'm dealing with it."

Moose didn't say another word.

.

Moose and I walked into class slightly late, so all the students were already in their seats. "Sorry we're late, but my chauffeur is a slow driver." I smiled and pointed to Moose. Many of the students laughed at the absurdity of a college student having a chauffeur, but some looked in awe that I had a chauffeur. I sighed for the gullible few. "This is Mustafa, a friend of mine. He's just shadowing me for a little while, seeing what the life of a graduate assistant is like." That explanation seemed plausible enough to me.

Jessica's hand shot up before I could even get the thumb drive with my presentation on it out of my purse. I pointed at her. "Yes, Jessica?"

"Is he the one who bought you?" she asked bubbily. Her effervescence could be tough to take on a normal day; today, she was downright unbearable.

Moose answered before I could tell her to butt out. "I sure did, and it was worth every penny."

I shot him a shut-it look and turned back to glare at Jessica, who was grinning from ear to ear. "Any _relevant _questions before we begin?" I looked over the class, making sure I didn't miss ant raised hands. My eyes fell on a very green looking Ben sitting in the back. "You OK, Ben? You look like you're not feeling so hot."

Despite the cold weather, he had a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. His face was drawn and pale. "Yea, I think I'm just coming down with something," he replied. Even his voice sounded small.

I took a second to look him over before finally taking him at his word. "OK, just don't get me sick," I replied.

I launched into my lecture, keeping an eye on Ben's appearance as I did. Not 15 minutes into the lecture, Ben's eyes fluttered closed and he slid down in his chair. For him, napping in class was pretty much the norm, so I wasn't overly concerned until he fell out of his chair. His eyes didn't even flutter open for a second as he hit the floor. "Moose, call 911," I said as I rushed to his side, making sure he hadn't hurt himself too badly when he fell. I looked at his closest friend in the class, Jeff. "When did he start not feeling well?"

He looked shell shocked. "Uhh…uhhh…he wasn't all that hungry last night so he skipped dinner. Other than that he's been fine."

I supported Ben's head in my lap as I straightened him out. "Everyone but Jeff, class is dismissed. The homework due tomorrow is postponed until Friday. Jeff, do you have a phone number for his parents?"

He nodded and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. "Tell them we've called an ambulance, he will be taken to Sparrow Hospital." He dialed a number as he walked to the other end of the room.

I felt Ben's skin. His arms were cold, but his trunk and head were warm. He had a steady pulse, which was a good sign. Within minutes, EMTs were in the room, stretcher at the ready. I insisted on riding in the back of the ambulance with him (I argued that since he was in my class when it happened, I was responsible for his well-being). Moose offered to drive the shaken Jeff to the hospital in David's car, of course.

The nurses had parked me in the waiting room on the second floor. Shortly after I sat down, Moose and Jeff joined me. I pulled my cell phone out and called Sydney.

"Hey, hun. Shouldn't you be teaching?" she answered.

"We have a huge problem," I replied. "Meet me at Sparrow's 2nd floor waiting room. Bring the cards."

Panic instantly filtered into her voice. "You're at the hospital? Sloane, what happened?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine," I said soothingly. "I'll fill you in when you get here."

Panic made way for resolve. "OK, I'm on my way," she said. We hung up at the same time. Next I needed to contact one of the O'Haras. I would have preferred Emma or even Lee to David. I was still too mad at David to talk to him. Unfortunately, it was the middle of the day and the only phone number I had was for the one I didn't want to talk to. I decided on a text rather than a voice mail.

_We have a problem. Find me._

I hadn't even gotten my cell phone into the oversized pocket of the sweatshirt before Dr. Lupe approached the three of us. "Ms. McInstosh, it's nice to see you again."

I nodded in agreement, forcing a smile onto my face. "Are you treating Ben?"

"Yes. For the moment, he's fine. We have him stabilized, but until we figure out what happened, we are going to keep him here. We should have his blood tests soon."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Is he awake?"

"Yes. You can go talk to him if you like."

I walked into the room Dr. Lupe had indicated. He was awake, remote in hand, watching ESPN. "Jeff called your parents, they should be here soon. I'm going to stay until they get here. I'll be right outside."

He just nodded. "Thanks."

Dr. Lupe stopped me outside the door before I could make it back to the waiting room. "How are the migraines?"

I had forgotten he was the prescribing doctor for the medication. "Better, thank you," I answered dismissively.

"I assume the heavy sedative Emma asked for was also for you?" Concern flooded his eyes.

"Unfortunately."

"I would like to do some tests…" he started.

I held up my hand. "Stop right there. Not a chance. It's just a little insomnia, it will pass."

After a short stare down, he nodded. "If it gets any worse…"

"You'll be among the first to know."

When I walked back into the waiting room, Sydney had taken my spot next to Moose. She was looking very anxious. After talking to Ben, Jeff had taken the bus back to campus. I motioned for both Moose and Sydney to follow me to the empty stairwell. If Moose was going to insist on babysitting me, he needed to know what he was babysitting.

"What's the problem?" Sydney literally could not stand still.

"I didn't see it." Sydney caught on immediately, shock and fear on her face. Moose just looked confused. Sydney grabbed the deck of cards out of her back pocket and handed them to me.

I turned to Moose to explain while I shuffled the cards. "Didn't you wonder how I knew about you before Lee told me?" He simply nodded. "I can see things. I can see your true nature. Moose is an incredibly ironic nickname for you, by the way. I can also see thing that are going to happen, feel danger coming. I should have seen that coming a mile away."

He took a minute to digest this before he spoke. "So…why didn't you?"

I handed the deck back to Sydney and walked back into the waiting room, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of an empty coffee table. "Let's see."

Moose and I watched as Sydney laid out the cards. She studied the layout for several minutes before speaking. "Not good. Something or someone is sabotaging you, blocking your aura somehow. It could be what is giving you the nightmares. Maybe the bond?"

I shook my head no. "I've had a vision since we bonded. It's after that."

Moose finally spoke. "You're bonded? To who?" I didn't answer, just giving him a minute to think that one through for himself. "David O'Hara?" He lowered his voice. "You're bonded to David O'Hara? Why would you do something so stupid?"

I explained the circumstances to him. "Neither of us really had a choice. Let's keep this on the down low, OK?" If the O'Haras had enemies, I didn't want to add my name to the hit list.


	19. Chapter 19

We had been sitting in the hospital chatting off and on for almost 2 hours before we finally fell into silence. Sydney and Moose both refused to get back to their lives, insistent on keeping me company . I _was_ feeling very weary and, despite my long sleep the night before, tired. I leaned my head against the wall until I the sun set.

I could tell the moment David rose and saw my text message. A moment of fear coursed through the bond; I jerked upright with a gasp. I tried to send calming and reassuring thoughts to him, but I had no idea what I was doing. Another jolt tinged with fear passed when he determined I was at the hospital. "Brace yourself," I said as I settled back into my uncomfortable chair. "David's coming, and he is pissed."

Moose stood and moved to the other side of the waiting room, crossing his arms as he went. I was about to say something about cowardice when David burst through the door and scooped me into his arms. There was no point in fighting a grip this firm, so I just stayed still, with my feet dangling, waiting for him to reassure himself enough to at least release me. He glared at the room, taking in possible dangers. It was a moment before he set me down and held me at arm's length. "You are well?" he asked, his Gaelic lilt pronounced, as telling as the concern plastered on his face.

I shrugged. "To be determined," I replied as I looked him up and down. He was wearing a rumpled pair of jeans and a t shirt that looked like he had retrieved it from the floor. His bed head was untamed, accentuating the curls. I imagined we looked very similar at the moment: just a pair of hot messes.

"You said there is a problem," David said, one hand still lightly gripping my arm while the other cupped my cheek. "Sloane, why are you at the hospital? Why do you smell like him?" He nodded in the direction of Moose, which made Moose snarl. He had taken a couple of tentative steps towards David and me when David lifted me off the ground The animal in him looked ready to pounce.

I tackled one question at a time. "There _is_ a problem, and I'll explain it to you, Emma, and Lee later. I'm at the hospital because one of my students collapsed in class and I have to stay with him until his parents get here." And now to the answer I knew he wasn't going to like. "That's Moose and I smell like him because this is his sweater."

"Why are you wearing his sweater?" he asked, his eyes narrowing at the shifter. Trust David to pick the most irrelevant point in a statement. Sometimes the male ego was more than I wanted to deal with.

"Because I got blood on yours," I snipped. That was the wrong answer, apparently. David seized both of my biceps, peering at me head to toe, looking for sources of blood. "Hey, hey, hey it was just a nose bleed," I said as I attempted to shoo him off of me. He continued his investigation, despite my protests. I tried harder, shoving him away from me, repeating, "Hands off." When he heard the irritation in my voice, he let me shove him away; no way I could make him budge all on my own. "I'm still mad at you," I said as I plopped back down into the same uncomfortable chair and crossed my arms across my chest.

"As well you should be," he answered as he gracefully sat next to me, sarcastically miming my folded arms.

"Pushy asshole," I mumbled.

"Stubborn child," he replied.

Sydney shoved the deck of cards into David's hands. "Now, now, children, don't fight," she said. "Shuffle those." David held the cards, questions in his eyes, making no move to shuffle the cards. He refused to follow Syd's directions until he got an explanation.

I slammed my hands on the table, which drew the attention of the woman at the nurse's station as well as Sydney and Moose. "God dammit, David! Just do it!"

David ground his teeth but reluctantly complied. After studying the cards she had laid out, Sydney spoke. "You don't seem to have any blockages. You're about to be pulled into some heavy shit, though."

She had caught his attention. "Meaning?" he asked as he leaned towards her attentively.

Sydney shook her head as she packed up her cards. "Only Sloane can see that well."

A charged silence dragged on as David leaned back in his chair. David glared at Moose, who had the guts to glare right back. Sydney went back to reading a magazine that someone had left in the waiting room. I was stuck watching the male egos battle, arms crossed on my chest and grumbling internally. I had hit my breaking point; I snapped at them. "Would you like me to find you two a ruler?" I snarked. I was definitely short tempered today.

They both stared at me, Moose with surprise on his face and David with confusion. Apparently, he hadn't heard that particular quip before. Sydney guffawed before quickly catching herself and shutting her mouth, burying her head back in the magazine.

A tiny older woman approached the tense group, behind her was an equally petit, visibly nervous man. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm looking for my son's teacher?"

I stood to shake her hand. "I teach Ben's class. His room's over here," I said as I led the diminutive couple back to Ben's room, where Dr. Lupe was going over test results. "Dr. Lupe has been taking care of him. Doctor, these are Ben's parents."

The small woman clasped my hands enthusiastically, "Thank you," she said. I found it hard to match her emotion; I simply nodded and walked out the door. Instead of stopping in the waiting room where a tarot master, a vampire, and a shifter were waiting for me, I just kept walking to the stairwell and down the flight of stairs. I was almost out of the hospital before Sydney caught up with me.

"Want a ride home?" she asked as she sidled up next to me.

I sighed. "I can't go home yet. I need to tell Emma and Lee what's going on with me," I said as I flipped the hood of Moose's sweater up over my head and curled into the fabric.

"Why?" Sydney asked as she bundled herself. "This is a problem for _you_. It'll be great if they can help you, but I doubt they can." Sydney and I started the short walk toward Rum Runners, which was mere blocks away.

The answer to this question had been rolling around in my brain since we got to the hospital. "Think about it. The only reason the last two attacks on the Queen-that's Emma," I clarified. Sydney gaped for a split second before bursting into laughter. "Yea, that's the response I had, too. Anyway, the only reason the last two attacks on the Queen didn't work is because I saw them coming and warned them. Now, all of a sudden, I can't see anything - at the exact same time Emma's circling the wagons."

Sydney nodded. "I gotcha. And because we have a problem, I'm going to ignore this whole Emma-as-Queen thing for a minute. So who could do this?"

I shrugged. "You know as much as I do."

I charged into Rum Runners, brushing right past the bouncer. Emma and Lee were sitting in their regular booth on the first level, and as I approached, they waved off the bouncer who was just about to bodily eject us from the bar. Monday nights can be a popular night for clubbing for upperclassmen at State; many swing a M, W, & F schedule, which makes Monday and Wednesday nights as much of a party night as Friday. This meant that there were several people my age roaming around the bar. The twins, who were once again flanking the booth, stood aside to let me pass, but eyed Sydney suspiciously. Lee spoke. "Let her pass."

I slid into the booth next to Lee, Sydney next to Emma. I could see hysterical giggles crinkling Sydney's eyes. I shot her a warning look before I told the vampire Regents what I had just told Sydney. David appeared near the end of my explanation, pulling up a chair and sitting at the end of the table. We were now in an official pow-wow. "So who could do something like that?" I asked.

All three vampires looked thoughtful for a moment; Emma spoke first. "A powerful witch."

Lee nodded then added, "Fae."

David was less thoughtful and more livid. "More importantly, who would employ a supernatural to attack another supernatural? I doubt very much this stems from the Fellowship, they seem to have been pawns."

Both Emma and Lee nodded as I worked my way out of the booth. "Well, it's been fun," I said backing away from the group. I made it to the door of the bar before I turned and started to run. I needed to run; I felt trapped, just waiting for something horrible to happen. I ran towards my house until my lungs were burning and my head was pounding again. I stopped several blocks short of my house to catch my breath before I forced my feet to keep moving. I was barely at the halfway point when the small drizzle that had been spattering off and on all day turned into snow and started to come down harder and harder. Focusing on the rhythm of my steps was giving me some relief from the migraine that had resurfaced, but the pounding wouldn't completely leave.

I still had a ways to go when I noticed how cold I was. If the thin sweatshirt hadn't been enough when the sun was out; it was downright inadequate soaking wet. I watched the heavy snowflakes spiral down as I found my way home. By the time I arrived on my front steps, moving through Lansing on autopilot, over an inch of snow had accumulated, and I was hypothermic. Sydney's car was in the drive, along with mine. David's car was parked on the street.

I was on the first step when the front door swung open. "She told me I could not go to you," David said as he looked at me from head to toe. "She said you needed time and would only get angry if I came to you." He had since showered and changed into clean jeans and a sweater, which emphasized how much of a sodden mess I was. My wet hair hung limply around my face, my sweater was now completely soaked. As my jeans had sucked up the rain and snow, they had grown and gained weight, making them sag loosely.

"Wh-wh-who?" I was shivering violently, which was amplifying the migraine.

"Sydney," he said as he wrapped me in his arms and pulled me into the foyer. He hugged me tightly for a split second before he said, "You are wet," loosening his grip around me.

"S-s-snow m-melts when y-you're w-w-warm b-blooded," I shivered. The thin loafers I was wearing were now completely soaked; I struggled to toe them off without dragging off my jeans in the process.

"Oh my God, you're blue!" Sydney cried as she rushed into the foyer, pushing David out of the way to pull me into a bear hug. "Here." She tried to hand me a steaming mug of liquid, but my hands were shaking too fiercely to hold it steady. She covered my hands with hers, holding the mug and my hands just steady enough to not slosh the hot liquid. "You need to get out of those wet clothes and into a hot shower."

I nodded, turned, and made my way toward the staircase and up to my bedroom, David right behind me. He turned me around in my bathroom and unzipped Moose's sweatshirt, tossing it to the side. "Oh," he mumbled when he realized I wasn't wearing anything under it. I managed to unbutton and unzip my jeans, and he helped me shimmy them off, as well. When he realized I hadn't been wearing panties all day either, he couldn't even form a coherent word, just an unintelligible grunt as his fangs came down.

"C-c-cool it," I said. The only reason I was even allowing him in my room was because with as violently as I was shaking, I could actually use his help undressing. I was in no mood to get frisky with him at the moment. I wrapped my arms around my torso in a last-ditch effort to warm myself as I braced my butt on the countertop.

He turned the water on warm before he started shucking his own clothes. "Wh-what are y-y-you d-doing?" I chattered. Instead of answering, he wrapped his arms around me, pressing me tightly to him and tucking my head under his chin. He might not generate body heat, but even at room temperature, he felt warmer than I did. He held me close until the water heated, when he lifted me into the stream with him. I stood there, letting the scalding water pound into my shoulders and back, as David lathered my hair with shampoo. In no time, the shivering had stopped and the pink was starting to return to my skin. Steam was filling the room, warming my lungs from the inside out.

"Sloane," David whispered into my ear, husky voice vibrating with lust. His hand slowly roamed down my back to cup my butt, lifting me slightly into him.

Just call me the queen of self control. I pushed him away. "No," I said flatly. He let go of me, clearly disappointed. I stepped out of my shower, pulling a towel off the rack and wrapping it around me. When I was mostly dry, I pulled a pair of sweats out of the bottom drawer, topping them with a baggy sweatshirt. I wrapped my wet hair up into a messy bun before I crawled under the covers. David wasn't far behind, sliding under the covers and wrapping his nude form around me. "I can't take this," I whispered after a moment of silence.

His grip on me loosened as he pulled away. "I am sorry Sloane, I just want to hold you."

"That's not what I meant. I can't take the sabotage. I can't take looking over my shoulder because someone might be gunning for me. I can't stand being your weak link." I grabbed his arm and wrapped it back around me; he tightened his grip, crushing my back to his chest and kissing my neck.

"No one is ever going to hurt you again. It is now my responsibility, I have your back, I _will_ protect you," he whispered before he kissed my neck again. I snuggled into him. My feminist side, the side that makes me take charge of a male-dominated lab, was extremely unhappy, but it's what the rest of me needed. I needed a moment to just hand off my problems to someone else and take a breather. "You are in pain?" he asked, my migraine obviously seeping through the bond.

"Yea, migraine again, sorry," I answered.

"Should I go get the medication? I believe I saw it in my car," he said as he sat up quickly, leaving him mostly uncovered.

"Uhh…" I shook my head lightly to get my brain to function. _Remember that self control, Sloane McIntosh. Self control. Focus._ "No," I grumbled, "I already had one today."

He pulled me into his lap and leaned me against his chest, rubbing my temples like he had before. It wasn't 100% better, but the slight pressure on the soft points in my temples helped to relieve some of the pain. We sat, David massaging in silence for what felt like hours, until long after I had fallen into comfortable dozy state. I leaned against his chest until my stomach grumbled at me, reminding me that it didn't care if thinking about food made me feel nauseated; it was hungry. Slowly, I rolled out of bed. "Put your pants on," I sighed.

He stopped dressing at his boxers, but at least he was somewhat covered. He followed me downstairs to the kitchen, where Sydney was sitting at the kitchen table with her nose in a book. "Oh….oh, wow," she said as she did a double take at David's outfit. "Wow." Sydney let her book fall to the table top, her jaw following it. I rolled my eyes; I may as well just let her ogle.

I made myself some pasta, which I took back up to my room to eat. There was no way my touchy stomach could handle much more than angel hair and butter at the moment. I wasn't halfway up the stairs, bowl in hand, before a strange airiness settled into my brain, making me reach for the banister as an anchor. I was suddenly extremely light headed, in seconds everything went black. I dropped the bowl of pasta, which David caught before it hit the floor, and reached out with both hands to find something to hold on to. I could no longer tell up from down, whether I was lying or standing. Everything spun around me like I was tumbling down the rabbit hole. When I could see again I was sitting at the top of the stairs, David holding a hand towel soaked in blood. "What…" I mumbled, getting a taste of something bitter and metallic.

Concern was plastered on his face, his fear leaking through the bond. "I believe they call that a seizure. I've called Emma," he said as he brushed my fly-aways from my face and wound his fingers around mine. At least he had found time to put on pants.

I didn't notice Sydney was even in the house, let alone holding my hand until she spoke. "I think we should take her to the hospital," she said, her voice high and shaky.

David shook his head no. "This is not medical," he explained. "Ordinary doctors would not know how to treat a problem they do not understand."

I felt like I had the mother of all hangovers. Either my mind was working in slow motion, or the rest of the world was working at warp speed. "Who's bleeding?" I asked groggily.

"You are, Love," David answered softly. He pushed the towel against my nose and mouth gently, bringing it away slightly more stained than before. "You have been for some time now." It occurred to me how I was almost constantly bleeding in front of David. Maybe he kept me around as a snack.

Sydney put a hand to my forehead. "You're burning up," she mumbled before disappearing, bringing back a cold wet washcloth she laid against my forehead. I moaned and leaned my head back, enjoying the temporary relief.

When the washcloth reached body temperature, I peeled it off and looked down at my sweatshirt, which also had a trail of blood down the front. "This is really starting to get on my nerves," I said lightly, trying to break through David and Syd's tension. I was still quite shaky as I pushed myself up from the stairs, Sydney got me into my room. David had gone downstairs to meet Emma, and explain the circumstances. I started rooting through my bottom drawer, looking for a sweatshirt I wouldn't mind destroying. I found one pocked with acid holes from some long forgotten lab experiment and switched it with the bloody one.

"I'm scared, Sloane" Sydney said as she sat at the edge of my bed, plucking at the wet washcloth in her hands. Her eyes were wide and glassy.

"Me too," I replied. I sat next to her, leaning my shoulder against the headboard as my feet dangled off the edge of my bed near my nightstand, and pulled on her hand, hoping she would come and give me a hug. She had been mothering me for months now; it was my turn to comfort her. She leaned over, putting her head in my lap and settling next to me. I started playing with her long blonde hair, braiding it and wrapping it around my fingers before I tugged the washcloth from Sydney's grip to wipe any remaining blood off my face.

David and Emma were standing in the doorway, Emma with black bag in hand. I moaned; I was really getting sick of seeing that bag, nothing good ever came out of it. "I have been thinking about the possibilities of who could do this," Emma said as she approached. "It is not like the Fae to be so covert in their attack. Perhaps they might manipulate a group into taking rash action, but only if the intent is already there. It is more likely someone who would gain politically or financially if and only if the attack could in no way be traced back to them. It is either another state's King or Queen, looking to absorb more territory, or one of my constituents looking to become King or Queen." She grabbed my wrist to feel my pulse. "It is not likely another state would want Michigan for their territory, we are quite economically weak at the moment." No kidding. Michigan's only real money makers were the car companies, who were sinking fast. "It would be more trouble than it would be worth. That leaves a constituent who would gain from our demise." Emma even dressed the part, her black patent leather kitten heels and black skirt suit making her look like she just came from her throne room.

I didn't need the complete explanation. I wanted the bottom line. "So who?" I asked after a deep sigh.

"A sheriff would have the best chance of achieving my throne," Emma replied as she grabbed the washcloth and laid it against my forehead again.

Sheriffs? This was getting better and better. A small smile cracked through. "Of course, the sheriffs," I said sarcastically. "How many?"

David answered, who had at some point materialized at my side on the bed. "Michigan technically has 6 sheriffs, Sloane. Emma also acts as the sheriff of Area 2, which would be Mid-Michigan and Southwest Michigan. That leaves 5 high ranking vampires with the necessary resources."

He was failing miserably at calming me down. I shot him an unappreciative look and thought about where the other Areas might be located. Detroit must be its own area, as well as the Flint/Saginaw area, the Grand Rapids area, the upper Lower Peninsula which encompassed Mackinaw City and Traverse City, and also the entire Upper Peninsula.

David and Emma had a short conversation in a language I didn't understand before David kissed my cheek. "I must go help Lee, but Emma will stay here. Do you trust the shifter?"

"What?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed. Oh, he must be talking about Moose. "Oh, yea, you mean Moose. I trust him," I replied with a skeptical lilt to my voice. Before I could ask why he cared, he was gone. I was going to have to get used to constantly being in the dark if I wanted to hang around with vampires, but for the moment, I just shot Emma a questioning look.

If Emma was feeling chatty, I was going to milk it for all its worth. "So what now?" I asked.

"David and Lee are going to talk to some local witches in order to ferret out who could be doing this. When we find the witch, we will force them to reverse the curse," she replied nonchalantly as she packed her things back into that damn black bag. I didn't want to think too hard about what she might mean by 'force'. After all, witches were human, I guess. They probably don't even understand what they are really doing, what they are going up against. "The witch will tell us who is orchestrating this attack, and we will eliminate them." I should have been upset with this plan; after all, I had never really been one for violence, but instead I was relieved. I was relieved there was at least a plan.

One simple question had been nagging at me for some time now. "How did you become Queen? You're just so…sweet," I asked. Of the three vampires in the O'Hara family, Emma was the last of the three I could see fighting for the post.

"That is kind of you to say, dear," she replied. "David gave me his Kingdom." My jaw dropped. Dozens of questions popped to my mind. How'd he become king? Why did he give it up? How long ago was this? Before I could compose myself and spit some of these questions out, Emma answered them. "David became King, soon after the Second World War, just after the previous King was staked by a family member of his Renfield," she started. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I'd rather look it up later than interrupt her story. "Because of his fair and likable temperament and his position as Sheriff, he ascended the throne without any bloodshed. He was a well liked King, but he was becoming increasingly unhappy with his position. Sometime in the 1970's he decided to abdicate his throne in my favor."

I didn't speak until I was sure she was done with her story. "Why was he unhappy?" I asked as I settled into my bed, pulling the comforter up to my chin.

She paused at this question, equal parts shame and concern shading her eyes. "He would not tell me. After he abdicated, he roamed for some time. He would not tell me where he was or what he was doing. When he returned to us, he still was not himself again." A large yawn escaped my lips before I could ask another question, which snapped Emma out of her sharing mood. "You must sleep," she said as she gestured Syd off the bed. Sydney scooted off the bed and out the door, quickly followed by Emma, who flicked off the light on her way out.


	20. Chapter 20

This was the first night I was unable to even doze off. After several hours of alternately drifting in the dark and restless tossing and turning, I had to get out of bed. I tiptoed across the hall, quietly cracking the door to Sydney's room. She was fast asleep, a calm look on her face. I envied her. I even considered crawling into bed with her, hoping that some of that sleep would rub off on to me. Instead, I made my way down the stairs, carefully hanging on to the banisters in case of more vertigo, moving slowly and carefully, taking my time.

When I reached the kitchen, Emma was positioned at the kitchen table, surrounded by a fortress of medical books. She had an untouched True Blood sitting in front of her while she perused several open textbooks. "Doing research?" I asked, the fatigue coloring my voice.

She must have been concentrating pretty hard because her head shot up, fangs down. Fangs on someone so soft and warm were an odd juxtaposition. I flinched as she quickly retracted the fangs and smiled at me. "You startled me, I assumed you were asleep," she replied softly.

Being with Emma was just as easy as being with David, absent the awkward sexual tension. "Nope, no such luck," I said as I made my way to the fridge, not bothering with a glass and just grabbing the half full two-liter of Pepsi.

"I put your food from earlier in the fridge," she said. "I hope that was correct, it has been a while since I have dealt with food preservation."

I had completely forgotten about the food. I haven't eaten since…when was the last time I ate? This morning? The morning before? Even though my stomach was undoubtedly empty, I just wasn't hungry. I nodded my head in appreciation. "That's great, thanks. Maybe I'll get around to it later," I said before chugging some of the Pepsi. Emma started closing books with titles like 'Abnormal Neurophysiology' and 'Neural Enyzmology'. I nodded to the books she was closing. "Find anything useful?" I asked as I sank into the chair opposite Emma, slumping until my cheek rested on the table, two-liter still in hand.

She looked dejected, even tired. I didn't know vampires even got tired. She took a long, deep breath. "I am afraid not. I am running out of ideas." She stood, stretching the muscles of her back and shoulders like a cat. She had put aside her suit jacket, leaving her in a black pencil skirt and a white sleeveless sweater. She was also barefoot. "David will never forgive me," she said to herself.

Now I was just plain confused. "For what?" I asked.

"If we cannot fix this before these seizures do permanent damage," she replied sadly.

I had a hard time believing he was that attached to me. True, I would be horribly scarred if I was to lose him, but he was my first love. He was the only person who'd ever stirred my feelings this way. Sure, I'd had my fair share of one night stands and week-long flings; my libido is too healthy to remain a virgin. But I had never been in _love. _I wasn't sure if that's what I was feeling now, but it had crept closer than I'd ever felt it before. He, on the other hand, had been alive over 100 years. He must have had dozens upon dozens of girlfriends or lovers. I had a hard time believing, the bond notwithstanding, that I was that important to him.

With an internal wince, I finished off the rest of the Pepsi. I jumped as Emma's phone buzzed, dancing across the table, clutching my chest as my already struggling heart went into overdrive. She checked the text and asked, "Are you feeling able to accompany me to Rum Runners?" with a touch of cheer in her voice.

I still didn't feel particularly well; I was weak, like I was recovering from a virus and thoroughly exhausted, but there wasn't any reason I shouldn't take a 5 minute car ride. "I suppose," I sighed before scooping up my phone and keys and shoving them into the pouch on my sweatshirt. After a quick internal debate I decided that yes, I should leave Sydney a note.

I scribbled a short message on the back of a take-out receipt and left it in the middle of the counter. "OK, let's go," I said as I double checked my pockets. Old OCD habits die hard, and that's one that often made an appearance when I was stressed. I scuffed on the loafers I'd left on the mat before we made our way outside. In my driveway was a metallic magenta Porsche Boxster. I laughed out loud; even my laugh sounded tired. "You've got to be kidding me," I muttered.

She unlocked the car with the key fob. "That is exactly what the car detailer said when I chose the color."

"This thing is a trip! I may have to borrow it sometime." I was still giggling as we slid into the car. She turned the key and the engine roared to life.

She looked slightly confused at the colloquialism, but answered anyway. "Anytime." She exploded out of my driveway, taking the neighborhood streets at mach speeds. Instead of being nervous, I was exhilarated. It was close to 4AM, and the streets were like a slalom course. It wasn't until we hit the busier streets of downtown Lansing I had to close my eyes and brace myself. The cell phone in my pocket buzzed.

"Hello?" I asked, my eyes still clamped shut. I tried to sound as normal I could, I was failing miserably.

"Why are you so nervous?" David asked, sounding just as nervous as I was.

I took another deep breath as I felt the G forces tugging my body. "Emma's driving," I yelped as Emma slammed on the brakes and cut off an older model Pontiac whipping around another corner.

"Emma, slow down," he said in his normal speaking voice, but Emma must have heard it anyway. She slowed slightly, but the street lamps and the storefronts still flashed past in trails of light. She wove through oncoming traffic to get around a green SUV, cutting them off when she swerved back into the lane.

"Am I making you nervous, brother?" she asked lightly, a small smirk crossing her lips.

He sighed audibly. "Emma, she's not well enough for any more stress." I was starting to wonder if I needed to be present for this conversation.

Somehow, she looked chagrined and amused at the same time. "I suppose you are right." I screamed as she slammed on the brakes, slowing from close to 100 miles per hour down to the speed limit of 35. I groped for the phone that I had dropped in the melee, but had no luck simultaneously searching and getting my heart rate back in check. Emma's hand dove under my seat and flourished my still connected cell phone. "My apologies," she said, unapologetic. She was enjoying this a tad too much.

She handed me the phone, and I immediately brought it to my ear. "David?" My voice came out shaky and small.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

"No," I replied, my voice stronger this time. I absolutely was not OK. The injection of adrenaline into my system was making my already weak state worse. "Can you please drive me home?"

I could hear the smile in his voice. "Of course, Love." I hung up the phone just as we pulled into the alley behind the bar. I couldn't get out of that car and onto solid ground fast enough. As I slowly made my way to the back door, Emma mirrored my pace.

Once at the door, I let Emma lead the way through the maze of hallways that make up the offices and storerooms of Rum Runners. She led me into her office, where David, Lee, and the twins were waiting. Sitting in a chair in the corner was a small woman I recognized. "I know you…" I said as I gestured in her general direction.

I had David's attention. "From where?" he asked.

"Triple Goddess Bookstore. Sydney goes there all the time." The grey-haired woman who owned the bookstore was staring at me through tear-rimmed eyes. "Is she the one? Is she doing this to me?" Anger spurred my heart rate into the stratosphere, which was making me feel light headed all over again. For a split second, my equilibrium wavered.

David wrapped his arm around my waist and set me on the couch until I could regain my balance. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep my surroundings from swimming quite so much, but it didn't help. Instead, I was seized with vertigo whenever I closed my eyes.

The old woman in the corner spoke in a tremulous, frightened voice. "I didn't do anything to anyone."

Apparently, Lee was going to be the interrogator. "Are you not a witch?" he rapped out

She looked stunned, single tear running down her cheek. "I…I practice the art."

"Have you not been hired recently to hide the actions of another?" His voice was devoid of all emotion as he interrogated her; I couldn't see his face, but I would assume it also held no emotion.

"I….I….How did…" she stammered. Lee's fangs shot down as he hissed at her. She shuddered at the hiss before collecting herself enough to answer the question. "Yes. A man called me almost three weeks ago. He said that a girl with second sight was tracking him, helping people who are trying to kill him. He asked me to block her sight." She was sobbing in earnest now, tears streaming down her face.

David slammed his fist on the wall, startling both the grey-haired woman and me. He picked the small frail woman out of the chair and held her by the shoulders against the wall. Her feet were dangling a full span off the ground. "You are killing her!" David's anger was seeping through the bond, jacking my heart rate even higher.

The woman's eyebrow furrowed in confusion before she started pleading. "Please, I…I didn't design the spell to harm her. Please don't hurt me." She turned her head to look at me, studying my face in detail before focusing on her captor again. "She looks fine to me. See? She's just fine."

My pulse was pounding in my head. It felt like a fire was consuming in my chest, slowly working its way down my arms and legs. A small trickle of heat fell down my upper lip and into my mouth. It tasted metallic. "David…" I reached one hand up to my face to clear the blood while the other gripped the settee, anchoring my consciousness in the here and now. My voice dropped to a whisper as I said, "Hot…"

Emma was at my side in an instant, one hand on my forehead and the other on my wrist. She snapped at the grey-haired woman. "Does she appear 'just fine'?" She turned to one of the twins, barking orders faster than I could understand. One of the twins disappeared out the door. "She has a high fever, she may seize again. David, calm yourself. Her pulse is too high."

David dropped the small woman, who fell to all fours and scuttled to the far corner of the room. Her whisper came out as little more than a hope. "Maybe she just has the flu; it's flu season."

"Grand mal seizures can affect the hypothalamus, which controls body temperature. Even small seizures are often followed by high body temperatures." Emma was now in full doctor mode. Everything was returning to normal, my pulse evened out and the fog of light headedness lifted.

The twin soon returned with a baggie of ice which Emma pressed to my wrists. "Better?"

I nodded before I answered. "Yea, it's passed."

She pressed a towel up against my bloody nose. "Hold this here." I grabbed the towel, pressing it to my upper lip. My shaky hands were making difficult to keep the towel on target.

David took the towel from me, holding it in place, as he pulled me into his chest. As I closed my eyes I felt the first throbs of a migraine. Great, just what I needed.

Emma approached the woman, who was still huddled in the corner. "Who hired you?" she asked authoritatively. The small gray-haired woman just shook her head as she curled into herself on the chair, intimidated by Emma's current mood. "Tell me!" Emma roared.

"I…I don't know!" the gray-haired woman sobbed as she cowered from Emma's wrath. "It was a phone call and he didn't give his name. He…He had an accent, that's all I can tell you!"

I could hear Emma's teeth gnash as she pointed back to me. "Reverse this and we will let you live."

The woman nodded vigorously, rattling off a list of supplies that she would need. She gave directions to her store, telling the twins where each of the ingredients were located and how much to grab. Lee left with the twins, leaving the humans and two vampires in the room. Emma reseated herself behind her desk, calmly addressing one of the piles of paperwork. David started to slowly massage my temples.

The small woman approached David and me, earning her a full view of David's fangs. She stopped in her tracks. "I just want to apologize. I never meant…" she said as she crouched before us, obviously groveling.

"I know," I whispered. I would really rather not be having this conversation. I'd be much more ready and willing to forgive her if she had already reversed the spell.

She crawled closer and knelt next to the settee, putting our faces on the same level. "How can you help them? You have such a gift, why use it for such evil?"

She was so gullible it made a smile twist my lips. "Do I look dangerous? Does she?" I nodded to Emma, who was bent over a file folder. "I'm not 'hunting' anyone. In truth, I don't get to choose what I see. You actually have it backwards; the person who hired you is trying to kill them…well, us." In fact, the only one that they had managed to mortally wound was me.

She looked stricken and confused at the same time. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"I haven't shot anyone lately," I mumbled to myself. I could feel David flinch at the comment. I took a deep breath and asked, "How do you know you can trust them?"

This circular conversation was apparently more than the woman could manage. She retreated and slumped in the corner between the filing cabinets and the wall.

I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I kicked my old loafers off and swung my legs up onto the settee. I closed my eyes to rest, using David as a pillow. I felt a light blanket being spread over me just as I fell asleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Weres were shouldering into the office, one after another. One staked one of the twins before being dismembered by the other. Another shot at Emma; the silver struck Lee in the chest as he tried to protect her. I watched as it took two to restrain David while another dragged me out the door.

Wait a minute. I was watching my own abduction. I woke with a start, jerking into an upright position, David's arms still wrapped around me. Emma had pulled her nose out of a book to see what the commotion was about, Lee standing behind her. The twins were looking nonplussed on either side of the door. Only the grey-haired woman on the floor next to the settee was startled by my reaction. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit."

"Another nightmare?" David was softly rubbing my back, trying to calm me. Just his presence was enough to calm me.

"No, there are Weres coming. Now. We need to leave, NOW." I shot to my feet, wobbling slightly as I came upright. Lee was already pulling things from a large cabinet in a corner, tossing two long silver swords to David and taking another two for himself. He handed Emma a small dagger and several throwing stars. Rum Runners was completely stocked with its own armory. The twins apparently came fully armed, producing honest to God war axes out of thin air.

"How long?" asked David as he gripped the swords firmly. Within seconds, the office was on full alert.

"Very soon," I answered as I scanned the floor for my shoes. "First one through the door has a stake and goes for you," I said as I pointed at Twin Number 1, who swung his ax in response. "The next one goes straight for Emma. Silver bullets. Then there are three…no, four more…" I continued. Apparently, they had heard enough; David pushed me behind him, protecting me with his body. Emma and Lee flanked him on either side, effectively encasing me in a protective cocoon but ignoring the grey-haired woman. The twins stood in front of the O'Haras, protecting all three as much as they could.

"Now!" I screamed as I obeyed my urge to duck and cover. I watched as the twins, now that they were armed and alert, had no problem with dispatching with the first three scrambling through the door. I grabbed the stake that flipped from the dead hands of the first Were, his unseeing eyes blankly fixed on me. With a death grip on my only weapon, I backed up to the wall to avoid the melee.

It wasn't long after I backed into the wall that I discovered it was, in fact, not the wall. A strong pair of freckled arms wrapped around my shoulders, confining my arms and my only weapon to my sides and lifted me from the floor. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I thrashed my entire body, which made it hard to carry me anywhere. A hand clamped down on my mouth mid-scream just as the brouhaha stilled.

"Put her down," David said, his voice as deadly as the sword he was holding to the man's neck. I froze where I was, not wanting to accidentally put myself in the weapon's way. The freckled arms dropped me at once and I backed away again, making sure that the wall I was backing into was really a wall this time. David slit the throat of the last Were, leaving the office (and me) covered in blood and body bits.

It was over. David was slowly moving towards me, hands up. "It's OK, Sloane," he cooed, focusing all his attention on my hand. "You can put it down now." _What?_ I looked to see what had captured his attention so completely. In my hand was the stake, pointed directly at his chest. It took all my concentration to open my fingers from their death grip and drop the stake. I was in his arms as soon as the stake hit the floor.

"Take me home, please," I asked as I pressed my forehead into the crux of David's neck. I had had just about as much violence and gore as I could take in one day. It became apparent to the both of us that my legs were no longer responding; he slowly lifted me into his arms and carried me out to the car. The remission of my fever made it seem even chillier outside, and I shivered in David's arms as he loaded me into the passenger seat of his Mercedes.

He turned the car on and raced back to my house as fast as he could. I was exhausted from days without sleep, overwhelmed by the blood bath I had just witnessed, and on edge about being hunted. I had no more room for sensory input. I shut my mind down, just watching the lights zip by as David drove.

"Sloane? You're safe now." David murmured quietly. I glanced at him; he watched me with careful eyes that looked worried. My brows furrowed as I looked back down at my hands in my lap. _I'm OK, _I thought as I shook myself back to reality. But when reality filtered in around me, David wasn't in the driver's seat anymore. He was crouching just outside the passenger door, stroking my face.

"Hm?" I mumbled in response to something I'm sure he'd said and I'd not heard.

"Are you coming?" he asked. I looked past him, we were at my house already.

"Oh." _Pull it back together, Sloane._ "Um, I guess." I grabbed the hand he extended and hustled to my front porch. Luckily, both my keys and my cell phone were still in my pocket. As soon as I opened the door, I peeled off the old sweatshirt that was now covered in someone else's blood. At this rate, I wasn't going to have anything to wear by the end of the week.

I threw the soiled sweatshirt into the washer. Before I started the machine, I tossed my sweatpants in the washer just in case they had grue on them, too. I added the detergent with a spritz of extra stain remover and started the cycle when I turned back to take my chilled flesh to bed, David was right behind me at the foot at the stairs.

"You tempt me, woman," he said as he took my entire body in, his voice guttural and rough. Glancing out the back window. "I don't have long," he lamented; dawn must be close. He seized me, planting a hungry kiss on my lips as my feet dangled a foot from the floor. I wrapped my arms around his neck, urging him to keep going, to keep holding me tightly. In a dizzy arc he swung us over to the couch and threw me on my back. He was out of his clothes in a flash; one minute he was dressed, and the next he had stripped. I could feel the wet warmth between my thighs as he leaned over me. He tore off my bra with his teeth while he ripped off my panties with his hands. I gasped in delight, tangling my hands in his hair as he kissed a trail up my stomach, to my ear, and finally ending with his lips on mine. As soon as I was preoccupied with his kisses, he dipped one finger into me, which shot a frisson of pleasure throughout my body. I arched my back into him as he plunged another finger into me.

"More," I pleaded as I clung to him. I needed him, all of him, in me right now. It was the only thing that would make what happened at Rum Runners tonight OK. It was the only thing that would make the whole past two months OK.

He entered me fast and hard, and I moaned in unison with his thrusts. He picked me up, moving the two of us until he was sitting on the couch, my knees splayed, straddling him. He moved my hips in counterpoint with his thrusts, which edged me closer and closer to the final climax. He alternated nipping at my neck with his fangs with deep kisses. "Bite! Yes, bite me!" I moaned as I tilted my head, presenting him with my neck. He bit as we both finished together, a sweaty pile of bliss.

I nuzzled my face into David's chest as he held me, both of us still nude. "Sleep, Love." He tucked the quilt Sydney and I kept hanging on the back of the couch around us as goose pimples covered my body. This is exactly how I wanted to fall asleep every night. And for at least this night, I did.


	22. Chapter 22

I was still on the couch when I woke. Sun was streaming in through the window; I was alone on the couch. I wasn't, however, alone in the room. I jerked upright, forgetting that I was 'en _déshabillé'_. I glanced down quickly to secure my modesty before dealing with my other little problem. David had left me in nothing but his sweater and my panties. I blushed when I caught a glimpse of my bra hanging from the arm of the chair across the room.

"Moose, what the hell are you doing in my living room?" I demanded. He had spread his books, papers, and binders across my coffee table, and all around him as he sat cross-legged on the floor, facing me.

"Good afternoon to you, too," he said with a smirk. When he noticed my don't-go-there-face, he got down to business. "Before you explode, read this," he said as he handed me a small envelope with my name on the outside and immediately went straight back to whatever it was that he was doing that required he carpet my living room floor with paper, leaving me to read it in peace.

I opened the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper.

_Dearest Sloane,_ it said in David's angular scratch.

_I have asked Mustafa to watch over you while I rest. Please do not fight this, it gives me greater peace of mind. It is only until I can find the person behind these attacks. _

_Think of me when you wake wearing my sweater. Trust that I hold you in my heart. _

_Always,_

_David_

I glared at Moose, whose nose was still in a book. "I get why David's doing this, but why are you involved?" I asked as I folded the note back up and tossed it onto the coffee table.

He shut his book, confusion plain on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you agree to babysit me?" I asked as I subtly lifted the blanket slightly to check my coverage. David's sweater wouldn't even cover my butt. Fantastic.

"O'Hara called and said you were 'in danger'," he said, adding air quotes and upping his dork factor. I almost giggled. Almost. "He said you trusted me."

I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Close your eyes." I wasn't going to carry on this conversation, or any other for that matter, while flashing the world. He complied, and I did a sarong thing with the blanket. "I'm not in any danger," I explained. "You can look now."

He opened his eyes. "He said people are targeting you to get to him. He said that's why you've been unable to sleep lately."

"Well, that's obviously not a problem anymore," I said as I made my way to the stairs. Halfway up, I turned to see Moose following right behind me. "Can I help you?"

He looked sheepish. "I'm not supposed to let you out of my sight," he explained as he kept his eyes on the floor.

I didn't know who was more annoying at this point; David or Moose. "I'm going to take a shower," I said, exasperated. "I doubt he told you to watch me do that."

"I'll wait outside the door," he replied apologetically. Apparently, there was no dissuading him. I sulked and stomped all the way up the stairs, into my room and slammed the door to the attached bath before turning on the hot water. Once the water heated and I stepped under the stream, it felt heavenly. I spent extra time in the shower, which would apparently be the only 'me' time I was going to get for the foreseeable future. Over a half hour later, I was out and toweling off in my steam-filled bathroom. Only then did I realize I hadn't brought fresh clothes in with me. I wrapped up in the biggest towel I could find and opened the bathroom door.

"Ha! You look like a drowned rat!" Moose said as he pointed in my direction. He had turned my desk chair towards the bathroom and was my own personal audience for the day.

"Keep digging yourself that hole…" I mumbled as I crossed the room, finally flipping the towel that had been drying my hair onto the end of my bed. He was quickly getting on my last nerve, and I think he knew it.

"Sorry, sorry," he replied quickly, covering his tracks. "You're actually kinda hot when you're soaking wet."

"Uh huh, right" I said, disbelief dripping from my voice, as I motioned for him to turn around. At least he was capable of following directions, unlike someone else I knew. I pulled on my undies and sweater as fast as I could, but then had trouble finding some clean jeans. I was digging in the drawer when I asked Moose, "Do you mind going to the lab for a little bit today? I just have to read some plates…"

Evidently, he thought that when I spoke, it meant I was dressed. He turned around, immediately squinching his eyes shut. "Sorry, sorry. Yea, we can go to the lab."

I hauled my last resort pair of jeans out of the bottom of the drawer and pulled them up quickly. "OK, you can look." I spent 10 minutes drying the roots of my hair and left the rest to dry naturally. As long as what's next to my scalp is dry, I'm generally happy. Once satisfactorily coiffed, I made my way back downstairs and into the kitchen with my new shadow. There was one remaining key to my humanity: Pepsi. I opened the fridge only to be confronted with a near empty wasteland. I hadn't been grocery shopping in…I couldn't remember how long. Sydney must have gone by herself because when I opened the freezer, it full of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Yup, Sydney had gone shopping. My stomach took the chance to growl at me. I turned to Moose. "Hungry?"

He already had his coat on and was standing near the door. "Yea," he replied, as if I had asked him the stupidest question. Like most guys, Moose was just a bottomless pit when it came to food consumption. I slid my laptop into my backpack, stuffed my feet into some knee-high boots, grabbed my coat, and ran out the door.

We piled into my small white hatchback; it felt good to be driving it again. I took a minute to get reacquainted with my pride and joy. "Where to?"

"Wendy's? There's one on Trowbridge." I made my way toward the Wendy's near campus. We weren't even out of the neighborhood before Moose's curiosity got the best of him.

"So you couldn't sleep because someone's after David," he started.

"Yup," I answered, hoping he'd just drop it. Instead of dropping it, he kept watching me, waiting for the full story. I took a deep breath, gripped the wheel, and said, "Someone, yet to be discovered, hired a witch to block my quirk so I couldn't see them coming. The curse was giving me…side effects."

"The headaches and the nosebleeds, too?" he asked.

"Yup, and the seizures."

I glanced at him; his face was confused. "But I watched you sleep a full 8 hours." _OK, slightly creepy._

"She reversed it last night," I replied as I gave that creepo comment the look it deserved. I pulled into the Wendy's parking lot.

"So you can…see…again?" he asked as we left the relative warmth of the car and ducked into Wendy's.

"Yup."

He lowered his voice now that we were surrounded by people. "Can't you just see who's behind all this?"

"Unfortunately, no," I replied, "I don't get to choose what I see." I lowered my voice to match his. "I have to wait for that vision. Needless to say, it hasn't shown up yet."

We ordered our food and ate in companionable silence. I gulped down my large Pepsi in one shot before I even touched the food; my body groaned in relief. _Sweet, sweet caffeine._ Only after getting a refill did I inhale my double cheeseburger and fries. Once back in the car, Moose had more questions. "So what exactly am I supposed to be protecting you from? I can't undo curses…"

I cringed. David had evidently not given Moose the whole story, which left me to do it. "I'm sure he's more concerned with the several Weres that attacked us at Rum Runners last night," I answered.

If the jolt that stiffened his spine was any indication, David had _not_ told him about the attack. "How many?" he asked after gathering his resolve. He looked scared.

"Five? Six?" I answered. "I'm not sure. Luckily I saw that about 30 seconds before it happened. They were really going for the element of surprise." I pulled into the last parking spot outside our lab and told him the whole story, starting with when David and I met all the way to today.

"This guy's a coward," he replied after I finished my story, gritting his teeth in anger.

"Yea, well," I mumbled with a shrug. There was nothing I could do about that, and agreeing with him didn't change the fact that someone was coming after me. "There you go, the whole story. You know more than Sydney now, and that's saying something. Let's keep this as quiet as possible...please."

"What doesn't Sydney know?" he asked. "I figured the two of you shared everything."

"She would just worry if she knew how close I came to dying that night at The Riv," I replied. Hell,_ I_ worried about how close I had come. "She'd never let me out of the house."

"Well, now I'm never letting you out of the house," he chuckled to lighten the mood, even though he was nervous. I appreciated the effort. I jumped out of the car and hurried into the warmth of the lab where I hung up my coat before getting to work. Moose took the _Vibrio_ and I took the _Salmonella_ plates, and in no time we were done counting. When I had all the data, I opened my laptop to update my Excel spreadsheet. It was while my computer was booting up that I got a visual warning.

It was only a glimpse before Moose's POV faded, but I got everything I needed. Two Weres were dragging me across the room; one set of hands were wrapped around my ankles, the other hooked underneath my armpits. My hands were duct-taped together at my stomach; I had already been gagged but was kicking for all I was worth.

"Dammit," I hissed before triggering the electronic security system, which locked us inside the lab. I turned the lights out and dragged Moose into the back room.

"What the hell?" he whispered.

"Weres are coming, I think to kidnap me," I answered as I paced the small back room. I started going over the vision in my mind, trying to see anything that would give me the key to getting out of this problem.

Moose went deadly still. "When? How many?"

"Umm, soon, I think. Within the next 10 minutes," I calculated. It wasn't going to take me that long to enter the data. If this was supposed to happen while I was still on my computer, it was going to happen soon. "There were at least 2." Who knows how many were out of Moose's brief viewpoint.

He thought for a few seconds before taking charge. "OK, here's the plan. I'm going to change. When I've changed, you're going to unlock that door and run as fast as you can. Only take your purse. Don't stop; don't even look back until you get to your car. Lock yourself inside. If you see someone coming that's not me, drive away as fast as you can. If not, wait for me. OK? Got it?" he asked. I nodded. Just as Moose started undressing, I was putting on my coat. "Oh, and take my pants," he added.

I turned just as he started taking off the more intimate pieces of his clothing. I flinched through the grinding and cracking that lasted almost 10 seconds, that awful, painful churning sound that makes you just cringe. I didn't turn until I heard what sounded like the roar of a small engine plane behind me. A gorgeous white tiger purred as it rubbed its giant head against my upper arm. I smiled and scratched behind his ears. I whispered, "aww, Mom, can I keep him?" His lips curled up in a smile, which gave me a great view of the finger length, razor sharp teeth.

I grabbed his pants and wrapped them around the handle of my purse as soon as I snagged my keys. "Ready?"

He chirruped and head-butted me in the side, which I took as a yes. Slowly, I made my way to the door and looked out the small window. By flattening myself against the door I could see the two men from my vision, along with one more, peering in the windows lining the hallway. I turned to Moose, who was watching me intently. I held up three fingers and pointed in their direction. He nodded.

_Now or never_, I told myself. I took a deep breath and swung the door open. This immediately caught the attention of the one I'd seen holding my feet and he started sprinting down the long hallway. Moose lept through the door and sprinted toward them. I turned and ran as fast as I could towards the stairwell. Behind me, I could hear one of them yelling orders. "You two get the tiger, I'll get the girl!" I didn't turn, I didn't glance. I just kept running toward the end of the hall, where the stairwell would lead to freedom. As I ran, more cracking and grinding was happening behind me.

I could hear the footfalls gaining on me. Beyond them, I could hear Moose's echoing battle cry. I was almost home-free, almost to the first floor when I felt a hand on my arm. I swung my purse, sharply connecting with my attackers' head; it knocked him off balance and onto me, which sent us both tumbling down the last few stairs. The Were landed on top of me, bouncing my head off the floor. Just as he swung a fist toward my head, a giant tiger launched himself down the stairs and dragged him off of me.

"Ow," I mumbled as I touched the back of my head lightly. At this rate, I was going to have some serious brain damage by the end of the year. When Moose returned, his great paws and his muzzle were covered in blood. He moaned worriedly as he licked my face. "Ew," I said as I pulled myself erect. I wasn't bleeding, which was a good sign. Moose paced until I got to my feet, when he started nudging me back up the stairs. "Where am I going?" I asked the tiger at my back. I don't know why asked, what was he doing to do? Answer me? I just kept moving up the steps back to the lab.

I tried as hard as I could to ignore the gory mess in the hallway, I tried not to look, but my eyes focused on it without my permission. My body stopped moving, forcing me to stare at the bloody bits strewn about the hallway. I stared at the faces of the men who had come to kidnap me, now lifeless and pale. My breath stopped.

I don't remember how long I stood there, fixed on those lifeless faces. "Come on, Sloane," Moose said gently as he placed his now human hand on my back, tugging me away. I pried my eyes away from the mess and focused on Moose, who gotten his jeans back on, leaving his torn up torso exposed. He had a particularly nasty gash down the side of his face. "We need to call the cops, _and_ we need a good cover story. We need to make this look random."

My voice came out a shaky whisper. "Um…we could tie this to the Fellowship." The police already had a report about at least one fellowship attack on campus, all we needed to do was add this to the list.

We concocted a flimsy story that pointed at the Fellowship and called the police. Thanks to our clean records, Moose's injuries, and my obviously shaky condition, the cops gobbled it up, letting us go after only taking our statements and labeling the three deaths acts of self defense. One cop in particular patted Moose on the back, commending him on his good job and fast thinking. After about an hour of questions, I made an excuse to go home; Moose looked like he was deteriorating and I was more than happy to leave the blood behind. I grabbed my laptop as Moose washed the blood off of his hands in the lab sink. All I wanted was to be home before sunset. I needed to be close to David as soon as possible, I needed to feel safe.

I was on autopilot the entire way home. Sydney was there when we pulled in, which meant there was no way to hide what had just happened. I was starting to fear I was going to give her heart failure. Moose's condition had gone downhill ever further during the ride, to the point where he could barely keep the painful grunts to himself every time we hit one of Michigan's famous potholes. I slung his arm around my shoulders, then gently wrapped my own around his waist; we slowly made our way in the door. This caught Sydney's attention immediately, who was in the process of making spaghetti-from-the-jar.

"What happened?" she asked as she hoisted his other arm over her shoulders, placing one of us on either side.

"He was protecting me," I replied as we slid him gently onto the couch, earning a grateful but pained grunt from him. "Will you grab the First Aid kit in my bathroom? It's in the linen closet." The paramedics had done a good job at patching him up, but there was a gash down his side that had begun to bleed through its bandages. I pulled off the gauze, immediately regretting it. The room swam as I got an eyeful of what I was sure was a vital organ.

Sydney dashed up the stairs as I busied myself with grabbing the bottle of Advil we kept in the kitchen and a glass of water for Moose. "You don't look so good," I said as I made my way back to the living room, this time trying harder to keep my eyes away from anything that might be bloody. "What hurts?" He hadn't bothered to put his shirt back on, and I could see a massive bruise forming beneath his caramel skin over his ribcage as I glanced down, forgetting how I was avoiding that area.

He waved me off. "I'm just a little sore and really beat. Do you mind if I crash here tonight?" He swallowed the pills as Sydney came rushing back downstairs with the medical kit.

"Sure, sure," I answered.

I moved to the side to let Sydney patch Moose back up, wishing there was more I could do for him. As a professional child care provider, she's managed her fair share of bumps and bruises. She was busying herself with covering him with gauze and tape, so I took over dinner, doling out 3 bowls of pasta and covering them with the microwaved sauce. I dropped Sydney's serving at her usual spot at the kitchen table before bringing a steaming bowl over to Moose. He started to look better as soon as he'd inhaled the pasta. "More?" I asked after I had finished my own bowl.

He handed me his glass and his bowl. "Please." I refilled both, putting ice in the water and extra sauce on the noodles. He ate the second serving more slowly than he'd inhaled the first, falling asleep sitting upright with the now empty bowl balancing on his thigh. Sydney and I helped him lay down, easing his neck into a more comfortable position.

"I thought you were with David. We're losing touch," she said sadly as we watched at Moose's chest rise and fall.

I took a few seconds to decipher what that could possibly mean before I had to ask. "What?"

"I thought you and David were a thing, but when I came downstairs this morning before work, it's Moose who's asleep on the couch with you. Did he spend the night?" she asked seemingly at a loss.

"No, no. David asked him to come over and babysit me during the day," I said, elaborating on what had happened the night before (including the fantastic sex). "Moose was asleep on the couch with me this morning?"

She looked relieved. "Yea, your feet in his lap, his mouth gaping open." She tilted her head back, mimicking the position he had just fallen asleep in. I had to giggle. "So who was the witch?" she asked.

She wasn't going to like this. "Umm," I said as I fidgeted uncomfortably, "you know that woman that runs Triple Goddess?"

She gasped. "Marnie? No, no. She couldn't do anything like that." I wasn't going to try to pull her out of her denial. Instead I climbed the stairs and grabbed the blanket from the night before and an extra pillow. I was smoothing the blanket over Moose when I felt David wake. I didn't think; I just sprinted towards him, towards the bond. I bolted down the basement stairs as fast as I could, launching myself at him and burying my head in his neck and wrapping my legs around his waist.

He caught me, holding me to him. "What? What's wrong?" he asked as if he were consoling a sobbing child. He put me down before I told him what had happened earlier. His fangs snicked down when I told him about the bloody mess in the hallway. "I must eat," he replied as he kissed my forehead.

I smiled as we climbed the stairs hand in hand. It was uncanny how he seemed to be exactly what I needed and when I needed it. I leaned into his side as he grabbed a True Blood and heated it while making small talk with Sydney. The grin on Sydney's face advertised her opinion of David: she was going to be happy with anyone who made me happy, no matter how much baggage that happiness may bring with it. I was only hoping she'd find someone that made her happy soon. There's nothing more annoying than being the third wheel, forced to hang out with the happy couple.

He quickly finished off his blood before scooping me up and whisking me up the stairs at vampire speed. Before the world stopped whirling past me, he set me down on the counter top in my bathroom, quickly adjusting the shower before turning his attention back to me. He raised my arms above my head and slowly lifted my sweater off me, running his knuckles up my sides and over my breasts as he went. I moaned needily, I liked where this was going. He tossed my sweater to land on my hamper. When he lowered me down to my feet I began unbuttoning his shirt as he worked unfastening my jeans. We undressed each other slowly and carefully, indulging our senses. He unhooked my bra as I kissed his chest, moving my kisses lower and lower as I shimmied his briefs to the floor. He shuddered as I licked the tip of his swelling cock. "Not yet," he said, his voice guttural. He lifted me up, giving me a deep kiss before stepping under the hot water.

"Then when?" I whispered between kisses. I slid my hands across his water-slicked back over and over, biding my time before I could wrap myself around him.

"When I cannot take it anymore," he replied simply. He squeezed my favorite shampoo into his hand, lathering it in my hair as he pulled me closer to him. I grabbed my rubber ducky soap off the ledge and lathered it in my hands, rubbing it on his chest, then moving around to his back and finally to his perfect butt; the fresh notes of the soap complimented David's natural scent, spinning up my lust. I closed my eyes, leaning my head back as I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair, but that didn't stop me from gripping the oblique ridge over his hips to balance. His grip in my hair tightened as I traced the moguls of his abs, working my way down. I opened my eyes to see his eyelids quivering, fangs completely extended. I smirked; he was literally putty in my hands. I ran my finger along his entire shaft, making him shiver beneath me.

"Now?" I whispered into his chest. I nipped his nipple and one of his hands left my hair so he could brace himself on the shower curtain holder.

"Not yet," he growled. So he was going to play hard to get. I knelt for a better angle before I took as much of him as I could in my mouth. He pulled his other hand from my hair and braced it against the wall as he moaned. I flicked my tongue against the tender opening, keeping my eyes rolled up to watch his expressions. With one more lick, he hissed, "Now," lifting me from knees and holding me up against the slick wall, entering me as I wrapped my arms and legs around him. He came quickly before carrying me, still wrapped around him, to the bed. He was still spasming inside me as he laid me on the bed, both of us sopping wet. "That was unfair of you," he said as he licked a trail down my stomach.

"Are you, oh, complaining? Yes…" I replied between moans as he started repaying the favor, lapping between my legs as he rubbed my clit. "Oh my Lord, yes."

He kissed the bullet hole on my thigh, then my hip, working his way up to the second scar on my shoulder before he entered me again, this time slower and more tenderly. He kissed my lips as he rhythmically rocked into me. I could taste me on his tongue. It didn't take long for him to get my body worked into a fever pitch. In no time we were climaxing in unison. The next, I was relearning to breathe on a sopping wet comforter.

"You aren't breathing," I whispered as I lay in the crook of his arm, head resting on his chest. He had bundled the two of us under the driest part of the wet quilt.

"I do not need to breathe, I am dead," he explained. "Would you like me to start?" He was tracing the rim of the scar on my shoulder with his fingers.

I chuckled. "No, that's OK, it'll only put me to sleep." I sat up so I could look David in the eye, straddling his waist and anchoring my hands on his chest. "What's the plan for tonight?" I asked as I looked at the clock; it wasn't even 6:30 PM yet.

He pulled me back to him, situating me back in the same position I was in. "This." I cuddled into him with a new lightness in my heart. I had gotten a good night's sleep for the first time in months, I was in the arms of a man that loved me, what else could I want?

Not a minute later, there was a knock at the door. "It's me," Sydney said, her voice tentative on the other side of the door.

I made sure that we were both covered enough to be decent, which earned me an amused glance from David. "Come in."

Sydney popped her head in the door, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey, lovebirds. I forgot to tell you earlier, I have a dinner date with Thomas tonight. I'll be home around 9 or 9:30. Can you stay here, keep an eye on Mustafa?" Her hair was done in a slightly wavy style, cascading down her back. "Oh, and I borrowed this dress. I'll get it dry-cleaned," she said as she twirled in the flowing purple cocktail dress that I had worn in a wedding that summer. The empire waist and halter top gave her the illusion of an awesome hourglass figure. Over that she had thrown a silver pashmina and paired it with a pair of strappy silver sandals. She was going to freeze, but it would be worth it.

I just winked at her. "Have fun."

"Toodle-loo!" she said as she shut the door. I couldn't help but giggle again. I snuggled back into David, who had started breathing for my benefit.

"Sleep for me," he whispered as he kissed my forehead. "You are perfect when you sleep."

He started rubbing my back, which was combining with the breathing to give the effect he wanted. "I'm not always perfect?" as I closed my eyes.

He kissed my forehead again. "Always," he replied. I was so safe in his arms, so content. I wanted to stay here as long as I possibly could. "My love, my angel."

Those were the last words I heard before I drifted off.


	23. Chapter 23

I woke to David's soft whispering. "I will _not_ wake her; we will leave after she wakes on her own." There was a short pause before he spoke again. "I doubt she does." Another short pause. Amused exasperation passed through the bond. "She is not your doll. Why don't you play dress-up with one of the waitresses? They would no doubt love to humor you." I could feel his lips move with a smile, both across the bond and against my temple. "I know."

I didn't speak until I heard him close his cell phone and toss it on the bedside table. "Where are we going?" I yawned.

He twitched slightly, as if he hadn't expected me to be awake. "Emma has requested your presence at Rum Runners," he replied quietly.

I was remembering words like 'doll' and 'play dress-up' from his phone conversation. "For?" I asked. I didn't think I was going to like where this was going.

"She has a request," he said. He tipped my chin up until we were eye to eye and he added, "Remember, you can always say no."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, asking, "What does she want?"

He smiled. "I promised I would let _her_ ask you. Do you by chance have any ball gowns?"

Well, there's a question coming out of left field. I took a minute to think about it before I answered, "I may still have a few prom dresses from high school at my parent's place…why?" I didn't like where this was going at all.

"Sorry, love," he said with a kiss before getting out of bed and giving me another show. "I can't tell you." He went to my chest of drawers, opening my underwear drawer and pulling out a sheer lace thong and a backless black bra. Next he went to my closet and pulled out the little black dress I bought years ago but never got around to wearing. He went straight to it as if he had known exactly where it was hanging in my closet. "Wear these tonight."

"Now who's playing doll master?" I grumbled. For a split second, I considered pulling on sweatpants in defiance, but I was curious about what he had planned. I grabbed the undergarments and the dress and headed into the bathroom, closing the door. If he wanted me all dolled up (no pun intended), he was going to get the whole shebang. I teased up the crown of my hair, twisting the rest of it into a sleek French twist. I did my makeup, emphasizing my alabaster skin with bright red lipstick and smoky eyes. Good genes had endowed me with long, thick eyelashes; with two coats of mascara, I had the length and volume most women can only get with false lashes. I pulled on the barely-there undergarments and moisturized my legs to keep the skin lustrous in the absence of nylons. After the moisturizer had dried, I pulled the dress on and looked at myself in the mirror. The dress had a slight 40's flair, with a wide boat neck collar which plunged to the mid back. The dress was tight to the knees, which accentuated my curvy style. With the vintage hair and classic makeup, I could have been pulled straight from that era. I sprayed a touch of my special occasion perfume on my neck, wrists, and knees before I emerged.

David was sitting on my bed in a black on black suit. "Wow," he whispered.

Wow was right. He had combed back his unruly hair, which gave him a bad-boy-all-cleaned-up look that I couldn't resist. His black shirt was crisp and unbuttoned at the neck; the lapels of his black suit had a slight gloss, which gave the look a slightly vintage feel as well. The leather of his black shoes shone, echoing his lapels. "Right back at ya," I finally replied after a moment of gawking. I went into my closet, looking for a certain pair of heels. "Can you tell me why we're all dressed up?" I asked while I had my head buried in the closet.

"It is a surprise," he replied from right behind me. He rested his hands on my hips as I realized the pair of heels I was looking for weren't in my closet. Maybe Sydney had borrowed them. I turned, kissed his lips gently, as not to smudge my crimson lipstick, and dove into her room to look in her closet. Sure enough, they were jumbled in amongst her many pairs of sandals and tennis shoes. I slipped on the zebra print stiletto peep-toe pumps and grabbed a pashmina stole with a graphic black and white print out of my closet, and wrapping it around my shoulders before making my way down the stairs. Sydney had also borrowed my only appropriate clutch, so I was either going to carry my old beat up purse, or I was going to stash all my stuff in David's pockets.

I didn't have to choose.

Sydney and Thomas were sitting at the kitchen table sharing a pint of ice cream. They looked up in unison. Thomas did a double take before looking back at the couch where Moose was out cold. Confusion covered his face. Sydney just looked awestruck. "Where are you two off to?" she asked.

"I have no idea, ask the puppet master," I said as I nodded my head to David, who was looking particularly sly. "You two in for the night?"

Sydney nodded as she swallowed the ice cream. "Yup, I'll keep an eye on him."

I took one last glance at Moose, who was breathing slowly and heavily, obviously in a deep sleep. "Thanks, hun." I grabbed my essentials from my purse, which consisted of my cell phone and driver's license and handed them to David. He slid them into his pants pocket. "I'd say don't wait up, but…"

"Yea. See you in the morning." It was Sydney's turn to wink at me.

We piled into David's car for the short trip to Rum Runners. David turned to me as we pulled into his parking spot in the back alley. "Remember, you _can_ say no," he reiterated.

"You're really starting to freak me out," I replied. In the time it took me to open my door, David was standing in front of me, offering his hand. I took it, looping my arm around his for the short walk. We went straight to the office, which was covered in garment bags.

"Oh, Sloane, you look lovely," Emma cried. She stopped fussing with the garment bag that was lying over her desk chair just long enough to come hug me. She was wearing a pair of nice jeans and a silver sweater, no shoes. I looked at her curiously before she commanded, "Boys, out." David squeezed my hand before following Lee out the door, closing it behind them.

"What's up?" I asked, curiosity in my voice. I was slightly nervous about being trapped in here with her. It wasn't that I feared she was going to hurt me or anything, I was just nervous. She was giddy, and if there was ever anything to be wary of, it was giddy vampires.

"I have a favor to ask of you," she said quickly. "See, in vampire law, marriages are very different. For one, they only last for 100 years. You can imagine how long 'until death do you part' can be for the immortal. That being said, it will be 100 years for Lee and me this December. I wanted to wait until this most recent threat has passed, but I am running out of time. Sloane, will you be my maid of honor?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Emma and Lee were getting married again? I had too many questions; I needed to know what I was getting myself into. "I wouldn't have to do anything…weird, would I?"

She giggled. "No, no. The ceremony would be very similar to a human ceremony."

I thought about it for all of about a split second. "In that case, I'd be honored," I replied with a smile. Now I was somewhat excited, I love weddings. They're festive, they're happy…is there a better reason to have a big party?

She honest-to-God squealed. "Fantastic! I was not sure if you had any ball gowns, so I brought some of mine. Which dress would you like to wear? We are approximately the same size; they should all fit."

I looked from ball gown to ball gown in just about every jewel-toned color I could imagine. "Um, I don't know. What are your colors?" I asked. Luckily, I had just been in a wedding and knew a few things about the planning process.

"Oh, I have not quite decided. Red and black are traditional for vampire weddings, but we did that last time. I was thinking, perhaps we could do shades of blue this time." She pulled all the dresses she had in blue to the front. "What about this one? I wore this for a gala a couple of years ago. It is still just gorgeous," she said as she fingered the detailing. The dress was cobalt blue silk with a thick halter strap scintillating with large gems in various shades of blue. The rest of the dress was Greek goddess inspired, flowing in wrapped layers to the floor.

"It's beautiful," I said as I nodded. The silk shimmered as she pulled the dress out of the garment bag.

"Try it on for me. I need to know if it needs alterations." I had never been shy with my body, especially in front of women (hey, we all have the same parts, right?), so I shucked my little black dress, hanging it in the garment bag the blue gown had been hanging in. Emma zipped the back of the dress up and turned me so I could look in a full length mirror that had been shoved into the corner of her office. "Oh, it is perfect!" she cried. From a large suitcase She pulled a pair of gladiator inspired silver sandals that laced up the shin. "Try these on." She helped me with the intricate ties and buckles. I have to admit, I looked fantastic. "This is perfect! OK, now take it off. I do not want David to see you in it until the wedding." I cocked an eyebrow at her but complied; I thought it was only the groom who could not see the bride before the wedding. She unzipped me so I could change back into my dress.

"When and where is this wedding?" I asked. I probably should have made sure I was available for the date before I agreed to do it.

"It will be December 21, the longest night of the year. The wedding will be in Maryland, on the beach. That is where we got married the first time. The reception will be in a hotel." That sounded incredibly cold; I shivered preemptively. I would have to look at the average temperatures for Maryland beaches in December.

I slid back into my own shoes as she pulled an emerald green gown out of another garment bag and dressed and record time. She pulled a matching pair of pumps out of her suitcase, along with a large box containing a set of matching emerald drop earrings and necklace to complete her green ensemble. Once she was completely dressed, she pulled another box out of her bag of tricks and handed it to me. I stood there, holding the box, unsure what to do with it. "Open it, dear," she said with a smile. I opened it; inside was another set of jewelry in what looked like diamonds set in rose gold. "They match your shoes. Put on the earrings and the bracelet."

I followed her orders, putting on the pink cuff bracelet with the stones set in an intricate pave, followed by the delicate teardrop earrings. She stood next to me, looking into the mirror. "Shall we find our gentlemen?" I followed her out the door, where she linked her arm with mine and led me to the bar. I could hear the Big Band music all the way down the hall. I was starting to understand why David was dressing me like his own little Barbie Doll.

On the dance floor were several couples dancing to the big band's swing music, giving the room a very different ambiance than your usual college town bar. But, I guess with a campus as large as State's is, there's profit in even the narrowest of niches.

I scanned the bar for my vampire; David and Lee were sitting at their usual booth near the end of the bar. Secluded, but not nearly secluded enough. David was still being bombarded by female (and a few male) fangbangers, turning them all down dispassionately. I stood and watched for a few seconds before deciding to have a little fun. I let go of Emma's arm, giving her a slight wink. David had not yet seen my approach, and I tried to keep it that way. I made my way to the front of the group, where David was looking down into his True Blood, trying as hard as he could to ignore the girls vying for his attention. I made my voice as sultry as I could. "Hello, handsome."

His head shot up and a small smirk crossed his face. "Please, join me." He scooted over, pulling me into the booth with him.

"Hey, what's she got that I don't got?" asked a tad-too-thin peroxide blonde fangbanger near the front of the group.

David's fangs came down as he answered the fangbanger's question. "Beauty. Class. Intelligence. A basic grasp of the English language." Straight and to the point. Her mouth dropped open along with mine, and for what I assume is the first time in her life, she was speechless. "Leave."

She turned and slunk away. Emma grabbed Lee's hand and pulled it over the table. When it was obvious that none of the vampires at the table were looking to entertain them, the fangbangers slowly drifted away, looking for other vampires to proposition.

Emma's excitement was palpable. "She said yes!"

I could feel my cheeks getting redder and redder. "Of course I did," I replied quietly.

"Your roommate is also invited, and she may bring her date, if she wishes. I will mail both of you proper invitations soon," Emma continued. With that I finally understood what Emma saw in her stoic ninja; his face lit up with her joy, showing a very warm interior that few ever got to see. They had been together over 100 years, and still he watched her with such love and admiration in his eyes. I glanced into the mirror above the bar, which reflected a very similar look on David's face as he watched me. I'm not going to lie, it feels good to be adored.

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled," I answered with a smile.

Emma turned to Lee, the two of them talking in what I assumed to be Lee's native language. From what I could tell, Emma was very excited, and Lee was trying to calm her down. I turned to David, whose expression had changed markedly. I could feel the lust pulsing through the bond as he leered at me. "You are happy," he said.

I gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Yes."

He leaned in close, his lips nearly touching mine. He whispered, "Let me make you scream with pleasure."

I slapped his arm and backed away. "David O'Hara!"

He pulled me into him, kissing me deeply, and I kissed him back as an emphatic statement of forgiveness. "Care to dance?" he asked.

I slid out of the booth and waited for him to follow. "Absolutely," I answered as I used my thumb to rid his mouth of my lipstick. David nodded to the band, which started playing Stevie Wonder's You and I. David swung me into his arms as we started moving across the dance floor. "A man who likes to dance, what a find," I cooed, striking while the irony was hot, and fanned myself with my hand.

"I am full of surprises," he replied. He swung me around and leaned me back over his arm, kissing my neck as he raised me upright again. He was a fantastic dancer. He did, after all, have years of practice flavored with the grace that all vampires seemed to have. We twirled around the dance floor until the end of the song, when he led me back to the booth, where Lee was waiting for him. Just a quick look was all the communication the two needed. He sat me in the booth before leaning over to kiss me. "Lee and I must go, we have a lead on who might be doing this."

The hollowing pit at the bottom of my stomach was not a good indicator. I squeezed his hand. "Be careful," I said, concern in my voice. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

He squeezed back. "I know." He kissed my hand before he left. "I love you."

"I love you too," I replied, but he and Lee were already gone more quickly than I could track. I slid farther into the booth before catching the eye of the bartender across the bar. The small Indian vampire raised her delicate eyebrow questioningly and pulled a small glass, a bottle of Stolichnaya vodka, and a large jug of orange juice from behind the bar. I nodded emphatically. 'Double,' I mouthed. She replaced the small glass with a larger one and poured a very strong screwdriver.

She brought the screwdriver to the table, setting it down with flourish in front of me. "I am Varana. You are David's bonded?" she asked. She had a heavy accent, making her name sound like Ver-AY-nia.

"I suppose that's me." I took a large gulp. "I'm Sloane," I said and bowed awkwardly.

She simply nodded and walked away, ankle bracelets jingling the entire way.

I turned to Emma, who was watching my nervous hands. "They will be fine," she said, preempting my complaint. "They took Idi and Idriis with them." Idi (EE-dee) and Idriis (EE-drees) must be the blocks of African muscle that had been following her around for the past couple of days.

My heart jumped into my throat. "Leaving you with no protection?" I asked as my grip on my drink tightened. I was beginning to see why my stomach was in knots.

"I am not defenseless," she said as she flashed several throwing stars from her back before putting them back in their hiding spot. "And Varana is a force unto herself." I glanced toward the bartender, who nodded deeply toward me in response.

I looked down nervously at my drink, rubbing the condensation off in even stripes with my fingers. This rudimentary OCD often emerged when I was nervous or stressed. You should see me during finals week.

A type of vision I had never had before played before me. Usually, visions seem to be running in real time to me, as if someone pressed 'play' on a DVD. This vision was playing in silent fast forward, the next couple of hours playing faster than I was able to comprehend in a matter of a minute. What was truly surprising was my medium: myself. I felt several thin strips of tingling and burning across my back before everything slowed to a halt, then vanished.

If I thought my heart was racing before, I was wrong. _Now_ it was racing. "It was a diversion, a ploy to separate us from your army," I said, wide eyed.

Emma nodded to Varana, who grabbed something from under the bar. "They are coming for me?" she asked calmly.

I shook my head and tried to gather my racing thoughts. "I don't think so," I replied after a gulp of air. In my vision, Emma dies, but only because she was protecting me. It seemed what they were really after was the seer in the group. "I think they're after me, but you get killed defending me. You have to let them take me."

Rage covered her face, fangs popping down. "No," she hissed, seizing of one of my arms tightly.

I returned the gesture, laying a hand on each of her shoulders. "Look, there's not enough time for the two of us to get out of here. Even if there was, do you think they'd leave all these innocent people alone when they stormed the place and found us gone?" I nodded to the dance floor covered in dancers. "You and Varana are the only two non-humans I see here, and there is no chance, forewarning or not, that the two of you can survive taking on the force that's coming." I stood to go to the back door, where I saw the onslaught originate from.

Emma was blocking my way before I made it two steps, pulling me back by my upper arm. "I will not let you die to protect me," she hissed in a low voice.

"He doesn't want to kill me, he wants something from me," I explained. "The guy in charge, the head honcho, I saw him. He's a vampire, he has curly blond hair, thin figure, maybe 30 or 35 when he was turned. Snotty look on his face."

"Simon Baker, sheriff of area 5," she said, disgust ringing in her voice.

"Well, there's something that he needs me for." Time was getting too close, I needed to distance myself from Emma and the crowd. "Please, just trust me," I said as I pried her hand from my arm and pushed her away from me. "You'll need a small army to take on the compound they're going to keep me in. David can track me." I slid off my shoes and the jewelry, handing it all to Emma, who let me pass. "Act fast, please," I yelled over my shoulder. I sprinted down the hallway to the delivery's receiving area. Emma followed me as far as her office, where she closed and locked the door behind her.

I was almost to the outer door when it crashed open. "Hey, that's her!" yelled the first attacker through. He was a giant Were who looked familiar, with graying black hair and just the beginning of a beer belly.

I was regretting my decision to go without a fight. I turned on my heel to run back into the bar, but Were Number 1 grabbed my arm before I could get any momentum. I whirled around, ramming the heel of my hand up into his nose, breaking it. He let go of my arm to grab at his face, and I stumbled backwards. I wasn't fast enough to get away from the second Were coming through the door, who shoved a Taser gun into my hip and fired. I fell to the floor, unable to do anything but endure the pain that was ricocheting through my body. Were Number 2 lifted me off the floor and slung me over his shoulder, lugging me out into a waiting van. Several of the Weres, including Were Number 1, still cradling his bloody face, piled in after us. My captor produced a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, securing my hands in front of me as I lay on the van's cold floor. I could feel movement returning to my limbs, but not soon enough to defend myself.

"This is for my nose, bitch!" Were Number 1 yelled as he pulled his fist back and swung with all the force he could muster, connecting with my temple. As my head bounced against the van floor, I lost consciousness.


	24. Chapter 24

I regained awareness as one of the Weres carried me into an empty warehouse. Through the rolled up industrial door, I could see the beginning of a snowstorm as glittering snowflakes swirled to the ground. It was cold enough for the flakes to stick; even within the shelter of the building, I could see my breath. He dumped me onto a chair directly under a large hook and backed off as an older Were approached. "For a human, you are hard to catch." He turned to a less raddled version of himself, who seemed to be not only his son, but also his second. "String her up," he said. He turned back to me as his second looped my handcuffs over the hook above my head. "Somehow, you've managed to kill several of my pack. Now I have to bring them back home, and that's a long drive with a stack of bodies." His second hit a button on the wall, which mechanically hoisted me until my bare feet were just brushing the freezing floor. I was still having a hard time following his words; I didn't start fighting against the chains until it was too late. I hung there, like a side of meat; even my ankles had been strapped together as I lay unconscious, allowing me even less latitude. "And now, for them, you will pay." Another Were had dragged a short sapling in from the parking lot and handed it to the leader after he pulled the chair away. I closed my eyes and braced for impact. I could hear the whistling of the air as he circled me, whipping the switch through the air nonchalantly. "This one is for my Godson, who was mauled by a tiger in an office building earlier today." He swung, connecting with the right side of my back, all the twiggy bits gouging random patterns. I screamed in response. "And this one is for his best friend, who insisted on going along to keep him out of trouble." He circled me again, swinging again and connecting with my left hip. I screamed again, which came out as more of a whimper. My entire body was shivering violently as the cold seeped through the building. He swung again, connecting with my left thigh just above the knee. Again, I cried out.

"Stop." I opened my eyes as I heard a commanding male voice echo behind me. "Your job was to bring her to me, not to torture her." He spoke with a proper British accent, that snobby veneer firmly in place. He circled around me slowly, his pale face and curly blond hair dipping into my view as he bent so he could be face to face with me. "Ahh, you are even more beautiful than your photos," he said as he ran a finger down the side of my face.

"S-s-s-simon B-b-baker," I whispered between shivers.

"Indeed, my dear," he said, surprise in his voice. He seemed impressed. "What else have you seen?"

"N-n-no," I replied as I tried to shake my head. This is what he wanted from me; he wanted his very own personal fortune teller. "I w-won't."

I could hear his teeth grinding. "Excuse me, where are my manners? Put her down." He nodded to the pack's leader, who reluctantly lowered the hoist. Neither my feet nor my knees could support my weight. I continued to crumple until my hip hit the floor and I gasped in pain. Simon unhooked my hands, which fell limply to my lap; the chain chinked and swung like a loose limbed metronome. "My apologies for the bad manners of others." I gasped again when he slid an arm under my knees and across my back, jarring what was going to be a giant bruise, and settled me in the chair. He shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. I leaned forward in the chair to avoid any pressure on my back. I wanted to roll myself into the smallest ball I could, just to hold some warmth in. He squatted, putting him eye level with me. "Now, why will you not tell me what you've seen?"

"I d-don't h-h-help con-conniving k-k-killers," I replied as I struggled to pull in air between shivers.

He smiled as he smoothed a stray hair from my face. "My dear, I have yet to kill anyone."

"N-not for l-l-lack of tr-trying," I replied.

He shoved up from his squatting position and paced around the chair. I contemplated running; I had a clear path to the open garage door. However, my battered muscles combined with the vampire speed of my captor assured that I wouldn't get far. One can only hop so fast, no matter how motivated they are. I could hear the frustration in Simon's voice. "This would be easier for you if you just gave me what I want," he said finally.

"I kn-know," I answered, my voice just barely above a whisper.

I had caught his attention. "You've seen this too, have you?"

I nodded my head, but then replied verbally, "Y-yes."

"You know what I do to those who disobey me, yet you still refuse?" I nodded, as my voice was becoming too tight from the cold to speak clearly. "Do you do as you are told once I have a chance to persuade you?" I shook my head no. "Well, let's see if we can't change that." He strung my handcuffs back over the hook and turned to give the pack's leader a simple nod. Simon moved the chair away again as the hook returned me to my former position. I wasn't sure what was coming that would leave stripes of pain down my back, but I knew that if a sadistic vampire considered it torture, it was going to hurt. A lot.

He pulled a bundle of knotted cord out of his pocket and unwound it, revealing a leather knout. My body shuddered, this time not from the cold. He circled me again, stopping behind me. I could feel his hands on my back, warm in comparison to the night air, as he unzipped the low back of my dress and pushed my straps to the side. "I wouldn't want to ruin your dress," he said sarcastically. I could hear the whistle as he swung the business end of the whip through the air, connecting with my back three times in a row. I attempted to scream as each of the blows hit, but it came out as more of one long choking gasp. He sauntered into my view, holding the bloody whip up to his nose. His fangs slid down as he licked my blood off the leather. "Mmmm. Are you reconsidering?" I shook my head no as tears ran down my face. I could feel blood slithering down the frozen skin of my back. "As you wish." He circled me again, stopping in my view to pull a cell phone out of his pocket. "Yes," he answered as he paused for a minute, surprise and disbelief on his face. "Yes, your majesty, I just arrived in the area. I was coming to announce myself shortly." He glared at me, hate in his eyes. "Yes, your majesty. I will be there shortly." He walked around me as he slammed the phone shut. "You've been talking," he said before whipping me again in 4 successive blows. I didn't have it in me to scream; instead, I let my head droop forward as I sobbed. He pulled my head back by my hair, lifting it so our noses were inches apart. "I must go visit your queen, but I will be back within the hour. But know this: there are 10 more hours until sunrise. Think about how much more of this you can take." He turned to the pack's leader, who was in the same spot he had been near the hoist's control. He handed him the whip. "Make her as uncomfortable as possible."

The pack's leader tossed the whip to the side. For a split second, I did an internal happy dance, until I remembered his weapon of choice. He zipped my dress back up, sending streaks of pain across my back. The Were is tall enough to seize my elbows and lift me free of the hook. He tossed me to one side, making sure I would land on my injured hip. Internally, I screamed. Externally, my breath had been knocked out of me and I wasn't even sure I managed a grunt. I did, however, in an effort to draw breath, push myself upright to kneel on the cold ground. I looked down at my hands, which were almost numb and slightly blue. "You have 5 more bodies to pay for," he said. He grabbed the sapling he had leaned awkwardly against the wall, swinging immediately for my shoulder. The blow knocked me on my side. Before I could recover, he grabbed me by the hair, pulling me upright again. "Four more."

He handed the sapling to his son. "W-w-what a gr-great le-le-lesson f-for your k-k-kid," I said as I just barely managed to get on all fours before his son swung, striking me square on the back, which knocked the wind out of me and sent pain sparking across my bleeding wounds. I caught myself with my hands before I landed on my face, but that didn't change the fact that I couldn't breathe. I was gasping for air, but wasn't getting any. Black was narrowing my vision as I was losing consciousness. One hand slipped and I toppled over onto my side as black continued to creep in. The last thing I saw before I passed out was a pair of work boots squeaking toward me.

.

I woke to squealing tires inside the warehouse. I had to work to peel my eyes open. A silver sports car had squealed to a stop ten feet from me, warm exhaust blowing on my legs. Instead of warming me, the exhaust only reminded me of how cold I truly was. Simon practically flew out of the car toward me, looking almost exasperated. He grabbed my jaw, pulling my face up to his. "Help me become king, and I will treat you well, as long as you obey me. I will pay you handsomely."

"I-I won't b-be your p-p-pet," I replied; it came out as barely a whisper.

At vampire speed, he grabbed the discarded whip and was pulled me out of the chair I had been placed in, throwing me on down to the ground face first. "I will break you," he hissed. I managed barely more than a whine as I tried to crawl away. He swung the whip twice, connecting both times. I fell on my stomach to the ground, giving up. At this point, I was ready to just give in. I closed my eyes and waited for the next blow. It came, followed by countless others, one after another, until all hell broke loose. I looked up to see Weres and vampires alike storming the warehouse. Fighting had erupted all around me.

Lee was the first one at my side. He rolled me over onto my back. "Stay still," he said shortly. Not a problem, I didn't think I could move much if I tried. Next at my side was Dr. Lupe, whose fingertips burned against my neck as he felt for a pulse. I wanted to flinch from the heat, but in the end, I'm not sure I moved an inch. "She's frozen, give me your coat," he said as he shrugged out of his coat, followed shortly by Lee. Dr. Lupe surrounded me with his body heat, while Lee wrapped the coats around the two of us.

Even through his flannel shirt, his skin was like fire; it hurt to touch. "B-b-burning," I whispered. His arm wrapped around my back, which sent the flames licking up and down the bleeding wounds on my back. I tried to shrink away from the pain, but he just held me tighter.

"I know, I must feel way too hot to you," he said in his best bedside manner. The fighting had stopped, which meant both Emma and David were by my side, the rest of the combatants milling around, helping the wounded. David slid his coat over my thighs. "Daisy, take her legs, please," Dr. Lupe said as a thin young woman, no older than me, unzipped her jacket and pulled my shins into her lap, wrapping the coat around them. I could feel her shiver as the cold seeped into her skin.

"It-t burns my b-b-back," I said again. Tears were starting to stream down my face from the pain.

"I know, I saw. I'm more concerned with hypothermia at this point," Dr. Lupe replied as he grabbed the back of my neck and pulled his arm away from my back, easing the pain slightly. "Better?" I simply nodded my head against his chest. "Good." He looked at David, who must have been one of the only ones whose car was here. "Do you have seat heaters?" Catching on, Lee bent to grab the keys out of David's coat and disappeared. In the distance, I could hear a car starting. In seconds, Lee whipped right into the warehouse, stopping next to Simon's car. "Leave the seat heaters on low, but the heat on full blast. We'll need a high ambient temperature yet not enough to burn her skin."

Emma was the next to speak. "You promised he would not hurt you," she said as she thumbed a tear from my cheek.

I smiled as I shook my head no. "I s-said he wouldn't-t k-kill me. I d-didn't say it-t wasn't g-g-going to hurt-t." I could feel David's anger, all centered around Emma, see the pain in his eyes as he watched me suffer, unable to do anything about it. I looked straight into David's eyes. "Stop it," I chided. "B-b-be mad-d at m-me."

"We need to get her somewhere warm where I can look her over," Dr. Lupe interjected, breaking up our conversation. I keened as he wrapped his arm around my back again, lifting me off the ground and into the air, then shivered as a gust of cold air hit me. He slid me into the warm passenger seat, being careful of my back. I whimpered as a twinge shot through my hip when he set me down on the seat and closed the door. What seemed like a full minute later, David climbed into the driver's seat and peeled out of the warehouse.

It felt like I was standing on the rim of a volcano and breathing in water. "It's too hot," I said as I peeled the coats off me.

His voice was colder than my skin. "You are still blue," he said, his voice low and controlled. He whipped around a corner towards his condo. "You are bleeding, I can smell it."

I grunted. If he was going to be an asshole to me because I saved his sister's life, then I didn't want to talk to him. OK, maybe I asked for it, but I didn't actually want it. In any case, I was going to let him figure it out on his own. I closed my eyes and turned away from him as much as I could without jarring anything and let the tears continue to fall. All the pain had shredded my composure and tears and snot poured from me between gasps of breath.

I opened my eyes as I felt the cold air rush in the open passenger door. I screamed as much as I could, not managing much more than a gasping whimper as David roughly shoved his arm around my back. He stopped immediately, pulling back a bloody hand. He slowly leaned me forward so he could see the damage as I sobbed. "Oh, Sloane." He wiped a single tear from my face. "What else? What else did he use?"

I couldn't help it, I started sobbing so hard I was hiccuping. "A stick." Carefully, he lifted me, sliding into the passenger seat and setting me in his lap. He wrapped my still-shackled arms around his neck to help support my torso's weight and held me to him as tightly as he could without hurting me. He let me cry until I was shivering again, when he carried me inside. We were in the elevator before I had enough composure to speak. "Don't be mad at her," I whispered. I could feel David's anger seethe. "It was just as hard for her to watch me be kidnapped as it is for you to watch me suffer. I had to beg."

"She should have done something," he replied. I flinched when he squeezed me a tad too tight in anger. "She should have…"

"What?" I asked, interrupting his thought. "Died? You would be just as mad at me if I had knowingly let that happen. And trust me, it would have."

He grumbled as he stopped outside the door. "Can you stand?"

I thought about my hip and thigh. "Probably not." He seemed to be debating between setting me down or kicking in the door when Emma, Lee, and Dr. Lupe arrived. Emma unlocked the door, allowing David to carry me into his bedroom and set me on the bed. Emma turned the light on as David helped me to lie on my stomach and unzipped the last few inches of my dress. He hissed as he really took in the damage. He tore the handcuffs off without jiggling me, tossing them into the corner. Emma, on the other hand, got straight to business.

She considered the wounds on my back for several minutes before speaking. "However painful I am sure they are, these gashes on your back are superficial. These deep bruises, on the other hand, worry me. I suspect fractures. You should take some blood."

"No," I answered quickly. I was already starting to feel light headed just talking about blood. David's exasperation wasn't helping, either. "Don't even talk about it." There was a reason I didn't go to medical school, despite my strong grasp of human biology and physiology. I can't handle needles, and I definitely can't handle blood. "God, I think I'm going to faint."

"OK, calm down," David said. I could feel a cool liquid being dripped on my back as Emma left the room, closing the door behind her. What felt like feathers were brushing my back, up and down the stripes. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. In fact, it was numbing the pain. After repeating this process several times, my back felt good as new. "What are you doing back there?"

"Healing you," he replied. He let go of my hand and disappeared into the half bath, returning with a wet washcloth. I could feel him gently wiping my back clean. Lust and anger flared in the bond as he pulled my dress off, revealing nothing but the underwear he had picked out and two more large bruises. Slowly, painfully, and with plenty of help from David, I shifted myself into a sitting position and pulled off my incredibly uncomfortable bra, tossing it to the side. More lust flared in the bond, completely replacing the anger.

"Cool your jets, I can barely move," I said. I moved gingerly to the end of the bed and pushed my feet to the ground, testing my hip. Oh, it hurt to stand, little numbing pinpricks shooting up and down my back, but it was infinitely better than a painful bladder.

"Where are you going?" David was standing in front of me, blocking my way.

"To clean up." And I had to pee. First order of business was to take all the bobby pins out of my hair, then to wash my face. A bath also sounded fantastic.

He grabbed the quilt off his bed and wrapped it around my shoulders before gathering me up and settling me in his lap as he leaned against his headboard. I leaned my head against his chest. "Allowing yourself to be kidnapped was very stupid," he said, trying so hard to reign in his anger and fear.

"I had two paths with two known outcomes," I said calmly. "I analyzed my options and chose the one where everyone lives."

He simply sighed. "Please do not do that to me again. Not willingly."

I had a feeling deep in the pit of my stomach that even though Simon was dead, our fight was far from over. Still, I should have agreed. Instead, I answered, "No promises."

His fangs flared down and his anger hit a fever pitch. "Dammit, Sloane! Never again!" he yelled. I'd like to say I wasn't afraid, but I was terrified of his reaction. In his anger, he was shaking me like a rag doll. I gasped as I heard a few somethings in my ribcage crack from the pressure, probably already weakened from the abuse they'd already taken tonight. He stopped immediately and allowed me to slowly push myself out of his arms and across the bed to the floor.

"Sloane, I am sorry, I would never…" he said, debating as to whether he should follow me or not. I couldn't let him see my pain, but more importantly, he could never know how afraid I was. I shut the bond down completely, which seemed to have an echoing effect on my own emotions. Painful step after painful step, I made my way into the bathroom, leaning on every piece of furniture in my path, and shut the door. Silent tears fell down my face as I looked my broken body over. The gashes on my back were covered in dried blood despite David's attempt to clean me, but healed for the most part. As it stood, I would have several long, thin scars trailing my back. The bruises, on the other hand, were turning beyond purple. I shrieked when I lightly touched the dark purple skin where I had heard the crack. It took me a minute of deep breathing to push the pain down before I could hobble to the shower and turned the water on hot. I held the deep sobbing in until after I had crawled under the hot stream and sank to the shower floor. I pulled my hairpins out, tossing them to the side and letting my hair fall in a wet curtain down my back as tears mixed with water on my face. I watched as the water running toward the drain turned from red, to pink, and finally to clear.

When I stopped sobbing, my skin was pruney and I was light headed from the buildup of steam and my already short supply of oxygen. I tried to stand, but my stiff legs wouldn't respond. I looked for something to grab on to, something to help me hoist myself up, but there wasn't anything to help me. I needed help, so I yelled for it.

Emma was in the bathroom in seconds. "What is wrong?"

"I can't move," I replied, my voice hoarse. "I need help; just get me started." I couldn't even manage to move enough to turn the water off.

She opened the clear shower door and looked down at me, contemplating her options before turning off the water. "I am going to lift you and set you down over here." She pointed to the toilet. I nodded, and she swiftly moved me before handing me a towel. "You should take the blood, the stiffness and the pain are only going to get worse. Not to mention other problems such as embolisms that can arise. You might have broken bones."

"I'm sure I have broken bones," I mumbled. I pushed myself into a standing position, stabilizing myself before I hobbled into the bedroom. I was taking deep breaths, trying to push the anxiety of the topic away. "And I'm not going to drink any blood now. David won't give me any, and I won't take it."

"Which bones?" She ripped the towels off me and looked my bruises over again.

"My hip, for one." She investigated the bruise on my hip again, nodding to herself. "And I think David just cracked my rib."

She scowled. "I wondered why he would not face you."

I wrapped the towel around me again and sat on the end of the bed. "Is he still mad at me?" I was on the verge of tears. I couldn't take him being mad at me.

"I believe he is mad at himself." She opened the bottom drawer and handed me a pajama set similar to the one I woke up in the hospital in. I struggled to pull the teal and purple plaid pajama shorts up, covering them with the teal tank top.

There was a knock at the door. "I come bearing gifts," said Dr. Lupe's soothing voice on the other side of the door. Emma opened the door, and I noticed a small but new wound on his neck. "I brought you some pain killers. I hear you don't like needles, so I brought pill form."

I stretched my arm out for the bottle as far as I could. "Gimme gimme."

He handed me the bottle and a glass of water. "One every 12 hours, max. They will make you drowsy, so don't drive."

I swallowed the tiny pill with a large gulp of water. "Thanks, Doc. For everything." I nodded to the small wound on his neck.

"My pleasure." He pulled a business card out of his pocket. It had Sparrow Hospital's logo and his name on it. "My cell's on the back. Give me a call if you need anything."

I flipped the card. He had small, angular handwriting that looked more like architecture than script. "Thanks." He smiled widely at both Emma and I separately, then left.

It was Emma's turn next. "Lee and I must return to Rum Runners," she said, avoiding eye contact with me. She turned and was gone.

I stood and painfully limped around the condo. Moving seemed to keep the stiffness at bay. I could feel when the medication started to kick in; I was suddenly mostly pain-free but incredibly drowsy. I lowered myself into the leather chair closest to me before I toppled over.

David came out of his office, surprised to see me up and about. "How are you feeling?" he asked, caution in his every move.

Feeling. I was feeling…tingly. I giggled and experimentally wiggled my fingers and toes. "Fun."

"You've taken medication," he said, framing his statement as a question.

"Yup." I could not for the life of me stop grinning.

"I had hoped you would be lucid for this," he said as he knelt on one knee next to my chair. Did he have a ring? "Can you forgive me?"

Time to concentrate. What did he do? I tried to work backwards. Before sitting here I was walking, and before that, I was… "What?"

"I was too angry with you earlier, and I hurt you in that anger. You deserved neither."

I think I remembered something about that. I grabbed his hand, then his face. "You are so gorgeous." He was so cold! I pulled his hand to my face. It felt like silk.

"As are you, Love. Does that mean you forgive me?"

I spread his fingers. They were long. He could probably palm a beach ball. "For what?"

He had beautiful crow's feet when he smiled. I traced them as he laughed at me. "Come, you are going to bed."

He picked me up. I couldn't stop looking at his golden green eyes. "We have the same kind of hair," I said as I reached up for it, missing my mark.

"What kind is that, Love?" He set me down on the edge of the bed.

"Wavy hair!" I replied.

"Oh, yes, of course," he said, amused.

Oh. He was taking his shirt off. Look at those muscles. Oh. And the pants. I wanted to touch him. His muscles danced when he laughed. I reached out and touched his abs. "I could play this instrument all night."

"OK, into bed," he said as he pulled the covers down and settled me in next to him. I looked at my hand on his chest.

"We have the exact same skin tone, too. Am I a vampire or a chameleon?" He was breathing in, out, in, out.

"I do not think you are either." Breathing in, out, in, out, in, out…asleep.


	25. Chapter 25

I should have been sore, but when I woke, I was far from it. I opened my eyes and stretched experimentally. Not even my hip complained.

"Are you feeling better?" David asked as he sat up in bed, wide screen laptop on his legs. He closed his browser before I could see what he was up to and set it aside.

"Suspiciously," I answered, forehead furrowed. The back of my throat felt dry and a metallic taste remained on my tongue.

"I had to give you quite a bit of blood." He leaned over and kissed me lightly. Nausea bloomed at the mention of blood. I was going to have to get used to that. "I see you are yourself again."

I pushed myself into a sitting position next to him. "Was I not?"

He smiled. "The medication Patrick gave you had a few side effects."

Uh oh. "What did I do?"

"You told me I'm gorgeous," he said with a smile.

"True. You are," I replied. If he could have blushed, he would have. "Anything truly embarrassing?"

"Firstly, men are not 'gorgeous'. We are handsome, at best. Secondly, not embarrassing, just entertaining," he finished. Oh, God. No more drugs for me, I'd rather be in pain than loopy. I'd better drop the subject before I learned something I didn't want to know.

"What were you doing?" I nodded to his laptop and changing the subject.

"Working," he replied, but refused to look me in the eye. He is a poor liar, but if he didn't want me to know, I wasn't going to push it. I'll just snoop later - a daylight opportunity. He pressed a button on one of the bedside remotes and a flat screen TV rose up from the foot board. Cool. "What should we watch?" he asked as he tucked me under his arm.

I looked at the clock; it was 2AM. I doubted there was anything worth watching at 2AM. "Give me that," I said as I grabbed the remote. Actually, he _let_ me take the remote as he tucked me under his arm. I rested my head against his shoulder as I scrolled through the channels. It looked like he might have every channel being broadcast. I settled on a made-for-TV movie about microbes from space infecting people and taking over their bodies. We were just like an old married couple, sitting in bed watching TV. He laughed as I commented on the stupidity of the movie. Contentment circled through the bond.

Near the end of the movie, David slid something onto my wrist. I looked down. His ID bracelet dangled loosely. "Thank you," I said, surprise in my voice.

"You are as much an O'Hara now as I am," he replied. "And you have earned it."

Speaking of O'Haras. "So this wedding..."

"Yes."

"Are you in it?" I had a hard time believing he wasn't, but I wanted to know in what capacity.

"Of course. I am the best man." I wanted to ask if his date was the maid of honor 100 years ago, but decided that would be tacky. Oh, but I wanted to know. Maybe I'd ask Emma later.

"So, what's it like? Does a priest do it? How long is the ceremony?"

He sighed before kissing my forehead. "Ah, your curious mind. It is not like any other vampire weddings. Most vampires wed for money or power, while Emma and Lee wed for love. It will have much in common with the traditional human ceremonies, but with a few vampiric embellishments. The officiant is a good friend of mine, actually. A vampire who has taken the online courses needed to become a priest. He lives in the south." A pretty rare bird if they are bringing in people from that far away. "The ceremony will be short."

"Who will be there?" I asked. Was it too much to hope for it to be a small family affair?

"Many of the vampire elite will be there. Other kings and queens, along with some of the oldest vampires. And, of course, their dates, should they bring one." Great. Surrounded by vampires in unfamiliar territory. "Our family has a sort of celebrity status among the vampire community, we are unique. Many will be there to gawk."

As if I asked for it, I got a flash of the wedding reception. I was surrounded by vampires dressed to the nines. Some were dancing, some were simply talking. In the corner, a line of humans dressed in black were standing in a line, each wearing a red tag. "What's with the humans in the corner?" Before he could get over his surprise and actually answer me, I saw it, mere seconds away. They're dinner. "Oh, ew. Ew, ew, ew."

"Could you always see that far in advance?" he asked.

I had to think about it. Most of my long term visions were in dream form, but seeing a month and a half ahead is not unheard of. "It's not common, but it happens. What's weird is seeing your answer to my question seconds before you actually answered me." Usually, the visions that happen so close to the actual event are more of the life-saving kind, not something so inconsequential.

He looked concerned. "Have you noticed any other changes?" he asked.

I had to think about that, too. "I suppose. A lot more of them are first person. I mean, my medium is me lately. Before I met you, that had never happened."

"Your gift is growing," he said proudly.

Like my 'gift' as he called it was hitting puberty. Next it was going to sprout hips and get an attitude. I smiled to myself at the image I was getting from that. "I guess."

"Why?" he asked. I had no idea. I just shrugged my shoulders. "Let's try something. You could not formerly summon visions, correct?"

"Right."

"But after having large quantities of my blood after you were attacked at your office, you could."

"Yes." I didn't need to be psychic to know where this was going. "OK, what should I focus on?"

"Something small. Something that will be occurring soon." He grabbed my hand, his thumb rubbing circles on my palm.

"OK." I closed my eyes and relaxed. What did I do last time to will these visions? I focused on nothing in particular until it came. "I got something." I'm just wasn't sure what it was. I was looking at a man I didn't know. He is a smaller man, with a halo of strawberry blonde hair and kind eyes. He was standing behind a bar pouring a pitcher of beer, smiling at my medium. He slid the beer toward her, and instead of taking it for herself, she carried it to another table and set it in front of a group of ogling guys. I swore I heard one of the guys said something to the effect of 'nice tits'. He had a thick southern accent.

"What did you see?"

"Umm…a woman who works at a bar, maybe? She's serving drinks to rednecks."

He looked slightly confused, but accepted my answer. "Let's try again."

We repeated the exercise several times before I tired. "Alright, let's give this a rest. We don't want to use it all up and miss something important." I wasn't even sure if that was possible, but I wasn't willing to take the chance. I looked at the clock again; it was almost 5AM. David would be awake for about 3 more hours before the sun rose. "I need to get home. I should check on Moose and I need to teach tomorrow."

"I will drive you home, but first…" He leaned in and kissed me deeply, rolling me onto my back. My entire body tingled with anticipation. "…I will make you scream with pleasure tonight, as promised." He pulled my tank top off before kissing me again and again. I was practically panting with anticipation as he licked my collarbone, working his way down my body. He stopped to nuzzle my breasts, nipping them lightly with his fangs, which made my body shiver and tense in delight. I reached up to grab him, to pull him toward my lips, but he seized my wrists and held them near my head before I could touch him. "Patience." I whimpered as he went back to what he was doing, tickling and kissing the soft spots on my inner hips. He slowly pulled the pajama shorts down, teasing them off of me inch by inch. Without my permission, my hand reached toward him again. Again, he grabbed my wrists, holding them against the mattress near my head. He licked just behind my ear before he whispered, "You are so impatient."

I moved fast, turning my head and stealing a kiss before he could move away. I bucked my body up, pressing it against his as I wrapped my legs around his still clothed form. "You're going to have to tie me down, I can't help it," I said breathlessly.

I reached up for another kiss, but he dodged it at the last second. "I can do that." In a flash, cold air briefly replaced his body, before he returned to straddling me again, this time completely nude. He had grabbed several of his ties. He wound one around my wrist, through his mission-style headboard, and around my other wrist, securing my hands. "Where was I?" He ran his feather-light fingers up and down my torso several times, each time sending a wave of lust through me. I moaned as he went back to kissing my hips, working his way toward my center but never actually getting there.

I couldn't take any more. "Please," I begged eagerly. "Now, please."

"Please what? What do you want?" He was gently rubbing my nipple with one hand and my clit with another. If he was trying to raise my heart rate well into the 200's, it was working.

"Everything. Fuck me."

He smiled as he worked his way down my body again, licking the inside of my thigh. "Everything? Do you want me to touch you?" I didn't think I could speak, so I just nodded. I moaned as he slowly worked a finger in me, rubbing me down from the inside. "Do you want me to suck you?" I nodded again, more emphatically. I gasped when he replaced his long finger with his mouth. I grunted as he nipped at my clit with his fangs. He slowly licked me a few times before he stopped to ask, "Do you want me to bite you?"

"Yes." I could barely get the word out, I was panting so hard. The anticipation was killing me. He started kissing back up my torso, to my belly button, past my breast, and up to my neck. My body arched in response to each kiss. He turned my head and licked my collarbone. "As you wish." As the same time be bit my neck, he entered me. And, true to his word, he made me scream. I wrapped my legs around his as he rhythmically pulsed in and out of me. I reared my body in unison with his thrusts as he started to moan my name. I screamed his name as I climaxed, his climax coming shortly after. I didn't think I could move if I tried.

I was enjoying the aftershocks as he untied my hands and kissed me deeply. He rolled me onto my side and wrapped his arm around my stomach, pressing his rock-hard body into my back. He pushed one of my legs up and entered me again, this time slower and gentler. We rocked in unison until we both came again, then we just laid there, completely satisfied.

"Should I take you home now?" he asked as he played with a lock of my hair, wrapping it around his fingers.

I sighed. I really did not want to move. "Probably," I replied. He kissed my shoulder before sliding out of bed. I wiggled out after him, making my way to the bathroom to clean myself up. When I emerged, he was completely dressed and back on his computer. I stopped in my tracks when I remembered I really didn't have anything to wear. I looked around the room for my black dress. It was most likely bloody, but infinitely better than going home in the nude. It wasn't in the bedroom, that's for sure. "Where's my dress?"

"Emma took it to be dry cleaned when she left." Crap. Now I didn't have anything to wear. "The two bottom drawers in that dresser and half the closet is yours. Pick what you like." I opened the topmost of those drawer to find pajama sets similar to the one that was now strewn about the bedroom, along with sexy and everyday lingerie sets. I grabbed a sage green bra and the matching panties and slid them on. Next I opened my bottom drawer, which was filled with jeans and sweaters. I looked at the labels before choosing anything.

"Seven for All Mankind? Joe's Jeans?" I looked at the sweaters. "These are all designer, David. How much did you spend?"

He was unfazed by my question. "I sent Emma shopping with my credit card. She loved shopping for you."

There was over $1000 worth of clothes in just that one drawer. I grabbed some jeans without looking at the labels and slipped them on. "Oh, wow." These jeans were to die for. They were soft to the touch and hugged my body in all the right spots. I ran my hands up and down my thighs, just so I could feel them some more.

"You like them?" David was watching me with amused curiosity.

"These are the best pair of jeans I've ever worn," I replied. At my size, finding jeans that didn't fit at least somewhere was a feat. If the waist was comfortable, then they were too tight in the hips. If the hips were comfortable, I most likely was going to need a belt. Not to mention, at only 5'2", most jeans were too long by a half a foot. But not these, these were absolutely perfect.

I slid on the black cashmere sweater and did the same thing. "Oh wow."

"I will tell her you like her choices," He said, smiling. He set the computer aside and stood again, his hands brushing his clothes smooth. It was quite possibly the most human thing I had ever seen him do.

That thought triggered another vision, but I wasn't so sure it was something that was going to happen. It felt more like a memory, like a homemade movie. I saw man, a vampire, pat his pockets before opening the door. He had dark hair and slight features and had been quite a bit older than me when he was turned, maybe 30 or 35. My medium had seen the same humanity in him as I had seen in David seconds earlier. It was just a second's worth. "Huh."

David looked back at me. "See something?"

"Yea, but…" I was trying to make sense of it. I couldn't imagine I was seeing the past, a memory. If so, who's memory was I tapping in to? I didn't think it could be a coincidence, me seeing visions of someone thinking the same thing I had just been thinking.

"What did you see?"

I didn't want him, or anyone for that matter, knowing how much my visions are changing. "Nothing important. Just a guy opening a door. Pointless." If my quirk was getting stronger, I was becoming a more desirable acquisition in some people's eyes. That was the last thing I wanted. I couldn't let anyone know.

"You are worried," he said, either reading my face or my emotions. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at me, a slight touch of that Irish brogue coming back. If he knew how that melted me, he's use it all the time.

Damn bond. "Yea, I guess I'm just worried about what they mean. I know I am getting them for a reason, I just can't imagine what that is."

It was a vague echo of the real reason, but he bought it. "Whatever it is, we will face it together."

I followed him out the door and to the kitchen. My shoes had been delivered at some point and they were sitting on the kitchen counter, along with my cell phone and ID. I dropped the shoes to the floor and slid them on, then grabbed the cell phone and license and slid them into my back pocket. My pashmina was hanging over the chair, so I draped it over my shoulders. David grabbed a heavy leather bomber jacket of his out of the closet and slid it over my arms. It was huge on me, obviously, but it smelled just like him, and I loved that. He took a pea coat out of the closet and slid it on before ushering me out the door and toward the elevator.

I turned on the seat heaters in his car and settled into the warmth. "What did you do with Simon?" I whispered as I watched Lansing go by through the window.

"I killed him," David answered dispassionately.

Phew. I did not want to stay on his radar. It occurred to me that I was a horrible human being wishing another one dead, but I was willing to be a horrible person if it kept me among the living. "What about the Weres?"

"Dead" he answered again. He was equally disinterested in their fate. It was the same tone I'd get if I had asked him the time.

I felt bad for their families, but would rather it was them than me. "How did they know where I was all the time?" I asked, the real question coming out. If I had some GPS system on me, I wanted to know about it now.

"I do not know," he replied, completely shutting down and going silent for the rest of the ride home. I could see his brooding face as we passed lamp posts along the street. When we pulled into my driveway, his funky mood hadn't yet lifted.

I grabbed his hand after he shifted into park. "Hey, what's wrong?"

He intertwined his long fingers in mine and kissed the back of my hand. "I am afraid for you. My world is not good for you."

I unbuckled my seat belt and slid over the gearshift and into his lap. At my size in a car this roomy, the maneuver was actually very easy. I straddled him and pulled his face into mine. "I like to think its fate, us being together." My visions had sent me to him, to protect him. I need to believe that I get my visions for a reason.

I slunk into his chest, pressing my forehead into his neck as he wrapped his arms around me. "Let's hope that is true. Let's hope fate has more planned for you," he said quietly. I could hear his words rumbling in his chest.

He kissed my hair before he opened his door and pulled me out of the car with him, setting me down on the driveway. He walked me up to the front steps, waiting patiently for me to go inside. I tried the front door—locked. I patted my pockets, but I remembered I never handed David my keys. I know Sydney had a spare key somewhere out here, she frequently forgot her keys if she didn't have to drive anywhere. I just didn't know where she stashed it. "Do you want me to break in?" David was watching me with amusement.

"No, just give me a second." I closed my eyes and concentrated on Sydney, standing here. It took several seconds, but finally it came. I got a flash of Sydney, grabbing a key from the top of the door frame and unlocking the door. "Ah!" I reached for the key, but Sydney was several inches taller than me. I just couldn't reach. Being able to summon visions could really come in handy, if only I could perfect it somehow.

David slid the key down from its hiding spot, eying me suspiciously. "It took you that long to remember where you hid the key?"

"Syd hid it, not me," I replied. He handed me the key so I could unlock the door, eyes wide. I unlocked the door and handed the key back to him so he could put it back. He just held it in his hand, watching me. "Put it back, she's going to need it tomorrow night," I said. Finally, he slid it back where he had gotten it. I pulled his stunned face down to mine and kissed him. "Bye. Love you."

"And I you," he managed to whisper before I closed the door.

My first order of business was to check on Moose. He was still in the same position he had been in when I left, still breathing deep and steady. I tilted his head slightly so I could look at the gash on his face. It looked remarkably better than it had, just a scab. I pulled the blanket down to expose his chest. Most of the small cuts were completely healed at this point, leaving just the particularly bad ones unhealed. I traced the one on his shoulder with my finger. It was downright hot. Fever hot.

"If you wanted to touch me, all you had to do was ask." Moose said, quirky smile covering his lips. I jumped back, startled when he spoke. I thought he was fast asleep.

"Dammit, Moose. You scared me!" I held my hand to my chest, feeling my heart beat out of control.

He grabbed my other hand and held it to his chest. He laughed. "I surprised the psychic? Now there's a feat." I cringed slightly as he used that particular term.

My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I didn't need foresight to see who it was. I pulled the phone out; David had already texted me. _What scared you? Should I come back?_

_It's OK, Moose snuck up on me. Sleep tight,_ I texted back.

I dropped my phone on the coffee table. "How are you feeling?" I asked him.

"Better, thanks," he replied as he struggled to sit up without tweaking anything.

He was still holding my hand to his chest. I pulled it back and stood. "Well, I'm not kicking you out or anything, but you can go home whenever you want. The threat's over."

This had caught his attention. "How? When?" I explained what had happened in all its gory detail. I was surprised with myself how steadily I could explain what Simon and the Weres had done to me. My voice was firm, but my heart rate jumped when I told him about the whip. I looked at my hands; I couldn't look him in the eye. He sat up, pulling me down on the couch next to him. "How are you?"

"OK," I said, eyes still focused on my hands. At least, I thought I was. Simon couldn't hurt me again. I should be fine, relieved even, now that it was over.

"Are you sure?" he asked gently.

I thought about how I had given up at the end. The nightmare had convinced me that if David hadn't come yet, he wasn't going to. I thought Simon was going to keep torturing me until I gave in. He would take me away from my work and Sydney and lock me up in some dungeon. I was ready to just die. A tear slid down my face. "No."

He wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. "Shhh, Mac. It's OK. He's gone, no one's going to hurt you again."

I shook my head as more tears started sliding down my face. I had a feeling that statement was completely untrue. No amount of vampire blood could heal this kind of pain. I was hoping that David had already fallen asleep for the day, he didn't need to feel this too.

Once the floodgates were open, I couldn't stop the tears. I almost laughed as I realized I was having a mental breakdown, which just made me cry harder. I curled into a ball and laid my head on the couch. Moose sat next to me, rubbing my back as I sobbed. I sobbed until I didn't have any more tears, when I closed my eyes and turned inward. I could hear as Sydney came down the stairs. I could hear her shoes, which meant she was dressed and ready to go to work. I could also hear the exact moment she noticed me balled up on the couch; her footsteps sped in my direction. "Sloane?" Her voice was frantic and worried. I cringed internally; I didn't want to ever hear her voice like that.

"Shh, I don't know if she's finally asleep." I could hear Moose's whisper much more clearly than I could hear Sydney's voice. His voice was also worried, but not nearly as frantic.

"What happened?" I could feel Sydney's hand brush against my hair. "Sloane, are you awake?"

I couldn't find my voice to answer. After waiting for a response and not getting one, they must have deemed me asleep. Moose answered, telling Sydney the PG version of what had happened. Thankfully, he left the parts about the whip and the switch out of it, leaving the torture in the abstract. "I'll stay with her today."

Sydney took a shaky breath, letting it out slowly. "I'll try and come home early today so you can take off. She has to teach today, too."

"Don't worry about it, and I know. I'll figure something out if she's not feeling up to it." I promised myself I was going to teach today. I couldn't let this ruin my life. "Can you show me which one is her room before you go?"

Moose slid my shoes off before he picked me up, blanket and all, like I was a small child. Sure, I'm relatively light for a person, only 100 pounds, but I should have been more of a burden to him. He hoisted me up, leaning my head against his shoulder like I weighed no more than a sack of potatoes. I could feel the ascent as we climbed the stairs, the motion allowing me to count each one. Thirteen steps. I heard a door creak open and Sydney whisper, "she sleeps on the right side."

There was a weird double sided echo as Moose whispered. "Will you pull the quilt down?" After a second of rustling, Moose set me down in the freezing bed. Compared to him, the room temperature sheets were a shock. I shivered before curling back up into a ball. I could feel the bed indent as someone sat on the edge of the bed; I assumed it to be Moose when he started stroking my back again. The exhaustion and turmoil were catching up to me. I matched my breathing to the rhythm of Moose's hand, falling asleep in no time.


	26. Chapter 26

I was standing at a bar, watching a man that seemed to emanate evil. The quality of this dream meant it must be a vision, but it didn't have that sense of inevitability about it. It was more like a replay than streaming video. I was watching the man waver, excitement and fear evident on his face. I could clearly make out only one unvoiced word: 'martyrdom'. One word, then the sound cut out. I lunged forward as he pulled a stake out of this suit jacket, catching him before he could hurt anyone. We struggled as a frenzy of motion buzzed around us. We (she) struggled, but he cheated by switching hands, shoving the stake into my medium's side. I covered the wound with my hand as I was dragged to the ground. A tall man, muscular, with strong Nordic features, leaned over me, saying something I couldn't hear. My (her) eyes closed, and suddenly, I was in a car, the same man smoothing out my clothes, talking to me. Again, I couldn't hear him. The video/vision skipped, and now I was being carried up a regal flight of stairs and arranged on a bed. The vision was cutting in and out, more like a slide show than a video. Luckily, I didn't feel any of it as pain; I only felt a sick sense of determination. I didn't feel any pain, that is, until the stake was yanked out of my side.

I shot upright, gasping for air. "Mac?" Moose asked as he sat by the bed holding my hand. I tore my hand free and lifted the side of my now rumpled sweater. The skin where the stake had been was was neither pierced nor torn. I ran my fingers over the spot, just to make sure that the wound was a figment of my imagination. My skin was really smooth, unmarred. "Are you OK?"

I laid back down in the bed and dabbed the sweat from my forehead. "Yea, just a bad dream," I lied. Or vision. Can you still call it a vision, even if it is of the past? Or is there another name for that? Moose assumed my dream had been Simon related, and I wasn't going to tell him otherwise. He nodded before rubbing my arm again, grim look on his face. Instead of looking back at Moose, I looked at the clock; it was noon. With a groan, I rolled toward Moose and out of bed, making my way to the bathroom and closing the door before I splashed cold water on my face. I needed Sydney, I needed to know what was going on. My gift, as David called it, was growing too much. too fast. I needed everything to slow down. What's more, I couldn't understand why I was getting someone's past. Surely there was nothing I could do for them now, right? So why was I seeing it? Such a gruesome past, too.

Moose was right outside the door. "Sure you're OK?" he said through the door.

I opened the door after toweling off my face. "I'm fine, really," I said into my towel. "Sorry you had to see that last night." He looked down to his feet, unable to look me in the eye. "Syd home yet?" I asked; I needed to talk to her. I needed her to help me make sense of it.

"No, she was going to try to be home early, though," he replied. Moose was hovering just a little too close, like my condition might revert, and I'd collapse from the pressure. He was weighing every emotion that flickered across my face.

I glared at him momentarily. "Alright, well, I need to teach today. I assume you're coming?"

He watched my face for just a split second too long before answering. "Yea, I'm coming. Sure you're OK to teach?"

This was getting annoying. I was not frail, breakable, little Sloane McIntosh. I could handle myself. "Fine, Moose. I'm fine." He must have heard the aggravation in my voice, because he let up with the questions and simply followed me out of my room.

My computer, which was in my backpack, was still in my car from yesterday. I slid on a pair of Sydney's sneakers that she had left by the door, grabbed my coat and my purse, and headed out the door. Moose, who had changed his clothes at some point when I was asleep, hurried behind me. "Forgot your cell phone," he said, iPhone in hand. I snatched the machine from him and shoved into my back pocket again.

We were waiting at a red light when another vision came. It was more like a continuation of the dream I had just hours before, only clearer. I knew what my medium was thinking as she woke up in a large canopied bed next to the same blond vampire who had helped her before. I could feel his cold hand on her stomach, right next to the burning heat of a healing wound. In her thoughts, she called him 'Eric'.

"Mac, you there? It's green," Moose said as he poked me in the shoulder. My mind struggled to swing back into reality. Indeed, the light in front of me was green, and the cars behind me we honking angrily.

"Yea, sorry. I zoned out there for a second," I replied absentmindedly. I pressed on the gas, making sure to take it slow. I managed to make it all the way to campus without having another episode. Of course, Moose eyed me suspiciously the entire time. I parked my car as close to the building as possible and hurried in. Last night I had just about as much of the cold weather as I could take, and it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet.

I made my way through the rest of the day in a haze. I taught my class as required and answered direct questions, but I just existed at all other times. I was using all available brain power to figure out what was happening to me.

Moose grabbed the keys from me and drove me home while I continued to brood. I was relieved to see that Sydney was home, her car in the drive. "Hey, thanks for driving," I said as I attempted to let myself out of my car. "Are you going home?"

"Not until I know you are OK. And you are doing a poor job of convincing me of that." His brow was furrowed in worry as he watched me struggle to unbuckle my seat belt.

I was far from OK. "Fine, but can you give Sydney and me some privacy for a while, please? I need to talk to her... girl stuff."

His eyes widened and he grabbed each of my shoulders, pulling me into his hot chest. "Oh, Mac. Last night, did they…touch you? Is that what you need to talk to her for?"

I was having a hard time understanding what he was talking about, but I automatically returned his hug. I'd told him the whole story, and he knew that they touched me. It's hard to torture someone without touching them. Finally, understanding came. He didn't mean 'touch' in the literal sense. "Oh, no, nothing like that." I shivered slightly as I remembered what they had done. "I just need her advice on something."

He studied my face until he deemed me telling the truth. "OK, I'll just wait out here. Come get me as soon as you are done."

"Thanks. Oh, and if David shows up, run interference for me?" It was getting close to sunset, and I had no idea what his plans for tonight were. If he had felt any of what I went through this morning, he would be here as soon as he woke. I didn't want him eavesdropping on this particular conversation.

"Sure, I'll try." He closed my car door and leaned against the hood.

I wasn't even in the door before Sydney pulled me into a hug. It was a day for hugs. "Oh, Sloane! Moose told me what happened, I'm so sorry! Are you OK?" She held me at arm's length, looking me over for any obvious marks.

"I'm fine, but I need some advice. Do you have your cards?" She just nodded and led me up into her room. As modern and utilitarian as my room was, hers was whimsical and child-like. I sat down on the green and pink flowered bedspread and hugged a flower-shaped pillow for support. "Secret-secret, right? Don't tell anyone, not even David until I say it's OK." She nodded her head again, this time more enthusiastically, and mimicked my pose. "My quirk is changing. Fast."

"How so?" She had stopped trying to convince me it was a gift long ago. She passed me the deck to shuffle, worry in her eyes.

"I summoned visions. Not only visions, but specific visions. I needed to know where you'd hidden your key, and I just kind of sent out a general query. And it came, fairly quickly. And, I think I'm seeing someone's past. Someone I don't know. The same woman a couple of times now."

"How do you know it's the past?"

I fidgeted with the cards. "They just feel like memories. Like replays."

"OK, one thing at a time. First, center your mind on being able to summon visions." I focused on the one problem and shuffled the cards before I handed them back to her. I picked at a cuticle as she analyzed the display. "You are getting stronger, but it's natural. It's most likely going to continue, too." I sighed. That was the last thing I wanted. Couldn't it get weaker? Or disappear all together?

She picked all the cards back up and handed me the full deck again. "Next problem." I shuffled again, just as edgy as before. I didn't think I could handle anything more coming at me; I might actually have a meltdown from all the anxiety, a real one. I handed the deck back and she laid her pattern on the bed. She shook her head in dismay. "I'm not getting much that makes sense this time, sorry."

That was almost worse than knowing the shit was about to hit the fan. "That makes two of us," I mumbled.

"There's an odd reference to understanding? And necessity?" She was deep in concentration.

I took a deep breath. "Thanks for trying." I was about to leave her be in her room as she gathered up the cards again and set them aside, but before I could even make it off the bed she was pulling me into a hug. I leaned in to her warmth; it felt like home.

"I can't decide if I should feel grateful for him making you so happy, or hate him for dragging you into all this," Sydney said of David as she rearranged the pillows that were holding both of us up.

"You said yourself he's not behind the changes," I said, being willfully obtuse. "You said it's natural."

"That's not what I was talking about and you know it," she chided. I did know it. My shoulder rubbed against her arm as I shrugged. I didn't blame David, I blame fate.

We had been sitting there, wrapped in a hug for several minutes before David practically broke down the door. Sydney jumped, but I could feel him coming. "Do you ever knock?" Sydney hissed. So Sydney wasn't as friendly toward him as she once was.

David's eyes never left mine. They were searching mine for signs of trouble. "Generally not."

Sydney whispered in my ear, "Can I un-invite him from my room? Would that work?"

I shrugged again, smile on my face. "What am I? Psychic?" I could feel her body shake as she laughed to herself. I had to giggle, too. "Try it out." Moose appeared behind David, apologetic look on his face.

Sydney couldn't help herself. "David, I un-invite from my room."

David looked shocked for a split second before looking incredibly angry. He was walking backwards out the door. He stopped just outside the bedroom door, glaring at Sydney, fangs out. "Alright, you two,"  
I said as I freed myself from Sydney's arms. "Be nice." I kissed Sydney on her cheek and stood. "Thanks, hun." I turned to David, who was looking positively blank. He had retracted his fangs, but that was as friendly as he was going to get at this point. I walked over and slid my arms around his waist. He wrapped his arms around me in turn, touching my hair. "Hi."

He looked down at me, just the beginning of a smile touching his lips. "Hello," he replied. He turned toward Moose, who was standing next to us at this point, and said, "Thank you, shifter. You may go."

Moose looked at me, questions in his eyes. "Mac?"

I nodded, confirming David's edict. "I'm fine. Go home." He deserved some time of his own.

He nodded and turned to go. "You have my number," he called over his back.

David shot one more glare at Sydney, who was grinning from ear to ear, then led me into my own room, bumping the door closed. He set me down on the end of the bed and knelt before me. My eyebrows furrowed as he wrapped both of my hands in one of his and cupped my face with the other. I could see worry creasing his face. Only I could give someone whose face hasn't changed in over a century permanent worry lines. He was just watching me, studying my face. "I felt your pain this morning," he explained. "What caused such heartbreaking pain?"

I dropped my gaze to our intertwined hands. "Nothing," I mumbled. I was a horrible liar, and the bond was making it even more difficult.

He lifted my chin, forcing me to look him in the eye. "How did I lose your trust?" he asked, pain filling his eyes.

Did I ever really trust him? Sure, when I'm beaten and bloody, I'm pretty certain I could count on him to come get me. But at what point does my 'gift' get too tempting? At what point do I stop being his girlfriend and become his asset? Merely an acquisition? "I trust you," I finally answered. Vague enough. It was a moot point anyway. I wasn't hiding something because I didn't trust him; I just didn't want to hurt him.

Pain morphed to anger; his grip on my hands tightened ever so slightly. "Then why will you not tell me?" he asked. My heart started juddering in my chest, my body remembering the last time his eyes flashed in fury. I winced as he raised his other hand to my face and held my cheeks, tracing my cheekbones with his thumbs. His eyes softened when he saw my reaction. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then his lips pressed together as it died in his throat. I had to close my eyes; I couldn't stand seeing his pain. This was exactly why I couldn't tell him. His pain would kill me, too. His hands fell from my face. "So you do not trust me."

My eyes popped open. "Of course I do!" I cried as I wrapped my arms around his neck, the rest of my body tumbling in a heap against him. He didn't return my embrace; he just let me hang there. "I trusted you with my life last night," I whispered into his ear. He didn't answer. I couldn't even be sure he heard me. There was absolutely no reaction what-so-ever from him. I slowly relaxed my grip and slid down his torso until my knees hit the floor next to his. I rocked back onto my heels, my heart in my throat. I needed him to do something: cry, scream, maybe throw something. Instead, he just stood and moved to my desk chair, his eyes fixed on me as he sat. He had erased every speck of emotion from his face. I slumped against the side of the bed. My voice dropped to a whisper, but I knew he could hear me. "I'm sorry, don't be mad at me. I just don't want to hurt you. I can't stand to look into your eyes when I've hurt you."

"Nor I yours," he replied, his expression thawing slightly but still chill and distant.

He wasn't going to let this go. I shifted position, bringing my knees to my chest and rocking my forehead on my bony kneecaps. My hair fell in an auburn curtain around my face like another layer of protection. I pulled my knees close to my chest, making myself as small and secure as possible. I was fairly sure that as long as I kept my voice steady, he wouldn't be able to tell I was falling apart. I shut the bond down hard, locking it away. "I gave up. He said he would break me, and he did." So far so good. Tears started to fall, but my eyes were pressed into my knees so hard he wouldn't be able to tell. My voice held strong.

His voice was so void of emotion it was almost monotone. "You gave up on what?"

"Everything. Emma, you, life in general." My voice broke, giving me away. At this point, I had nothing to lose. I may as well get it all out. "I had convinced myself that you weren't coming for me, that he was going to torture me until I gave in. I could feel how he was going to lock me away and force me to do what he wanted, use me until I was empty, then he would kill me. I was talking to Moose, and the…hopelessness, the desperation of it all, it just flooded in, crushing me." I was sobbing again, my chest struggling to suck in oxygen between sobs. I hugged my knees harder to try and temper the shaking. I was becoming quite a pathetic excuse for a woman.

Suddenly, his hand was gently rubbing my hair, which made me jump. "I will always come for you, you are under my protection. No one will ever force you into anything." He tried to unfold my arms, but I resisted with all my strength. "Look at me."

The sobbing had quieted, displaced by something stronger, so at least I could breathe. "I can't." The vision hit more like a lucid dream. I could hear, understand, react with the world that was actually around me, but there was another world playing in front of my eyes. I was back to the woman I couldn't get out of my head. I pushed the rest of my hysterical outburst behind me and concentrated on the vision.

His voice came stronger, almost reproachful. "You are stronger than this, Sloane."

I lifted my head. "No, I mean, I can't see you." I watched as the room she was in shook. Lying in front of her were two sleeping vampires, one male and one female. My heart was pounding for her.

"You cannot see?" I could feel his hands on either side of my face again. It must have been daytime, because the male vampire in the vision struggled to pull himself out of bed.

"Not you. I'm not sure what I'm seeing." The video continued to play. A window shattered, flooding sunlight into the room. We were sliding—no, flying down the side of a building I recognized. I racked my brain, where had I seen it? I remembered—it had been on the news a while back. The vampire hotel had been bombed during some sort of annual vampire meeting.

"Describe it," he demanded. Uh oh. If I told him the truth, he would know I could see the past. I'm sure he would remember the news coverage, there had been a call for vampire tolerance for months after it happened. He might have even been there.

The video stopped abruptly before rewinding quickly. It rewound back to before the bombs started exploding. She was standing in an abandoned hallway with two vampires. The blonde male from several of these visions (what did she call him again?) licked his bloody lips, then cut himself with a knife. I dropped my head back to my knees, nausea overcoming me. "Oh, gross." Reluctantly, she licked the blood from the wound. "Oh, I think I'm going to puke." I fell to the side, away from the sound of David's voice and heaved. Luckily, I hadn't eaten anything in a while. A long while. Nothing came up. I dry heaved again. David lifted me back to a sitting position, holding my face again. Another man, too tan to be a vampire, burst angrily through the door just before the vision faded.

Slowly, I could see again. I blinked as my eyes focused on David's face. "What did you see?"

I was trying to breathe normally, but I couldn't get the disgusting vision out of my head. I figured I could probably tell him the second part of the vision, there was less of a chance he knew about that. "Two vampires, one tall and blonde, the other shorter and brunette. The blonde one bit the woman, the one whose perspective I shared, then cut himself with a knife. She sucked the blood from the wound." I turned and dry heaved again before lying my cheek against the wood floor.

"A bonding," David replied.

My chest hurt from the sobbing, then the heaving. "Like us?" He raised me back into a seated position just as I remembered the blonde vampire's name: Eric. I repeated it mentally to commit it to memory.

"Yes," he replied, "only intentional."

Oh, wow. I couldn't imagine being consciously forced into this like she was. "She was forced." I couldn't get the look of his blood out of my head. It was almost black and sluggish, like syrup.

"Was?"

Oh shit. I scrambled. "Yea, in the vision, she was forced into it." I stood shakily. I always felt less-than-stable after interactions with blood. "I need to shower." I made my way to the bathroom.

"You need to eat." He followed close behind me, grabbing my arm just before I closed the bathroom door.

I turned back toward him, looking him in the eye. "Not a good idea right now." I was just going to throw it back up.

He let me go. I turned the water on hot, as hot as I could coax from my home's seventy-five year old pipes. My shower was perfect. I wasn't used to being around people so much, and the alone time was much needed. Sydney was the only person I was really ever around for long periods of time, even in high school. When our schedules got busy enough to keep us apart, I just got used to being alone.

"God dammit." Another similar flash came, this one horribly inappropriate. The woman, also in the shower at the time, was on the verge of exploding as Eric sucked at her chest. She wiggled against his fingers; I shuddered and braced myself against the shower wall. "Oh, Jesus." This was more than a little awkward. Eric continued to play with her, which was getting me hot, I'm ashamed to say. (Hey, blondes aren't my type, but Eric was Damn Hot with capitals. It was almost like he was playing with me. If I were single, I wouldn't kick him out of my shower, either.)

I reached out to brace myself against the shower wall again and seriously considered lowering myself to the floor before a knee gave out. "You couldn't wait for me?" David asked, his voice just on the other side of the shower curtain. He must have felt my lust through the bond.

"Holy shit," was all I could manage for a second. "It's a vision." He carried her into the bedroom and went right back to kissing her.

"A vision is making you climax," he asked, sounding unconvinced. I could hear David opening the shower curtain as Eric entered my medium.

"Oh my God." My body shuddered. As soon as I could see, I was going to tear the clothes off David and fuck him. "Yes, the same woman and the blonde vampire again."

He sounded amused. "Doing?"

"Jesus Christ." I was panting at this point, flailing my arm out in front of me as I felt for David. "What do you think?" I moaned and threw my head back as he bit her, came to his completion.

The vision faded. David waited for my eyes to focus again before he stepped in the shower with me. He was completely ready for me; fangs down and member hard. "Would you like me to finish what they started?"

"God yes. Again and again." There was no preamble; I didn't need one. Instead, he lifted me onto him, leaning me back slightly for a better angle. I wrapped my legs around his butt and moaned with each thrust.

I reminded myself to scream the right name when I came.

I grabbed a handful of his hair and he let me pull his head back. I started kissing his collarbone slowly licking a trail up to just below his ear. He gasped in pleasure when I nipped his earlobe with my teeth. "Now you've done it, woman," his voice rumbled, husky and deep. In the next second, I was on the bed braced on all fours. I yipped as he shoved into me again, hard.

"Yes, David. More. More." He secured one arm around my waist to hold me in place and leaned over me, aligning his perfect chest with my back. I was moaning his name as he brought me to the very brink. "Now!" I could barely whisper. David grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head to the side, exposing my neck to him. For the first time, I felt pain when he bit, but not nearly enough to dampen the exquisite orgasm I was having.

I trembled underneath him as he lowered me onto my side. Aftershocks rumbled through me. He scribed the arc of my body with his own and pulled the quilt over us. The shower was still running, but I couldn't care at the moment. "How old are you?" I don't know why I said it, it just popped out.

"One hundred and twenty eight. How old are you?" I could hear the smile in his voice.

I smiled back. "Twenty two, smartass. I knew that, I meant, how old were you when you were turned?"

"Twenty," he replied quietly.

Hm. He looked older than that, but he could definitely act like a twenty-year-old at times. "Emma?"

"Eighteen."

Her face also held more than her short eighteen years, but I had yet to see her act her age. She seemed to have matured even after death, where David merely just acted like he had matured. He kissed my shoulder as he traced patterns on my hip. "Lee?"

"We do not know," he said as he kissed the back of my neck. "He was turned the same year as Emma, though."

I think sex made him talkative, and I was going to milk it. "How does he not know?" I asked.

"He was orphaned as a child. No one knew in what year he was born."

I gasped lightly; how horrible. How alone he must have been, no one even taking the time to remember his date of birth. I had thought when I first met them that Lee was Emma's support system, but maybe it was the other way around. Maybe Emma was the one that kept him going with her love.

He pulled the blanket back and scooped me up. "Hey, I was comfortable!" I said as he ripped me out of my contemplative mood. I slapped his arm playfully before wrapping an arm around his neck. "Where are we going?"

"To finish that shower, then to eat."


	27. Chapter 27Part Three

*****This is the beginning of Part Three. Thanks for all of your kind words (you know who you are). I feel like I don't say that enough. This is a short one, but I needed to split the chapter. It was just getting too long. Chapter 28 to follow soon. OK, Enjoy!*****

David was at my door shortly after sunset. I was downright excited; I hadn't been out of the state in ages. Sydney was bummed about having to go stag (she and Thomas didn't work out), but excited about a vacation. We both really needed one. He knocked, which was unusual for him. Usually, he just walks right in.

I answered the door. Behind David were Emma and Lee. Emma looked as excited as a child on Christmas morning. "Oh, aren't you excited?" An accent that matched David's delicious Irish brogue was fully evident. She pushed David out of the way and picked me up in a hug. For a tiny woman, she was remarkably strong.

"Absolutely." David's eyes were apologetic. Lee, on the other hand, grinned at Emma's enthusiasm. "OK, I think you are crushing me."

She set me back down on the ground. "My apologies." I'm pretty sure she was vibrating. She breezed into my house toward Sydney, who was sitting on the couch. Lee bowed to me as he passed, following Emma's trail of sunshine (har har har). David was the last to enter. He simply leaned in and kissed me.

"I like the glasses." I had been reading before the knock at the door, which required I wear glasses.

"Thanks," I said sheepishly. I pulled them off and set them on the table in the foyer, which still held the small plant Moose had given me months ago. Sydney must be caring for it, because I had the touch of death and was afraid to do anything. "So, what's the plan?"

"Are you packed?" He shut the door behind him as he pulled me into the house with him.

I nodded yes. "It's upstairs. I couldn't lift it off the bed." What can I say? I packed everything I owned. If David would have told me what I could expect from the week I would be gone, I probably could have whittled it down slightly. You'd think I of all people would know what I would need, but no such luck. As it was, he was going to have to do the heavy lifting.

He shrugged off his coat and hung it on the banister before trudging up the stairs to fetch my bag. I waited in the kitchen, smug look on my face. I knew I kept him around for a reason. Other than the fact that I loved him and he gave me the best orgasms of my life, of course.

David returned carrying both Sydney's and my bags. "Is this all?" His voice might have had a touch of sarcasm.

I smiled wider. "Yes, thank you." He set the bags down. "Oh, the cloak is beautiful. Silk?" I got a flash of the outfit Emma was going to have me wear during the ceremony. It was a light blue hooded cape that covered me head to toe. The edges were trimmed in sequins.

"On the outside, wool on the inside. I made sure you would keep warm." Both he and I were getting used to my enhancing 'gift'. He was unphased as I mentioned what I see in the course of everyday conversation like that. I still had not told him I could see the past, though. That was still between Sydney and me.

Speaking of my forays into the past, the visions had not stopped. I had learned many things about the Eric and the blonde woman who were central to these particular visions. For example, her name was Sookie. (it took me several times of hearing it before I got it right. That's just not a name you hear in the Midwest.) She was telepathic and apparently a descendant of an angelic looking old man. She had a brother who, because of his sexual prowess, became a shifter. He made me glad I never had any siblings; he was a rotten brother. She lived in a town called Bon Temps. I had seen many of the things she had lived through, which was most likely why I was getting these visions. If she could survive all that, so could I.

"We are ready to go if you ladies are ready to go." Sydney hopped up from the couch and followed Emma and Lee out of the living room.

I slid on my coat and my boots before opening the door to the frigid tundra again. It had been one of the wettest Decembers on record so far, which left a layer of knee high snow on everything. The piles of shoveled snow at the edges of the driveway were as tall as me. I grabbed my bag and sighed. This was the worst part of Michigan.

David slipped his coat back on. "Want a ride?"

I smiled up at him. "Yes please!" I latched on like a monkey after he lofted me onto his back one-handed. He bent down to grab the suitcases.

"These bags weigh more than you do." He carried me and the baggage out to an idling stretch limo, stashing the two bags in the trunk before depositing me just inside.

"Hey, can I get some of that?" Sydney was still standing on the porch, purse in hand. I was still amazed how nonchalant she was around vampires. Only being around this unique nuclear family has given her a skewed view of what vampires were like on a basic level. She screamed playfully as David hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her like a sack of potatoes. After explaining to Sydney how David obviously didn't want me to be kidnapped and explaining to David how Sydney has the impulse control of a 5-year-old, the two had come to an understanding. I slid farther into the limo as he set her down next to me.

David went around to the other side of the limo and sat next to me, swinging his arm around me and pulling me into him. Emma and Lee slid in past us toward the front of the car. My stomach took the chance to growl. "Have you not eaten again?"

Skipping meals was becoming a bit of a routine for me. I wasn't doing it on purpose, though. "I ran out of time." It was true. Before I rushed home and packed, I had been rushing to finish my lab work before the trip. As it was, I left a couple hours worth of work for Moose and Matt to finish for me. I had just sat down to work on my thesis when he knocked at the door. "I can wait."

"We should go to one of those drive thrus. You can eat on the plane."

"Fine." I hadn't won this argument once in the past couple of months. Chances are I wasn't going to get lucky this time, either. "You're looking a bit pale, yourself."

David leaned in and whispered into my ear, "I will also eat on the plane." Emma must have heard his whisper; she stared at him, reproach obvious in her eyes. It was hard to believe she was the younger of the two. "True Blood, of course."

I ran a finger over his belt buckle. "Maybe I'm into that." The look on his face was priceless: surprise, disbelief, but best of all, willingness. I reached up and kissed him before his face froze that way.

"Ahem. I vote for McDonalds." Sydney had pulled a Nintendo DS out of her purse and was already playing. I shrugged, still smiling at David. Fast food was fast food, it all tasted the same.

Emma, as queen, owned her own private jet. The baggage handlers employed by the small private airfield loaded the baggage and the vampires' empty travel cases into the cargo hold of the plane. Meanwhile, the five of us loaded onto the plane and Sydney and I dug in before takeoff. David watched me eat while nursing his True Blood. As I do every time I get Chicken McNuggets, I finished off the leftover honey with my fingers. It's really the best part.

I pulled my glasses and a paper copy of my thesis out of my backpack and got back to reading like I had been. I nestled against David's shoulder and turned to the page I had been on. If you've ever read a thesis, you'd know…it doesn't matter whose it is, it's only a matter of time before you're sound asleep. And I was.

I woke up with a start as the plane touched down on the tarmac. I looked over; Sydney, the world's soundest sleeper, was still out cold. Next I glanced up at David, who was smiling at me. "What?"

"You did not get very far." I looked back to my binder; I made it three pages before falling asleep.

"I guess even I'm bored with my research." I marked my page with the red pen that was still in my hand and closed my binder. I yawned widely as I pulled my glasses off and folded them into their case. I shoved the two back into my backpack and leaned back as the plane came to a stop. David grabbed my backpack and I got the job of waking Sydney. "Hey Syd." No response. I tapped her on the shoulder. "Wake up, Syd." Nothing. It was time for action. I sat down right next to her, getting as close to her ear as I could. "SYDNEY ANN METS, WAKE UP!" Finally, movement. I have no idea how she manages with just an alarm clock. "Hey, we're here, get your butt up." She stretched and we yawned in unison.

I was surprised at how warm it was. There wasn't even a dusting of snow; in fact, I'm not even sure it was cold enough for snow. I could see the jumbo jets lifting off from BWI Airport about a mile away as we walked across the blacktop to another idling limo. I leaned against David while we stood in the warm night. "Tired?"

"Yea. I've been running all week to get ready for this trip, and I guess it's just catching up with me." I took a deep breath of the briny air. We must be incredibly close to the Chesapeake Bay.

"We have a three hour drive ahead of us before we arrive in Ocean City." I could stand to tack another three hours on to the end of my nap.

I turned to the limo, ready to crawl in and get that nap started. I opened the door to find Sydney sprawled across one of the benches, already fast asleep again. Luckily, the limo had enough seating to allow all five of us to lie down and take a nap. I crawled to the very front of the limo and curled up, David right behind me. He lifted my head and set it on his lap. I was asleep before the limo started moving.


	28. Chapter 28

I was in a way more comfortable position on a way more comfortable surface when I woke. I was also no longer wearing a coat or shoes. I opened my eyes slowly. I was surrounded by opulence. The walls were shiny gold and the furniture was deep mahogany. I was on a bed large enough for 4, with more pillows than are ever necessary. I sat up and stretched before looking around the room. There were 3 doors in the room: two regular sized doors and a double door. I picked the single door to the right: it was a walk-in-closet. Impressive, but not what I was looking for. I opened the other single door, and bingo. A bathroom, done in floor to ceiling white marble (of course). My toiletries were already unpacked on the countertop. I washed my face and brushed my teeth before trying the double doors on the other side of the room. They opened into a large sitting room, where David was sitting with my thesis. "What do you think?"

He closed the binder and set it on the coffee table. "I do not understand much of it." I shrugged. It's not like he had any degrees in molecular biology (as far as I knew). "Emma would like you to come to meet the officiant with us in 20 minutes. At first I told her it was more important you rest, but if you are up…"

"I'll come. It's her wedding." I noticed that he had changed his clothes to something slightly more formal. I opened my suitcase, which David had put in the walk-in closet. Did I pack anything even remotely appropriate for this? I stood there, waffling.

"I like the blue skirt," David called from the sitting room. I dug out the bright blue pencil skirt, pairing it with a white v-neck sweater and black wedges. It looked dressy enough without looking overly formal or business-like. Not to mention, the skirt/shoe combo made me look taller than I really am, which is always a good thing. I laid the ensemble on the bed and went into the bathroom to shave my legs and do my makeup. I threw on just a touch of makeup, making sure to add blush and eyeliner to make me look awake, then coral lip gloss to make me look healthy. I pulled the French braid out of my hair, which gave my hair a beautiful wave that looked like it took hours with a curling iron to achieve.

I emerged with seconds to spare. David, Emma, and Lee were all standing in the sitting room in down time. "Where are we going?"

David answered. "We are meeting them in the lobby." OK, no coat needed. I grabbed the extra room key that was sitting on the coffee table and shoved it in the side of my bra.

"OK, ready." David grabbed my hand and we made our way to the elevator. I had to check the door before we left to make sure I knew which room was ours.

David turned to me while the four of us were in the elevator. Before he could speak, I cut him off. "I know, best behavior. I'll try." I had seen what he was going to tell me. Most vampires were different, and while around them, I had to treat Emma with extreme reverence, stay close to David, and only speak when spoken to. I was going to have a hard time with the last part.

He scowled for a split second before smiling at me. "This could come in handy." He must have meant me seeing what he was going to say. Of course, he had to intend to say it aloud for it to be helpful.

_Oh, shit._ David noticed when I froze as the elevator doors opened to the lobby. "Sloane?" I gave him a weak smile. He squeezed my hand and led me into the lobby. As we got closer, I could see Sookie was eyeing me suspiciously. Hm, maybe she heard that.

As soon as I saw the three blondes in front of me, I couldn't help it. All the visions containing Eric and Sookie flashed to the front of my memory, which I specifically showed to Sookie. (It just felt wrong to know so much about someone and have them completely in the dark.) I could tell when she saw them; her mouth dropped open for a split second before she put up a strained smile. I couldn't help myself. _Oh, it gets better._ I had saved the best for last. I blushed as I pulled the shower scene out of my memory, playing the entire thing in real time for her benefit. She blushed beneath her unnaturally tan skin. It is the middle of winter, after all.

"Sloane, I'd like to introduce you to an old friend of mine. This is Eric Northman, he'll be the officiant tomorrow." David was still holding my hand, oblivious to the exchange that had just taken place.

I bowed slightly, genuine grin covering my face. "How nice to meet you." _How nice indeed._ Sookie cleared her throat in my direction. It was all I could do to not giggle. _Oh, calm down, you're safe. Blonds aren't my type. I like my men tall, DARK, and delicious._ I grabbed David's arm with my other hand and leaned into him.

"And of course you remember my sister, Emma and her husband, Lee."

He nodded to the two of them in one singular acknowledgement. "Of course. You remember my second, Pam. And this is my bonded, Sookie Stackhouse." I nodded at the two women (well, the vampire and the telepath) that flanked Eric. "First, Your Majesty, I'd like to rehearse the ceremony." Oh, weird. Emma is not 'majesty'. She's barely an adult. "The ballroom should be a large enough substitute location for our purposes." He swung an arm in the general direction of a large set of golden double doors.

I turned my attention back to Sookie as we walked through the doors and into a grand room. _ You and I need to talk. Sans vampire. _She nodded yes, as if to herself. Apparently, she also understood the need for secrecy and subtlety. Either that, or she didn't want to make it look like she was talking to herself. _Daylight?_ She nodded again. _Pull out your cell phone like you're checking your texts or something._ I gave her my phone number, which she added directly into her contacts. _Call me when you wake up, we'll get breakfast. _ She nodded again before nervously glancing at the vampires.

"Sloane?" David, Emma, and Lee were both looking at me with interest, while Eric and Pam looked annoyed at my lack of concentration.

"Sorry, I was, uh…daydreaming there for a second." I glanced meaningfully at David. I was hoping he would misunderstand, and he did.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the location Eric must have indicated. He leaned in, kissing my cheek gently before barely whispering, "Anything interesting?" I smiled as I shook my head no. I was on the edge of bowling over laughing. This entire exchange was beyond ridiculous.

I was barely paying attention until the words 'blood exchange' exited Eric's mouth. "Wait a second. What did I just hear?"

Eric turned to me. "The two will cut themselves with a ceremonial knife, spill their blood into the same cup, and drink from the cup."

I was already feeling slightly woozy. "Emma, I don't want to faint in the middle of your wedding…"

David explained. "Sloane is slightly squeamish about blood."

I was trying to breathe deeply to offset the coming lightheadedness. "Slightly is just about the biggest understatement I've heard all year."

"You will be standing behind me, and therefore unable to see what is happening. If it will help, you may close your eyes for the exchange." Emma's tone has completely changed from her usual self. She was commanding and brusque. Maybe I should have called her 'Your Majesty', too.

No, I don't think I could do that.

"OK." I was distracted throughout the rest of the rehearsal. Next was a meeting with the event planner to discuss the final arraignments for the reception. Emma and Lee followed the event planner, a small bleached platinum woman who was just as round as she was tall, and made comments on the plans she had made. Well, Emma made comments. Lee just followed Emma. After depositing Sookie at an undressed table near the dance floor, Eric followed, answering direct questions about the ceremony.

David sat at a table as far away from the group as he could get. He crossed his arms across his chest as I followed him. "You look distracted. What did you see earlier?"

I opened his arms and sat on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. When I was as close as I could get to him, I answered. "We need to talk, alone."

His whole body tensed. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

I paused. Was something wrong? Nothing of what I had seen indicated that something was going to go wrong. I mean, it was all in the past. Never the less, I felt like everything was wrong. "Too soon to tell." I was keeping my voice low.

"Do we need to tell Emma and Lee?" He had subtly turned our backs on the group that was still circling the large ballroom.

"I'd rather not. I don't want to worry them if there's nothing to be worried about, especially this close to their wedding."

He nodded. "Smile," he whispered in my ear. I complied, seeing his plan. He lifted me up into his arms and turned toward the group. He pulled his fangs down before he asked. "Sister, dearest, do you need us?" He looked down at me, undressing me with his eyes. I grabbed his hair and pulled his head toward me, nipping his neck in response.

I could hear the smile in her voice. "Go. But do not break her, I will need her tomorrow." I looked up in time to see her wink at me.

He gripped me tighter as he bowed slightly to her, then turned to face Eric. "I look forward to catching up with you. Perhaps later tonight?" He shuddered as I kissed his neck, the lust in his eyes now real. Hey, if I am going to do something, I'm going to go at it 100%. "Much later."

I glanced at Eric, whose fangs were also down. "I look forward to it."

In the next second, David and I were waiting for the elevator. He leaned into me and kissed me hard. I smiled at how little it took to turn men on. It really wasn't fair, they're just walking libidos. When the doors opened, he pushed me up against the wall and pressed the button for the 15th floor before he continued his assault on my body. I had just enough presence of mind left to break away after the doors closed. "David, we're here to talk, remember?"

He worked his hands up under my sweater as he kissed down my neck. "Then speak." I was quickly losing that presence of mind.

"OK." One of my knees buckled as he rubbed his thumb over my nipple. "Remember I was having visions of the…Oh, God." David was now on his knees, kissing and licking a trail up from my belly button.

"The blonde woman and the blond vampire. Yes." He had pushed my bra and sweater up to my armpits and was licking my nipple as he spoke.

"Oh," I gripped his hair with both hands. It was a good thing he was completely supporting my body weight, or else I would have melted to the floor. It took some effort, but I remembered why we were here. "It's them."

The elevator doors opened, and he whipped me back up into his arms and hurried into our room. I bounced as he dropped me on the bed. "You've seen them again?" He was stripping slowly for me, letting me watch as his muscles twitched when he pulled the sweater off. "And?"

He slowly made his way up my body, unzipping and pulling off my skirt on his way. It took all I had to concentrate on finishing this conversation. "No, I was seeing through Sookie." He paused for a second before jumping off the bed, leaving me half naked and completely unsatisfied on the bed. "Hey, Mister." I followed him into sitting room, where he had folded himself into an armchair. I stripped off the sweater on my way, leaving me in nothing but my matching leopard print underwear. (Hey, I was effectively on vacation with my incredibly sexy boyfriend. I had packed nothing _but_ sexy.) I tried to keep my tone light. "You can't stop now."

He looked thoughtful. "I cannot believe that Eric would force anyone into a bonding." He had immediately put 2 and 2 together.

I scowled at him. "David O'Hara, if you don't come finish what you've started right now, I'm going to go do it for myself. And you won't be invited to watch." He could brood alone all he wanted AFTER I was a satisfied pool of jello on the bed. He looked up at me, a touch of lust flaring back into his eyes as he took in the sight. Not nearly enough to make him jump me, though, which is what I was going for. "Are you telling me you no longer want me?" I pouted at him before turning slowly, letting him get a view of my body from every angle. With my back to him, I unhooked my bra and threw it back to him. "Fine. I'll be in the bathtub. Do not disturb, please."

I could feel his eyes on me as I walked through into the bedroom and to the bathroom. I swung my hips more than usual until I got to the bed, where I stripped the lacy thong panties off, my back still toward him. His arm was around my waist before I could open the bathroom door. "I will always want you." He turned me around and kissed me intensely. He moaned as I rubbed my hands down his bare chest to his belt buckle, which I slowly unclasped.

"Don't feel like you have to." I unbuttoned his pants and dropped them to the floor before rubbing my hand up and down his shaft. Damn, he wanted me all right.

"Don't be ridiculous," He whispered. I grabbed the sides of his boxer briefs and pulled them down slowly as I worked my way down his body. It was my turn to drive him crazy. His body vibrated as I made my way down his chest, sucking on his nipples before working my way to his abs. I dropped to my knees before kissing the very top of his penis. He trembled as I blew my hot breath on the length of his shaft. "Sloane…" His voice was rough and tight.

I stood again, looking at him with innocent eyes. "Yes?" I pushed him back onto the bed. After he positioned himself on the bed, I straddled him, rubbing my clit on his hard shaft. He grabbed my hips, but I resisted as he tried to push into me. "Patience," I said, mocking his voice. I snickered as I leaned down to kiss him lightly on the lips. "It's payback time." I started kissing his neck as I rubbed myself against his body, then slowly working my lips up to his earlobe. I had found his trigger, and I was going to use it. I nipped at his earlobe with my teeth, causing him to tighten his grip on my hips. He flipped me onto my back and held my arms at my side as I protested.

"I am not as patient as you assume me to be." I moaned and wrapped my arms and legs around him as he entered me. He picked me up, slamming the two of us against the wall as he thrust into me. I screamed in pleasure as he leaned me onto the bedside table, knocking the lamp and alarm clock to the floor. Broken glass crunched under his feet as he crossed the room again. We grunted is unison as he backed into the double doors before laying me on the coffee table in the sitting room.

"Don't stop," I moaned as he pulled out and made his way down my body. He rolled my thigh to the side. I screamed as he sunk his teeth into me and pulled deep. He licked his lips clean before lifting me back off the coffee table and lowering me onto him as he sat on the armchair. I rocked back and forth, quickly working myself into a frenzy. Within a minute I was spasming in his lap, screaming his name.

I curled into his chest and closed my eyes. "I think I may have taken too much again." I struggled to open my eyes as he lifted my chin to look at me. He was careful not to mention the word blood, but I knew what he meant. With someone my size, it was an uphill struggle. I didn't have a ton of extra to give.

"I'm just tired." I cuddled back into him, tucking my forehead into his neck.

"You are pale."

"I'm always pale, if you haven't noticed." I kissed his clavicle.

He lifted me off of him and set me back down on the couch before walking into the bedroom. I could hear his voice from a distance. "You taste anemic." He came back carrying a large glass of water and a bottle of pills when there was a knock at the door.

"Is everything all right in there? The neighbors said they heard glass breaking."

David answered without opening the door. "We are fine." He turned to me a smiled. I had completely forgotten about the mess we must've left in the bedroom.

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir. Do you mind if I come in? If I could see the damage, I can have someone come to clean and replace it tonight." I giggled. Sure, he wanted to look at the damage. Or maybe the legend.

David raced into the bathroom and grabbed the two robes hanging on the hook. He tossed one to me as he wrapped the other around himself. I threw it on before David opened the door.

A small, mousy looking man was standing at the door. He scanned the room quickly, relief washing over his face when he saw me. "I'm sorry to bother you, miss." He turned to David. "Can you please show me the damage?" David walked the small mousy man into the bedroom and I quickly swallowed one of the iron pills that David had brought me. They tasted like licking coins. I curled back up on the couch and watched the small man take in the mess that we had made of the bedroom. Beyond the broken lamp on the floor, the alarm clock had made it halfway across the room. There was a dent in the wall near the bathroom door, as well as one above the bedside table. One of the double doors was hanging off of its hinges. Oh, wow.

I pushed myself up from the couch. Maybe there was some truth to what David had said; I was feeling a tad weak. Maybe he did take a little too much blood this time. I walked slowly, bracing myself against the couch as I made my way toward the bathroom. David noticed as I wobbled through the bedroom and into the bathroom. I closed the door and started the water running into the tub for a hot bath. I glanced in the mirror as I pulled my hair into a high ponytail. Even beneath the makeup, I looked pale and drawn compared to my usual complexion. I pulled the bathrobe off and peaked at the damage to my inner thigh. Two perfectly circular puncture wounds were circled by a small halo of blood. Another two streaks of blood had made their way down my leg, down the back of my knee, and almost to the floor. I fought the lightheadedness as I wiped the blood away, only to have it start running down my leg again. Why was I still bleeding? I was sure David had licked the wound, which would have released his natural coagulant and helped to clot the wound. I grabbed one of the washcloths off the rack and pressed it to the punctures.

I was sitting on the edge of tub, holding a washcloth to my thigh with one hand and testing the temperature of the water with the other when David opened the door. "Eric is coming in an hour."

"OK. I'll be presentable." I handed David the bloody washcloth, careful to not look at it, and lowered myself into the hot water.

"No need, Eric and I will be leaving. You should rest." He studied the washcloth for a moment before kneeling down at the side of the tub. "You are still bleeding?" He reached a hand into the hot water and pulled my thigh to the surface. He studied the wound for a second before standing and leaving the room. I closed my eyes and luxuriated in the warmth of the water until he returned, carrying an armful of clothes and a small white tin box. He set the bundle on the 15-foot marble countertop and crawled into the tub with me, leaning me against his chest. In no time, I had relaxed into a daydream-like state. I should avoid daydream-like states all together. Before I could stop it, the vision came.

My medium's dark hands and blood red nails were pouring what I assumed to be a cosmopolitan into a martini glass. She kept her head down, which made me think she was most likely one of the only humans in a room filled with something more dangerous. When she glanced up to take a drink order, I could see a dimly lit bar filled with pale faces. Most everyone in the bar had a True Blood in their hand.

I was only semi paying attention until I heard his voice. The velvety-smooth, slightly accented voice that I had become so used to hearing every night was coming from the corner of the bar. "How things change, Northman. I never figured you the type to tie yourself to only one, yet here you are, bonded to a human."

The bartender looked up long enough to register that neither of them needed another drink. It was also long enough for me to realize that David was talking to Eric. This must be a preview of tonight's conversation. "You have changed as well, O'Hara. Last I saw you, you were on the brink of meeting the sun."

The bartender was stealing glances at the two in the corner, which let me gauge facial expressions. David was shaking his head slightly. "I was not even a century old, yet I had done everything. I had risen through the ranks to become king, I had educated myself many times over, I had owned businesses and made money. Yet, none of that appealed to me. It is extremely disheartening to reach the goal you once craved, only to find it is not what makes you happy. The only thing that kept me going was Emma. I had made her to protect her; I could not leave her. But now I have a reason, more than just to keep Emma alive. I have Sloane." Woah, heavy. I had always assumed that I loved him more than he could possibly love me, but maybe I had that backwards. The bartender glanced, allowing me to see David's eyes harden. "But I digress. How did the bonding happen? I have it on good authority it was less than consensual."

Eric didn't even flinch. "It was just before the bombing in Rhodes." Oh, _shit_. Now I'd have to tell him I could see the past. I wish I could see David's face right now. I needed to know how he'd take my deception. "Andre, the childe of my Queen, Sophie-Anne, was going to force his blood on her to create a bond. She is…unique. The queen wanted her talents for herself. Sookie and I had already shared blood on a few occasions of need, and I offered myself as a lesser of two evils, to protect her. She chose me."

There was a long pause before David spoke again. "You love her?"

Eric answered without hesitation. "Very much." The bartender glanced again. They were both holding untouched bottles of True Blood, staring each other in the eye. This was male bonding on a level I had never seen before. David's eyes were challenging, while Eric's were indignant. "Is that so hard to believe? You love Sloane. She wears your mark as a sign of bonding." Well, that was news to me. Did I have some invisible stamp on my forehead or something?

"She does wear my bracelet, but it is not a sign of our bonding. It is merely a 'thank you' for saving Emma's life when I should have been there to do it." Oh. I see. So Eric thought the bracelet was like an engagement ring? I thought about that as the vision faded. What if he did give me a ring? Would I wear it? I knew he loved me. Unless, of course, he knew there was a chance I could be watching and lied to Eric about caring for me to fool me. That sounded ridiculous before the thought even finished crossing my mind. He loved me. Right?

"Sloane, Love. It's time to get out. You are getting wrinkled." I was firmly back in the here and now. He was standing outside the bathtub, clad in nothing but jeans.

I extended a hand. "Help me up."

He grabbed my hand and helped me out of the bathtub before wrapping a large white towel around me. "Anything important?" He must have known I was in the middle of a vision.

"Not to you." He lifted me onto the countertop and rolled my leg to the side so he could see the wounds. I glanced down quickly to assess the damage. They had stopped bleeding, but they didn't look good. He opened the little white tin and taped a piece of gauze to the wounds.

I dropped my feet the ground and put the clothes that he had brought in for me, the clothes I had been wearing earlier, back on before grabbing his hand and leading him to the end of the bed. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself, readying myself for his reaction when I told him. I decided to open on a good note.

"I love you, David O'Hara."

His eyes sharpened. "And I love you, Sloane McIntosh."

I grabbed his hands and held them in his lap. Here goes nothing. "You know the visions of Eric and Sookie I've been having?" I didn't pause long enough to let him answer. "I'm pretty sure they've all been in the past."


	29. Chapter 29

I rushed to finish before he exploded. It occurred to me in the back of my mind that David had quite the temper. "I'm sorry for lying to you, I just…I didn't know what it meant, and I was scared about what might happen to me if you knew…"

I rushed to answer the knock at the door before he could erupt. "Hi, Eric." I forced a smile and stood aside. "Come on in." I backed into David, who had followed me into the sitting room. I glanced up; either he wasn't angry with me, or he was hiding it well. I probed the bond: nothing at all. If he was closing the bond, he was mad.

Eric nodded slightly in my direction without even looking at me before dismissing me.

My face fell into a scowl. I turned to David, who was also completely ignoring me. Eric turned and walked out the door without saying anything, followed by David. No kiss, no goodbye, not even a smile. OK, maybe I was feeling a little snarky. "Assholes," I mumbled at them before I slammed the door and threw the lock into place. I felt David's anger boil over as he paused just outside the door. I sent anger right back at him as I moved to the bedroom and turned on the TV. I didn't give a damn if I was making him look bad in front of his little vampire friends. It was his own damn fault.

When I was sure that he was out of the building, I grabbed a change of clothes, a pajama shirt, my cell phone, and my room key and headed over to Sydney's. I knocked on the door. "Syd, you up?"

She opened the door, wearing her hair up in a ponytail and her pajama set, green clay slathered on her face. "What's up? Where's David?"

"Out with his fanged friends. Girls night in?"

"Definitely!" I followed her in the room, where she was watching a made-for-TV movie. Bottles of nail polish in every color were spread across the coffee table in the sitting room. I pulled my hair into a high ponytail before stripping down to my undies. I pulled the oversized Michigan State football jersey I often slept in over my head and walked to the window. Because Sydney wasn't rooming with the undead, Emma had booked her one of the few rooms with windows. I looked out over the moonlit ocean waves. "I couldn't decide what color. Something demure, like pale pink, or something a bit wilder, like neon orange?"

I plopped down on the couch next to her and pulled her feet into my lap. "When have you _ever_ been a pale pink kind of girl?" I grabbed the bottle of orange nail polish and I got started on her toes.

It was almost an hour later when I finished three coats of color and a top coat on both her fingers and toes. We were both sitting in our pajamas, faces covered in green clay, giggling at the TV and waiting for the polish to dry when there was a knock at the door. Sydney and I looked at each other and shrugged. She wasn't expecting anyone, and I certainly wasn't expecting anyone, especially here. Since I was closest to the door, I opened it.

Emma's fangs came out as she took in my appearance. "What have you done to your face?"

I giggled. "Relax, it's just a masque. You know, to make my skin soft. It's a human thing."

She retracted her fangs and nodded. "May I come in?"

I looked back to Sydney. After all, it was her hotel room. She smiled brightly, "Of course, come in. We were just hanging out."

She glided past me and onto the armchair in the corner. "I find myself forgetting what this female bonding time is like. I forget what to do."

I pitied her for a split second. I knew what it was like to be forced to be part of the boys club. At least I had Sydney. As for as I knew, I was the first woman she was even remotely close to in a hundred years.

Sydney must have been thinking the same thing I was. She grabbed another nightgown from her suitcase and dropped it in Emma's lap. "First things first: jammies."

Emma looked at me quizzically before changing into the polka-dotted nightie at warp speed, which was large and baggy on her. I pointed to the spot where Sydney had just been sitting. I grabbed the jar of masque from the coffee table and moved closer. "Close your eyes." I knew Emma's skin didn't need the masque. In fact, it would have absolutely no effect on her skin. But if she wanted to be a part of the female bonding experience, this was it.

She twitched as I smoothed the green goo over her face. "It is cold, even to me."

Sydney laughed. "You're telling us!"

When I was finished smothering her face, I asked, "Do you want me to do your nails? You're probably going to get them professionally done tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Yes, as are you. This reminds me, we have hair, nail, and makeup appointments tomorrow starting just after dusk. Of course, Sydney, you are also welcome to any of those services as a guest of mine."

Sydney was visibly excited. There are few things a woman likes more than to be pampered and beautiful at the same time.

Once her nails were dry, Sydney pulled the comforter from her king-size bed and settled into the couch, throwing the comforter over the three of us; the vampire, the human, and the seer. I settled in and tried to watch what Sydney had chosen to watch, but my eyes were droopy and my mind sluggish. I glanced at the alarm clock through the open bedroom door; it was already 5 in the morning. Next, I glanced in Sydney's direction. She was fast asleep, face still covered in green clay. "I'm sorry, we're not much of a party," I said after completing a large yawn.

"I understand humans tire."

It occurred to me that it was the night before her wedding night. "I'm sorry, we should have taken you out partying tonight, like a bachelorette party."

She turned off the TV and turned to me. "This was a perfect bachelorette party. I spend enough time in my own nightclub, I do not need to spend the night before my wedding in someone else's. This was…relaxing."

I smiled at her. "I'm glad you had fun." I let out another large yawn and stretched. "We should wash this off our face." I stood and walked into Sydney's bathroom, which was a smaller version of my own. Emma and I washed our faces in the double sinks. I probed the bond real quick; David was in a better mood than before, but not even close to his usual self. Rage was ricocheting around the bond. And he was getting closer. "Will you get the door, please? It's David." Emma looked at me questioningly until I busied myself with wetting a hand towel and cleaning the masque off Sydney's face.

I could hear the door creak as it opened behind me. I was taking my time wiping Sydney's face clean. "Dearest brother." I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Emma." He sounded surprised. "Why are you here?"

"This is my bachelorette party."

He paused. His voice went right back to angry. "I came for Sloane."

Dammit. He sounded downright pissed. I walked around the open door and faced David. I was careful to stand just out of arm's reach. "What?" It came out more curtly than I had intended.

"Come back to our room, now." That sounded just like an order. And I don't do orders. I grabbed the door from Emma and slammed it in his face. Only after the door rocked on its hinges did I think about my actions. Fear and adrenaline pulsed through my body as I instinctually put Emma between me and the door.

"Can he come in here without an invitation?" I whispered to Emma's back. She was still standing, staring awestruck at the door.

"No."

I sighed with relief and my heart slowed to a healthier level. That is, of course, until I realized that I'd have to face him at some point. "Shit, what did I just do?"

Emma turned to face me. "That is a good question."

I looked her right in the eyes. "What do I do now?"

"Go apologize."

I shook my head. "Not a good idea. You have no idea how pissed he is. At me, specifically." I took a deep breath. "I _might_ have called him an asshole in front of Eric tonight after tell him I've been lying to him for months. I don't think I'd survive long enough to apologize."

Fury covered her face as her fangs shot down. She grabbed my upper arm and swung me out the door. "You will make amends before my wedding." She was deceptively strong for someone her size. She dragged me down the hall and up a flight of stairs, stopping in front of my room. I fought her the entire way. She knocked once.

"No," was all I could whisper. I felt betrayed from all angles. I felt betrayed by David for what was to come. I felt betrayed by Emma for marching me over here. I even felt betrayed by Sydney for not being awake and fighting for me.

David practically tore the door from the wall. Emma slung me into the room; I tripped over the corner of the armchair and fell to the floor, tweaking my ankle in the process. "Make up." She grabbed the door and slammed it in her own face, leaving David and I alone in the room.

I crawled away from David as fast as I could, but he only followed me. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to my feet. "You are to never to lie to me or hide things from me again, do you understand?" Fear paralyzed me; I couldn't answer. David held me up against the wall by my arms as I shook violently. Tears streamed down my face. I yelped as he slammed my shoulders against the wall. "Answer me!" he roared.

"Yes," I whispered shakily.

"You are never to undermine me or talk back in front of others, do you understand?" He was slowly lifting me off the floor.

I nodded my head yes again. Tears were blurring my vision so I could no longer see the wrath on David's face.

"And you are never to slam a door in my face, do you understand?"

I nodded my head again as I started to sob. He let go of my arms, dropping me to the floor. I crawled to the farthest corner of the room and hid myself between an armchair and the entertainment center. I cleared my eyes with the back of my hand just in time to see David's feet approach. I flinched to hide my face as he reached a hand in my direction. "Get off the floor." I didn't respond; I didn't even look at him. I wished these damn tears would stop falling and my body would stop shaking. I was sure I looked like a weak little girl. He kneeled in front of me and reached out to help me up. I shied away from him.

"Don't touch me," I said as defiantly as I could. I pushed myself up and tried not to limp through the bedroom and into the walk-in closet. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and grabbed a pair of sneakers. Before he could object, I turned around and marched out of the room, careful to not look at David.

Before I left the building, I went to the front desk. "I need a new room key, please. Room 1514."

The elegantly dressed woman behind the counter gave me a once over before asking, "Name?"

"Sloane McIntosh. The room is probably under the name David O'Hara." After checking the computer, she coded another room key for me. "Thanks." I grabbed the room key and shoved it into the pouch of my sweatshirt before moving to one of the couches in the lobby to put on my shoes.

I took my time tying my shoes and stood. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't even know where I was, really. I walked out the doors to the hotel and turned right. I walked down the deserted divided highway until the sun peaked over the horizon and I could be reasonably sure that David was dead for the day. Only then did I turn around and head back.

I went straight up to Sydney's room when I got back. I waffled as to whether I should knock or not; this wasn't her problem, but on the other hand, I had nowhere else to go. I sure as hell wasn't going to stay in the same room as David, dead or alive. I knocked three times. Almost a minute later, Sydney answered the door. Her hair resembled a blonde bird's nest, and I had only gotten the green mask off of half of her face. "Aren't you beautiful this morning."

"At least I only have bed head. You look awful for a whole other reason." She stood aside and let me into her room. "What's going on?"

I was too tired to think up something less pathetic. "I really pissed David off last night, and instead of protecting her maid of honor from his wrath, Emma literally dragged me off to the lion's den and threw me in. And I left my cell phone over here somewhere." I started searching the room. My phone had somehow made it under one of the armchairs across the room. I went to grab it.

"Are you OK? Why are you limping?"

I grabbed the phone and shoved it into my pouch. "She threw me into a chair." I limped over to the couch and pulled my sneaker off to take a look. It was red and swollen, but probably not broken. That was good; being in a cast during a Michigan winter is a whole new side of hell.

Sydney slid out of the room and returned with a bucket of ice. After wrapping a good chunk in a towel, she pulled my swollen ankle into her lap. The ice felt good. I tucked my hands in my pouch and leaned back against a pillow, closing my eyes.

"How did you piss David off?"

"Well, first I told him about the visions being in the past."

"How'd he take it?"

"How do you think? He was being an asshole about it, completely ignoring me, not even an acknowledgement I existed, and I called him on it."

"How?" She lifted the ice to take a peek at the swelling.

"I called him an asshole in front of someone else."

She shook her head at me. "You are the dumbest smart person I know."

I simply nodded. I knew exactly what she meant. I may be book smart, but I often acted without thinking through my options. It was something I was going to have to work on, if I lived that long. "You mind if I crash here for a bit?"

"Sure." She lifted my feet off of her lap and laid them back down where she had been sitting. A minute later, I heard the shower start. Finally, I could sleep.


	30. Chapter 30

*****This chapter ends with a segment in Sydney's point of view. Sydney is actually based on a real person, my real life best friend. No, her real name isn't Sydney, but she does work with children and she is 100% the sweetheart I make her out to be, but also 100% the bitch. It's why I love her. So, this one's for you, Syd.*****

I woke up when my sweatshirt started buzzing. I pulled the iPhone out of my pocket; an unknown number was calling me. "Hello?" I slid my feet off the edge of the couch. A jolt of pain shot up from my ankle as my foot hit the ground.

"Is this Sloane?" The voice on the other side of the line was female and heavily southern.

"It is."

"This is Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse. Did I wake you?"

"Yea." I yawned. "So do you want to go get some breakfast? I was out walking earlier this morning and I saw a diner about a block away."

"We can do that."

"Cool, give me a half hour to shower. See you then." I almost hung up, until I remembered. "Oh, wait. Do you mind if I bring someone?"

She sounded skeptical. "Who?"

"My best friend, Sydney. She knows everything I know, anyway."

She paused before answering. "Human?"

"100%."

"I guess you can bring her."

"OK, we'll meet you in the lobby in half an hour." I hung up the phone and tossed it to the coffee table.

"Where are we going?" Sydney was standing in the doorway to the bedroom, fully dressed.

I stood and stretched. "Out to breakfast. Oh, I forgot to tell you---guess who's here." She raised her eyebrows. "Sookie, from the visions. Eric, too. And Pam." Her jaw dropped open as I hobbled toward the bathroom, stripping my sweatshirt off on the way. "Yea. I know. Imagine my surprise when the elevator doors open, and there they are, sitting in the lobby." I started the water and stripped the rest of my clothes off. "Anyway, we're going to breakfast with Sookie." I jumped under the hot water.

I emerged 15 minutes later wrapped in a towel and smelling like Sydney. She was sitting on the couch watching the morning news shows. I scanned the room; I remembered bringing a change of clothes over her e last night (just in case), but couldn't remember where I had dropped them. I stopped scanning when I noticed the pile of clothes on the table in the corner. I pulled on the dark wash jeans and white tank top. I didn't want to put on the warm brown sweater until after I had done something with my hair, but I had no hair ties. It was too cold to leave it down all wet, and I didn't have the energy to blow it dry. "Can I steal a hair tie?"

Sydney pulled two off of her wrist. "Let me French braid pigtails." I sat on the floor in front of the couch so she could better reach my head. I loved it when Sydney French braided my hair for me; her braids were tight and intricate, which meant they could last for days. Of course, these were going to last until right around dusk, when I had a hair appointment made by the she-devil bride herself.

I tied my sneakers back on while Sydney finished the last braid 10 minutes later. I grabbed the sweater and shoved my phone and my room key in my back pocket on my way out the door. "Shit." I patted my pockets, like maybe my credit card had magically transported to me. "I don't have my purse. I'm going to run up and grab it. Will you go down to the lobby and wait for Sookie?"

"What does she look like?" I hadn't really explained her in detail when I explained the visions to Sydney. After all, cup size probably wasn't the most important take-home message.

"She's tall and blonde and older than us. Like, thirty. She's probably the only other human down there." We were at a vampire beach resort in the middle of the day in December. How many breathers could be staying here right now?

She nodded and headed for the elevator as I headed for the stairs. My ankle was protesting, but I would rather climb one flight of stairs than fight Sydney for the elevator. I pulled the key out of my pocket and took a deep breath. David was dead for the day, but I was still nervous to go in there. I opened the door slowly, as if any loud noises or sudden movements might wake him. In reality, he was more dead than asleep. You know what they say about waking the dead. I tip toed into the bedroom and looked at David. He was lying on top of the covers in his jeans. He didn't even bother to change into his usual sleep pants. His hair flayed around him in a black halo. Fitting, for the devil spawn. His face didn't look peaceful, but it was much calmer than the last time I had seen him. He looked troubled, like he was trying to do a difficult calculus derivation in his head. Next to him, on my pillow, was a note.

_I am sorry.  
I love you._

Right. He has a funny way of showing it. There were so many things I wanted to write back. _Fuck you_ came to mind, as did _shove it_ and _tell someone who believes you_. In the end, I slid off the bracelet he had given me, the one with O'Hara engraved on it, and put it on the note. That was a more powerful message than anything I could write.

A tear fell down my cheek as I grabbed my purse and went out the door. I decided to come back and get the rest of my stuff after breakfast. I was hoping Sydney wouldn't mind the roommate for at least tonight. If worst came to worst, I had my credit card. I could rent a room of my own. Regardless, I was going to fly home first thing tomorrow morning. Even better, I could fly anywhere _but_ home tomorrow morning. I wanted to put as much space between me and anything O'Hara related as soon as possible. I wish I had my passport; a direct flight to Paris or Rome or Moscow sounded great right now.

I rode the elevator to the lobby, where Sydney and Sookie were getting acquainted. As soon as she saw me, Sookie focused on me. _Let's get out of here first_, I thought to her before she could start her barrage of questions. The two blondes followed me out of the hotel and onto the street, matching my slow, gimpy pace. "What's wrong with your leg?" Everything sounded sweet and innocent in a southern accent. It was almost creepy.

"Tripped over the armchair."

It was another minute before she spoke again. "You called Eric an asshole, didn't you? That's who was with David."

Sydney's mouth dropped open for a second before she regained her composure, but I was used to it at this point. I've been watching her listen in from the inside out for months now. Besides, who was I to judge? "Yup."

She shook her head. "You cannot act like that in front of them! They will drain you dry!" She seemed seriously concerned with my welfare, which was sweet from someone I didn't really know.

I grabbed the door to the small diner and held it open for them. The lone waitress sat us, her only customers, in a booth in the back corner before taking out drink orders. I sat next to Sydney, Sookie across from both of us. When she came back with our drinks and got our food orders, I turned to Sookie. "OK, ask away."

"Why can't I hear you?" Her eyes were probing, like she was going to bore the answer right out of my head.

"I thought you can."

She shook her head and lowered her voice. "Only when you think it right at me, and even then it's all static. Your head sounds more like Fae."

That was news to me. I took a few seconds to think that through before shrugging it off. "I have no idea. Now it's my turn. Why have you been in my head for months now?"

"Well, I don't know! Have you seen anything about me that hasn't happened yet?"

I shook my head. "I showed you everything I've seen." Sydney was watching this conversation like a tennis match. "Did you tell Eric about me?"

"No. Have you told David?"

"I haven't but Eric hinted at it when they were out last night. He called you unique." She nodded.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I had remembered the reason I bought Sydney along. "Syd, do you have your cards?"

"Always do." She pulled a stack of tarot cards held together by a rubber band out of her abyss of a purse and shuffled them absentmindedly. "Who am I reading?"

I held out a hand. "Me." She dropped the cards in my open hand. "I need your particular brand of forecast. Just the next few days. Look for trouble, anything that could tell me why I've been seeing her." I jerked my head in Sookie's direction as I shuffled.

Sookie simply watched with wonder as Sydney laid the cards out on the table. Sydney rolled her eyes at me. "I don't see any trouble coming for you because you are going to run." She covered my hand with her own.

"To?"

"Somewhere new to you was your plan." So maybe I had decided on Europe. "But I don't want you to run."

I instantly got indignant. "Why not?"

"Because it never solves anything, it just puts everything off until later. Last time you ran, it hurt to watch you day in and day out, you were so miserable. Just face him, you'll feel better."

"Hff. Tell that to my ankle," I mumbled as I took another deep swig of Pepsi.

"Would you mind doing that for me?" Sookie was watching Sydney gather the cards off the table. Sydney shuffled them quickly before handing them across the table.

"Focus on a particular problem while you shuffle these cards. You can tell me about the problem, or you can keep it to yourself, but the more I know, the more accurate I can be." Sookie shuffled them and handed them back to Sydney, who laid them on the table. All the cards related to happiness, love, and fulfillment. She pulled the future card and grinned. Instead of laying the Lovers card in its specific place, she handed it to Sookie. "I think this answers your question."

She blushed and handed the card back to Sydney. "Thank you."

The food came and we ate in relative silence. I was too tired to carry any meaningful conversations, anyway. I picked at my pancakes, leaving the stack mostly untouched. The waitress frowned down at me when she came to clear the plates. "Hun, a tiny thing like you needs to eat some! You look half starved!"

I gaped up at her. That kind of forwardness from a waitress is unheard of in the Midwest. "I guess I'm just not as hungry as I thought I was."

She grabbed the plate away from me and slid the separate checks in front of us. "I'm going to box these up for you." She looked over my head at Sydney. "You make sure this girl eats these."

Sydney fake saluted her. "Yes, Ma'am."

The waitress returned after the three of us had paid our bills, carrying two Styrofoam To-Go boxes. "I had Chef make you an omelet, on the house." She shoved the two boxes into my hands. "You all come back now."

We thanked her quietly and left. My limp was getting worse as walking got more and more painful. By the time the three of us made it back to the hotel, I was wishing I had a pair of crutches. Or a big strong man to carry me. I pushed that thought right out of my head as soon as it surfaced; the last thing I wanted was anything that could remotely remind me of David.

I leaned against the wall of the elevator on the ride up to our rooms and pulled my foot off the floor. "Hey Syd, can you help me to my room?"

She looked at me questioningly before answering. "Sure."

Sookie was the first to get off the elevator on the 13th floor. As soon as the doors were closed, Sydney asked, "Are you sure you want to stay there? You are more than welcome to bunk with me."

I limped out onto the 15th floor. "Thanks, that was my plan. I just want to grab my stuff." I slid the key into the lock and opened the door to David's room. Everything was just as I left it, except someone had come and cleaned up the glass and replaced the broken lamp since I had been there.

Sydney followed me as far as the bedroom. She was standing near what had been my pillow, looking at the note and the bracelet. "Does this mean what I think it means?" She picked up the bracelet and showed it to me as I peeked my head out of the bathroom door. I had already started the process of repacking all of my toiletries. "Is this your Dear John letter?"

That was a good way to put it. "I guess so." After I packed up the bathroom, I moved to the closet, throwing the few pieces of clothing that weren't still in my suitcase on top of the clean clothes and zipping it shut. I pulled the closed suitcase to the floor and rolled it into the bedroom.

"Are you OK?" She grabbed the toiletries bag from the bathroom and met me at the double doors. She was looking at the dents in the wall and the unhinged door, but had the foresight to not say anything about it.

"Too soon to tell. Ask me again tomorrow morning." She grabbed the wheeled suitcase from me and we headed to the sitting room. I made one last check to make sure I had gotten everything before grabbing my purse and heading out the door. A large yawn escaped as we waited for the elevator. I really needed to get more than a few hours of sleep at a time to function properly. At this rate, I'd be dead on my feet in a few days.

I limped into the elevator, which earned me a curious glance from the bellboy on his way back down. Either because of his friendly and helpful nature or because he was paid highly to observe needs, the bellboy held the elevator door open after watching me limp my way down the hall when we arrived on Sydney's floor. "Excuse me, Miss, are you OK?"

I turned and smiled at the bell boy. "Just a sprained ankle. I'll be fine."

He stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway. He grabbed the bags from Sydney, "let me help you with these." With her hands now free, she was able to help me hobble my way to the end of the hall, where he room was. Sydney opened the door and deposited me on the couch while the bellboy stored the bags in the walk-in closet. Sydney pulled a bill from her wallet to tip him, but he refused. "That's not necessary, Miss. Would you like me to call the doctor?"

I shook my head no again. "It's really OK, it's just sore. There's nothing a doctor could do."

He bowed slightly. I'm sure that's what he been taught to do to the vampires. Things like that can be hard habits to break. "If you do need anything, just press 0 on the room phone and ask for Gary, that's me."

We thanked him as he left the room. It was just me and Sydney, like normal. I slowly pulled my shoes off, revealing two very different sights. When I had my shoes and sweater off, Sydney pulled me off the couch and helped me onto the bed. "You are going to get at least 4 hours of sleep."

That sounded fantastic to me. I fell back onto the pillow on top of the comforter and still fully clothed. I turned to her before my eyes involuntarily closed. "Hey, that bellboy was kind of cute."

She laughed loudly. "Are you calling dibs? Because I'll fight you for him."

I smiled at her as my eyes started to close. "Are you going to call down for something?"

"I might."

**SYDNEY'S POINT-OF-VIEW:**

She was finally going to get some sleep. I took a chance to look her over as her breathing slowed into a deep rhythm. She was pale and drawn. She looked 5 years older than her usual self. Her ankle was still swollen and red, and distinct pale purple bruises were forming on each upper arm. They looked remarkably like handprints. Sloane sighed and rolled onto her stomach (her favorite sleeping position), which allowed me to see bruises in a matching color on her back. They were irregular half moons that mirrored the outline of her shoulder blades. Anger flared in me. I only needed one guess as to where these came from.

I wrapped the other corner of the comforter around her before moving to the sitting room. I turned the TV on and stashed the boxes of leftovers in the mini fridge. After settling on the couch, I started to flip through the channels. There really wasn't anything on TV at noon on a weekday. At least they had the History channel. I left it on the documentary about the discovery of King Tut's tomb. Not 15 minutes into the documentary, there was a knock at the door. Before answering it, I closed the door to the bedroom. I didn't want to wake Sloane so soon.

Gary the Bellboy was standing at the door, holding two sets of crutches. "I thought your friend might want these. Where is she?"

"She's asleep in the bedroom." I stood aside and invited him in the room. "This is very thoughtful of you."

He blushed. "This set is for children up to 5 feet tall." He leaned a miniature set of crutches against the wall near the bedroom. "This set is for adults 5 foot to 5 foot 5 inches. These are quite a bit heavier than the child's set." He leaned those against the wall, too. He kept his voice down, carful to not wake her. "I wasn't sure how tall she is."

"Thank you." He nodded deeply at me before grabbing the piece of hotel stationary and jotting something on it. He folded the small piece of paper and slid it into my hand.

"I am about to go off duty. This is my cell phone number. If you need anything, just call me." He turned and headed to the door. He turned before closing the door on himself. "Or, feel free to just call me." He winked before he closed to the door. Well. That never happens to me.

I waffled for an hour on whether or not I should call him. On one hand, I had just met him, and knew absolutely nothing about him. On the other hand, he was cute. Not oh-my-God-I-think-my-heart-just-stopped cute, but cute enough. Also, he was obviously interested, or else he wouldn't have given me his personal number. Lastly, I did RSVP a party of two for this wedding. It would only be polite to honor that.

But, if David and Sloane were on the outs, she was going to need me. I couldn't leave her high and dry because Gary the Bellboy was cute. She wouldn't do that to me, and I won't do it to her. But I'm definitely going to call him tomorrow. Definitely.

About an hour and a half before sundown, the room phone rang. I answered it quickly, hoping it wouldn't wake Sloane. "Hello?"

"Good afternoon, this is Elena Morales, the wedding planner for the Wong-O'Hara wedding. Am I speaking to Sydney Mets?"

"You are." She called me. At my room. Of course it was me.

"Good, I'm just calling because Emma made it clear that you are to join her and Sloane McIntosh for hair, makeup, and nail appointments tonight. Please meet in room 2002 at 9:30."

"OK, I'll be there."

"Thank you. Oh, and do you know where I can reach Sloane? I tried her room, but she isn't answering."

"She's here. Asleep." I automatically looked over my shoulder at her. Still asleep.

"Oh, that's probably a good idea. Would you be sure to pass the message along?"

"Sure."

"Good, good. Have a nice day."

"You too." We hung up at the same time. I made a note of the room number and time before I would forget on the same notepad that Gary had written his number on. I smiled to myself and fingered the number in my pocket.

I checked on Sloane one more time before sundown. She hadn't moved an inch. I pulled the blanket down slightly to check on her bruises. They had gotten worse. Much worse. The light purple had turned to varying shades of violet, eggplant, and navy. The half moons on her back were so dark and distinct, they almost looked like tattoos. I made sure she was still breathing well before covering her back up. I closed the doors to the bedroom, giving her some privacy.

I was expecting vampire company just after sundown, but not quite so soon after sundown. Just as the windows over the ocean went completely dark, there was a knock on the door. I took a deep breath and put on my bitch face before answering. I looked through the peephole before answering: David's wavy black hair was all I could see.

I cracked the door just enough to show my face. "What do you want?"

"Is Sloane here?" I was expecting him to sound sad, but instead he was completely void.

I cocked my hip, attitude surfacing. "Of course she is. She wanted a safe place to stay. Safe from you."

Pain flickered on his face before he covered it again with the same void. I instantly felt bad about that dig. "May I speak to her?"

"No." I instinctually closed the door slightly. Not that it would stop him. Being uninvited, on the other hand, would.

"Why not?"

"She's asleep." I was getting tired of this. He needed to just take a hint.

"May I see her? I would like to leave something for her." He was handling something in his pocket.

"What? More bruises?" I watched the emotions ripple across his face. Pain, anger, surprise, sadness.

"I have not hurt her."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I am only going to let you in if you promise to not touch her or me. And you' can't wake her, either." He nodded once. "Wait here." I closed the door and went to my purse. I had packed a stake and vampire mace (basically liquid silver) in my purse before leaving Michigan. I grabbed them, holding one in each hand before I opened the door again. I showed him both. "I keep my promises. Hurt her again, and I'll stake you." He dropped his fangs and glared at me. "Put those away, then you may come in."

He retracted his fangs and followed me into the bedroom. I gently pulled the blanket down enough to show the deep bruises. "See? Now leave whatever it is you came to give her and get the hell out," I whispered. I readied the mace as he moved to touch her. "Don't." He stopped in immediately and showed me his hands and the bracelet in them. He placed the ID bracelet Sloane had left as a Dear John letter next to her open hand. "Are you done?"

"I am." He watched her breathe like a father watches his young children. Love, concern, and protectiveness practically oozed out of him.

"Then get the hell out. Your invitation is rescinded." He started walking out the door and I slammed it behind him without thinking. I automatically turned around to see if I had awakened Sloane. She hadn't moved.

I took a deep breath, readying myself for the next vampire. I knew it was only a matter of time. However, it wasn't who I expected. Hours later, a tall blonde man was standing at my door. I looked at the clock before I answered the door. It was already almost 9. I swung the door open. "Can I help you?"

"I am told I can find Sloane McIntosh here." My, she was popular tonight.

"And who might you be?"

"Please excuse my poor manners, I am Eric Northman. May I speak to Sloane? It is about the wedding tonight." Oh, and Eric Northman was every inch the hunk Sloane made him to be. I think my center just melted.

I debated internally. She was going to have to get up soon if we were going to make it to our appointments on time. However, she needs every iota of sleep she can get. "Please come in." I stood aside for him. "How important is it? She's finally getting some good sleep."

He nodded deeply. "I can tell her at a later time, I am sorry to intrude. Who are the crutches for?"

"Sloane twisted her ankle."

He looked concerned. "Will she be able to walk in sand?"

Seriously? His only concern was this damn wedding? "Definitely not gracefully, that's for sure."

He must have detected the hint of agitation in my voice. "I am sorry for the intrusion. I will catch her later, as you humans say." He bowed deeply before leaving.

I waited another 15 minutes before waking Sloane. I pulled the comforter back and shook her lightly, careful to avoid the bruises on her arms. "Sloane, honey, wake up." She was always such a light sleeper. I was surprised that she slept through all the visits we had today. But now, she was more like me. Only vampires and the dead sleep deeper than I do. I shook her again, this time harder. "Sloane." She was finally starting to come to. "Wake up, hun. We have hair appointments in 15 minutes."


	31. Chapter 31

*****Sorry this took so long to get out, I've been working on the next chapter, and it's a long one.*****

**SLOANE'S POINT-OF-VIEW:**

I woke up to Sydney rocking me almost violently. "Sloane, wake up, hun. We have hair appointments in 15 minutes."

I shot into a sitting position. "What?" I felt beyond groggy. "What time is it?"

"It's 9:15. We have to be in room 2002 at 9:30 for hair and nail appointments." She walked into the bathroom, returning with a bottle and a glass of water. "You might want to take this for your ankle." She handed me the bottle of anti-inflammatory pills and I popped 2 in my mouth. I gulped the water down quickly.

"OK, just let me brush my teeth." I hobbled into the bathroom and took a look at myself. "Oh, shit."

Sydney was right behind me. "The bruises? I know, they have been getting progressively worse all day. You have some on your back, too." I turned and looked at my back in the mirror. The bruises were so purple they looked black. "Speaking of David, he dropped by earlier."

The assumption stung a little. It's not like it wasn't true, David had given me these particular bruises, but it still stung a little. I squeezed toothpaste onto my toothbrush. "And?" I tried to sound like I didn't care as I plunged the toothbrush into my mouth.

"He left something for you. The bracelet." She dropped it onto the countertop next to me. I grunted as I finished brushing my teeth. I rinsed my mouth out as Sydney fetched something from the sitting room. "Gary brought these for you. I think you might want this set, they're a little short for you, but they're much lighter." She shoved the smaller set of crutches at me.

"Who's Gary?"

She smiled. "The cute bellboy. He gave me his number."

If my ankle didn't hurt so much, I'd be jumping up and down for her. "Really? Are you going to go out with him?"

She shrugged smugly. "Maybe I'll call him tomorrow." I high-fived Sydney before shoving the crutches under my arms and making my way to the sitting room. First order of business was to check my phone. I had several text messages. The first was from Moose.

_How's the vacation?_

I texted back, _oh, just peachy._

The next was from Matt. _Counted the plates. Data looks normally distributed. Left the hard copy in your box._

I responded, _thanks again._ _I owe you._

The next several were from David, all sent within the past few hours.

_I am sorry._

_Please forgive me._

_I love you._

_Text me when you wake, please._

I couldn't help myself; I texted back a smartass response. _Thanks, I love the bruises. They might clash against the dress, though. I hope Emma doesn't mind. _I tried out my new idea and thought about what I was about to do. Did I really want to be a smartass to him? I'm sure I might regret it later, but right now, I couldn't resist. I hit send. Hey, at least I thought it through.

I made sure to shut down the bond completely as soon as I hit send, though.

I pulled the sweater back on and grabbed the crutches. If I wasn't leaving the hotel, I wasn't going to try and lace shoes over a swollen ankle. I shoved my cell phone and both room keys (one to Sydney's room and one to David's) in my back pocket and shoved the crutches back under my arms. I followed Sydney out the door and to the elevator. Sydney pressed the button for the 20th floor. The top floor. Before the elevator doors opened, Sydney tucked something into my front pocket. I grabbed the small silver canister out of my pocket. "What is this?"

"Vampire mace. Pure silver. Just aim and press the button."

I tucked the canister back into my pocket. "Thanks." The elevator doors opened, revealing only one door on the entire floor. I checked one more time. Nope, no other doors. In front of us was a door with 2002 on a gold plaque. "What happened to room 2001?"

She just shrugged. Who knows. Maybe it disappeared into the Twilight Zone. Maybe a black hole swallowed it up. She knocked on the door as we were giggling about the possibilities.

A small plump woman with an apron covered in hairpins answered the door. "Come on in, come on in! Which of you is Sloane?" I raised a hand. "You're in that chair." She pointed at a chair surrounded by curlers, bobby pins, and hair dryers. "That makes you Sydney?" She nodded as I made my way to the chair next to Emma's. "You're over there."

Emma watched me make my way to the chair with my crutches. I hadn't used crutches since high school, and was more than a little rusty. My movement was not graceful or smooth. "What is wrong with your leg?" she asked. I settled into the chair, setting my crutches on the floor beside me. I pulled the leg of my pant up to show my swollen ankle. I wasn't sure if I was speaking to her. I felt a little bad about ruining her wedding night with my attitude, but it's not like it was her first. I was also willing to bet that it wouldn't be her last. "What have you done?"

I looked her straight in the eye. "_I_ didn't do anything. _You_ threw me into a chair last night." That earned a curious glance from both of our hairdressers. Sydney's hairdresser either didn't hear the exchange or was smart enough to play deaf and dumb. Sydney was also pretending to not hear our conversation.

"You might wanna take off that sweater before I start your hair, darlin'. We don't wanna ruin your hair pullin' it off later, once I'm done!" The over made-up peroxide blonde who was standing behind my head, curler in hand was trying to lighten the tense mood. Little did she know that asking me to take off my sweater was probably the last way to do it.

But, she had a point. I didn't want to mess up my hair later. I pulled the sweater off, revealing my white tank top and deep bruises on my arms and back. Emma hissed. "And those? Are you also planning on blaming me for those?"

I made a show of looking down at my arms, which were the only bruises she was able to see. "Oh, these? No, these are compliments of David." I was getting an attitude. It occurred me to me that my attitude had gotten me in trouble before.

Oh well. It's part of my personality. I'm not going to change my personality for anyone, even if they can kill me with their bare hands. Or teeth.

Emma hissed again as the three hairdressers gasped. "Oh, darlin', those look so bad!" The peroxide blonde behind me leaned in to inspect the bruise on my right arm. "A man did this to you? Hun, you don't have to take that!"

I nodded to her with a smile. "You're right. I kicked his ass to the curb." I stared right at Emma, making sure to get the point across. "Permanently." My and Emma's hairdresser both patted me carefully on the shoulders in support.

"Leave us." Emma quickly shooed the three hairdressers out of the room. Sydney wouldn't budge until I nodded reassuringly in her direction. I discretely patted the bulge in my pocket. Only then did she slowly leave the room.

Emma didn't look angry or enraged. She only looked puzzled. "But David would never hurt you."

I shot her a glance, disbelieving look in my eyes. "He broke my ribs less than two months ago. He strangled me the night we met. Whatever gave you that impression?"

She paused before answering. "I can see how he truly loves you."

"I'm sure many abusive boyfriends love their girlfriends, right up until they beat them to death." I looked away so she wouldn't see the tear rolling down my cheek. "Look, three strikes and he's out. I'm not going to be a statistic, no matter how much he may love me. Or I him."

I flinched as she grabbed my hand. "Please forgive me for harming you. I certainly never meant to harm you myself, and I never thought David would harm you, no matter how angry." She looked away from me, giving me a chance to wipe the tear from my cheek. "I would understand if you no longer wanted to participate in the wedding."

I pulled my hand back from her grip. "I said I'd be in it, I'll be in it. But I'd rather stay away from David, if at all possible. Let us figure this out on our own time this time."

She nodded. "Of course." She stood from her chair as gracefully as a Queen should. Only half of her hair was finished, but she still looked regal. She bent before me and gently lifted my ankle onto her knee. Clinically, she examined my ankle. "It does not appear to be broken, but I cannot know for sure without an X-ray. We should go to the hospital."

I shook my head no. "Really, I'm fine. It's just sore."

She stood and started inspecting my bruises. "These are dark, but should be harmless. Do you have any others?" I leaned forward and pulled my braids to the side so she could see my back. I gasped as she lightly probed the half moons on my back. "I take it these are tender." I nodded. Of course they were, they're bruises. "Roll your shoulders back." I complied, slowly bringing my shoulder blades up and pulling them back before returning to normal. "Did that hurt at all?"

"No." As long as nosy little vampires weren't poking them, they felt fine.

She sat back in her chair. "Good." She turned and spoke to the door in a voice no louder than her normal speaking voice. "Send them back in, Idi." Idi? I didn't know he was here. I wonder if Idriis was here, too.

The door opened and the four women entered, one by one. Sydney was the last to come in. Before Idi closed the door, Emma had more instructions. "And call the front desk, please. Have them send up an elastic bandage or athletic tape. And please gather some ice for Sloane's ankle."

"You good love?" Sydney circled around the chairs the long way so she could come near me and grab my hand.

"Sure." I squeezed her hand as she passed, letting her know everything was OK. She settled back into her chair and picked up one of the magazines that had been left on the coffee table. It was obvious to anyone that she wasn't reading it. She was keeping an eye on Emma and me. Shortly after everyone had settled back into their positions, Idi entered the room and handed me a bag of ice. He bowed deeply at me then Emma before he turned and left. He wasn't really one for words.

Again, my hairdresser was trying to cut the tension in the room by talking. "My goodness, darlin', you got some long, thick hair!" She ran her fingers through my hair to pull my braids out. "When was the last time you cut it?"

I actually had to think about that one. "Not since at least high school."

Sydney piped in, using her usual cheery voice. "She's always had long hair, even when we were little."

The conversation was off and running. "Oh, how long have you two known each other?" one of the other hairdressers asked.

Sydney and I answered in unison. "Since third grade." This got the third hairdresser started on a story about her daughter, who just happened to be in third grade. I tuned the pleasant chatter out.

In what felt like no time, Idi opened the door and ushered three older Asian women in. The hairdressers weren't quite done (my hairdresser had only managed to curl half my head, let alone gotten around to pinning it up yet), but the new women got started immediately anyway. "Please pick color," said the Asian grandmother after handing me a Tupperware box. I opened it; inside was every nail color possible. I picked a demure beige. I wanted something that would peel off gracefully, so I got as close to my natural nail color as possible.

Shortly after the manicurists got started, the hairdressers finished and left (well, Sydney and Emma's hairdressers had finished; mine was still working hard at piling my hair on my head). As chatty as the hairdressers were, the manicurists were silent. The woman at my feet had the sense to not mention my swollen ankle or the visible bruises (or possibly just lacked the vocabulary).

Once my hairdresser had finished and left, I carefully leaned my head back and closed my eyes. Being pampered can really chase a funky mood right out of you. I smiled and sighed in pleasure despite myself as my manicurist massaged my hands.

Minutes after the manicurists left, the makeup artists arrived. The wedding planner had obviously done this before. A thin, tall man with an asymmetrical haircut walked straight up to me, swinging his hips the entire time. As he got closer, I could tell he was wearing eyeliner and mascara. He waved a hand in my face as he looked my face over. "Uh huh. Yes. OK. What color is your dress?"

I was trying as hard as I could to not giggle at him. Sydney was losing the same battle. "Cobalt."

He looked over my face again and nodded. "Mm," he said as he popped his hip and snapped his fingers. I guffawed before I caught myself. He snapped open a silver case and pulled out a bottle of foundation that looked more like thin white paint. As he swung his head back toward me, he noticed the bruises. He froze where he was. "Oh, Lord in heaven."

"Can you cover them?" Emma asked.

"Oh, girl, I can do anything. I am the master." He leaned in to get a closer look. After a second, he nodded and snapped his body back upright. "I can cover that."

"I've got more on my back." I leaned forward slightly as he walked around the chair to get a better look.

"These almost look like skeletal wings. You sure you wanna cover them?"

"Yes," Emma, Sydney and I said in unison.

He held his hands up in a 'I surrender' motion and went back around to the front of the chair. "Fine, no need to be snippy, ladies."

I smiled as he set his jaw and got started smoothing foundation on my face. Soon, concentration replaced the indignant look on his face. As he was putting the final touches on my eyes, he started to hum. It took me a minute to recognize the song: It's Raining Men. I started giggling as he started to dance along with the beat. When he hit the chorus, Syndey belted out the words. "Yea, sister!" He shouted as he high fived her. I couldn't help but break down laughing.

After I recovered from my laughing outbreak (even Emma let out a smile or two), he handed me a tube of lip gloss. "For touch ups." He started digging in his case as he said, "go change into the dress, I'll cover the bruises once you're dressed."

I leaned down to grab my crutches, but they weren't there. In the pampering process, they had been moved to across the room. "Can someone hand me my crutches?" I pointed across the room.

My entertaining makeup artist shot me a look before grabbing them for me. "You must have some bad luck."

I glanced at the floor. "You can call it that." I shoved the crutches under my arms, then realized I had no idea where I was going. Hallways protruded from both sides of the main room, both with multiple doors off of them. I looked back at Emma, whose makeup artist had finished and left a while ago. When you're that beautiful, there's not much a makeup artist can do.

She rose from her chair and swung an arm to the hallway on the right. "I will show you. Idi…" I got started toward the hallways she had pointed at as Idi opened the door and handed an ace bandage to Emma, who was then behind me in an instant.

She led me to the last door at the end of the hallway, which opened onto a large master bedroom. The master bedroom had a set of balcony doors, which opened onto the best view of the ocean I'd ever seen. I stared out the open blinds for a moment before stripping out of my tank top carefully, followed by my jeans. Before I could slide into the dress, Emma pointed to the bed. "Sit."

I rolled my eyes and pouted like a child, but I did what she said. It was just in my nature to chafe against orders like that, even if I knew it was in my best interest. My parents, Sydney, hell, even Jeanne had figured that out. She kneeled on the floor and set my foot in her lap again. "Tell me if this is too tight. I tend to forget human pain tolerances." She quickly and expertly wrapped my ankle. The tension felt fine. When she was done, I stood experimentally on it. I might even be able manage without crutches tonight. I took a few steps. I managed to walk fairly normally with only minimal pain.

"That's a ton better. Thanks." I opened the clear garment bag that held the blue bejeweled Grecian dress I would be wearing for the night. I stripped off my bra and slid it on over my head. Luckily, the dress had a built in system, which meant I didn't have to wear an uncomfortable strapless bra all night. I hooked the halter neck as Emma zipped me up.

I walked to the door to get my bruises covered. Before I could leave, Emma asked, "Would you like these?" She was holding the crutches toward me in one hand, the strappy silver sandals in the other.

"Bring them along." I continued to walk slowly down the hallway, testing my ankle in the process. At this rate, I would be fine for at least a few hours.

Sydney's makeup artist had left, leaving Sydney and my makeup artist alone in the main room. He whistled as I make my slow procession. "Girl, if I were into tits, I'd be all over yours."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, I think." He pulled a container of paste out of his pocket.

"Tattoo covering concealer. If this can't cover those, nothing can." He slathered some on my left arm, spreading it into a fine film. He was smiling to himself as he brushed it lightly with a setting powder. "Like new." I looked down at my arm. It did look flawless. He finished my other arm and my back and globbed some of the tattoo covering makeup into an empty container before packing up his silver case. "It shouldn't rub off, but if it does, just a light layer and some translucent powder." He handed me the container of goo before he grabbed his case and left the room.

I sat down to strap on the sandals as Emma disappeared back into the master bedroom to get dressed. Immediately after I finished buckling the shoes up my leg, there was a knock on the door. I knew Idi was just outside the door, and therefore it wasn't anything dangerous, but I still checked the peephole. Eric was standing outside the door in a black tux. Damn with a capital D. He looked absolutely delicious. I opened the door. He looked surprised to see me here. "Can I help you, Eric?" I was trying to sound cordial, but the words came out more harshly than I had intended.

"May I please speak with the Queen?" He bowed slightly. Hey, at least it was an acknowledgement.

"She's getting dressed. Anything I can do for you?" I rested my hand on my hip and leaned against the door.

"I will wait." He pushed past me and into the room, sitting on the loveseat across from Sydney.

I rolled my eyes and sighed as I closed the door. "I'll let her know you're here." I turned and made my way for Emma.

Before I could get too far down the hallway, he spoke again. "I see your ankle is feeling better."

I turned slowly. "Much, thank you," I said curiously as I pulled the hem of my dress up to show the bandage. Sydney shot me a significant glance. I'd ask her later.

Before I could turn and walk away, he asked another question. "Will you be able to walk in sand?"

"I don't know. I haven't tried yet."

He stood and moved toward the door. "Let's go test your ankle. I need to know if you will need help during the wedding."

I rolled my eyes and turned to Sydney. "Will you go help Emma get into her dress? Tell her where we went, too. We shouldn't be long." She nodded and hurried past me.

The first vision of the future I'd had in a long time flashed before me. He wasn't concerned about my ankle, he just wanted to get me alone. He wanted to grill me about David. I sighed as I followed him out of the door and into the elevator. He was completely silent on the way down to and through the lobby. Courteous, but silent. He ushered me to the back door of the lobby, which opened directly onto a footbridge that took you over the sand dunes and to the beach. I took a few experimental steps in the sand when we hit the end of the footbridge. The wedding was already set up on the beach; chairs were set up around an isle, which lead to an arch and a table. There were flowers everywhere. Unlit torches lined the isles and surrounded the arch. It was beautiful, even in the dark.

I turned to Eric. "It hurts, but I can manage. But that's not why you pulled me down here. You want to threaten me not to hurt David. You are going to tell me about the dead look he had in his eyes all those years ago. How he wanted to meet the sun. But you're too late. I've already hurt him." He looked shocked for a second, then enraged. Before he could speak, I held a hand up. "Let me finish. I know you love Sookie. I know you haven't hurt her. Well, you've hurt her, but never physically." I was starting to shiver in the night. I should have grabbed a coat or something before I left.

He interrupted. "I have never hurt her." At least I had succeeded in distracted him from the fact I told him what he was going to tell me word for word before he even opened his mouth. The longer I could keep the visions a secret from him, the better. I didn't think it was going to last much longer, though.

"Sure you have. You tricked her into sucking a bullet from your skin. She felt betrayed, but she was expecting it from you. What's worse, you make Bill tell her why he was in Bon Temps. It may have been the right thing to do, but it killed her inside. I've never felt a heart fracture so hard." I froze in my tracks. I may have just overplayed my hand.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Explain what you mean."

I held my hand up again. "I'll get there, but let me finish. David's not like you. You've had many, many more years to work on your temper. He is still….prone to temperamental outbreaks. He told you how much he loves me. He might have even meant it, but when he's angry, that doesn't matter."

He looked more confused. "Explain."

Apparently, I was going to have to spell it out for him. "Did he tell you what happened the night we met?" I'm fairly sure I knew the answer, but I asked anyway for dramatic effect.

"No."

"He strangled me. And just a few months ago, he cracked my rib. Both in anger. Let's just say, third time's a charm. No more."

I waited as the rage in his eyes dulled. "I understand. Now explain about feeling Sookie's heart break."

I smiled. "Did you really think Sookie was the only 'talented' human out there?" I made air quotes with my finger as I walked past him toward the hotel again. "Inside, I'm freezing." He followed next to me as I crossed the footbridge, waiting for me to expound. "I'm what you'd call psychic. I've seen and felt plenty of Sookie in the past few months."

"You can see the future?" He had stopped walking next to me, but I didn't stop. I was too cold.

"And the past, apparently." I opened the door to the lobby and stepped through. I didn't stop to wait for him, I kept moving toward the elevator. By the time the elevator doors opened, he was standing next to me again. The ride back up in the elevator was just as silent as the ride down, but Eric was now eyeing me with new interest. I sighed. Why couldn't I be interesting to people for who I am instead of what I can do? At least I didn't have to endure the type of social outcast that Sookie had to endure.

Idi was still standing outside room 2002 as the elevator doors opened. He bowed deeply to me and opened the door for us. "Thank you, Idi. Where is Idriis?"

"With Mr. Wong, Miss." Oh my God, he speaks. He closed the door after Eric and I entered.

Neither Sydney nor Emma were in the main room when we returned. "Wait here." I pointed to the loveseat he had been on earlier and went back to the master bedroom. I knocked first.

Sydney poked her head out the door. "It's Sloane." She opened the door wide to let me through. Emma was standing in front of a full length mirror in her bridal undergarments. She was putting her earrings in. An intricate, beautiful dress in light blue was hanging from a doorframe across the room. She was taking the whole blue theme a bit too far.

"Eric's here for you, FYI." I moved toward the armchair in the corner and sat down.

Sydney's eyes lit up. "He is? In the living room? I need to go….get dressed. Yea. If you need me, I'll be…uh...." She hurried out of master bedroom, closing the door behind her. I shook my head. She doesn't have a chance with him. But I wasn't going to burst her bubble.

"Let him wait." She stepped away from the mirror and pulled the dress off the hanger. "Zip me." I zipped the back of her dress up and looked at her. The blue dress contrasted with her skin, making her look pinker. She wasn't taking the theme too far, it was specifically planned to make her actually look like a blushing bride.

"You look great." It didn't come out as warm as it probably should have. Hey, I was still somewhat mad at her.

"Thank you." She did one last primp before turning toward me and pointing to a large garment box on the foot of the bed. "That is yours."

I crossed the room and opened the box. Inside was the blue silk cloak I had seen just a few days ago. I put it on and carefully pulled the hood over my hair. The sequins on the hood made it look like I had an angelic halo. On the bottom of the box was a matching purse.

Emma glided past me toward the main room (no cloak for her, I take it). When her back was to me, I pulled the canister of vampire mace and stashed it in the purse. I felt better just knowing I had it. Once back in the main room (both vampires looked more than annoyed at my slow pace), I packed the rest of my things into the purse; my cell phone, both room keys, and the lip gloss and tattoo concealer the makeup artist had left me. When it was apparent I was finally ready to go, Emma nodded to the crutches in the corner of the room. "Do you want those?" Her voice made it sound like I was in no way supposed to ruin her wedding by showing up in crutches.

Just to piss her off a little, I nodded yes. "Bring them along," I said as I moved past her toward the door. Eric's eyes lit up in amusement. I wasn't sure whether he was amused with my defiant answer or the look on Emma's face (which I'm sure was priceless right about now). Hey, once this wedding is over, I'm going vampire-free. Who cared if I pissed her off a tad? It's just tit for tat.

I wiped the smile off my face before any of the vampires could see. Idi pushed the elevator button just before Emma shoved the crutches at him. Such a large vampire looked silly carrying such a small pair of crutches. They may as well belong to Tiny Tim.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the open elevator. In seconds, I would be surrounded by the most powerful and important vampires in the United States.


	32. Chapter 32

*****I suppose I need to tell you when this takes place. Let's say it's post book 8.*****

Before I could make out of the elevator, a vision hit. I was seeing through Sookie again (it was a mental signature I knew all too well) as a smallish tan vampire in an honest-to-God cape approached her. It occurred to me I shouldn't be so critical; I was also in an honest-to-God cape. On any note, he creeped Sookie out, and the malignant look on his face terrified me for her.

On one hand, I was glad for any supernatural help I could get. On the other hand, I really couldn't afford to be distracted by anything tonight, especially with something that seemed so trivial.

"Sloane?" Emma and Eric were both standing in the lobby, facing me with curious glances on their faces. Idi was standing just inside the elevator doors, holding them open for me.

"Sorry." I passed the vampires without any explanation. "Excuse me for a second." I started walking slowly toward the back door of the lobby, toward Sookie.

"Idi…" Emma said.

Before Idi could take a step in my direction, Eric piped in. "I will go." Eric appeared at my side as I opened the door and walked to the halfway point of the footbridge. This was the second time tonight we were standing here, in silence.

I searched the crowd for Sookie. She had already taken a seat near the back. _Sookie. Stand up and calmly walk toward Eric and me. _ Her head flipped around as she looked for my voice. _DeCastro in t minus 10…9…_ She stood and tried to walk calmly toward us. Just before she reached the two of us, I thought, _Don't stop, don't say anything. He's still watching and listening. Just go inside._

She grabbed my and Eric's hand as she passed us, pulling us along with her. Before she could pull me away, however, I looked at DeCastro. He was staring a hole into me. I met his eyes for a moment before I was yanked around and led back into the lobby, where Eric held the door open for the two of us. As soon as we were clear of the windows, Sookie turned to me. She still hadn't let go of my hand. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Not a problem. What's up with him, besides being a real creeper?" I was fairly sure I hadn't seen him before in my visions. The only way I knew his name is because it was the only unified thought she had while I was in her head.

"Care to fill me in?" Eric was standing behind Sookie, a protective hand on her back. He was in full alert mode.

I answered, since I was the only one that really knew the whole story. "The creepy guy in the cape, DeCastro? He was about to ambush Sookie. It was obvious he creeps her out, so I warned her so she could get out. He looked…sly. Smug."

"Am I in danger?" Sookie was visibly nervous. I wished I had a better answer for her.

"I can only tell you what I see. Unfortunately, I didn't see much this time. But when I see more, you'll be the first to know."

Eric reassured her as Emma and Idi approached. "He cannot do anything here. He would be breaking the rules, and that would cause an attack by the rest of the Queens and Kings in retaliation."

"Against whom do you assume I would retaliate? And for what offense?" Emma and Idi stood behind me in an obvious show of support. Too bad I don't need it. Sookie needs it.

Eric bowed deeply at her. "Filipe DeCastro wishes to acquire my bonded, Sookie, but she does not wish to go. I am sorry to assume that I would have your assistance should he try to take her by force while here, Your Majesty."

Emma scowled. "Nevada. I cannot stand that slimy insufferable bastard. I cannot believe he would show his face here; I have made my feelings for him no secret. Of course you would have my support."

Eric bowed deeply again. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will go make sure everyone is in their place so the ceremony can begin." He kissed Sookie's hand before taking his leave.

Only minutes later, the processional music started and I walked down the isle, followed by Emma. Idi and Sookie followed much after and took seats in the back. I hobbled my way down the isle, trying to minimize my limp as much as possible. No matter how wonderfully my ankle had been wrapped, it still was a struggle to walk in sand. Even with (or maybe because of) the shoes. Lee and David were already at the end of the isle like a traditional wedding, waiting for Emma.

I took my place behind Emma and scanned the crowd as the ceremony began. I didn't recognized most everyone in the crowd, except for 4 faces: Sydney, who was sitting so close to me I could reach out and touch her; Sookie, who took her same seat in the back of the crowd; Pam, who was sitting next to Sookie; and surprisingly, Bill, who was sitting across the row from Sookie. He was trying hard not to look at Sookie. I smirked as I glanced at Sookie. _Bill's going to have an aneurysm trying to not to look at you_. Sookie smiled lightly. I shook my head no as Sydney mouthed 'what?' I'd explain later.

I tuned back into the wedding. "Do you, Emma O'Hara, take Lee Wong as your husband to share in your kingdom for a period of 100 years?" Eric was reading from what looked like a Bible. However, it probably wasn't a Bible. I doubt that particular vow was anywhere in that holy book.

"I do."

"Do you, Lee Wong, take Emma O'Hara as your wife and Queen to share in her kingdom for a period of 100 years?"

"I do."

Eric produced a knife and a feather pen. "Once you have signed the contract, you may share in the blood ritual." I closed my eyes and breathed deeply to try and nip the nausea in the bud. Just knowing what was happening made me feel like I was going to faint. I could feel my knees going week. "You are now married for a period of 100 years." I only opened my eyes when cheering erupted around me. Emma and Lee were walking down the isle, which was a good sign that they weren't bleeding anymore. David was standing where Lee had been standing, waiting for me to join him and walk down the isle, too. I gathered myself enough to walk toward him, but made the mistake of looking at the bloody knife still on the ceremonial table. David caught me as my knees went weak and helped me down the isle.

As soon as we were inside, away from the guests (and I had gotten a chance to regain my stability), I pushed away from David. "Don't." I specifically didn't look at him as we followed the wedding planner through the lobby and into the ballroom. Set up a small platform were four thrones: the two largest ones were obviously for Emma and Lee. They were close enough together that they could hold hands without having to take their elbows off the black velvet padded armrests. Another identical armchair flanked either side of the central pair. I had a sinking feeling I know who those were for. "Alright, newlyweds, take your seats. Sloane, may I call you Sloane?" I simply nodded. She already had, what's the point in asking now? "You are in this chair." She pointed to the chair that flanked where Emma was sitting. She and Lee had already taken their seats and were holding hands, gazing at each other. Ech. Newlyweds were a breed unto their own, human or vampire.

David had already taken his seat on the other side of Lee. "Hand me your cape." I carefully slid off the hooded cape as not to mess up my hair or my bruises and handed it to her before taking my seat. I had to admit, as much as I didn't like sitting under (or even close to) the spotlight, I was enjoying sitting. I leaned over and rubbed my ankle.

"Are you in pain?" Emma had peeled her eyes away from Lee to watch me.

"Just a little." It was an understatement, walking in the sand had definitely made matters worse for me. But no one needed to know what kind of pain I was in, especially if there was nothing they could do about it.

The wedding planner did one last check of the room before nodding to herself. "Everyone set? Great! I'll go let them know they can come in!" She nodded to the stringed quartet in the other corner, who started playing soft classical music before she ceremoniously swung the double doors open. She stood aside without a word as the crowd (mostly vampires) filed in slowly. Most moved to approach the platform while others clustered in groups of 10 and 12. In no time, the large ballroom was filled.

I was surveying the beautiful décor as I heard the voice. "Such a beautiful woman deserves to be honored, no?" I looked at the accented voice; Creepy Filipe DeCastro was standing in front of me. He wasn't tall, but I still needed to look up at him from my chair.

I fought the urge to stand, to give myself an escape route. "Yes, she does." I acknowledged Emma with a glance, who along with Lee was engrossed in a conversation with an Amazonian looking woman. Beyond her, I could see David watching me, ignoring a group vying for his attention.

When I forced myself to look back at DeCastro, he was holding a small box out for me. "Then allow me to honor you." I froze, I didn't know what to do. "Please accept this small gift. The first of many, if you would like it to be." The meaning behind those words was clear; become his pet, and he'd shower me in gifts. I'd become his personal vending machine.

"Thank you, but I can't accept that." I made sure to look him square in the eye as I declined.

He matched my stare for a moment before he scowled slightly. "What a strong, stubborn woman." He kneeled and placed the box at my feet before grabbing and kissing the back of my hand. He lingered, smelling my skin. "Mm. Please reconsider, _mi amor_. You smell as if you are simply delicious."

"She is." I whipped my head around; David was standing behind me in a show of support. "DeCastro." His greeting was cold and impersonal.

"Ah, yes. _Former _King O'Hara." DeCastro stood and matched David's defensive stance. "How is the family business? I imagine since the collapse of the auto business, Michigan is in dire trouble. It must make ruling the state difficult." Oh, he was going to play this game, is he? No one rags on my home state.

I plastered an innocent smile on my face. "I assume just as much trouble as a state as dependant on tourism as Nevada is, especially in this economy. How _is_ tourism these days?"

DeCastro narrowed his eyes at me as his nostrils flared. "Poor." He reconstructed a small smile on his face before bowing grandly before me. "It was lovely to meet you, Miss. I hope to see you again soon, wearing your gift."

Seconds after DeCastro slinked away, David returned to his black velvet throne and sat. He nodded at me before turning his attention to the group still vying for his attention.

I turned back to watch the crowd of vampires. I leaned back into the chair to rest my head. It was going to be a long night. I watched as Sydney approached me. "How's the spotlight?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Tedious." I looked longingly at the open bar. Why a vampire wedding had a fully stocked open bar, I didn't know, but I was grateful. "Would you mind grabbing me a vodka and lime?"

"Sure. Does your ankle hurt?" She was popping the closure of her purse open before I even got a chance to answer.

"Yea. I don't think the sand helped anything." She produced a small bottle of Advil from her purse and handed it to me. I swallowed two pills dry. The pain was getting to a point I couldn't sit still. I tended to fidget when I was uncomfortable.

Sydney disappeared for a minute before returning from the bar with a drink in each hand. She handed me the glass filled with clear liquid and kept the rum and coke for herself. Just as Sydney pulled a chair from a table and set it next to me, a tall, skinny man in a sharp-looking tux approached the mike in front of the band. His look just screamed politician. I suppose he blended in well with the Baltimore/DC crowd. "Welcome all to the marriage of two great friends and allies, Queen Emma O'Hara and Lee Wong. I am honored to host this unique marriage for these two wonderful people." After bowing deeply toward Emma and Lee on the platform, he flourished an arm toward the kitchen access door. "With no further ado, dinner is served."

Did that mean what I thought it meant? I watched as several people dressed completely in black entered single file. They all had red ribbons pinned to their shirts, just like the vision I had days ago. I shot a panicked glance at Emma and Lee. "You should leave," Emma and Lee said in unison.

I nodded as I stood. I started to hobble across the dance floor toward the double doors that opened into the lobby. Apparently, I wasn't moving fast enough, because Sydney looped an arm around my waist as a makeshift crutch. I made sure I kept my eyes on the lobby and away from the ballroom as Sydney helped me sit on one of the lobby's couches. Sydney shuddered and dropped onto the couch beside me. "Ew!" I just nodded as I tried to manage the tendrils of pain that were shooting up my leg. Sydney must have seen my preoccupation, because she lifted my legs into her lap. She pulled the hem of my dress up to look at my ankle. It didn't look any different than when Emma had first wrapped it. However, it felt much worse. I swigged down the last of my drink and pushed the glass onto the coffee table. "I'll be right back." She lifted my legs off of her lap and grabbed my empty glass before disappearing back into the ballroom.

I had a moment of peace before the wolves descended. And by wolves, I mean DeCastro. He moved slowly, sitting unnecessarily close to me on the couch. "Are you banished from the party because your Former King wishes to indulge himself on someone else's blood? If you were mine, I would not dishonor you so blatantly."

I practically snarled at him. "There are so many things wrong with that assumption." I was intentionally cold and distant.

"Enlighten me, _mi amor_." He grabbed my hand and started rubbing the back of my palm.

I pulled my hand back and scooched farther away from him. "No thanks."

He moved closer to me again, grabbing my hand more forcefully. He turned my palm over and sniffed the inside of my wrist. I tried to pull my hand away, but he had a death grip (har har). "Then I shall speak. Just as an art collector recognizes an original, I recognize someone as…distinctive as you. What are you, my dear? Are you telepathic, as my dear Sookie?"

"She's not yours. Not by a long shot." I yanked my hand again, but was again unsuccessful in freeing myself.

He ignored my comment. "No, no, telepaths are fairly common. You smell more unique than that. Are you telekinetic? I have only heard of their existence, I would love to have one." Have one, like one owns a Great Dane or a Rottweiler.

I made a disgusted sound. "I'm human, you idiot." He pulled my wrist up, extending my arm in his direction. He kissed a trail up my forearm until he reached the inside of my elbow, where he extended his fangs. Fear shot through me. I made my voice as strong as possible. "Stop." I slinked as far away from him as I could get as I tried to pull my arm free. I tried to stand to get more leverage against him, but he easily pulled me back onto the couch. He wrapped his other arm around my waist, holding me to him. I closed my eyes as he worked his way up the rest of my arm. He stopped momentarily where the concealer covered the bruises. I grimaced as he roughly rubbed the concealer off my arm, revealing a deep bruise. He snickered and kept moving up my arm, rubbing his fangs up my skin. I turned my back on him as he stopped just at my collarbone. I sat motionless, waiting for him to bite.

"Do you consent, Miss Sloane?" I opened my eyes at the sound of the familiar voice; Idi was standing a foot away, holding my crutches. His face looked absolutely furious. I shook my head no as a single tear of relief fell down my cheek.

Idi dropped my crutches and pulled a small battle axe from under his tux jacket. He held it limply at his side, all the threat coming from his eyes. "Unhand her and leave." DeCastro's grip on my waist loosened at the sight of the axe, allowing me to rip myself from his grip and hobble to Idi. He pulled me behind him as he absentmindedly swung the axe through the air.

DeCastro stood slowly, lifting his chin high in defiance. Being told what he can and cannot do was obviously not something that happened to him often. "Guarding silly little humans does not become you, vampire. Does your Queen require you to babysit, as well?"

"I guard all of my Queen's assets." DeCastro's eye lit up at the word 'asset' just as mine furrowed. I'm not a Goddamn Lexus. I'm a person. "Miss Sloane is my favorite asset to guard."

"I will learn your secret, _Miss Sloane_." He turned and walked slowly toward the ballroom. Only after he had disappeared behind the double doors did I breathe again.

"Thanks." I squeezed his forearm as I hobbled past, back toward the couch. I was trying hard not look as shaken as I was feeling.

He supported me by my elbow as I passed, helping me toward my goal. "You are welcome, Miss Sloane." He helped me to sit before retrieving my crutches from the floor and leaning them against the arm of the couch.

Mere moments later, David sat next to me, giving me ample space on the couch. He slid a plate a food and a new glass onto the coffee table, which I worked hard to ignore. I'm sure we looked like feuding newlyweds on the therapist's couch. I crossed my arms and leaned away from him, against the arm of the couch. "Thank you, Idi," David said dismissively. I smiled at Idi as he walked back into the ballroom. David took a deep (and wholly unnecessary) breath before he spoke. "Would you no longer like me in your life?"

I sighed and grabbed the drink off the table. I took a long swig before I answered, "can we do this later?"

His voice was completely calm, except for the slight Irish brogue that emerged. "I would prefer we resolve this as soon as possible. I do not like being at odds with you." Despite the fact I was so angry with him I could gouge his eyes out, his accent still incited lust from my core.

I squashed that feeling almost immediately. "What is there to resolve? Why do you think I'm mad at you?" I turned toward him and looked him in the eye. This, I wanted to hear.

"You are angry with me because I disciplined you for lying to me."

He was so wrong, I had to laugh. "Not even close. I'm mad at you because you're abusive. I'll tell you the same thing I told Emma; I won't become a statistic. I'm not going to wait until you finally beat me to death." I finished another swig of my drink. I felt a little bit like an alcoholic. "And I'm not your childe; you don't have the right to punish me."

He dropped his head and his voice. "I immensely regret hurting you."

My willpower dipped as my hunger grew. I grabbed the fork on the plate and ate a big bite of one of the crab cakes. "Was that an apology?" Man, that crab cake was good. I took another large bite before I forced my attention back to David.

"Yes, it was."

The alcohol must have been getting to my head, because the words just flooded out as if there was no brain-mouth barrier. "It was a piss-poor one." I took another bite of the crab cake solely to shut myself up.

He took another unnecessary deep breath as he balled and released his hands. "I apologize for ever hurting you, Sloane. I will regret the pain I've caused you every second I live."

I finished off the first crab cake and started on the other. "That's much better. Apology accepted."

He waited while I finished the crab cakes and my drink. When I had finished, I turned back to him. He had been staring at the bruise that DeCastro had rubbed the concealer off of. I watched him as he reached a hand toward it. He stopped just before he touched me. "May I please touch you?"

I scanned his face before I answered. "It doesn't mean we're back together. It doesn't even mean I'm done being mad at you. OK?" He simply nodded. "You ever lay a finger on me in anger again, you better kill me, because I'll stake you myself."

He gently rubbed the back of his fingers against my skin. "I would rather meet the sun than watch you cry because of my actions again." He rubbed his fingers up, past my shoulder and to my collarbone. Instead of fear like when DeCastro touched me, all I felt was want. He brushed away a stray hair before he ran his hand back down my arm.

I grabbed my crutches and jumped to my feet. "That's enough." I made my way the long way around the couch. He met me halfway.

"Please let me help you." He reached a steadying hand in my direction, but didn't quite know where to put it.

"I'll manage." Slowly, I made my way back into the ballroom.

I stopped just inside the doors and scanned; Sydney was sitting at one of the few tables, anxiously watching the door. She had a plate of untouched food in front of her. Idriis was standing behind her, looking quite bored with guarding the silly human. That must be why I've been dealing mostly with Idi. "Sorry, Sloane, he made my stay in here. I wanted to come back, I swear!" Sydney stood quickly, but was quickly shoved back into the chair by Idriis. Now I see, he wasn't there to guard her, he was there to make sure she didn't move.

I glared at Idriis for a second before turning to glare at David. I was fairly sure he was behind this. He might have even engineered it just so to give DeCastro a chance to mess with me, just so he could be my knight in shining armor. I glared an even deeper hole into David at that thought.

"I apologize to both of you. Idriis, you may go." David held a chair out for me at the same table Sydney was sitting at. I glared at him and took the seat. I decided from now on, I wasn't talking to him, especially if he was going to just keep putting his foot in his mouth.

"It's OK, hun. I don't doubt that David would be enough of an idiot to try and tell my friends what they can and cannot do. It's not like he hasn't tried it with me, to no avail." I shifted away from him in my chair as he sat next to me.

She looked astonished at me for a second before catching on and smiling at me. With my back to David, I winked at her. She stood and grabbed her drink. "Come with me to the bathroom," she said to me before glancing over my head at David. She smiled at him innocently as she continued to talk to me. "The concealer's wearing off and David's little gifts of love are starting to show again." Her tone was light and mocking, but her eyes were dead serious.

"The concealer's in my purse." I pointed to the small blue bag next to my former throne before getting back to my feet (or foot). When Sydney had left, I scanned the room to look for Eric. Instead of Eric, I saw Bill. I'd rather it was someone who was already in the loop, but Bill was good enough. I made my way toward the small crowd gathered around a cocktail table. "Excuse me, Bill, can I talk to you for a second?"

He turned around and looked at me, surprise in his face. He nodded to the group of vampires. "Please excuse me for a moment," he said in a slow southern drawl. He led me away from the people, toward the empty bar. "Have we met before?"

I considered my answer. "Not really. Look, just keep an eye on Sookie, OK? DeCastro's in rare form tonight and I think he might try something."

His eyes narrowed and his stance got defensive. "What makes you say that?" He was no longer looking at me, instead he was scanning the room for Sookie. "DeCastro is my king, what makes you think I would choose her over him?"

"Sookie knows you would, so therefore I know you would. And he's already tried shit with someone else tonight." I wanted to be done with this conversation before Sydney had grabbed my purse and made it back to me, but it was looking like I was going to be out of luck. In fact, I wanted to be done with this whole night. Unfortunately, I was psychic, not able to speed up time.

I started to walk (crutch?) away, but stopped when he asked, "Who is he after, besides Sookie?"

I turned toward him and looked him straight in the eye. "Me." I turned back to Sydney, who was standing right next to me. She was carrying my purse and the small box DeCastro had given me. "Thanks," I said to her. Without another word, we made our way through the crowded dance floor, across the lobby again, and into the small bathroom. I leaned my crutches against the wall and pushed myself onto the 10-foot countertop. "Fix me."

She pulled the small bottle of concealer out of my bag and got to work rubbing a thin layer on top of the bruise. She was being careful to not hurt me in the process. "So are you going to spill? What's going on? Who was that guy?"

My, she was full of questions. I answered the easiest one first. "That was Bill. Sookie's Bill. And I swear I'll fill you in on the blow-by-blow just as soon as this night is finally over and we're safely in our room."

She pulled the bottle of lip gloss out of my purse and handed it to me. "You and David talked?" I simply nodded yes. She lifted an eyebrow as she watched me reapply my lip gloss. "And?"

I shrugged. "He's sorry and I'm unimpressed." I blotted the excess from the corner of my mouth before gently leaning my back against the wall-to-wall mirror. Sydney pushed herself onto the other side of the countertop and matched my pose. She was giving me the spill-or-I'll-tickle-it-out-of-you look. I sighed. "I know he loves me; I have the unfortunate ability to actually feel how much he loves me. I love him back, too. And when he's not being abusive or a complete and total controlling asshole, I just want to throw myself into his arms. But every time I see his face, I remember the fury that was in his eyes, directed at me, and I remind myself that I deserve more than an abusive relationship. Even if I am physically tied to the bastard."

"Do you think you can ever forgive him?"

I lowered my eyes to look at my fidgeting hands. "I already forgave him. But can I forget? Are things ever going to be back to normal? I don't know."

"Can you get, like a supernatural divorce? Can you get rid of him?"

I shook my head no, still avoiding her eyes. "I don't think so."

She patted my leg as she hopped off the countertop. "It'll be OK." She turned and held out a hand to help me down. She gave me a smile and a wink. "We have that vampire mace, you wanna maim him?"

I couldn't help but smile back. "Now there's an idea."

She grabbed my purse to hand it to me, only then remembering the small package. She picked it up instead and handed it to me. "What's this?"

"A gift from a real creeper." I took it from her and set it back on the countertop.

"Are you going to open it?"

"Probably not." I wrapped the wristlet around my wrist and slid off the countertop and onto my crutches.

"Can I open it?" She was possibly the only person I knew who was more curious than I am.

I shrugged. "Later, when we're back in the room. I don't want to give Creepy DeCastro the wrong idea."

I started out of the small bathroom and out to the lobby as Sydney shoved the box into her purse. I took a mental breath and made my way back into the ballroom. At this point, most of the vampires were dancing. I made a stop at the bar for another drink before taking a seat back at the now empty table. Sydney took a seat next to me and watched the dancers with me. I watched Eric and Sookie twirl around the dance floor. I loved the genuine smile in their faces.

It seemed like all the sudden, the room was practically empty. A few of the couples were still on the dance floor, but most had snuck out. I scanned the room; Emma and Lee were back on their thrones, watching the room. Sydney let out a long yawn as Emma glanced our way. She whispered something to Lee before walking to our table, followed by Idi. She smiled at me as she sat. "You look miserable. Go to bed."

"You sure? I don't want to bail early on you." I finished the last few drops of my fourth (or maybe fifth?) drink and pushed the glass into the center of the table. I wanted nothing more than to pull all of the bobby pins out of my hair.

"I am sure." I pulled my crutches from the floor next to me as I stood. I hadn't noticed while I was sitting at the table, but I was feeling very tipsy now that I was trying to use crutches. "Do you still feel you need those?" I nodded as I attempted a step. "May I take a look?" I shrugged and plopped back into the chair. She expertly unfastened my shoe and unwrapped the ace bandage. My ankle didn't look too swollen (it had been wrapped up tight, after all), but it was black and blue. "I was wrong before; I believe this is broken, Sloane. I am truly sorry." I cringed as she experimentally rolled my ankle. "I would feel better if you allowed David to heal you."

"Not a chance." I tried to push myself up, but Emma wouldn't let go of my foot, and I was too tipsy to stand one-footed. I fell back into my chair.

She was still probing my ankle. "Will you get an X-ray and a proper cast?"

"Probably not."

She shook her head in dismay. "You are a stubborn woman." She wrapped my ankle back up again and strapped my shoe back on. "Take two ibuprofen every 4-6 hours to keep swelling down and keep pressure off of it as much as possible."

"That I can do." She let go of my foot and helped me up. Sydney grabbed my purse as I started to make my way toward the elevator. The trip seemed much longer than it had just a few hours ago. Sydney was hovering behind me, ready to catch me should I tip in either direction. I leaned into the far corner of the elevator so I could set my crutches aside. I started pulling the bobby pins from my hair before the door even closed, sticking them in my mouth for safe keeping. Just as the doors were closing, David slid into the elevator. I made a show of acting line I was unphased by his addition, but Sydney shot me a nervous glance.

He pulled the bobby pins from my mouth and placed them in his open palm. "I would hate for you to accidentally swallow these." He left his palm upturned and open as I continued to pull bobby pins from my head, placing them in his open palm. By the time the elevator doors opened to Sydney's floor, I had managed to free half of the ringlets, leaving a large pile in David's hand. I abandoned my hair and shoved the crutches back under my arms before following Sydney out of the elevator. When we got to Sydney's door, I noticed David was following us. Sydney unlocked the door and we both shuffled in. "Ahem. My I come in?"

I turned before closing the door. "For what purpose?"

He ran his free hand through his perfectly combed hair, disheveling it slightly. His face looked worried. A single wavy lock fell in front of his eyes and he brushed it away. "To speak." He held out his hand, producing the pile of bobby pins.

I sighed as I grabbed the pile from him and dropped it on the console table. "David, I'm just not in the mood to be beaten tonight. How about tomorrow?"

His face dropped. "I hope to regain your trust soon."

I pulled the last four bobby pins out and shook my hair loose before I answered. "Uh huh. Goodnight, David." I turned and let the door swing closed on its own behind me.

Sydney emerged from the bedroom, already in her pajamas. She tossed my favorite sleep shirt on the arm of the couch before unzipping the back of my dress. I shucked the dress and replaced it with my sleep shirt before washing my face at the bathroom sink. When I walked into the bedroom, Sydney was already under the covers and had already pulled my side of the comforter down for me. I leaned my crutches against the bedside table and climbed into the giant bed. Sydney and I could probably fit another 3 or 4 people in here. "Are you going to run tomorrow?" she said as she turned out the bedside lamp.

I curled into my pillow. "Not if you don't want me to."

"Yea, but if you do decide to run, will you tell me before you go? I'll follow you."

"Always."


	33. Chapter 33

Sydney was already awake and dressed when I finally rolled out of bed. I made a show of stretching because Sydney was watching me, just waiting for me to wake up. "Are you ready to go?"

I smiled at the enthusiasm in her voice. "Only if we're going back to bed," I said post yawn. I rolled over and curled back up under the covers.

"No!" She said sarcastically as she threw a thick envelope onto the bed. I opened the envelope which had my name on it. It was David's handwriting. Inside was a piece of paper and a credit card. Before I could make sense of it, she blurted out, "David left an American Express card with your name on it and use of his limo for the day, and Gary has agreed to show us around Annapolis!" If she was any more excited, her head was going to pop off.

I smiled wider. "When are we leaving?" I had a feeling I wasn't going to be able to get out of the day trip, and to be honest, I wasn't sure I wanted to. Some good old human time sounded great. After all, as of today, I was quitting vampires cold-turkey. At least I was going to try.

She ran to my suitcase and grabbed a pair of jeans. "As soon as you're ready!" She dropped the jeans on the foot of the bed and went back to the suitcase as I sat up in bed and unwrapped my ankle (I didn't want to get the bandage wet). It definitely didn't look good, that's for sure. I limped my way into the bathroom as I stripped off the sleep shirt and panties. All I wanted was a hot shower, and that was what I was going to get.

I emerged almost a half an hour later, completely clean and relaxed. I wrapped the large towel around me and limped to the counter to swallow some ibuprofen. Especially without the bandage, my ankle was really starting to bother me.

I sat back on the bed and got dressed as Sydney pretended to watch TV. She was too excited to actually absorb anything, and I knew exactly what she was excited about: plebes. Nothing was hotter (to either of us) than a man in uniform. Sydney had picked a cute outfit for me; a tight pair of jeans and an emerald-colored low cut V-neck sweater (her favorite color on me was green, to match my eyes; almost all of my green clothing was a gift from her). I went back into the bathroom and blow dried my hair and did my makeup. I put an extra layer of mascara on my already thick lashes before grabbing my crutches and heading back to the sitting room. Sydney popped off the couch and headed for the door. "I grabbed your stuff. Did you want anything other than your phone, wallet, room keys, and, of course, David's credit card?"

"You still have that small bottle of anti-inflammatory in your purse?" She dug through her giant purse until she found the bottle of generic Advil.

"Check." She grabbed my leather coat as we walked out the door.

Gary the bellboy was waiting for us in the lobby and the shiny black stretch limo was idling under the porte-cochere. This was going to be a fun day. "Miss McIntosh?" I turned toward the voice; a small Latina woman with a pouf of curly hair was standing behind the front counter. She was holding a small box. "The gentleman who dropped this off requested that I personally ensure you received it." She stepped out from behind the desk and rushed to hand it to me.

"Thanks." I was dreading reading the card; what if it was another bribe from DeCastro? I really just want him to forget about me. I shoved the small box into my pocket, even though Sydney was dying to see it. "Shall we?"

Gary led the way, followed by Sydney and finally myself. I threw my crutches into the limo ahead of me and slid in. Sydney and Gary had slid all the way to the front of the limo and were already flirting heavily. I leaned into the comfort of the leather seat. Before I tackled the little box, I pulled the note from David out of my back pocket. I slid the credit card with both David and my name on it back into my back pocket and unfolded the note.

_My love,_

_Please accept this credit card and access to the limo. Think of it as a thank you for all you've done for Emma, Lee and me. I am not trying to buy your love, I only wish you to enjoy your vacation, especially after the hell I have put you through. Again, I am truly sorry. I hope that you will forgive me._

_The card has no limit, please spend as much as you like. Of course, I will cover the bill._

_Always, _

_David_

I tucked the note back into the envelope and left it on the seat next to me. Next, I pulled the small box out of my pocket. I turned it over in my hand before I pulled the card out from under the ribbon. On the back of the card, it read:

_The gift of love that you deserve -David_

Wow, he was really overdoing it. I pulled the ribbon from the box, but hesitated before opening and seeing what was inside. "Who's it from?" Sydney and Gary were both watching me. I didn't even notice when they stopped talking.

"David," I whispered. I tuned them out as Sydney explained who and what David was to me. I pulled the lid off the box; inside was a gorgeous set of diamond studs set in white gold (or maybe platinum). I gasped and put the lid back on the box. The set was easily over 2 carats of flawless diamonds.

"What is it?" Sydney had slid into the seat next to me. I handed the box to her, too speechless to form words. She opened it and quickly followed suit. It took another couple of minutes before she could ask, "Are you going to wear them?"

I took a few extra seconds to answer. "I don't think that's a good idea." I didn't want to give David the wrong idea about us. I was having a hard time keeping my feelings straight myself.

Sydney looked disappointed. "Yea, better not let him see you with those on. But right now….he's not here." I smiled. She was always the little devil on my shoulder. She pulled the earrings free of their holder and dropped them in my palm. They were stunning. "Just try them on, you can take them right back off if you want to."

She was right. I slid them into the holes in my earlobes, just to see how they felt. They felt fantastic. Sydney dug a mirror out of her purse and handed it to me. The earrings were perfectly matched for my frame; light enough to be comfortable, but substantial enough to be noticed. Even in the darkened limo, they threw light. "OK, I'll wear them, but only around Annapolis. When we leave, I'm taking them out, and neither of you are telling him I wore them. Got it?"

I looked at Sydney, who locked her mouth with a fake key. Next I looked to Gary, who held up both of his hands in surrender. "Your limo, your rules." I already liked him.

"Why can't I get any rich vampires to give me giant rocks?" Sydney asked jokingly. She flipped my hair away from my face to get a better look at them. "You're two for two in the past couple of days."

I shot her a confused look. "What?"

"Oh, I opened that box you got last night. That was OK, right? You said it was…" I simply nodded. I couldn't care less what happened to that particular present. "It was a huge solitaire diamond necklace. Like, 5 carats!" I doubted very much it was 5 carats, as Sydney had a flair for the dramatic, but I didn't doubt it was large. I had a feeling DeCastro didn't do anything small.

"What did you do with it?" I was hoping she kept it; I had a few plans of my own. He had another thing coming if he thought I could be bought.

"It's sitting on the coffee table. Are you going to keep that one?"

"Absolutely not. Not that one. I'm sending it back to DeCastro." I closed the box and set it on the seat between Sydney and me.

Gary slid closer to Sydney and entered the conversation. "King Filipe DeCastro gave you a gift and you're returning it? He's the most powerful vampire in the United States, possibly even in the Western Hemisphere."

Sydney shot him a warning glance as I stared him in the eye. "And?" I was daring him to tell me I should fawn at DeCastro's feet for paying me any attention.

"Just be careful, I've heard he has a temper."

"Yea, and a serious God complex," I mumbled. I turned my head to look out the window as the Maryland countryside passed us by. It actually looked a lot like Michigan. Well, Michigan in the early fall, at least. It was an easy 30 degrees warmer in Maryland than in Michigan right now.

After a few minutes, Sydney moved to the front of the limo and pressed the power button on the flat screen TV mounted there. "Hey, this thing has karaoke!" Sydney grabbed a case full of CDs for the karaoke machine and flipped through it. When I first saw the limo, I had a feeling David had rented it solely for us for the day (why did he need a limo that can fit 10?), but now I was sure of it. I couldn't see him ever using a karaoke machine. Sydney finally settled on a CD and plugged it into the machine. I had to laugh at the drama with which she flourished the wireless mike. When the music started, I laughed even harder. In no time, she was belting It's Raining Men at the top of her lungs. When she finished (and my ribs hurt from laughing), she shrugged. "I had it stuck in my head all night last night."

"Let me see that book," Gary said as he reached for the CD case. He seemed to have picked one and popped the new CD into the karaoke machine. I started laughing again as the lyrics for Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy started to scroll on the flat screen. My eyes started to water and my lungs burned as he started to unzip his fleece jacket as he sung, "I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts." He swung the fleece above his head as he continued with the song, eventually swinging it into Sydney's lap. By the end of the song, Sydney and I were both hooting and hollering.

"Your turn, love." Sydney handed me the mike and the CD case. Once I found the perfect CD, I hobbled over to the karaoke machine and slid it in. In no time, I was belting out Barbie Girl by Aqua. I hopped around to the music as much as I could, Sydney joining me about halfway through the song. Just as the song ended, we pulled off the highway and into a quaint little town. Houses from every era packed the crowded streets, all painted in vibrant colors. Small yards were covered now empty flower beds. Streets radiated out from the city hall like the spokes of a wheel.

The driver stopped at the harbor, which was surrounded by charming little shops and restaurants. When he opened the door, Sydney and Gary were the first to exit, leaving me for last. Sydney had grabbed my crutches on her way out, and extended a hand to help me. Once I was on my feet, the driver bowed to me. I was really getting sick of the bowing. Really, what's wrong with a good old fashioned handshake? He handed me a card before saying, "I'll park here, but should you need me to come pick you up, please don't hesitate to call. I'll come to you." He stood up straight with his arms behind his back. That and his buzz cut made me think he was most likely ex-military. He was definitely thick enough for it.

"Thanks." He bowed one more time before circling the limo and climbing into the driver's seat. I turned to Gary. "OK, point me at the plebes."

He laughed. "It is Christmas holiday, I'm not sure how many will be in town. Some of the officers at the Academy hang out there, though." He pointed to a small corner building kitty corner across the street. There was no sign over the door to let you know where you were going, only a fluorescent "BAR" sign in the window. My kind of place. I looked up the rest of the street, which was packed with adorable little shops.

"You guys want to do some shopping, then we can get something to eat a little later?" I looked mostly at Sydney; after all, she was spending her vacation taking care of pitiful little me and my problems. I wanted to make sure she had fun today, too. She nodded enthusiastically. Who was I kidding? We both loved to shop. We started up one side of the street, stopping in a souvenirs shop (Sydney got a t-shirt that said 'Seamen Magnet'), then cute boutique shop. The woman behind the counter at the boutique completely ignored us until I flashed the American Express Black card as we checked out. Once she saw I was loaded, she wanted to show us everything in her inventory. Almost an hour later, we finally left that boutique and continued our stroll up the street. By the time we were done shopping, Sydney had an armful of her own bags (generously paid for by David) and Gary was carrying my bags (which I thanked him profusely for). I felt slightly bad for spending so much of David's money, but he did owe me. As we left the last store, I promised myself I would never go on such a spree again (with anyone else's money, of course. I fully intended to be able to afford sprees of my own once I graduate).

I called the driver before starting back down the road to the pub. "Yes, Ms. McIntosh?"

"Um, hi. Can you meet us at the pub across the street from where you're parked? We want to drop off these bags before we grab something to eat."

"Absolutely, Miss. I'll be there soon." Before I could say thanks, he hung up. By the time we made it back down the street to the pub, the limo was idling there. "I could have picked you up, Miss. That distance must have been a lot of trouble for someone on crutches."

I shook my head dismissively. "Not at all, I'm actually getting good at this." I lifted a crutch to show what I meant. "Anyway, it felt good to be outside, in the sunshine."

He grabbed the bags from Sydney and Gary and deposited them in the trunk. "It is a beautiful day, Miss. You three have a nice meal."

I felt bad for leaving him in the car. He must be incredibly bored. "Would you like to join us? We're just going to grab a bite and cruise for some men in uniform," I said with a wink and a smile.

He smiled back at me, the first time I'd seen any facial expression from him. "No, thank you Miss."

I shrugged as I crutched my way towards the door of the bar. "Well, if you change your mind…"

He rushed to open the door for me, standing extra straight as I passed. "I know where to find you, Miss." Once Sydney and Gary followed me into the bar, the driver closed the door and climbed back into his limo. I scanned the bar before picking a table. It was full of men in uniform, and they were all starring at us. Gary wrapped a possessive arm around Sydney and led to her to the bar. I followed the lovebirds and tried to slide onto a swivel stool at the bar. At my height, tall stools like this one were always a problem, even when I had use of both of my legs.

"Can I help you, Miss?" I turned toward the voice; a handsome Black man in full dress whites was standing behind me, extending a hand. He was older than me, maybe 30, but still handsome in a proper kind of way. His rimless glasses gave him an intelligent look that warmed his face.

I smiled at him for all I was worth. "Please." Sydney winked at me as he helped me onto the stool and stashed my crutched in the corner. "Thank you." I extended a hand. "Sloane McIntosh."

He sat on the stool next to me and took my hand. "Lieutenant Brandon Jackson."

"Nice to meet you, Lieutenant."

"Please, call me Brandon." He grabbed his glasses from his face and played with them nervously. "We don't see a whole lot of women like you in here, Miss."

"Call me Sloane." I had to smile as he looked down at the top of the bar. "And what kind of woman is that?" I turned as the bartender approached.

"What can I get you?" The tattooed brunette woman was ringing a hi-bal glass dry as she asked for our orders. She played with her lip ring as she waited for our answer. Brandon ordered a beer, and the bartender turned her attention toward me.

"Do you have steamed blue crabs?"

"Sure." She threw the towel over her shoulder and set the now dry glass on the bar.

I looked past her at the beers on draft. I'm usually not a beer kind of girl, but it really wanted some steamed crabs, and something that messy just screamed for some beer. "I'll take two dozen large steamed crabs and a large Blue Moon."

She nodded once and turned toward Sydney and Gary. Sydney ordered another dozen steamed blue crabs and a large beer for herself, while Gary ordered a large beer and a hamburger for himself. I turned back to Brandon as the bartender nodded once again and turned toward the kitchen. "What kind of woman?"

"Young, wealthy, confident, beautiful." He blushed and looked away. "I'm sorry, that was too forward."

I blushed a little myself. "Not at all, I could use the ego boost." After a moment of awkward silence, I spoke again. "So, what do you do in the Navy?"

"I teach computer engineering at the Academy."

I looked impressed. I laughed after saying, "Next time my laptop breaks, I'm calling you."

I could see him gain confidence as he loosened up. "I'd be happy to help. What do you do?"

"I'm a PhD candidate, actually." I took a swig of my beer before quickly glancing at Sydney and Gary. They were deep in their own conversation, visibly flirting with each other.

"Where and what do you study?"

I was off and running describing my research and my program at MSU. Not long after she served us our beers, the bartender delivered three cafeteria trays full of steamed whole crabs covered in Old Bay, putting the bulk of the crabs between Sydney and I. I immediately dug in, cracking the crabs apart with my hands and tossing the shells back onto the tray.

Nearly two hours later, Sydney and I had finished our respective crabs and were working on our beers. Brandon and I were talking about the current state of science education in America when Sydney handed me my phone. "It's your favorite person," she said with a sneer.

I rolled my eyes and took the phone from her. David had sent me a text message: _I can feel you are enjoying yourself_.

What do you say to that? I deleted the message and shoved my phone into my back pocket before asking the bartender for the bill. "Is something wrong?" Brandon asked.

I shook my head. "No, just a nosy ex."

He furrowed his eyebrow jokingly. "Should I be worried?"

I tried to smile lightly. "Just make sure you're stocked with stakes and silver." The bartender slid the bill for the four of us in front of me. Without even looking at it, I snapped David's card over the piece of paper. The bartender took it away immediately, returning quickly with the sale slip for me to sign.

The joking nature left his face, leaving just the furrowed brow. "He's a vampire? You don't strike me as the type…" He subconsciously glanced at my neckline to look for bite marks.

I winked and laid my hand over his on the bar. "What, don't think I'm tough enough to roll with their crowd?"

He looked me straight in the eye, light not yet returning to his face. "Actually, no. They're not like us anymore."

Some of the joking left my face. I cannot stand people who stereotype a whole people based on the actions of a few (no matter how deserved the stereotype may be). "David is just a big teddy bear. A super strong, super fast teddy bear." I added a large tip and grabbed the card. "It was nice to meet you, Lieutenant. If you are ever in East Lansing, look me up." I spun the stool and carefully slid down off the stool, balancing carefully on one foot. I shoved the credit card in my back pocket before Sydney handed me my crutches, which she had retrieved from the corner of the bar. Before I could make my way to the door, the driver was there, holding it open for us. He also opened the limo door open for us, allowing Gary and Sydney in first, then helping me in after them. He closed the door as I started to pull the earrings out of my ears and placed them carefully back in their box.

"Where to, Miss?" The driver's face suddenly appeared on the flat screen TV. Hm, he must be able to see us, too. That is just a little disturbing.

I looked toward Gary for direction. After all, he was the one who knew the area, Sydney and I were just along for the ride. "I'm sorry, but I have to be getting back. I have to work the night shift tonight."

"Back to the hotel, please." The driver's face disappeared from the screen, leaving it black.

"You guys want to watch a movie?" Sydney jumped off the seat as the limo lurched into drive, grabbing another CD case. She flipped through the front couple of pages before pulling a DVD out. "How about Robin Hood: Men in Tights?"

I could use a good comedy right now. "Sure, put it in." I stretched across the back bench of the limo, making a pillow with my coat and settling in for the movie and the 2 and a half hour drive. After locating the DVD player (tucked on its side behind the TV), Sydney inserted the DVD and returned to Gary's side. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he fake stretched and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Both she and I giggled at the old school move.

About an hour into the movie (Robin Hood and his Band of Merry Men were singing, "we're men, manly men, we're men in tight TIGHT tights"), my back pocket buzzed. I pulled the phone out my pocket and looked at the caller ID. "Hello David."

"Good evening, my love."

I let out an exacerbated sigh. "Please don't call me that."

"My apologies, my treasure. Are you on your way back?"

I sighed again. "That's better, but still horribly inappropriate." I nodded yes after Sydney silently asked if it was David. "And yes, we are. Thanks for the use of the limo."

"You are most welcome. Did you receive my other gifts?"

"Yes." I wasn't going to mention the balance on the credit card at all. "'The earrings are way too much; I can't accept them."

"We'll talk about that later. Will you please come to our room when you get back? We have things to discuss and Emma and Lee would like to see you before they leave." It didn't escape me that he was still calling it 'our' room.

"Where are Emma and Lee going?" I decided to not commit to anything just yet. I was still somewhat weary of being in a room alone with him.

"On their honeymoon. They will be visiting Lee's homeland."

"And where is that?" The curiosity was killing me. Of course, I knew he was Asian, but beyond that, I had no idea.

"Korea," he said matter-of-factly.

"Hm." I'm not sure if that really explained anything at all.

"You have not said if you will come by our room." Well, he was on point today. Apparently he had anticipated my hesitation.

"Is that right?" I still hadn't made up my mind.

"Would it help if I said please?" Because he sure as hell wasn't going to say it if he didn't have to, that's for sure. Men.

I sighed. "Just you and me alone?"

"I would prefer it that way, yes."

I visibly fidgeted as I was silent for a full minute. If he wanted to talk to me alone, it was most likely something that I wasn't going to like. And so far, those types of conversations haven't ended well for me. I always came out of it broken somehow. What I needed was a bodyguard. "Is Idi still here?"

"Yes," David said skeptically.

"He acts as my bodyguard. He can wait in the other room, but if I scream for him, he needs to understand that he is to protect me from you."

Sadness and determination leaked from his voice. "Agreed, but you will not need him. I will not hurt you again."

"Uh huh." I'm sure many men have made the same assertions.

Before I could hang up the phone, I heard his voice again. "Sloane?"

"Yea."

"If I cannot call you my love or my treasure, what may I call you?" His voice lowered as he asked the question.

"Sloane is fine. Or Ms. McIntosh, if you're feeling formal."

He paused for a second before answering. "We will talk about that, too."

"Hmm, right. Bye, David."

"Goodbye, Sloane." I hung up the phone and shoved it back in my pocket. Sydney was eyeing me, but I ignored her and got right back into the movie. I was going to enjoy every last second of my vampire free time.


	34. Chapter 34

I was amazed that David wasn't standing in the lobby, waiting for the limo to pull up. Instead, the lobby was relatively empty. I thanked the driver as he opened the limo and then the hotel door. Gary immediately disappeared through a service door. "Going up to see David?" Sydney asked as we waited for the elevator.

"Yup," I said as the elevator doors opened.

Sydney followed me into the elevator car just before the doors closed. "Do you want me to come along?"

I shook my head no; that wouldn't do anyone any good. "Can I have the room keys, though?" Sydney dug the keys out of her purse and handed them to me. I put them in my back pocket with the credit card. When the doors opened onto her floor, Sydney stepped out. Just before the doors closed, she blew me a kiss, which I returned.

When the door opened to David's floor, I took a deep breath and stepped out. I moved slowly down the hall toward the block of African muscle standing in the hallway. "I'm sorry for putting you in this position, Idi." I didn't want to put him in the position to have to defy his boss, but he was one of the only vampires I still trusted.

"Emma charged me with your protection last night from whomever you may need protecting, including David, Emma, and Lee." He was all business; no emotion came from his face.

"Wow, that must suck, stuck babysitting the invalid." I leaned heavily on my crutches as I pulled the electronic key card out of my pocket.

"I enjoy your company." Well, that was news to me.

I smiled at him. "And I enjoy yours. Ready?" He didn't answer, he just stepped behind me. I inserted the card and opened the door. "David?"

He appeared at the door immediately. "I am here."

A little jolt of fear shot through me as I remembered the hate in David's eyes just two nights ago. I repressed the memory as fast as I could. "Idi, will you wait in the bedroom?" Idi simply disappeared into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. I moved toward the couch, pulling the earring box out of my front pocket and tossing it onto the coffee table before sitting. "OK, talk."

He sat on the couch next to me and grabbed my hand. I was too tired of fighting him; I let him have it. "I do not like asking you of this, I know you will not like it. I ask solely for your safety's sake." His Irish brogue was becoming more and more evident as the days passed. I was hoping the reaction it sent through me would fade, but I doubted it.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Spit it out, David."

He placed his other hand over my hand before speaking again. "I know I must work to earn back your trust, and I will, no matter how long it takes. However, for the time being, I wish you would at least act as if we were still lovers." I shot him a fairly nasty look. "Please, just listen. DeCastro has made his wishes quite clear. If you want to go with him, I will not stop you, but if you do not, he will be less likely to kidnap you if he believes I and all of Michigan will fight for you."

"And you won't fight for me if we're not…together?" I didn't think I could say lovers without laughing, and that would definitely ruin my I'm-still-mad-at-you attitude.

"Of course I would, but it is less important what I would do and more important what he believes I would do." He lifted one of his hands from mine and grabbed the earrings from the coffee table, opening my palm and setting the box in it.

"Why do I have to wear the earrings? We were doing just fine when we were dating without the gifts."

He closed my hand over the box and encased my hand with his. "My explanation will only anger you. Can you not just do as I say for once?"

Fire lit in my eyes as I pulled my hand free of his. "No, I'm not your puppet."

He took a deep, calming breath before speaking again. He was getting better at controlling his temper. "I am trying to make this as clear to DeCastro as I can. He sees gifts as proof of ownership."

Oh, now I understood. The earrings were my fake engagement ring. Just like I would wear a fake engagement ring to the bar during girls night to keep the guys at bay, David wanted me to wear the earrings as a sign that I was taken. However, that didn't mean I liked it. "Fine." I pulled my hand and the box free and put the posts back into my ears. Now that my hands were free, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. It was time for some more Advil, and my ankle was letting me know it.

David pulled the familiar ID bracelet out of his pocket and handed it to me. I was sure I left this in Sydney's bathroom, how the hell did he get it back? "I glamoured a maid to get this back for me. Please wear this as well."

I sighed and glared at him as I slid the bracelet back over onto my wrist. "Happy?"

He stood over me. "I will be happy when I am assured you are safe." He walked toward the bedroom and opened the door. Idi was standing in the middle of the room. "Please go down to Sydney Mets' room and retrieve Sloane's things."

I cringed as I shot to my feet, sending a twinge of pain through my ankle. I extended a hand toward Idi in a 'stop' motion. "Woah, woah. I don't think so!"

"Appearances, Sloane." David placed a stabilizing hand on my lower back as I sunk back into the couch, grabbing my ankle. He turned to Idi to relay more instructions. "Please ask Ms. Mets to include her medication."

Bless his heart, Idi looked for my approval before he moved. "Go ahead, we'll be fine for a few minutes." He left immediately, shutting the door behind him silently. "This better not be a ploy to get me to fall back in love with you. As far as I'm concerned, when this trip is over, I'm quitting vampires cold-turkey. All of you." I grabbed the remote that was sitting on the coffee table and turned on the TV so I had something else to focus on besides the radiating pain my ankle and the infuriating vampire by my side.

"I am sorry to hear that. I am sure Emma will be, as well. She is quite fond of you." He sat on the armchair across the room from me, eyes boring holes into me.

I started flipping through channels. "Too bad."

"I hope that does not also include Idi. I would not want to leave you unprotected." A touch of a smile returned to his voice, making me think that he was only going to assign Idi to permanent babysitting duty to piss me off. It was working.

I sighed and settled on a channel before grabbing my ankle again. Luckily, I have high pain tolerances, or else I would be screaming right now. "Does it matter? It's not like you're going to listen to me, anyway." David moved to the couch, where he lifted my ankle into his lap and held slight pressure on it. I had to admit, it felt much better. As soon as the pain started to subside, my phone buzzed in my back pocket. It was Sydney. "Hey Syd."

"One of those ridiculously huge bodyguards is here to get your stuff. Can I tell him to bite my ass?"

I smiled at her choice of words. "That's probably not a good idea; he might." David was starting to slowly and carefully unwrap the bandage, which was making my ankle throb. I gasped silently as he jarred the heel of my foot on his thigh.

"Good point. But maybe I'm into that." She paused for a moment before speaking again. "Uh oh, the giant's getting restless. Should I give him the bags or not?"

"Yes. It's a long story."

She paused again, skepticism in her voice. "Are you sure? You're not being coerced or anything, are you?"

I paused before I answered. Yes and no. "It's for the best. Besides, don't you want the room to yourself when Gary comes to visit?"

"If you're doing this so I can get some…" Her voice was full of warning.

"I'm not. It's 'for my own safety'." I mocked David's accented voice, which earned me an amused glance from him.

"Alright, then. Tell Snookums I said 'hi'." I rolled my eyes and glanced at David, who was busy examining my black and blue ankle.

"Oh, shut up," I said as I gritted my teeth against the pain. She and I hung up at the same time before I tossed the phone onto the counter.

"You should let me heal this."

Before he could get it into his mind that I might be OK with that, I asserted, "no."

"Sloane, you are going to have to get over your aversion to blood at some point if you are going to be in our world." He looked at me like he was reprimanding a child. God, I hated that look.

I sneered at him. "I quitting you cold-turkey, remember? Anyway, that's not why I'm saying no."

"If you are worried about strengthening the bond…"

I cut him off before he could finish that sentence, as well. "That's not it, either. I'm saying no because if I let you magically fix it, you won't learn." He raised an eyebrow, waiting for my explanation. "If I let you heal me, the evidence of what you did to me goes out of sight, out of mind. This way, you have to look at what you did to me until it heals on its own, which will probably take at least a month. It's more likely to make an impression this way."

His face was covered in genuine confusion. "You are torturing yourself to teach me a lesson?"

Well, when he put it that way, it did sound pretty asinine. "I wouldn't call it torture, but yes."

He gently set my ankle back down where it had been on the couch and kneeled before me, getting as close to my face as I would let him. "Lesson learned, I will never lay a hand on you in anger again." I flinched and turned away as he caressed the side of my face. "Please let me heal you."

"No, David. And you better not force feed me any blood while I'm asleep." I pushed past him and grabbed the bandage he had unwound from my ankle. Before I could start wrapping my ankle for the umpteenth time today, there was a knock at the door. David stood and opened the door, allowing Emma and Lee to enter, followed by a weighed down Idi. I was suddenly surrounded by the undead.

"We came to say goodbye." Emma and Lee were holding hands like most annoying newlyweds.

David bowed deeply toward Lee, who returned the gesture, then kissed Emma's forehead. "I will miss you both."

Emma grabbed David's hand. "And we will miss you, dear brother." Emma passed by David and approached me. I attempted to stand, but Emma caught me before I could get to my feet. "Sit." She took my hand in hers. "Be careful, be safe. And for goodness sake, listen to David. He only wants the best for you."

I took a deep breath and ignored the last part of her comment. "Have fun, guys."

Emma and Lee both nodded at me. "_To boayo_, see you soon." said Lee as they left the room.

I glanced at David, who was watching me. I stood with the help of my crutches and made my way toward the bathroom for a bath. I needed some me time, some alone time. Idi had stashed my bags on the bed, so I made a stop on my way to pull out the large bottle of Advil. I popped two pills in my mouth and stripped off my sweater and jeans before moving toward the bathroom. Before I made it to the bathroom door, I heard David's voice behind me. "I hope you forgive me soon; I want you desperately."

I spun around on one foot to see him standing just inside the door. "Jesus, David." I was considering putting a cowbell on him. I sat down on the bed, suddenly feeling very exposed. I'm not used to being practically nude in front of ex-boyfriends. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's never happened before. "Do you need something? Can I help you?"

He was having a hard time focusing on my face. "I hear DeCastro will be out tonight, we should make an appearance."

I gave in at the thought of being near Filipe and pulled the comforter off the bed, cocooning it around my shoulders. "I'd rather not." Filipe gave me the serious creeps; I didn't even want to be in the same state with him, let alone the same room.

David moved closer, sitting on the end of the bed with me. "You underestimate how difficult it is for me to allow you space. Even now, knowing that you are safe, I feel the urge to gather you into my arms and never let go." His voice was soft, it was the most human I had heard him sound all night.

I knew what he meant, I was having similar urges. "I actually know what you mean." I shook the creepy feeling from my body and hoisted myself back onto my crutches. I moved into the bathroom and turned the water in the tub on hot. I looked at myself in the mirror; my hair still looked great, but my makeup could use a touchup. I looked around the bathroom for my toiletries, but couldn't find them.

I cracked open the bathroom door and glanced around the bedroom. Dammit. My toiletry bag was across the room. I wrapped one of the oversized towels around my body and opened the bathroom door wide. David was still sitting on the bed. "Will you grab me that bag, please?" I pointed to the small piece of luggage in the corner surrounded by the shopping bags from earlier today.

At vampire speed, he grabbed my bag and set it on the marble countertop. "Thanks," I said. I pulled a hair tie and my face wash from the bag and limped to the tub. Once David left, I stripped my panties and bra off and flipped my legs over the side and into the tub. Oh, the water felt great against my ankle. I piled my hair on top of my head and lowered myself into the soaking tub.

It didn't take long before I had a vision. This vision, however, was not very helpful at all. The only thing I was sure about was I was looking through my own eyes. Everything else was less than clear. It was almost like I was extremely drunk, or even drugged. I was only getting fragments of thought, blurry pictures in no particular order. I tried to feel my body; was I standing? Sitting? I couldn't feel anything at all. I tried to concentrate on the faces and the surroundings, but couldn't make anything out there, either. It wasn't until the very last moment of the vision when I got something I could use: Victor Madden was sitting across from me, talking to me. I could see his mouth moving, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I tried to concentrate on the surroundings again, but it was too dark to see anything. It almost looked like we were floating in a sea of black, removed from time and space.

I shot up in the tub, disoriented from my confusing vision. The sudden movement had caused the water in the tub to splash over the side, making the side of the tub and the floor surrounding it slick. Once I remembered where and when I was, I leaned back in the tub. I needed to try and make some sense of the vision I had gotten. Was it possible that this was going to happen tonight? We were going out to flaunt out imaginary relationship before DeCastro, was it possible someone had slipped something into my drink? Was I even sure I was in danger? From what I could make out, nothing made me think I was, but then again, I couldn't really make out anything. At any rate, being that out of it was a situation I wanted to avoid.

I went back to considering the only clear thought I had gotten: Victor Madden's face. I wondered if Victor was even in Maryland. I tried to push myself up so I could get out of the tub and ask, but with the slick surface and being down a limb, I just ended up falling back on my butt, sloshing even more water over the side of the tub. A large puddle was forming at the base of the tub. Even if I could push myself up, there was no chance I was going to be able to navigate that without breaking something else. I contemplated my options. For one, I could just sit here, getting prunier and prunier. Even assuming that David wouldn't come looking for me, I had to get out at some point. Or I could keep trying to get out on my own, but chances weren't good I'd come out unscathed. If I fell, I would scream, and David and Idi would both barge in here to find me naked and in pain on the floor. So far, that the worst of my options. My only real option was to ask someone for help. It definitely wasn't going to be Idi; I trusted him and all, but I wasn't quite ready for him to see me naked. That left only one person: David. I swallowed my pride and called for him. "David?"

He cracked the door open, careful to not catch a glimpse of me in the mirror. "Yes?"

"I need some help getting out of the tub." I was sure I was blushing at this point. Asking for help was not one of my strong points.

"Would you like me to help you, or shall I ask Idi?" God, he was obnoxious right now.

I snapped. "I called for you, didn't I?"

He smiled and swung the door open before unbuttoning his shirt and tossing it onto the countertop. I was momentarily stunned by how beautiful he was. He reached into the water and slid an arm carefully behind my back and under my knees before lifting me free of the tub. He held me to him for a moment before grabbing the oversized towel and carting me into the bedroom. Part of me wanted him to throw me on the bed and take me, while another slightly more rational part wanted him to put me down and leave the room.

I cleared my throat and with it, the sexual tension. "Is Victor Madden here?"

He set me on the end of the bed and wrapped the towel around my shoulders. "DeCastro's second in command? I do not think so. Why do you ask?" He was paying little attention to what I was saying and more attention to my body.

I took the towel from him and wrapped it around myself. "I had a vision while I was in the bath, but it wasn't real clear. The only thing I could make out was his face."

He reached behind me and pulled the hair tie from my hair, letting my hair fall over my shoulders and down my back. "I will find out." He ran his hands through my hair, brushing the few stray strands away from my face. My libido was screaming in my ear, trying to get me to kiss him, to pull him to me and wrap my legs around him. Apparently his libido had the same idea; he grabbed the hair at the back of my head and pulled my face toward his.

I put my hand against his chest to push him away, but I couldn't make my muscles do anything but rub his perfect abs. My libido had won the battle and taken over my body. "David…"

His kissed my lips lightly. "I can feel how much you want this."

My libido wanted it, that's for sure. The rational part of my mind, however, doubted it was a good idea. "David…" I repeated.

He kissed me again, a little harder this time. "Push me away. Tell me to stop."

For the life of me, I couldn't. I wasn't even particularly sure I wanted him to stop. "This is a horrible idea," I said as I pulled the towel off me and lay back on the bed. He followed me, kissing a trail up from my left breast to my mouth. I trailed my hands down his muscular back to his khakis, where I slipped one hand under the waistband and grabbed his perfect ass. He returned the favor by teasing my breast with his thumb.

Just when it was getting really good (or really bad, depending on if you were on my mind's side or my libido's side), a vision hit. "Stop," I whispered.

I could feel David stop immediately and pulled away. It was always an odd sensation, knowing and feeling where you are, but being able to see nothing but another reality, no matter where you look. I sat up and wrapped the towel back around my body with one hand and groped the air for David with the other. David grabbed my hand from mid air and pressed it to his chest. "I am here. What do you see?"

"Us. It's moving really fast right now. We're leaving the hotel in a limo…arriving at a bar called Purple Moose?" I had just gotten a glimpse of the bar name, but I was pretty sure that was it. "Filipe's here. He's sitting with a vampire woman. He's spending a lot of time watching us and talking on a cell phone, too." Another few moments of real time went by as hours of film reeled through my head. "OK, we're leaving the bar." Everything slowed down just in time for someone to throw a silver net over David's head. "NO!" Before future me could react, two giant men were holding me back, one on each arm. I wasn't sure if present me let out a blood-curdling scream, but future me did as a third man drove a stake into David's chest. I watched as the life slowly disappeared from his eyes and a trickle of blood fell from his mouth.

Tears were running down my face as the here and now came back into focus. David had let go of my hand, most likely because Idi was restraining him, the blade of his battle axe pressed against David's neck. A sob escaped my lips as I remembered the look in his eyes as he died. He wasn't afraid to die, he was only afraid to leave me unprotected. "Did he hurt you Miss Sloane?" Idi's face said it all; nothing bothered him more than crying women.

"No." I said between gasps. I was trying to control the crying, but it was no use. "We can't go out tonight. Absolutely not."

Immediately after Idi loosened his grip, David grabbed my hand again and kneeled before me. "Why not? What did you see?"

"They kill you, David. They stake you right in front of me." Right when I thought I couldn't sob any harder, I did. "I can't watch you die again."

I guess it takes seeing something so violent, so traumatic to really make you reevaluate your life. At that point, I didn't care if I was supposed to be mad at him; I still couldn't stand to watch him die, no matter how much I knew it wasn't real. I needed him too much. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around David's neck. He responded by pulling me into his chest and settling me on his lap right there on the floor.

"Who kills me? Tell me exactly what you saw." He was gently rubbing my lower back to calm me down, but it wasn't working. I explained everything in short bursts between sobs. I explained about the three men, how they were human, but seemed trained for this. I explained how they covered him in silver netting to subdue him before they staked him. The only thing I couldn't explain was the look in David's eyes as he died.

"Was I not there?" Idi had moved to the doorframe, a subconscious indicator of how much he would like to leave the room.

I thought back throughout the night. "No, I didn't see you at all at the bar." I was starting to calm down, which was making breathing and speaking easier.

"We will bring Idi; then it will be a fair fight."

I pulled my head up from where I had nestled it against David's chest. "No! How can you still want to go? Idi, talk some sense into him!"

"I can handle three humans." I couldn't believe it, Idi was on David's side, ready to fight.

"No. I'm not going anywhere until you can 100% guarantee me that nothing happens, no one dies. I'll sit here in this towel all night if I have to." I let go of David's neck and crossed my arms in front of me in defiance.

"You are adorable when you are being stubborn." David was smiling down at me, obviously excited for a fight.

I slapped David's chest hard enough to turn my hand red. "Take this seriously, David! You die. As in gone forever." Another few tears fell down my face at the thought.

He wiped the tears from my face. "Nothing will happen to me tonight." I glared at him, obviously not convinced. "What if Eric and Pamela came as well? Would you come then?" I considered that. I was fairly sure that 4 vampires could take on 3 humans, especially if they knew what was coming. On the other hand, I was just putting two more people at risk (three, if you assumed Sookie would be coming). He took my hesitation as a yes and grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket. "Pamela, it is David. Where is Northman?" He paused for the answer. An obscenely fangy look covered his face as he glanced down at me again, lust replacing concern in his eyes. "Hmm, I see." His voice was obviously amused. "I have a favor to ask of you two. Please come up to my room when they are finished."

David closed his cell phone and tossed it on the bed before lifting me onto the bed as well. At vampire speed, he grabbed the bandage for my ankle from the sitting room and returned. "Leave us, Idi."

Again, Idi looked for my approval before budging an inch. I nodded to him after mouthing 'thank you'. With my approval, he returned my nod and left the room, closing the door behind him.

David wanted to start right back where we had been; he kissed me again, pressing me against his body. I put my hand against his chest again, this time able to push him away. "No, David."

He stole another quick kiss before setting me down on lightly on my feet. "Do not worry, everything will be fine."

"I didn't know you were psychic, too," I snapped at him. I quickly wrapped my ankle back up before grabbing a pair of clean panties and my old outfit (I was severely regretting packing nothing but lacy thongs; David watched me dress like a starving man watches a chef at work).

I limped into the bathroom, careful to avoid the large puddle on the floor, and reapplied my makeup. It was a stupid consideration, but I made sure to use waterproof mascara, just in case. I grabbed David's shirt before I limped back into the bedroom. Before I could take two steps into the bedroom, David whipped me into his arms. "You should not be walking on that ankle." He carried me into the sitting room and set me on the couch next to my crutches. "And your slow speed is very frustrating." I decided to ignore that last comment as there was nothing I could do about it and handed him his shirt.

Luckily, Idi had also grabbed my backpack and set it near my crutches. I pulled out my laptop and my glasses and got to work ignoring David. I needed some time to think through what we just did and what we were about to do.

After buttoning his shirt, David lifted my legs into his lap (it did make typing on my lap a little easier) and went into downtime.


	35. Chapter 35

Idi, who at this point was standing at the door, looking like a true bodyguard, was the first to notice when Eric and Pam approached. I noticed out of the corner of my eye as his body stiffened and his eyes went on alert. Milliseconds later, there was a knock at the door, which Idi answered.

David didn't move from his position as leg pillow as he greeted them, and so I didn't stop typing. I knew it was rude, especially since they were here to do us a favor, but I was really on a roll with my thesis. "I am sorry. I would stand, but I am acting as a desk at the moment," David said with an amiable smile. Without stopping my furious typing, I looked up and smiled at them to match David's. "Please, sit."

I finished my sentence and shut my laptop as the two new vampires sat in the two armchairs that flank the couch. I was in the process of taking off my glasses as Eric asked why they were here. "Pam told me that you have requested a favor. What can we do for you?"

David started to explain the circumstances behind why he wanted to go out (basically, he wanted to flaunt me as his in front of DeCastro). "Sloane and I ask that you accompany us."

"Do you believe DeCastro would attempt anything so suicidal in such a public place?" Pam asked incredulously after drawing her own conclusions about why they were here.

David looked at me for confirmation. "Perhaps not DeCastro, but we have it on good authority that there will be and attempt on my life."

It was my turn to speak up. "You have to tell them what they're getting into, David. The whole story."

I stared at him defiantly as his eyes demanded I be his quiet, obedient arm candy. "I'm afraid that may reveal more than we wish to be known." The look on his face carried a whole other layer of meaning behind the words, and a whole other layer of threat.

I rolled my eyes as I pulled my legs off of David's lap. I may have forgiven him for the episode a few days ago, but I wasn't stupid enough to be within an arm's reach of him when I flirting dangerously with his temper. "Eric already knows, and it's just a matter of time before Pam decides that something about me is off." I scooted as far away from David as I could (his face had tightened into a furious glare) and turned my attention to Eric. "Three human men attack as we leave, two restrain me and another subdues David with a silver net, then stakes him in front of me. Also, DeCastro will be on his phone the whole night. It's plausible that he is behind the attack, and if he is, he will change the plan to accommodate our numbers. It is literally a death trap."

Eric seemed to consider this while Pam questioned my knowledge. "How could you know these things?"

I sighed. "I can see things, including the future."

"Does DeCastro know about your ability?" Eric seemed to still be considering his options. I was hoping that he declined, which would force David to stay here and alive.

"He knows I'm something, but I don't think he's figured out what. He's definitely curious, though."

After a long pause, Eric spoke again. "Then we have the upper hand. Pam, Sookie, and I will join you."

Shit. My adrenaline level rose as my anxiety rose. Now that he was free of my legs, he stood and walked toward the door. "Thank you, Sloane and I appreciate the support." Eric and Pam stood and met him at the door. "Please meet us in the lobby in half an hour? You may ride in the limo with us, if you'd like." David closed the door after they left, leaving me alone with just David and Idi.

David walked over to me and kissed my forehead. "Your anxiety is misplaced, you are in no danger."

Not true. If nothing else, I was going to have heart failure before the night was over. "I'm not worried about me." I grabbed my crutches and worked my way toward the door. "I'll be right back, I need to see Syd." I practically rushed out the door as Idi opened it for me and toward the elevator.

When I arrived at Sydney's door, I paused before I used my key and barged in. I had literally just told her that she had her room back to herself, and I couldn't be sure what she was doing in there. I decided to knock.

"Lose your key?" Sydney asked as she opened the door.

"I didn't want to barge in; I didn't know if Gary was here or anything." I winked at her as I followed her into the sitting room. I immediately spotted one of the main reasons I was here; the box DeCastro had given me was sitting on the coffee table.

"He's working, remember?"

"And?" The light attitude in my voice didn't reach my eyes, something Sydney didn't miss.

"OK, what's up?"

I plopped down on the couch and buried my face in my hands. I explained everything about the two visions I'd had, the horrible decision my libido made, and David's plan to get himself killed.

Sydney zeroed into the most important problem (at least, to her). "Getting back together with David is a really stupid idea, hun. He can't change overnight like that."

I sighed and lifted my head. "I know, I'm kicking myself for letting him think everything's fixed, it's not." She sat next to me on the couch. "I don't know what happened. Somewhere along the line, I got too close. I fell in…I don't want to say love, because I don't think that's it. Maybe saying I fell in want or need is more appropriate."

She raised an eyebrow. "In the Biblical sense?"

"Well, that too." I nudged her with my elbow. "Is it sad that I've never felt safer than when he held me today, just after the second vision? It's like that vision flipped a switch in me, and my whole life perspective changed. My priorities in life just jumbled."

"How so?"

"I don't know. I mean, I've seen people die in visions before. Some of those deaths were way more gruesome than David's, yet they never affected me like…" My voice dropped to almost a whisper. "It was an irrational response."

A smug look covered Sydney's face. "Love will do that to you." She hopped off the couch before I could slap her. "Pony's in love, Pony's in love…" she sung as dancing around the back of the couch.

I hadn't heard the nickname Pony in a long time. "I completely forgot you used to call me that," I said with a giggle.

After another few moments of teasing, I stood with the help of my crutches. "Thanks, hun." I grabbed the box off the coffee table and moved toward the door.

"Hey, wait up." Sydney slid her shoes back on, grabbed her purse and coat, and followed me out the door.

"Where are you going?" I paused in the hallway to turn to her.

"Out with you." She said that is if the answer was obvious, as if I had just asked her her name.

"Syd, no. Absolutely not." I grabbed her arm to drive the point across. "You're more important to me than anyone. If something happened to you…"

"OK, OK. But David and I are going to have a little chat before you go." I had a feeling David was going to get his ass chewed by someone half his size.

I rolled my eyes at her, but made my way to the elevator. "What makes you think he'll listen?"

She pushed the elevator button. "I can be very persuasive when it comes to you." We both shuffled into the elevator for the short ride up one floor. Idi was waiting outside the elevator, presumably waiting for my return. He followed Sydney and I down the hallway, remarkably patient with my slow speed. When we finally made it to the door, he slid his own pass key into door and held it open for the two of us. David was sitting in an armchair in the sitting room, an array of weapons before him on the coffee table.

He glanced up momentarily before going back to his arsenal. "Will you be joining us tonight, Ms. Mets?"

"No, I'm not allowed. I need to talk to you in private." Her voice was icy cold.

He tore himself away from his arsenal to gauge the seriousness on Sydney's face. He stood and flourished a hand toward the bedroom.

I sat on the couch and tried to concentrate, hoping to get a psychic glimpse of the conversation going on in the next room. (What? I have an undeniable curious streak.) I took a few cleansing breaths, but to no avail. Before I could get a vision, Sydney was walking out of the hotel room with Idi and David was stalking toward me. He was obviously less than happy. I tracked his movements, weary of his poor mood; he sat in the same armchair he had been in. He tossed a small wooden stake onto the rest of his arsenal and leaned back into the chair. "What is in the box?"

"A necklace from DeCastro." I tossed the box toward him, careful to keep my distance until I could be sure he wasn't a threat. For the split second before he could recover his stoic facial expression, he looked utterly exhausted, like the weight of the world was crushing him. Without thinking, I stood and hopped toward him. When I got to him, I pulled his arms out and settled onto his lap. "Syd thinks I'm in love you."

"That's what she tells me." He wrapped his arms around me and opened the box. When he pulled the lid off, he hissed. "Silver," he said.

I was shocked. What did DeCastro hope to gain by sending me silver? And why would he want to see me in it? Wouldn't that make me basically untouchable? I was fairly sure my neck was an area DeCastro wanted to be very intimate with.

David replaced the top of the box and handed it to me; I dropped it on the floor beside us. I tried to think of something to say, something that would explain what was going on in my head, but I just came up blank. Instead, David spoke for me. "Does this mean you forgive me?"

I pushed myself up so I could look him in eye. "I forgave you yesterday. Your question should be 'do I trust you'." I hobbled over to my crutches, my conflicts about David still ricocheting in my head. I really needed to figure out what he and I were going to be to each other, and just stick to it. I made my way to the door and looked back at him. "We should go. Unless you've changed your mind…" My voice lifted with the hope that I could just stay here, stay safe for the night. That same hope imploded as he purposefully stood from the chair, leaving a pit of anxiety a mile deep in my gut. I wasn't getting out of this, after all. He grabbed a set of small daggers and slid them into his waistband. "Grab the box," I said as I pointed to the necklace on the floor at his feet. The despair was obvious in my voice; it actually sounded like I was starting my death march. When I opened the door, Idi was vigilantly standing guard just outside the door.

I yelped and almost fell as David stripped my crutches from me and flipped me onto his back, monkey style. Startled from my reaction, Idi spun to face us and pulled his favorite weapon from his jacket, brandishing at David and I. David went stock still, only moving to put himself squarely between myself and Idi's blade. When he decided I was otherwise unharmed, Idi sheathed the axe and David relaxed. David handed my crutches to Idi so he could more appropriately support my weight. I settled into the familiar position, nestling my bony chin into the very crux of his neck. As David entered the elevator and turned to face the shiny golden door, I could see our reflection. We looked comfortable, practiced. The only thing that betrayed our happy appearance was the petrified look on my face. "You need to relax," David said, obviously noticing my expression, as well. I tried to relax my facial expression; to soften my wide eyes and slightly furrowed brow. I tried to smile, but I looked more like I was about to break into hysterics. "What can I do to help you relax?"

"Take me back upstairs." He shot me an annoyed look. Well, that obviously wasn't going to happen. "How about a month's worth of Xanax?" I got quizzical looks from both David and Idi just before the elevators doors opened to the lobby. "It's an anxiety medic….nevermind." Sometimes, I forgot how the little human things sometimes just passed vampires by. Eric and Sookie hadn't arrived yet, so David took me straight to the front desk. Idi moved to stand silently by the lobby door.

"I would like to leave a box for someone. It is quite important they receive it just before dawn," David said to the awestruck desk attendant. She must be new.

"Uh, yes, sir. Room number?" She fumbled as she tried to grab a pen and paper, her hands shaking as she held the pen.

"It is for King Filipe DeCastro." He placed the box on the counter as she pulled up his information on the computer.

"That's room 1511, sir." She scribbled a note about the requested delivery time.

Before she could take the box and set it aside for safe keeping, I spoke. "Hold on a second. Can I have one of those pieces of paper? I want to leave a note with it." David shifted me so he could look me in the eye before setting me down. His look was both curious and a warning.

Shakily, she slid a note pad in front of me, never taking her awestruck gaze from David. What, am I invisible? I eyed her as she subtly unbuttoned another button of her crisp blouse in an effort to garner David's attention. Huh. I just shook my head in dismay and wrote my note:

_Not my taste  
S._

David eyed the note before I folded it in half and slipped it into the box. "Thanks," I said as I handed her the box. She continued to ignore me; something David didn't take too kindly to. He leaned down and kissed me tenderly before swinging back onto his back. "Stop it," I said, sly smile on my face seeping into my voice.

David turned to face the lobby, only to find himself (and me) face to face with Eric. Sookie and Pam flanked him, he and Sookie affectionately holding hands. Awww.

Eric and Pam seemed amused with David and my current position. I looked down to Sookie. _I'm sorry David's dragging you into this. _I don't know what I was expecting in response, but the bewildered look on her face wasn't it. My eyebrows furrowed. _Did they not tell you?_ Comprehension slowly filtered onto her face. No, they hadn't told her. Again, they were keeping her in the dark, something I could tell she absolutely loathed. Did the really think that helped the situation? _One word: DeCastro._ Anxiety that matched my own covered her face. Now I knew how one word could elicit such fear in someone.

"Sookie?" Eric must have felt her sudden anxiety; he looked down at her, puzzled at the sudden change in her mood.

"Let's just go." She peeled her hand from Eric's and marched toward the lobby door. Perplexed, Eric followed her, who was then followed by an amused Pam. I chuckled silently as David and I followed shortly after them. The closer we got to the limo, the more nervous I got, and by the time David tucked me under his arm on the back bench, my hands were shaking. The fact was not lost on David; he covered my hands with his own. I was confronted by pure concern in his eyes as he looked down at me.

"I don't like this, David," I whispered. I was sure the other vampires in the car, who had scooted all the way to the front of the limo, could hear every word, but they at least pretended to talk amongst themselves. Eric and Sookie were deep in discussion; a very one sided discussion on Sookie's part. Good for her. "The last time I ignored my intuition like this…" My gut, as I liked to call it, was practically screaming at me. "…I was in the hospital for a long time."

I had finally caught his attention. "What happened?" He was slowly rubbing circles on the back of my palm; a calming gesture that was completely lost on me at this point.

I absently rubbed my right forearm, a subtle reminder of an ancient memory. The few things I could remember about that day flashed through my mind, still painful. I could feel the subtle uneasiness I had felt in the pit of my stomach as I got in the car, but I had pushed it aside. It had been hard for me to make friends in high school, no one wanted to be friends with the child genius who was two years younger than everyone else in her class. When one of the cute jocks showed some interest, I happily ignored my instincts. I remembered his asking me if I wanted a ride home (after all, I may have been a junior, but I was only 15), and I remembered getting in the car. After that, I didn't remember anything until I woke from my coma in the hospital a week later with two pins in my arm, among other injuries. "Not now."

He gave my hands a gentle squeeze and kissed my forehead. "Trust me."

I wanted to take a jab at him, I wanted him to feel as uncomfortable as I was. In a moment of weakness, I gave into my impulses. "That seems to be the problem as of late." I pulled myself out of his embrace and leaned against the door. He moved to touch me again, but Idi, my personal savior for tonight, extended a warning hand and David backed down.

As we approached the bar, my gut started screaming louder and louder; my whole body got cold and started to shake. The driver pulled into the parking lot in the back and parked next to an even more ostentatious limo. I pushed back the sudden wave of nausea I felt as I figured it had to be DeCastro's.

Everyone had climbed out of the limo except me. David and Idi were standing in the open doorway, waiting for me emerge. When I didn't, David peeked his head inside. I shot him one last pleading look to take me back to the hotel, again to no avail. He sat on his haunches and looked me in the eye. "Can you make it through one drink? Then, if you want, we leave."

I nodded and plastered a terrified smile on my face. "One really strong drink."

He smoothed my hair and smiled at me. "That's my girl." He lifted me from the seat and swung me onto his back again as we headed into the bar. I clutched his neck as if it were my only life line. Luckily, he didn't need to breathe. He turned his head so he could whisper softly in my ear, "I'll only let you go if you want me to."

I took a deep breath and nodded. Here we go.

DeCastro and the woman he was with were in the same place as they were in the vision, but we were forced to pick a table larger than the two top we had chosen. DeCastro had toned down his obnoxious wardrobe for the night out, ditching the cape and suit jacket. If I wasn't so terrified of him, I might have thought he looked quite handsome in his crisp white button down shirt and charcoal pants. The woman was wearing a fairly drab skirt suit; it wasn't quite brown, but it wasn't really any other color, either. David slid me into the U-shaped booth first to make sure I was adequately protected, as did Eric did with Sookie. David grabbed my hand under the table and gave it a small squeeze.

"I'm sorry, but you look scared," Sookie whispered into my ear as the vampires got settled.

"I just need a drink," I replied. Sookie nodded then dropped the topic. I had a feeling she knew what I meant.

When the waitress came to take our orders, the vampires ordered their respective flavors of True Blood (David ordered AB negative), Sookie ordered a gin and tonic, and I ordered a long island iced tea, extra strong. The small brunette with a pixie haircut returned with our drinks especially fast. I couldn't be sure if it was because she wasn't used to waiting on a table full of vampires or because she sensed the urgency in my eyes. As soon as she dropped the napkin and placed my drink in front of me, I took a long swig, finishing almost half of the drink in one swallow. Only once I could feel the alcohol dampening my anxiety did I look toward DeCastro. He was glaring at our table, malicious look on his face. I settled closer to David; he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my hair in response.

I actually giggled as my next vision hit. A gorgeous but obviously gay man about my age dressed head to toe in honest-to-God spandex was going to approach the table. My sudden change in mood had caught the attention of the entire table. Everyone was staring at me when I came back to the here and now. I ignored the curious stares from the entire table but Eric's (hey, I was used to them by now). I cracked a wide grin at him. "Mr. January?" I could barely stop myself from giggling hysterically, which I could tell was worrying David more than my previous terrified demeanor.

Eric's face was split; half of his face covered in confusion and skepticism, the other half was covered in pure pride. He spoke so quietly I could barely hear him. "What did you see?"

I shook my head no while still giggling. "Nothing important," I managed to get out.

Just as I was starting to calm down from my hysterical outbreak, the spandex-clad guy sitting at a table noticed Eric. He practically jumped from his chair as he whispered furiously to the three other guys at the table. It took him all of 30 seconds to decide to approach out table. I started to giggle again as he produced a napkin and a Sharpie and thrust them at Eric. "Oh, my, God, Mr. January! Can I get your autograph?"

David started to laugh quietly with me as Eric took the napkin and Sharpie from the obviously awestruck man. "To whom should I address this?" Eric asked.

He actually fawned. "Oh my God!" He fanned himself with his hand and fluttered his eyes. "I'm Drew."

Eric signed the napkin and handed it back to Drew with a toothy smile. Instead of thanking him and leaving, Drew simply stood at the table, staring at Eric. "Leave," Pam said. Drew snapped out of his trance and practically skipped back to his own table, napkin in hand.

Truthfully, I was somewhat surprised by the entire exchange. "Well, that was very nice of you, Eric." I swallowed the rest of my drink and made the mistake of glancing in DeCastro's direction. He was watching the table. As soon as our eyes met, he stood and started to walk over. "Shit," I whispered.

David followed my gaze, squeezing my shoulders just a tad harder as he noticed DeCastro's approach.

"Eric, Pam." He gave a short perfunctory nod to his two underlings. "You look lovely tonight, Sookie." He bowed deeply, coming up with fangs fully extended. "And Sloane, may I say you are just a vision?"

I didn't say anything, I just nodded. David, who was apparently going to lay it on thick, raised my head until our lips were centimeters apart. "You do look beautiful tonight," he said in his most sultry voice. Oh, wow. I think I just orgasmed right then and there. He kissed my lips lightly, which was much less than I wanted at that moment. I reached up and laced my hands in his hair, prolonging the kiss just a few seconds more. I blushed as I realized the entire table, plus DeCastro were watching us. In fact, DeCastro looked downright pissed.

DeCastro shook off my obvious shun and looked from Eric to David. "I was unaware that you knew each other." He had abandoned his quest to woo Sookie and me and moved straight on to information gathering.

"Yes, I spent some time quite a while ago in Shreveport. Eric was kind enough to show me the area during my visit." David was being only as cordial as he needed to be. He may have had a warm smile on his face, but his voice was downright chilly. "It has been years since we had seen each other."

He plastered a wicked smile on his face, the kind of smile you plaster on just before doling out a back-handed compliment. "Is that so? Is this before or after you abdicated your duties to a woman and ran from Michigan?"

David didn't miss a step. "After," he answered smoothly.

The lack of a response from David only fueled DeCastro's anger. Fury flashed in his eyes as he looked from Sookie to me. Without another word, he walked back to his spot at the bar and pulled a cell phone from his pocket. I nudged David to tell him that I wanted to leave. DeCastro's little visit jolted me out of my vision-fueled fits of laughter and back into terrified. Again, my gut was telling me this was not a good situation. "Can we go?"

"I'm sorry to break my promise my love, but if we leave now, he thinks we are running scared." David grabbed my hand and whispered into my ear. "However, I will not force you to stay. I you want to leave, we can leave. With that in mind, could you survive one more drink?"

I considered the options. Dammit, he was right. I nodded. "OK." David nodded toward the waitress, who came to the table toute de suite and took our order. I asked for another long island, while David didn't order another. I looked at his face, noting how pale he still seemed. I cocked my eyebrow at him. "Full?" I asked quizzically.

"I'm waiting for tonight. I'm hoping I'll get something sweeter," he leered at me. I slapped him playfully. I knew he was trying to ease my mind, make me relax, but it wasn't working. I was still fidgety and nervous. I did notice, however, that I had stopped shaking uncontrollably. The waitress slid my drink in front of me. "Half an hour," he assured. I could do that. I attempted to drink slower, to make it last. Unfortunately, that was harder than I thought. I finished my drink in under 10 minutes.

I continued to sit in the booth, barely paying attention to the conversation around me, for the next excruciatingly long half hour.


	36. Chapter 36

I thought my gut would do a little happy dance as we left the bar, but that wasn't the case. David had left my crutches in the limo, giving Idi an excuse to scope the parking lot as he fetched them for me. I had even silently asked Sookie to do a mental sweep of the area to make sure that there weren't any overly hostile minds in the parking lot. When both Idi and Sookie came up blank, David looked triumphant. "I told you this would work," he said as he held my crutches out for me. I noticed, however, that he wasn't feeling triumphant enough to insist on carrying me. He didn't want my burden in case he had to fight. That frightened me ever more than my instinct.

The three of us exited the bar in a single file line, leaving Eric, Pam, and Sookie still in the bar (Eric wanted to watch DeCastro's response as we left). Idi went first, hand ready and under is black leather jacket (presumably on the handle of his favorite weapon). Then I went, moving slower than really necessary to give myself some extra time to have any helpful visions, followed by David, who was close enough to me I could feel his presence behind me. For a vampire who has perfected the art of sneaking up on people, that is very close. Idi had asked the limo driver to pull right up to the door, which helped to make the trip from the bar into the limo uneventful. Still, my gut wasn't happy. If anything, it was yelling at me ever harder. "Something's still wrong."

I had caught both David and Idi's attention. "What?" asked Idi.

I shook my head in frustration. "I don't know, but it still doesn't feel right." I was starting to shake again and it was getting more and more difficult to breathe. I was having an honest-to-God panic attack, complete with tremors and hyperventilation.

David leaned against the door of the limo and pulled me against him so my back was against his chest in his favorite calm-me-down position. He wrapped his arms around me and started to breathe slowly. "Just relax." I was getting very tired of him telling me to relax. If it were that easy, wouldn't I have tried that by now? "Focus. You can summon the information you need to know, you just need to ask for it." He had a point there. I closed my eyes and tried to ask for what I needed to know. A vision similar to the one I had earlier, where I saw from present forward, would have been very helpful. I felt the car pull away from the curb as I mocked David's breathing with my own.

We were at a stoplight as the vision I was asking for hit. For a split second, I did an internal happy dance at my achievement. That is until I realized that I didn't have time for my happy dance. "Get out of the car, NOW!"

Without a question, Idi practically ripped the door off of its hinges. David grabbed me and followed Idi out of the limo at full vampire speed. Before we could get far enough away, there was a large bang behind me, loud enough to make me scream. Milliseconds later, David froze with me in his arms. I looked into his eyes to see what the problem was. He wasn't looking at me; he was looking down between us. Before I could follow his gaze down, he dropped to his knees and let go of me. When I didn't fall flat on my ass, I followed his gaze down to between us. A scrap of metal with a diameter the size of my fist had shot all the way through him and part of the way through me, holding us together like a giant toothpick. Only then did the pain rip through me. I screamed in pain as he pushed me off of our toothpick and fell onto his side on the damp pavement. "Run," he whispered.

I was suddenly very weak and very cold and in a whole hell of a lot more pain. Is it possible it actually hurt worse _without_ the metal sticking out of my stomach? "Not without you," I responded in a whisper. Shakily, I tried to ignore the pain and pressed one hand over the hole in my stomach to stop gushing blood. I dropped to my knees beside him. After struggling to pull the scrap of metal from David's chest, I extended my other wrist over David's mouth. "Drink." He shook his head no as his eyes closed involuntarily. Thick red blood started to pour out of either side of his wound. I panicked; I really had no idea what kind of trauma it took to kill a vampire. Painfully, I rolled him onto his back and grabbed a shard of glass that had landed near us to slit my wrist open. When I put my bleeding wrist to his mouth, instinct forced David to automatically latch on, pulling deep throatfuls of blood from my wrist. Now that he was in full bloodlust, he bit the already bleeding wound hard, making me scream as hard as I could, which came out more like a pathetic whimper. I pulled my blood-covered hand from the wound in my stomach and grabbed my cell phone from my back pocket. With the last bit of energy I had, I dialed Sookie's number. "Eric," I managed to utter before collapsing next to David, mortally wounded and almost completely drained of blood. I could hear Sookie frantically talking into her phone, but I couldn't quite make anything out. Time slowed as black crept into my vision, pulling me deeper and deeper into the rabbit's hole. That same sickening sinking feeling that I had when I collapsed in my backyard all those months ago was back. Oh, God…was I dying?

I was jolted back to the here and now as excruciating pain shot through my body. I opened my eyes to see Sookie leaning over me, shoving a balled up jacket into my stomach and pressing another hand to my wrist. "Stay with me," she said frantically. "Eric!" Tears were running down her face.

Pam's face suddenly appeared over Sookie's shoulder. "Move." Sookie quickly moved out of the way, allowing Pam to lift me off the wet ground. I surveyed the area as she spun me, looking for David or Idi. Neither of them were in sight, only two pools of blood where they had been.

I must have lost consciousness again because when I opened my eyes, we were moving quickly through the lobby of the hotel. "David? Idi?" I mumbled.

"Healing," Pam said shortly as she started up the endless flights of stairs. I closed my eyes again, too weak to keep them open any longer. I focused on the sounds going on around me.

In less than a minute, she climbed 15 flights of stairs and knocked on a door. A flurry of activity was hiding behind that door. Someone, most likely Eric, was barking orders as soon as the door flung open. "Put her on the bed next to O'Hara." Faster than I could track, I could feel myself being lowered onto a soft surface. Only moments after that, a very cold hand enveloped mine just before I lost consciousness again.

**SYDNEY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I couldn't help it; I primped myself slightly in the large mirror above the console table before answering the knock at the door. Sloane and David had only left for the bar an hour or so ago, so I wasn't expecting to hear from her again for another hour, at least. If it wasn't Sloane, it had to be Gary. He was the only other person here I knew.

I got quite a surprise when I answered the door, seductive smile on my face. Instead of Gary, Sookie was standing at my door. She was frantic and covered in blood, blonde hair unraveling from its previously perfect ponytail and a trail of mascara running down her cheek. Panic shot through me. "Oh my God, Sloane?!"

Sookie was still shaken, apparently too shaken to form a coherent sentence. I turned to the console table to grab my room key. When I turned back to Sookie, she was holding Sloane's phone out for me. It was covered in blood.

I was about to break down. "Where is she?" When Sookie didn't answer, I grabbed her shoulders. "Where?!"

"His room," she answered finally.

I rushed past her, up the stairwell, and to David's door at a full sprint. Before I could pound on the door, it opened, a very pale and scarred giant standing in the way. He had a gash on his forehead that was healing almost before my eyes. In his hand were two True Bloods. He stood aside and pointed to the bedroom with his twin bottles.

I froze when I saw her. She was pale, drawn, and covered in her own blood. Her eyes were closed and her limbs were absolutely limp. Tears started to run down my face as I realized I couldn't see her chest rise and fall. "Why do the humans leak so often?" asked the pale blonde vampire woman (I think Sloane called her Pam) as she noticed me standing in the doorway. She was holding Sloane's head, pouring a bottle of True Blood down her throat as David held her mouth open.

David. He was the bane of my existence; I would bet money this was his fault. "You," I accused, pointing a finger in David's direction. He was also pale and drawn, but at least he was conscious. That was better than Sloane. He sat leaning against the headboard, his torn and bloody shirt a pile on the floor next to him. His entire chest was covered in a thick, red, syrupy concoction that made my stomach turn.

He pulled a bloody towel from his chest to reveal a gaping but healing hole about the size of a silver dollar in his chest. He ignored me, instead asking to no one in particular, "Is that enough?"

Eric, who was standing at the end of the bed just surveying the action, answered him. "I do not believe so. At any rate, you are not strong enough to heal her yet."

I walked to the side of the bed and grabbed Sloane's hand. When I was up close, her condition looked even more dire. I glared at David, hate for him in my eyes. "You couldn't just listen to her, huh? You _had_ to parade her around, even though she_ knew_ it was a bad idea. She told you! She told you it was a bad idea! What the hell happened, anyway?"

"The limo was rigged with a bomb." David's voice was low and monotone, almost sheepish. I sounded like I was chiding a small child and surprisingly, David sounded like a small child being chided.

I rolled my eyes. "So this went from you getting impaled to Sloane getting impaled. Great job, jackass."

"Silence, woman! You are speaking to the King of Michigan. Show proper respect," Eric yelled. Now and forever, he was no longer attractive to me. I am more than done with vampires, no matter how devastatingly hot.

I turned to him and sneered. "Oh, shut up. I don't give a damn who he is. And I don't see you doing anything helpful." I turned back to David and continued my rant, ignoring the anger on both Eric's and Pam's faces. "Did you know what happened last time she ignored her intuition? She was in a coma for a week. She crushed her arm and cracked her skull."

"I did not know that," he replied. When Pam finished pouring another bottle of True Blood down Sloane's throat, David closed her mouth and laid her head back on the pillow. My anger melted slightly when I noticed the love and consideration with which he handled her now. He treated her like a porcelain doll. I was still angry enough to wish him a horrible, painful death, though. If Sloane didn't love him, I'd be gathering silver and stakes it right now.

Before my anger at him could escalate again, Sloane's hand twitched. "Sloane, sweetheart?" I took a second to reevaluate her condition. She was still drawn and limp, but she had more color in her cheeks. Her breathing has stabilized and was getting stronger. Seconds later, her eyes fluttered open.

"Syd?" She weakly squeezed my hand.

Tears of relief started to fall from my eyes. "Yea hun, I'm here." With a single slight nod from David, Eric and Pam disappeared from the room, closing the double doors behind them.

Feeling the tension in the room, she attempted to lighten the mood. "This really hurts. I suggest not trying this at home." She tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace when David lifted the bloody towel from her stomach. The hole in her stomach was much larger than the one in David's chest.

"I need a donor," David said authoritatively. I stared up at him, shocked. Was he really going to just drink from some fangbanger while his whatever-the-hell-she-is-to-him lay right next to him, bleeding to death? He must have seen the shock on my face. "Vampires make two different enzymes for when we feed. If I clean her wound before I bite someone, I will thin her blood and she will die. I need to bite someone first, only then will I release the right enzyme."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Call room service, they'll send you a whore." I stared David down while trying to simultaneously avoid eye contact.

A slight movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. Sloane had turned over her other hand to reveal a bloody and mangled wrist. "Here," she whispered.

I squeezed her hand as her eyes started to close again. "Sloane, open your eyes. You have to stay awake. Come on, Sloane." It was no use, her eyes fluttered shut and her hand went limp again. I looked up teary eyed at David. He was staring down at her with the same panic in his eyes. I shoved my own wrist at him. "Only for her."

He nodded in understanding and thanks. "You will want a towel of your own to stop the bleeding. I will not be able to spare any healing." After a second's hesitation, I let go of Sloane's hand and rushed to the bathroom for a towel. I grabbed a hand towel and approached David's side of the bed. Without any explanation or even a simple 'ready?', he grabbed my wrist and bit. I was surprised to find that the bite didn't really hurt that bad; more like a slight pinch, then a kind of giggly euphoria kicks in. He fed for just a few seconds before releasing my wrist and going straight to work on Sloane's. I wrapped the hand towel around my wrist and went back to Sloane's side of the bed, grabbing her hand. I was starting to feel a little weak myself. I laid my head next to Sloane's shoulder and watched her rhythmic breathing.

When he was done with the gash on her wrist, he tore open her sweater and started on the hole in her stomach. He licked around the circumference of the wound several times before stopping. I shuddered as he licked the remaining blood from his lips. Ew. I had never actually seen a vampire feed before, and now I knew I never wanted to see it again. There was something very primal about it, something very raw. It was almost like watching a lion lick its chops.

He retracted his fangs as he smoothed the hair from her face. "My Love, you need to wake up now. I need your help." He was whispering in her ear, encouraging her to wake up. Miraculously, after a few words of encouragement, her eyes fluttered open again for a split second before snapping back shut. He lifted her so her back was leaning against his bare chest, holding her up with only one arm and biting a hole in his other wrist. He held his bleeding wrist to her mouth, but she didn't respond. "Drink, Love. You need to drink." He reopened the closing hole and pressed it to her mouth again. This time, she started to suck the blood from the wound. When the wound closed again, he opened it for a third time and pressed it back to her mouth. She started back up again, eyes still closed and body limp. I looked away as he started to squirm behind her. I wasn't sure what was going on back there, but I'm sure I didn't want to be a witness to it. I closed my eyes to wait for the whole ordeal to be over.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I woke up with my back pressed against a cold slab of skin. I opened my eyes slowly to give them a chance to equilibrate to the light. When contrast returned to my vision, I could see what looked like a triage center around me. Bloody towels were strewn across the room. A bloody comforter was wrapped around me. I could see a green scrap of material that used to be my sweater hanging from the corner of the bed covered in blood. Several six packs worth of True Bloods were empty and lying everywhere. There was enough blood in this one room to convince a coroner that several people had died. I couldn't for the life of me remember what had happened that had caused this much bloodshed.

It all started to come back as I saw Sydney next to me, fast asleep and holding my hand. She was here earlier, she was yelling at David about something. Pam and Eric had been here, too, but I wasn't sure why. I tried to sit up, but a painful jab radiated out from my stomach. "Not yet, Love. You're not strong enough yet." I could hear and feel David's words as his chest vibrated with them.

"What happened?" I was somewhat afraid to ask. If my mind was specifically forgetting the traumatic parts of the evening, I wasn't sure I wanted to be reminded.

"The limo we were in exploded on the way back from The Purple Moose. We were hit by shrapnel as we escaped," David explained in a low voice.

Everything came rushing back. My anxiety the whole night, DaCastro's mind games, the vision that came just in time. I remembered the piece of metal that held us together, I remembered my panic as his eyes slowly closed. Without thinking, I pulled the blanket back and looked down. First of all, I was not happy about being shirtless. At least he left me my bra. But more importantly, where a gaping hole had been was now a large scab already in the process of healing. "You should be fully healed in a couple of hours," David whispered into my ear as he soothingly rubbed a trail up and down my arm with his long fingers. "Although your situation would not have been as calamitous if you did not force your blood on me. I almost drained you dry." His tone should have been reproachful, but instead it was just soft and loving. He kissed the top of my ear, then my earlobe.

"I couldn't just sit there and watch you die." I intertwined my fingers with his and wrapped his other arm around me as well. We sat in silence for several minutes before all the questions I had been dying to ask came back to the front of my mind. "Who is Emma's vice president?"

He waited a second before answering that. "I do not understand what you mean."

I considered how to best explain what I meant. It made sense in my head, but I wanted to make sure someone else would understand, too. "Well, Eric's got Pam, and Filipe has Victor. So, which one of you is Emma's Victor?"

I could hear the smile in his voice. "I am afraid it is not that simple for Emma." I twisted my head up, urging him to explain what he was talking about. "A second, as we call them, is generally a trusted child. Emma has no children."

"So who does all that stuff for her?"

"Lee and I do."

My curiosity was getting the best of me again. "Do you have any children?" I don't know why, but for a second there, I was really jealous of any children he had. Maybe he had a long list of former lovers out there, still pining away for him. That would be the worst situation I could imagine. They would literally be the ex girlfriends from hell.

"Two." I cocked my eyebrow, waiting for him to explain. A small sly smile covered his face as he kissed my forehead. "Do not be envious, my princess. My only children are Emma and Lee."

His princess, ha. Does that mean he thinks of himself as a prince? That's ridiculous. However, in the interest of keeping him talking, I ignored the several comments about his little nickname that flooded to mind. "That has to be weird. You're Emma's maker, but she's your Queen. If you get in a fight, who wins?"

"Politically, our situation is very complicated, and Emma and I rarely fight. But to answer your question, I do."

"So maker trumps royalty?" At this point, I was just trying to get this all straight in my head. Maybe I should have been an international relations major.

"No, royalty 'trumps' all." He smiled again as he emphasized my choice of words.

Wait a second. "That makes no sense." He could only have it one way. If royalty trumps all, then Emma should always win, not him.

"Royalty is a designation for life, or I suppose death. In the technical sense of the word, I am still King. However, as DeCastro so delicately put it, I abdicated my responsibilities to my second, my sister. Should I ever want my title back, she would have no choice but to step down."

Vampires and their rules. "So she's not really Queen?" This was more complicated than anything I ever learned in civics class.

"Yes and no."

And now I was completely confused. I dropped the subject and moved on to something a tad more pertinent. I forced my mind into analytical, problem-solving mode. I needed to see this from the outside in. "I don't think DeCastro was behind the bomb."

He sounded like a proud father, amused at his daughter's latest scheme. "And what makes you say that?"

"DeCastro wants me right? Why would he try to kill me?"

"So who do you believe is behind this?"

I took a deep breath before I explained my logic. "Well, I don't think it's anyone necessarily after Michigan. I mean, Emma and Lee aren't even here. What would someone gain by killing you and me? This is your world, so correct me if I'm wrong, but no one wins if you die. No power changes hands, everything just reverts to Emma. So who gains if I die? Well, Emma wouldn't have a psychic anymore. That would rebalance some power scales. That's big, I guess."

He kissed my hair. "Should you choose it, you would make a smart and cunning vampire."

"Don't sound so surprised." I smacked his hand playfully. "So who would feel threatened if I'm still in with Emma?"

His voice was playful and light. "I thought you were 'quitting vampires cold-turkey'?"

At that statement, the analytical side of my brain switched off and the reality of my situation hit. DeCastro wanted to kidnap me and keep me for himself, and someone else, I don't even know who, wanted to kill me. Beyond that, I was tied to and seemingly in love with an abusive vampire. Tears started to fall, no matter how hard I tried to hold them in. "Who's after me? I can't do this again." I couldn't be another pawn, another target. It never ended well. I can't be beaten again, I don't think I'd come out nearly as unscathed as I did the last few times.

David pulled my hand out of Sydney's and gathered me into his arms. "I do not know, but they will not get you." He let me bury my face in his chest sob quietly until I fell asleep.


	37. Chapter 37

Sydney and I stayed in bed all day, watching TV and ordering room service. Initially, David had objected to Sydney staying in the same room he was, well, dead in all day, but eventually gave into my pleading. I didn't want to be without either of them all day. I had enough trouble letting idi go back to him room with no one there to watch him. Needless to say, I was feeling very protective. What really irked me was not knowing if my overprotectiveness was because David and I almost died last night and at least two people were still after me, or my gut was trying to tell me to keep my people close.

At any rate, I felt better once I talked to those important to me. First I called my mom at work (hey, we weren't overly close, but she was still my mom).

"Good morning, this is Kendra." She sounded so happy. She always sounded happy. She could give Santa Claus a run for his money in the jolly department.

"Hi mom."

"Oh, hi Sloane. How was the wedding?" I had told her about the wedding in the abstract. She had no idea that I was dating a vampire or that the wedding was between two of the most powerful vampires in Michigan. That was a whole world that she didn't even need to know about. Not to mention she would freak out if she knew. It's not that she's not bigoted; she can just smell trouble a mile away and these three were Trouble.

"It was more of a vow renewal, but it was good. They kissed, and now everything's happily ever after."

"That's good. You and Syd had fun, then?" I knew I had her undivided attention, even though I could hear her typing furiously. She could multitask like no other. Maybe that was a skill learned while having a particularly difficult child.

"Yup. Great time."

"You never mentioned who the bride and groom were. Anyone I know?"

Uh oh. She was using her Jedi mind tricks on me. She knew something was up. "No, you haven't met them."

"Hm, I thought I knew all of your friends." When I didn't comment, she went right on with her information gathering. "Why didn't you take a date?"

Oh, tricky question. She was getting better at this in her old age. "Who said I didn't take a date?" I could play this game.

She let out a long sigh. "As much as I love this game we play, I'm already late for a meeting, so let's cut to the chase. Are you dating anyone?"

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. "Oh, mom, you do know how to make me laugh." I decided on the truth. It was always the best policy, especially when dealing with your mother. "Yes, I'm dating someone."

"Am I going to get grandchildren out if this?"

I laughed again. She was being to the point. "First of all, I'm barely 23, I've got time for that later. Secondly, not a chance."

Without missing a step, she continued on with her barrage. "Will you be bringing him over for Christmas? Will _you_ be home for Christmas?"

Now it was my turn to sigh. "I don't know when we're coming home, and you're not going to let me have a boyfriend and not bring him over for Christmas. But I warn you, you're _not_ going to like him."

"Why not? Does Sydney know him? Does she like him?"

"Of course she knows him. And I don't really know how she feels about him, deep down." Before she could even open her mouth, I silently shushed her.

"Well, your dad and I will see you when you get home. We love you."

"Love you too."

We hung up at the same time. I figured I should probably call my dad before my mom can get around to it. I should warn him about the onslaught that's coming.

He answered on the second ring. "Hi Sloane. What's up?"

If nothing else, I could appreciate my dad's ability to get to the point every time. "Hi dad. Sorry, but I just told mom I have a boyfriend, so get ready."

He took a deep breath and exhaled while tapping his tongue against his teeth like he always did when he wasn't looking forward to something. It sounded like an old idling engine from really far away. "Alright. I assume he's coming over for Christmas, then?"

I smiled. "You think there's a chance mom wouldn't make me drag him along?"

"Yea, yea. Thanks for the heads up."

"Yea, see you then."

Next and last on my list of people to call was Moose. It was a sad commentary on my life when there were only 5 people in my life, and two of them were family.

"Heya," he answered.

"Hey Moose, how's it going?"

"Mac! It's going. Just waiting for the PCR to run."

I know how that goes, although I don't think I would be sitting there waiting for it just days before the holidays. "Sounds like a great time. How's everything there? Everyone OK?"

He answered with skepticism. "That I know of. Everything OK with you?"

"Debatable."

"That always seems to be your answer." He had a point. I only seemed to call him when things were falling apart. "Are you going to share?"

No. "It's a complicated story. I'll explain when I can draw you a diagram."

"That doesn't sound good. You should ditch the vamps and come home. We miss you."

"I want to, but it's not that easy."

"It should be. Oh, hey, there was a guy here asking about you."

My curiosity was peaked. "What do you mean?"

"He was a big guy, maybe ex-Army or something, he was in a suit. He came into the lab and started asking about you. He didn't ask if you were here, just started asking things like where you hang out, who your friends were, what your research was in… "

Shit. That can't be good. They were coming after me at my home, whoever they are. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing that he couldn't pull from Facebook. What's going on?"

"I have no idea." I checked the clock on the bedside table; about an hour and a half until the vampires woke up. This is the kind of information that David needed to know. "He was human?"

"As far as I could tell."

"Thanks, Moose. I'll give you a call when I'm back in Michigan."

"Yup. Stay safe, Mac."

"Thanks, you too."

I relayed the new information to Sydney as she considered the (human) room service menu. Instead of being frightened for me or concerned, she glared angrily at David's lifeless body on the other side of the bed from her. "I don't know why you blame everything on him," I said. "It was just a matter of time before this psychic thing came back to bite me in the ass."

"You don't know that." She paused as I raised my eyebrow in disbelief. "Or did you?"

I shrugged. "I had a hunch." I could be useful to a lot of different people, not just the supernatural community. It wasn't a large stretch of the imagination to think it was going to become a problem at some point. "Food?"

She eyed me suspiciously before answering. "I'll order." She grabbed the bedside phone and wandered into the sitting room, leaving me alone in the bedroom with nothing but my thoughts and a dead-for-the-day vampire.

For some reason, Sydney ordered us both macaroni and cheese for our late lunch. You just can't take the kid out of some people. After our child-like feast, Sydney stood and stretched out her body, limb by limb. "Well, I need a shower. Are you going to be good with me going back to my room for just a little while?"

"I was actually going to do the same thing, maybe even get in a nap. Thanks for hanging with me all day." I licked my fork clean and put it back on the plate.

She grabbed my hand and sat next to me. "Please don't do anything dangerous tonight, no matter what David says."

I squeezed her hand lightly as she stood. "It's a promise."

She looked deep into my eyes, looking for any signs of deceit. When she didn't find any, she let go of my hand. "Toodles." She pulled on the jeans she had shucked sometime of the course of the day and left the hotel room.

I stood and walked experimentally. After all that blood (a thought that still made me somewhat queasy), my ankle felt good as new and I was willing to bet my bruises were gone, leaving nothing but perfect, smooth, alabaster skin. My core muscles, on the other hand, were tight and sore. It felt like I had done several hundred sit-ups the night before. I moved slowly, stripping off the shirt David had put me in the night before (one of his, of course) and tossed it on the bed as I passed. After closing the door to the bathroom tight, I turned the water on hot and jumped under the stream. I'm sure I shampooed and conditioned my hair because I could smell the rosemary and mint, but I couldn't remember doing it. I could smell the hibiscus soap on my skin, but didn't remember lathering up. My legs were perfectly smooth, even though I didn't remember shaving. I had drifted through my hot shower, mind focused on more pressing problems. I was trying to remember how long I had been standing, relatively motionless under the stream of water, when a cold arm snuck around my waist. My pulse skyrocketed and I froze. I glimpsed down to see David's hand working its way dangerously low. I relaxed somewhat and leaned back into the rock hard body behind me. He responded by rocking into me and tracing a line down my arm and across my breast with his other hand.

"Good evening, My Darling," he whispered seductively in my ear. The only response I could manage was a light moan as he probed a finger into me. "Would you like me to continue?"

What a stupid question. I followed it with an even more idiotic answer. "Oh, yes," I whispered as I braced myself against the arms that were still wrapped around me. He grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face him before lifting me up into arms. I entwined my arms and legs around him as he carried me out of the shower and leaned me against the countertop in the steam filled room. He grunted and pressed even harder into me as I kissed his chest. Oh,wow; I could feel every inch of him pressed against me. I wanted it and I wanted it now, and he knew it. I threw my head back and screamed in pleasure when he read my mind and lifted me onto his erect penis. God, he felt perfect. He cupped my butt with one hand to hold me on him, apparently not impressed with the strength with which I wrapped my legs around him, and fondled my chest with his other hand while kissing me deeply. I was in heaven as his hands and mouth worked miracles all over my body. I nipped at his lower lip, which it appears drives him crazy. He thudded me into the door, nearly rocking it from its hinges, and thrust into me hard. I screamed his name with every plunge, which only served to drive him crazier and crazier. Right when I thought I was going to melt to the floor, he bit into my neck, driving both him and me over the glorious edge.

I shuddered in him arms as he set me back down on the marble countertop. Without letting me go, he grabbed two towels, wrapping one around my shoulders and taking another for himself. In a moment of lucidity in an otherwise gelatinous state of pleasure, I remembered my conversations of the day. "I have bad news and really bad news. Which do you want first?"

He watched me pull my sopping wet hair to the side and wring it out with one hand. My other hand was resting lightly on his ribcage. "Whichever regards you."

I couldn't help but smile. The sentiment behind the words was sweet. "I called Moose today, he said a guy came around to the lab and was asking all sorts of questions about me."

When he deemed me dry, he pulled me off the countertop and set me on my feet next to him. "Pertaining to?"

I followed him into the bedroom, where he went straight to his suitcase. I just put his shirt back on and climbed under the still clean side of the comforter. "Friends, hang out spots, what my research is in. Moose said he didn't really tell him anything."

He seemed concerned, but not overly so. "Good. I will look into it when we get home." Instead of putting on any clothes, he grabbed something, dropped his towel, and crawled into the bed with me completely naked. He loomed over me, his nostrils flaring and his fangs down. "This room smells irresistible." He kissed my lips with passion. "And the other news?"

For a moment, I completely forgot what he was talking about. When I didn't answer, he stopped kissing a trail down my body and looked up at me. He cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, right. Well…" He started his way down my body, pushing the t-shirt up as he made his way down my stomach to my belly button. "I talked to my mom today…"

"Mm hm." He spread my legs and started lapping at me.

I reached down and tangled my hands in his hair. "And, uh…God yes." I arched my back and spread my legs farther apart. "She wants to meet you, and…"

"Mm hm." I stopped talking all together and just concentrated on the ecstasy that was just around the corner. Just before I was ready to jump off the proverbial cliff again, he stopped. "And?"

I pouted at him, which just made him smirk ear to ear. I couldn't think about anything other than David's tongue (and a select few other parts) right now. With my hands still tangled in his wavy hair, I pulled him up my body until I could push him on his back and kiss his lips. He tasted like me. Once on his back, I straddled him, lowering myself onto his length. It only took a few strokes until I had pushed myself over that cliff and was again a pool of happy just lying against his chest. Once I had caught my breath, I could answer. "She wants you to come over for Christmas."

"And you agreed?" He started to breathe for me, which was comforting. It's one thing knowing that your boyfriend is dead, it's a whole other thing to actually feel it.

I shrugged against him as he traced a pattern into my back. "She tends to get what she wants." The combination of being a gelatinous pool of bliss and him rubbing my back was working quickly to put me to sleep.

"That seems to be a family trait," he whispered. My eyes closed as I let out a half sigh of contentment, half yawn. I was as happy as I had been in a long while just curled up on David's chest, his arms wrapped around me. When I shivered from my cold, wet hair trailing down my back, he pulled my shirt back down (it had somehow been pulled up during our fun) and pulled the comforter up to my shoulders. I could feel myself drifting into sleep. My breathing slowed and deepened. My muscles relaxed completely. I was almost asleep when his phone vibrated against the bedside table. "Hello, sister," he whispered.

My head was close enough to the speaker of his Blackberry that I could hear Emma's voice on the line. "Good evening, brother. Why so quiet?"

"Sloane is asleep," he replied. "It is day in Korea right now." That was a statement that was packed full of a question.

"Yes, after hearing of the attack on your life, we decided to stay closer to home. We are in Windsor." Only a few mere hours by car from home, another couple to here. A smart location. "I can hear her breathing; she must be quite close to you."

He paused to kiss my hair. "She is."

"David, brother, do not force your presence on her. She will come back to you in her own time, but you need to give her space." I could hear the worry in her voice, I just didn't know who she was worried about; me or David.

"I did not force my presence on her, she fell asleep on my chest by choice."

Now it was Emma's turn to pause. "That is good news. Has she forgiven me yet?"

"I do not know. I do not want to push the issue." He absent mindedly rubbed my back a little harder at the mention of a conversation he obviously thought might upset me. It seemed ridiculous, but I wasn't sure I did forgive her yet. Her betrayal cut me deeper than David's did.

After almost a full minute pause, David spoke again. "Who is our Area Investigator? Ariel Erbright, correct?" He pronounced her name 'R-ay-yell.' I couldn't tell if it was just his accent and this woman was really a Disney character or that was how it was pronounced.

"Correct. For what do you need her services?"

David briefly explained the conversation I had with Moose earlier that day. "I would like her to find this man. Watch, but do not approach. I want her to try and find out who this man is working for."

"Would you like me to call her?" Emma sounded a bit like she would rather have her fangs pulled out. I wonder what she had against the woman.

"No, I will call."

She sounded relieved. "Good. I am flattered at her advances, but there comes a time at which persistence does more harm than good." Oh, now I understood. I wonder if Ariel is just after the power or really fancies Emma. Maybe a bit of both. I'm squarely in the heterosexual column, and even I had a bit of a female crush on Emma. She is breathtaking, after all. "Have you scheduled your return trip?"

"I believe tonight. I believe Sloane and Sydney would like to be home for Christmas. Sloane's mother invited me over for Christmas evening."

"And are you going?" This was the most interest I have heard from her all night.

"I don't believe I have much of a choice. Her mother seems to be more strong-willed than she is."

I had heard enough at this point; I didn't want them discussing my family in that particular tone of voice. I wasn't sure I wanted them discussing my family at all. I sighed heavily and stretched out my balled up hand against David's bare chest. I wanted to make it look like I was just waking up from one of the shortest naps in human history. It worked; every one of David's muscles tensed beneath me, then relaxed as he realized I was waking up. I swallowed and slowly opened my eyes. He kissed my lips lightly. "I did not mean to wake you."

I closed my eyes before they could give away my deception and tucked my head into David's neck. "It's OK. Who are you talking to?" I asked in my most drowsy voice.

"Emma."

I figured it was safe to 'wake up' at this point. I braced myself and pushed myself into a sitting position, still straddling David's torso. I yawned for good measure. "How's Korea?"

"They are not in Korea." I smiled internally. He trusted me enough to not lie to me. Externally, I raised an eyebrow. Before he could explain what I already knew, he frowned into the phone. "Emma would like to know if you have forgiven her for her actions the night of her bachelorette party."

I scowled for a split second before rolling my eyes and lowering myself to the floor. I didn't answer, I just walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Only a vampire hotel would have a floor made of marble without thinking about bath rugs. The floor was freezing on my feet.

When I emerged from the bathroom, David was fully dressed, sitting on the end of the bed. "Where are you going?"

"If it is all right with you, we are leaving to go home." He pulled my cell phone off the bedside table and after licking the last touch of blood from the cover (eww), he dialed a number. I watched him with interest as it rang. Who was he calling on my cell phone?

"Who is Pony?" Oh. He must be talking to Sydney. On my phone. This wasn't going to end well. He looked at me, amusement in his eyes. "Hm. Well I am calling to ask if you would like to go home tonight." After a slight pause for her answer, it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Sloane is fine. Do not worry, I have not forgotten your threats." After another pause, he clenched his jaw and held out the phone for me. "She would like to talk to you."

I crawled onto the bed and took the phone. "Hey, Syd."

She was livid. "What, now he just steals your phone and calls me out of the blue? What, he doesn't think I'll answer if he calls me from his number? That's probably true, he's the last person I want to talk to."

"I used your phone because I do not have her cell phone number programmed into my Blackberry." He explained from across the room. Damn vampire hearing.

I glared at him and shooed him out of the room. I ignored Sydney's outburst and got down to brass tacks (whatever that means). "So, do you want to go home?"

"Do you want to go?" God, I hated this tactic. She wanted to hear my answer before she committed to something, most likely because she thought I wasn't going to like her answer.

"Yea. We can stay if you want more time with Gary, though."

"Stop using your super duper X-ray vision on me!" I didn't explain how I didn't need my foresight to tell what she wanted. Being attached at the hip with her since elementary school was enough to give me that kind of insight into her brain.

"She can stay for as long as she'd like. I will send the private jet for her when she is ready to leave," I hear from just outside the door. He was still eavesdropping on the conversation.

I shoved some annoyance at him through the bond as glare substitute. He sent back a silent apology. "David says you can stay as long as you want. He'll fly you back when you're ready."

"Would you mind if I stayed? I just don't get a lot of vacations…" She sounded apologetic.

"I'll just have to manage," I said playfully. "David and I are leaving tonight, I guess. I'll call you when we get home."

"OK. Do you still have your vampire mace?"

I walked over to my suitcase and rummaged around. The cape and my purse from the other night had somehow made it into the top pocket. I opened the purse; it still had everything I had packed in there. "Yes, mother," I said mockingly. I shoved the small canister into my everyday purse and repacked my suitcase.

"Well, don't be afraid to mace the shit out of his face. You know, even just for fun, if you want." That was her funny way of telling me to protect myself.

I smiled. "I love you too, Syd. See you when you get home. Oh, and use protection." Knowing her, as soon as she hung up the phone with me, she was going to call Gary. We all know where that will lead.

"Yes, mother," she responded mockingly.

After we hung up, I pulled a pair of jeans and a fitted t-shirt out of my suitcase. I topped the outfit with a blazer made of sweatshirt material so I could wear some great heels. I had lugged them all the way to Maryland, it would be a shame not to wear them at some point. After fishing a hair tie out of my cosmetics bag and winding my hair into a bun at the base of my neck, I walked into the sitting room. David was deep into a conversation with someone on his phone and completely oblivious to my entrance. So I dropped my still heeled feet in his lap and pulled out my computer to get back to work. First order of business, however, was the check my e-mail. Luckily, most people remembered that I was on vacation and didn't e-mail me about trivial little things. I did have one troubling e-mail from Debbie.

_Hi Sloane._

_Hope vacation's going well. Just wanted to let you know that there was a guy that came around asking for you at the office. Tall, muscular, even a little hot in a G. I. Joe kind of way. It sounds like you might have a secret admirer out there because he left a small box on your desk. Sorry, I didn't get a name._

_Deb_

I spun my computer around to let David read the e-mail. He must have been talking to Ariel the entire time, because he immediately relayed the new information to her. "Have Lupe's trackers get a scent off the box," he said into the phone. He was actually somewhat good at giving orders. He must have been a good king to work for. "No, leave it. Sloane and I will retrieve it when we get home. If it is a message for her, it is one only she will understand." After a few more instructions, he hung up the phone and I got back to my computer.

I got in almost a whole hour of research (code word for internet procrastination) before there was a knock at the door. Setting my feet aside, David got up and answered the door, allowing a small weasely bellboy in. "The bags are in the bedroom," David said after the bellboy stared at me for just a moment too long with just a little too much interest.

He dropped his gaze to the floor. "Yes, sir, ma'am." After grabbing our suitcases, he practically ran from the room with them without collecting a tip, obviously eager to be away from us.

"Are you ready to go?"

I sighed and closed my computer. "I guess." I packed my backpack and my purse. After grabbing our coats, David took my backpack from me and we left.

First stop was Eric and Sookie's just down the hall. David knocked, and quite a while later, the door opened. Eric was standing in the doorway with nothing but a too-small towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was dripping wet and I could hear the shower still running through the open door. I think my jaw dropped, but I couldn't be sure. "O'Hara, you are still looking quite pale," he said.

David responded with a smile after wrapping my hand in his. "I will gladly be pale for a few days."

Eric's eyes betrayed him, he knew exactly what David meant. "Speaking of, nice to see you are feeling better, Sloane."

"Thanks to you and Sookie." I bowed slightly. "Where is she? I'd like to say goodbye."

Eric smiled a fangy smile. "In the shower."

I couldn't help but grin ear to ear. I wonder what they could have been doing together in the shower. Maybe a little of what David and I just did in the shower? "In that case, we will let you get back to her. Please come and visit this winter, it is supposed to be one of the wettest winters on record. We already have several feet of snow," David said.

Eric's eyes lit up. "Snow? Perhaps I will come and visit."

David nodded turned to walk away, tugging me along with him. Before we were two steps away, their door shut. I grinned again. Go, Sookie!

When we were in the elevator, it occurred to me I hadn't seen my personal bodyguard all night. Irrationally, terror shot through me. "Where's Idi?" I tried to ask nonchalantly.

Either David noticed the change in my mood through the bond or my face wasn't that of the stone-cold poker player's I had thought, because he immediately noticed the change. He let go of my hand as his eyebrow furrowed. "He will meet us at the airfield." He clutched his hands into balls at his side.

I inched away from him, toward the other side of the elevator. "I thought he was supposed to…" _protect me from you_… "be where I am."

David took a deep breath to control his anger as he leaned against the elevator wall, folding his arms across his body. "His job is to protect you, and that is what he is doing." His temper was starting to rear its ugly head again.

"How?" I asked as the elevator door opened onto the lobby.

He didn't answer. "Please wait in the car as I settle the bill." He immediately left my side and walked to the front counter. The same nervous, overattentive girl that was on duty last night was on duty again, and again she was shamelessly flirting with David. When he looked over his shoulder to see if I had listened to him (like that was going to happen), I glared at him. He pasted a flirty smile on his face and turned back to the girl behind the counter, reciprocating her enthusiasm. Oh, he knew just how to push my buttons. I shoved my arms into my coat, threw my purse over my shoulder, and stalked toward the idling town car. As soon as I slid into the car and slammed the door shut, a cold yet tan hand clasped over my mouth.


	38. Chapter 38

****Sorry the posts are coming slower and slower lately. Finals week is quickly approaching, so I am going to give my writing a hiatus until after the tests. I'm sorry for leaving you guys on the edge of your seats for so long!****

I struggled against the hand gagging me to the point that my captor felt the need to wrap his other arm around my waist. When it was clear I wasn't getting anywhere by struggling, I froze, stiffening every muscle in my body in the process. I could feel my captor's cold breath against the back of my ear as he whispered, "Why so tense, _mi mariposa_?" Even in a whisper, his thick Latin accent was evident.

He let go of my mouth to let me respond and used that arm to hold both of my hands across my chest. I was now basically strapped to a vampire. "I am not a butterfly," I said, careful to keep the paralyzing fear out of my voice. David would be coming along any time now, and he'll kick DeCastro's ass. I know it. All I had to do was last that long. "And I will never be yours."

"You may not actually be a butterfly, but you will be mine." He loosened his arms and let me go. Before I could reach for the door handle to get the hell out of there, the door opened. Relief washed through me until I realized the new addition to the party was wearing a suit. David had not been wearing a suit. I looked up into the face of the newcomer as he slid into the seat next to me, sandwiching me between him and Filipe. Before I could scream, Victor shut the door.

"So this is the woman," he said, appraising me as if I were estate jewelry.

"Sloane, I would like you to meet…"

"Victor Madden," I said with disgust. Sookie's memories of him came flooding to the forefront, along with a few of my own. So this is how the vision I had in the bathtub starts? I couldn't imagine how I got from here to incoherent and in complete darkness.

I was itching to get as far away from them as I possibly could. I switched to sit on the other bench, now facing the two vampires. I felt marginally better now that 1) they were no longer touching me, 2) I could see both of them, and 3) no more vampires could sneak up on me in this position. As I made the switch, I grabbed my purse. I instantly shoved my hand into my purse and handled the vampire mace. I may have had a chance of surviving when only Filipe was in the car, but now that I was dealing with Filipe and Victor, bringing out that mace was surely suicide. Instead, I grabbed a tube of lip gloss and applied it. After taking a second to gather myself, I looked Filipe in the eye and crossed my legs. "What do you want?"

He folded his hands in his lap. "Patience, dearest. I am glad to see you are unharmed. I heard about the attack on your limo last night."

"Uh huh." I made a circular motion with my hand, urging him to get to the point.

"I do wonder, how does a frail human like yourself survive an attack that left the limo in pieces?" His demeanor was not inquisitive at all. If anything, he was smug. "Not even a vampire could have survived an attack like that."

"And yet you dare to get in a limo with me." It did seem like an idiotic thing to do, unless he could be mighty sure that nothing was going to happen to him. Maybe he was behind the bomb, after all. I tucked this new information away for further consideration.

"You knew what was about to happen. How?" Victor asked. He seemed a tad too interested in how I survived.

I looked him in the eye, and with a smile, shrugged my shoulders. "Just a gut feeling, I guess."

I had caught both of their attention. "Ah, so you are a psychic, I see." Filipe moved to sit next to me, sitting just a tad too close for it to be considered normal. He grabbed my hand and kissed it. "I have never had a psychic before."

My instinct was telling me to lie until my pants caught fire. "Wrong again, Filipe." I pulled my hand back and shoved it between my knees. "And I'll give you some more hints. I can't fly, or see through walls, or even manipulate thoughts. I am what we in the know call 'human'."

"Oh, you are something special, woman, I can smell it on you. And I will figure out what." Victor stared me right in the eye. He was trying to glamour it out of me. I let my eyes go blank and my face fall into an expressionless stare. It took everything I had to not smile when he thought it had worked. "Now, tell me what you are."

"A Wookie." I cracked my blank exterior with a smile and looked him right in the eye again. "Did you really think he didn't try that already?" I asked as I shoved a thumb in Filipe's direction before I glanced out the window and looked for David. He was still standing at the counter, flirting with the girl behind the counter. I was going to rip him a new one.

Before I could look back at the vampires in front of me, Victor's hand was clasped around my neck and he was slowly lifting me off the seat. "Insolent human!" I grasped at his arms in a futile attempt to pull him away. Another bolt of panic shot through me because I couldn't breathe. Nothing is more terrifying than not being able to do something so essential. He pulled me toward him and extended his fangs, which caused another shot of fear to spike through me. I struggled even harder, kicking and punching at him.

"Victor…" Filipe's tone was reproachful, which was quite possibly the only thing that made Victor stop and look at him. "She is not yours to punish."

Just before I was going to lose consciousness, Victor released his grip. I fell to the floor of the car, gasping for air. Filipe pulled me back onto the bench beside him and patted my hand as I coughed and wheezed. "Victor will be punished for his actions. I hope you will reconsider my offer." After silently ordering Victor out of the car, he kissed my hand and followed him. "Until we meet again."

I curled into a ball in the far corner, popped my collar to hide my face, and wrapped my arms around my knees. I sat, staring out the window onto the practically vacant street until the car door opened. I jumped as David slid in next to me and the car shifted into drive. Once I was sure I wasn't going to be strangled to death by Victor or kidnapped by Filipe, I curled back into my ball and focused my attention back onto the scenery that was passing us by. It wasn't until we had been on the interstate for 10 minutes that he turned to speak to me. "You are upset."

"Obviously," I whispered. It was about the only thing I could do at the moment, and my voice still sounded hoarse and ragged.

"Why is your voice rough? Have you been crying?" When I didn't answer, he pulled my chin toward him so I had to look him in the face. I had no tears streaming down my face and my eyes weren't red, which answered his question for him. When he let go of my chin, I turned back to my previous position with him at my back. I was not in the mood to deal with vampires right now. I stayed balled up and away from David for the remainder of the trip, despite several other attempts on David's behalf to engage me during the three hour drive. I simply ignored his attempts at conversation.

When we arrived at the airfield, I was relieved to see Idi standing just at the base of ramp to the small airfield. I hopped out of the town car as quickly as I could and went straight up the ramp. I didn't even look at Idi as I passed him, but I could hear him follow me up the ramp and into the small jet. My first instinct was to scope out the surroundings. The ramp entered into the back of the plane. To the left, towards the tail, was a small door which opened into an equally small, but warmly decorated bathroom. To the right where eight seats, four on each side of the isle situated around two small tables. The seats were large and leather, and by the looks of it, they might recline.

Idi paused behind me while I took everything in. "I have searched the plane myself. There are no signs of tampering."

I nodded my thanks before locking myself in the bathroom. I started the hot water in the sink and shucked off my coat and purse, laying them in a pile in the corner of the room. While the water heated, I took a look at myself in the mirror. I had an almost invisible bruise around my neck; the most visible part just to the side of my air pipe in the shape of the band of a thick ring. Even the worst of it was disappearing quickly, though. I tested the capabilities of my healing voice by clearing my throat. From what I could tell, I was back to my normal self. Thank goodness for the healing powers of vampire blood.

Once the water was nice and hot, I splashed some on my face before letting it flow over my hands for several minutes. I let the water run until it ran cold, when I turned off the water and dried my face and hands. When I opened the door, ready to face the relatively short flight, Idi was standing guard outside the bathroom door and David had settled into a chair and already started on the paper. I sat in the chair as far away from David as possible and looked out the window. The scenery slowly passed as the private jet started down the runway.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flurry of movement. When I looked, Idi had produced his favorite weapon again. "Idi, she is perfectly safe. Put the weapon away," David said after lowering his paper.

Idi didn't take his eyes off me. "Your neck, Miss Sloane."

Maybe the bruising was more noticeable than I thought, at least to those with vampire vision. I turned back to look out the window as the plane lifted off the runway. "It wasn't David." Not entirely, at least. That didn't mean I didn't blame him for ignoring my fear, which he must have felt. Part of me was certain that David knew what was going to happen, but let me walk into it anyway just to teach me a lesson. At the very least, he had ignored me in my time of need. At the moment, I was not willing to forgive him for it.

When David finally really looked at me and noticed what Idi was talking about, he stood and tossed the paper to the floor. "Sloane? What happened?" I ignored David's question and pulled my legs to my chest again. Except for being in a more comfortable chair, I was back in the exact same cocoon I made for myself earlier in the town car.

When it was obvious I wasn't going to talk, he sat back down, but this time across from me (after some protesting on idi's part). He leaned forward and around the side of the table until he was close enough to me to reach out. When he did, I crossed my arms and tucked my hands under my arms. He stopped trying after I rejected him and leaned back almost imperceptibly. "You need to tell me what happened."

Again, I ignored him and focused my attention out the window onto the landscape below. I was pretty sure that if I had to look at him or touch him right now, I'd scream. I was slowly breaking apart, and I was trapped in a small plane with one of the few main reasons for the next few hours. I closed my eyes when I could feel his rage building through the bond. I was 99% sure it was coming, but I still jumped when his temper got the best of him and he slammed his fists on the table hard enough to crack it. "Sloane!"

Idi finally interfered, pushing David back into his seat before he could do something that he'd regret later. David took a deep breath. "I see why people use this silent treatment as punishment. It is infuriating." Even with my eyes still closed, I could feel his eyes on me, scrutinizing my every move. After a few minutes of agonizing self consciousness under the scrutiny of David, I could hear the chair squeak as he stood. When he was back in his former chair, he spoke in a low voice to Idi. "Please try to talk to her, she may listen to you."

"It may help if I knew why she is so angry with you, Sir."

After a short pause, David sighed. "I do not know."

I had a few minutes of peace until Idi (at least I assumed it was Idi) spread a blanket over my body and sat in the chair next to me. "Will you speak to me, Miss Sloane?" He got straight to the point. No beating around the bush for Idi.

I didn't move; I barely even spoke. "I'd rather not," I whispered.

"Have I done something to upset you?" He sounded genuinely concerned. I didn't know Idi to be one to actually feel emotion. He was quite possibly the most apathetic vampire I knew.

Again, I didn't move, I just whispered. "No." I couldn't be mad at someone who had never done anything. Sure, he wasn't there to protect me either, but at least he was here securing the plane and not just flirting with the hostess for the sole reason to piss me off. There's a big difference.

"Then why will you not speak to me?" I didn't answer; I just shrugged beneath the blanket. "Will you tell me who hurt you?"

"Why?" I whispered.

"I need to know whom I am to pay retribution."

I took a few minutes to decide if I wanted to answer. It would be a whole lot easier to ignore him like I was ignoring David, but he didn't deserve it like David did. In the end, I answered. "Victor Madden," I whispered even quieter than before.

He took a second to run through his memory bank. "King Filipe DeCastro's second?" I didn't answer this time. I figured that was as much of an answer as actually saying anything. "I will keep that in mind."

Once I could be sure that he was done with his questions, I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes again. "Idi?" I whispered.

"Yes, Miss Sloane?" He was back to being uninterested. That was the Idi I knew and loved.

"Don't let him get anywhere near me, OK?" It was obvious I was talking about David and not Victor. I was not that worried about Victor following me to Michigan, at least not just yet.

"Yes, Miss Sloane."

With that, I relaxed into my chair. In no time, I was asleep.

"I will do it, she would not like you to be near her," I heard Idi say from right in front of me. I was still in that groggy state when you're not sure if you are dreaming or awake. I opted to just stay as I was until I was sure. "How does one wake a human?" A hand tentatively landed on my arm, then lifted and landed on my knee before quickly lifting off again.

"Let me carry her, she will be none the wiser." I could hear David's voice come from the other corner of the plane, where it had been before I fell asleep.

Idi's hand landed more confidently on my shoulder. "I am sorry, my King, but I cannot. I mean no disrespect."

"I know, Idi. I admire your devotion to her. Perhaps you should say her name?"

"Miss Sloane," he said quietly.

I had two choices. One, I could open my eyes, which would mean I would have to fight my own silent battle against David without Idi's help. Obviously, I didn't want to do that. I would rather jump out of this plane at 30,000 feet than deal with David right now. Or two, I could pretend to stay asleep and let Idi deal with David for me. Of course, this was unfair to Idi, and I had to get off the plane somehow, which meant someone was going to have to carry me. I knew Idi would protect me from any attacker, but I wasn't sure he'd want to carry me around.

At this point, I was ready to be a coward. I'd apologize to Idi later.

"Miss Sloane," he said again, this time a little louder. When I didn't respond again, he pulled his hand off of my shoulder. "She will not wake," he said toward David.

"If you will not let me carry her, then you must do it." David sounded irked. Good. After a short hesitation, Idi pulled the blanket off of me and lifted me into his arms (God, I hoped it was Idi. It took all I had to not open my eyes and check). I shivered as he stepped off the plane and into the frigid Michigan air.

He stopped mid-stride. "She is shaking."

David's voice came from behind us. "She is most likely cold, but I cannot be sure without getting close." He sounded somewhat put off by the fact Idi wouldn't let him even get near me. I almost smiled at the fact. "Get her into the car."

Almost immediately after David spoke, Idi was laying me down in the car on my back. Almost immediately after he laid me down, I curled into a ball again. I felt much better when I was compact and in the fetal position. Seconds later, he was laying a blanket over me again before lifting my head and tucking my balled up coat beneath it. Once the bags were packed into the back, the car started to move. Unfortunately, I couldn't fall back asleep, I just tried to gauge where we were in relation to my house. A task that was incredibly difficult, considering I had no idea what airport we flew in to.

Shortly after I lost all track of where we could possibly be, a vision came. It was a lot like the one I had earlier in the bathtub; nothing really made sense, everything was mentally and visually blurry, and it didn't seem to be in any particular order. One main difference was I wasn't seeing through me, I was fairly sure I was seeing through Sookie. It was hard to tell in this particular vision.

At some point throughout the vision, I sat up, because when I came back to, I was upright and both David and Idi were watching me with interest. I must have looked startled or scared, because David said, "You are safe." He reached out a hand in my direction to console me, remembering at the last moment (thanks to Idi's subtle reminder) that he was not welcome near me. I scooted toward the window nearest to Idi's side of the bench and looked out the window. No wonder I had no idea where we were…we had somehow made it to campus.

I turned to Idi. "Where are we going?"

"To retrieve a box."

When the town car identical to the one we had in Maryland pulled up outside of the decrepit old hall that housed my office, I slid my arms into the balled up coat, grabbed my purse, and slid out of the car. When I noticed the pale figure hiding in a cranny by the door, I froze in my tracks. Idi and David both glided past me toward the figure as if they were expecting whoever it was. After exchanging a few words with the shadowy figure, David looked back toward me, catching my gaze and looking in right on the eye. It took everything I had to not lose it and start screaming. He must have felt the hysteria building, because he quickly looked away and sent Idi back for me.

Idi approached slowly, specifically standing where he would block my view of the vampires at the door. "You do not have to come in, but we do need the key. The door is locked."

I took a second to pull myself back together. "I'll go, but I want to go home right after we're done."

He nodded. "Understood."

I pulled my student ID out of my purse before slinging it over my shoulder. Without hesitation (I really just wanted to get this over and done with), I marched past Idi, between David and the vampire woman he was talking to, and towards the door. I swiped my student ID over the electronic lock that opened the exterior doors after hours, swung the door open, and kept on marching inside. I followed the same routine on the electronic lock to my office (newly installed), threw my purse in its usual location on my desk, and opened the box. The three vampires were watching from the doorway.

I gasped when I looked inside the box. Inside was a gold vintage filigree cuff bracelet with large inlaid rubies. It was absolutely stunning. I picked the piece up and inspected the craftsmanship. Though obviously from the 19th century, the bracelet was in immaculate condition. It had been recently cleaned and polished, a delicate task with the amount of beautiful metalwork on the bracelet. The rubies shone in the light, casting shards of red light throughout the room. If I were to ever wear jewelry, something I did rarely, this was the type of piece I would want to wear.

Beneath the bracelet was a folded sheet of paper. I set the bracelet down gently on my desk before pulling the note out. It read:

_I will find your taste, and then you will be mine._

It wasn't signed, but I knew exactly who it was from. I carefully set the bracelet back in the box. Before closing the lid, I tore a sheet of printer paper and wrote my own note:

_A smart man would give up on getting me. Now ask yourself; are you a smart man?_

I folded the paper and placed it in the box before closing the lid. I grabbed my purse and the box and turned out the lights on my way out. When I passed the vampires, I handed Filipe's note to the woman. "You're looking for Filipe DeCastro of Nevada." I handed the box to Idi. "Please send this back to him." Before they could say anything, I was marching right back out the way I had come; up the stairs, through the exterior door, and right back into the town car. Just a few moments later, Idi slid into the seat across from me and the car left the curb without David.

"I am to escort you home."

I nodded. "I'm sorry, Idi." I looked down at my hands so I wouldn't have to look at the confusion on his face. "I was awake when we landed. I did sleep during the flight, it wasn't a complete lie, but I faked it once we landed. I couldn't….I didn't think I could keep it together if I had to deal with him much longer." Neither of us needed to explain who 'him' was. "While I was being a coward, I put you in an awkward position with your boss, and I'm sorry."

The awkward silence made it quite clear he probably hadn't been apologized to by anyone but me in quite a while. That fact made my heart ache for him. "No need to apologize," he said finally.

"Yes there is."

His next tactic was to change the topic. "If you do not tell him what you are angry at him for, he cannot apologize." I shrugged. I knew that obviously. "Will you tell me?"

I shook my head. "That's not a good idea, more awkward positions for you and all."

"Let me handle my King."

I looked up at him, shock on my face. He was smiling, believe it or not. "I wouldn't tell him you said that if I were you."

I looked out the window as we pulled into my driveway. "Do you not think I can?" I left that question unanswered as I pulled myself out of the car. Idi lowered my suitcase to the ground. I reached to take it from him, but he would not let me have it.

"Thanks, but I can pull my own suitcase. I just want to go inside and crawl into bed, OK?"

Idi wasn't having it. "You should let me search your house."

I looked back at the house. Other than the few packages that had been left on the doorstep, the house looked exactly as it did when we left. "Everything looks fine. I'll be fine."

"He is right, you are stubborn." He let go of my suitcase, which allowed me to start pulling it up the icy driveway.

"Goodnight, Idi." Once I had opened the door and pulled my suitcase and the few packages into the foyer, Idi finally got back into the town car and left. I closed and locked the door before trudging up the stairs to my room. I couldn't be tired, but all I wanted to do was fall into bed. I didn't want to sleep, I just wanted to lay in bed for the rest of time. It was my safe spot; no one could get me there.

I dropped my purse and coat on the chair just inside the door and crawled into my bed, only pausing to toe off my shoes. Before I could even get comfortable underneath the covers, a voice came from the corner. "Talk to me."

I screamed as loud as I could, instantly wishing I had let Idi search my house. I pulled the blankets back, shot to my feet, and ran towards the door. I was hoisted into the air before I even made it past the doorframe.

"I will not hurt you, Sloane. I just want you to tell me what I did."

It was David. I finally snapped. I thrashed in the air, screaming and kicking and punching. When he set me down, I didn't run, I just kept screaming and hitting him. I called him every name I could think of (being Irish, I have quite a vivid vocabulary), I kicked him and punched him until I was too tired to move. He stood there and let me beat him without a word. When I was all out of uncontrollable rage, I sunk to the floor and sobbed. He kneeled next to me, unsure of what to do at this point. I swung and slapped him across the face as hard as I could. "Bastard," I said through gasping sobs.

He didn't look even remotely angry about the beating I had just doled out. He looked terrified at my outburst. "Tell me what I have done to deserve such treatment."

He reached out to touch me, which triggered another hysterical response, screaming and kicking at him again. He pulled back immediately. "Don't you dare touch me, you asshole," I screamed at him. More rage bubbled up in me, making me want to hurt him like he hurt me. "I should have let Filipe have me. At least he's never hurt me like you have." I dropped my head to the floor so I could curl into the fetal position again as I sobbed. "You let them get me. While Filipe and Victor had me, you were flirting with the hostess," I managed to get out between gasps.

"Sloane, I…" he started before reaching out again to touch me. He was a slow learner.

I extended one of my legs from the fetal position, connecting with his chest and knocking him back away from me. "Get out of my house."

"I am sorry. I did not know," he said as he stood and walked out of my room backwards. I sobbed on the floor until I had no more tears to shed.


	39. Chapter 39

*****Don't get too excited, I'm still in the middle of finals week. I just needed a small outlet after studying all day and decided to spend that time writing. Don't expect any more until at least after noon on Thursday. Again, thanks for your patience.*****

I roused out of my vegetative state as a face appeared just inches from my own. I squinted, urging my eyes to refocus. I wiped the tears away and looked directly into Lee's face. "What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice rough from sobbing.

"David asked Emma and me to come home. It seems I am the only vampire still allowed in your home," he said in his accented voice. He stood straight up again and waited for me to follow suit. When I didn't, he leaned back on his haunches again. "Are you not well?"

I shrugged, as much as one can shrug when lying on the floor rolled up in a ball. "I'm not sick, if that's what you're asking."

"Are you hurt?" He cocked his head to the side and tried to take inventory of me, my position making it difficult.

I guffawed lightly. "Why, what a philosophical question, Lee," I said, mock surprise in my voice.

He stood straight up again and pulled out a cell phone. "She is not coherent," he said into the speaker. After listening to the person on the other line for a moment, he bent back down to look me in the face, phone still attached to his ear. He sure was getting his exercise for tonight, with all the standing and squatting and standing and squatting. I giggled uncontrollably at the thought. I was fairly sure I was headed for a padded room.

I screamed as he grabbed my face to make me look him in the eye. When he covered my mouth, I started thrashing again. He pulled away and I curled back into a ball. "You must invite Emma in."

I furrowed my brow. "Why?"

"Because you are not well. You need a doctor."

I considered this as he spoke into the phone again, this time in another language. I must not be OK if he felt the need to hide what he was saying from me. Without moving, I did a quick inventory. Nothing hurt, so I wasn't injured again, and I didn't feel sick at all. I was a little chilly, if anything. I watched as he hung up the phone and shoved it in his pocket. "No," I said.

I watched as he stood again and paced the floor. "Why will you not just listen?"

I strained to hear what I was supposed to be listening for. "I don't hear anything."

That caught his attention, for some reason. He stopped mid stride and looked down at me. "You need to listen to us. We know what is best for you."

I furrowed my brow again. "Who?"

He looked at me inquisitively. After watching me for a moment, he disappeared from my view for a moment. When he reappeared, he was carrying my comforter. Good, I was a tad chilly. "I apologize in advance for what I am about to do, but you will not listen and it is obvious you need help I cannot give."

I screamed and thrashed again as he wrapped the comforter around me tightly before throwing me over his shoulder. I could barely move with as tight as he wrapped me up, so I poured all of my energy into screaming. I screamed as he carried me down the stairs and out the door, where David, Emma, and Idi were waiting. Without saying a word, David opened the back door to his car and Lee threw me in. As soon as he put me down, I quieted. David immediately slid into the driver's seat and Emma into the passenger seat. I lay quietly on the back seat, watching her watch me. "Take her to Rum Runners." As soon as we had a direction, David took off.

I went back into my vegetative state during the short drive. I was aware that I was losing it. I was aware that my reaction to Lee was severe and irrational, but it didn't matter to me. I deserved a large freak out after what I've been through. As far as I am concerned, I was way overdue.

It was obvious I wasn't going to get out of the car on my own when we got to Rum Runners. Emma and David were standing on either side of the car, back doors open, debating the best way to get me inside when Idi and Lee arrived. "Let me try," Idi said.

Emma and David both backed away, allowing Idi to lean into my view. "I should have let you search my house," I said.

"Yes," he replied. "Are you going to walk into the bar on your own?" I shook my head no. "Will you let me carry you?" After a moment's hesitation, I nodded yes. I could appreciate his logic. If I wasn't going to walk, someone had to carry me. I couldn't stay in David's car all night.

Slowly, as not to startle me, he lifted me out of the car and carried me in the back of the bar. Emma directed him to set me down on the settee in the office, which is where he put me. He unwound the comforter a bit, just enough to allow me to curl back into my ball. When he was done, he backed away and let Emma lean down to get eye to eye with me.

"Sloane? Do you know where you are?"

I rolled my eyes. I wasn't an idiot, I was losing it. There's a big difference. "Yes. I'm at Rum Runners."

"Good. Do you know why we had to bring you here?"

I giggled uncontrollably. "Lee thinks I'm crazy."

She smiled. When my giggling stopped, she continued. "Yes, good. Now, why won't you let anyone touch you?"

I furrowed my brows. Idi had just touched me, right? I didn't imagine that, did I? I thought about that for several minutes before talking. I wanted to be absolutely sure that I hadn't hallucinated the whole thing before I answered. Emma waited patiently for my answer, but she was the only one. I could see David pacing behind her. "Idi carried me."

"Yes, he did." She sounded surprised. "Why did you let Idi touch you and not David or Lee?"

"Idi never hurt me." It seemed so obvious to me, I couldn't understand why Emma didn't understand.

"So both David and Lee hurt you?" Duh. I nodded yes. "What did Lee do to hurt you?"

"He grabbed me when I wouldn't look at him."

Emma glared over my head before focusing back on me. "What did David do to hurt you?"

"He let Victor Madden strangle me while he flirted with the woman behind the counter. I watched him flirt with her."

Emma spun to face David at true vampire speed. She backed him into a corner while ripping him a new one in a language I couldn't understand. I really needed to learn these languages. When she was done, she turned back to me. "I suppose I am also not allowed to touch you either, then?" I shook my head no. She stood and motioned everyone toward the door. Maybe she was going to take me home? I really just wanted to lose it in peace. Instead, she grabbed a pillow from the opposite end of the settee. I screamed and thrashed again as she lifted my head and tucked the pillow beneath it. I settled back into a ball when she let go. "I apologize for touching you. We are going to leave you in peace. I wish you would get some rest. If you need anything, Idi will be just outside the door."

"OK." I watched as everyone filed out of the room, one by one. Finally, I was alone again. I would have rather been in my room, but this settee was comfortable enough. In no time, I fell back into my vegetative state. At some point after that, I fell asleep.

My entire body was sore when I woke in the same position I had fallen asleep in. I glanced around before even thinking about moving. On the floor in front of me was a 20 ounce Pepsi, which served to remind me how much I had to use the bathroom. The next thing I realized was where I was. I was not at home, which is always a shock to the system. I was still groggy, and I had to think back about how I came to fall asleep curled in a ball in Emma's office wrapped in my own blanket.

Oh shit.

I had a major mental breakdown with Emma, David, Lee, and Idi there to witness.

I pushed myself into a sitting position and opened the Pepsi. Never before in my life have a needed a massage quite this much. I stretched out my muscles one by one and chugged half the Pepsi before standing and moving to the door. I listened just outside the door; I could hear the hustle and bustle of the bar.

Idi was still waiting just outside when I opened the door. "Are you well?" he asked.

"Not quite, I feel shitty." I took another swig of Pepsi and shoved it into his hands. "Hold this, please." He took the bottle from me as I passed on my way to the bathroom.

Once I had used the facilities, splashed some water on my face, and fixed my hair, I emerged slightly more human. When I passed Idi, I grabbed the Pepsi back from him and went out to the bar proper. Emma, Lee, and David were sitting in their usual booth on the lower level. Aside from a few sad looking drunks at the bar and the ever-present gaggle of fangbangers, the place was deserted. I sat next to David in the booth. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked to no one in particular.

David looked at his watch. "Almost 26 hours."

I choked on my last swig of Pepsi. "Excuse me?"

"You fell asleep last night. According to Emile, you did not wake all day," he replied.

I stared at him. "Who's Emile?"

Emma nodded to the gaggle of fangbangers and one hustled over to the table. Long black hair hung limply down her back, hair that was probably naturally blonde. She was wearing little to nothing, all of it black. A black tube top just barely covered her thin, square frame, showing most of her sculpted stomach. A black miniskirt (or maybe it would more appropriately be called a wide belt) was slung low on her hips. The item of clothing that covered the most skin was her platform patent leather knee high boots that laced up the front. She also wore lace fingerless gloves that almost reached her elbows. "Glad to see you up and about." She extended a hand in my direction. "I'm Emile."

I took her laced hand and shook it. "Sloane."

"Oh, I know." Without even breathing, she transitioned into her next thought. "Master David said you liked to drink Pepsi in the morning, so I went out and got you one. I also got some food, but I wasn't sure if you'd be up to eating anything. They weren't specific about what was wrong, only that you didn't feel good." By they, I assume she meant Emma and David. I doubt Lee or Idi cared or knew enough to get me a babysitter.

"Like what?" Actually though, food sounded like exactly what I needed.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I got Cheerios and milk, or Pop Tarts, or bagels and cream cheese…"

I raised my hand to cut her off. "Cereal would be great."

"Let me get it for you." She bowed to the table of vampires before practically skipping into kitchen. I laid my head down on the table.

"How are you feeling?" Emma asked.

Without lifting my head from the table, I groaned. Every muscle in my body ached, and my head was starting to follow suit. "I feel like I got hit by a Mac truck."

After no response from the vampires at the table, I looked up at Emma and Lee. "I'm sorry for freaking out at you two. You didn't deserve that."

Emma responded for the two of them after Emile set a bowl of Cheerios in front of me. "Your reaction was understandable." She glared at David almost too quickly for me to pick up on. Almost.

I had almost finished my cereal before David spoke. "Are you going to apologize to me?"

The entire bench shook as Emma (I assume) kicked her brother beneath the table. "Nope. You deserved it," I responded without looking up from the last bite of Cheerios.

I slurped the last bit of milk from the bottom of the bowl. "Can someone take me home, please?"

David piped up almost before I was done asking. "I will take you home whenever you are ready."

I shrugged. "Alright." I slid out of the booth and stood at the head of the table, waiting for David to follow suit. I turned to Emma and Lee. "Well, thanks for kidnapping me from my home and letting me freak out in a controlled environment." My thank you may have come out a tad sarcastic, but it was heartfelt. I was glad to know Emma cared enough to make sure I was going to be OK, even if she was at the root of the problem in the first place (or at least related to it). I got matching nods from the two of them in response.

Next was Emile. I approached the gaggle of fangbangers and cleared the throat. "Thanks, Emile, for watching me today, and for getting me Pepsi and something to eat."

"Oh, you're so welcome. I just hope you're feeling all better!"

"I am, thank you." I nodded acknowledgement to the rest of the table, who were watching David and Idi follow me around the bar with envious eyes. As far as I was concerned, they could have David. I was keeping Idi, though.

The two vampires then followed me down the back hall and into the office. When they kidnapped me, no one thought to grab me a coat or even a pair of shoes, so I wrapped my comforter around my torso, careful not to drag the ends on the ground and through the snow before approaching the back door. I opened the door and looked outside. A fresh layer of snow was in the process of falling. "Note to kidnappers: take shoes," I mumbled to myself. I turned to David. "Can you bring the car around so I don't completely freeze my feet off?"

"Wait here," he said before disappearing back down the hallway toward the office.

I turned to Idi. "So, is Idriis home yet?" I was never very good at small talk, and admittedly, attempting small talk with a vampire was a stupid idea to begin with.

"He returned last night shortly before dawn."

"So why are you here, then?"

This got more of a response from him. "To protect you."

I smiled at him. "Just because I'm apparently too irresistible for my own good doesn't mean that you forfeit your right to a life. Go home, hang out with Idriis. I'll be fine for one night." He gave me a very disapproving look. "Besides, David's taking me home. He can't sneak up on me that way." The look softened slightly and he bowed to me before leaving without a word. Good, I needed to have a chat with David, one that I wasn't sure Idi needed to hear.

When David returned almost immediately after Idi left, he was carrying the most beautiful pair of shoes, made of the softest winter white leather. "Wear these. I will get the car." Before I could even fully appreciate the shoes, he was back, with the car idling just outside the door. He came to stand next to me and I looked up at him in awe. "These are Farragamos…" He looked at me like I was speaking pig latin. "These aren't shoes, they're art." I carefully dropped the needle-thin stilettos to the ground and slid my feet into them. Not only do Emma and I share a size, we also have the same taste. These shoes were absolute heaven. Was it possible that my whole body felt just a tad bit better when wearing these heels than when I was barefoot?

When I was luxuriating in the feel of my first time in Ferragamos, David was watching me with amused interest. "Should I leave you two alone?"

I glared at him sarcastically. "Men just don't understand." I cuddled the comforter around my shoulders before hustling into the car. He heat was blowing warm air into the car and David had turned on the seat heater for the passenger seat. At least I would be warm during the uncomfortable drive.

David slid into the driver's seat and waited. He looked past me to closed employee entrance. "Where is your body guard?"

"Idi gets nights off, too."

He tried to cover it, but hopeful surprise covered his face as he pulled away. "You agreed knowing that would leave you alone with me."

"Don't get your hopes up over there. We need to set some ground rules."

His face fell. "Ground rules?"

"Yea, ground rules. Number one: I'm going to invite you back into my house, but only because it may become handy at some point. If you ever sneak into my house without my permission ever again, I am permanently revoking your invitation, understood?"

He nodded once with a smirk on his face. "Yes, ma'am."

I sighed. "Nevermind, you're not taking this seriously."

He braked for a red light and looked over at me. "I apologize. I am taking this seriously."

I looked him in the eye, looking for any signs of deceit or mocking. He seemed sincere, but then again I had been told several times by several people that vampires in general were the masters of manipulation. In the end, I had no choice but to trust myself. "Fine. Rule number two: from this point on, I am going to trust my instincts and my visions. You are going to just have to trust that I know better sometimes."

He nodded again, this time genuinely. "Agreed whole-heartedly."

"Good." I took a deep breath and braced for the most uncomfortable part of this conversation. "Just because I agreed to let you drive me home does not mean all is forgiven or that we are back together."

I could hear his heart break in his voice, which tore at my own. "You are leaving me?"

I shrugged and looked out the window. I couldn't take watching the emotion flutter across his face. "No. For better or worse, I'm tied to you permanently now."

"Should you choose to see other men, I would not stop you."

I buried the sarcastic comments that bubbled up before they could pop out of my mouth with a deep breath. I was really learning to control the smartass in me. "I know, but we've tried the whole apart thing. We were both miserable."

"We were," he agreed as he pulled into my driveway.

I opened the door and tread carefully on the slick angled driveway. David circled the car and followed me up to my door, ready to catch me should I slip but careful to not touch me until absolutely necessary. I opened the door that had been left unlocked and stepped inside. "I would prefer I search your house before you go much further," David said from the threshold.

I turned back to him with an innocent smile on my face. "Why? I know where you are." He was not amused. "Fine, come in."

I stood aside and slid off the art on my feet as he whizzed by. In mere seconds, he had searched the entire house and was standing in front of me again. I stepped around him and into the kitchen. My first order of business was to pour myself a Pepsi and grab the bottle of Advil. I swallowed two pills and carried my Pepsi to my bathroom, where I started the hot water running in the tub. I wanted to take a hot bath, throw on some ratty old sweats, and maybe watch a movie. A lazy, at home night. I bumped into David when I turned to grab a new towel. "Can I help you?"

"No." He completely missed the point of the comment.

I rolled my eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I am not leaving you alone while you are in danger."

Oh, thanks for bringing that up. "I figured as much. But what are you doing _here_?" I pointed to the bathroom around me.

"Protecting you."

I shooed him out of the bathroom. "OK, well, do it from the living room." I closed the door (with him on the other side) and grabbed a clean towel before stripping off my clothes and sinking into the hot water. I added a touch of eucalyptus spearmint bath salts to help calm my sore muscles and leaned back into my soak. I was careful to keep my mind occupied; I didn't really want another bath-time vision, at least not just yet.

After a nice soak, I finished my Pepsi and toweled off before pulling on my oldest, rattiest sweats from high school track, my warmest, woolliest socks, and winding my hair more comfortably on the top of my head. I grabbed my empty glass and a pillow and went back downstairs.

David was sitting on the couch in downtime. He jumped almost imperceptibly when I plopped down on the other side of the couch and settled in. That was one nice thing about being smaller in stature; I can easily lie down and still only take up half the couch. I grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels until I found A Charlie Brown Christmas on cable. I'm not usually one for overdoing the holiday season, but it was Christmas Eve, after all.

I had a mild panic attack when I remembered where David and I were supposed to be tomorrow night. I had told my mom that he was coming, and therefore, he had to come. It didn't matter if we had fought or even if he was missing a limb, he was going to be there, or else my mother would have a small fit. "David?"

"Yes?" he said without turning his head to look at me. It was like in all his 128 years, he had never seen A Charlie Brown Christmas. He was enthralled.

"Are you still coming to Christmas with my family tomorrow?"

That had caught his attention enough to pull him away from Schroeder and Pigpen. "Am I still invited?"

It wasn't a matter of being uninvited. "My mom in particular is expecting you. It would be easier to have you there then explain why you didn't end up coming. Not to mention the look on their faces…" I was looking forward to that. It might take them a while to figure it out, especially with David's talent of blending in, but it would come to them. The moment they figure out that David's a vampire will be shortly followed by the realization that he's a mess of trouble. How could I resist?

"You do not think they will like me. Because I am a vampire?" he said as he turned back to Charlie Brown.

I shook my head. "No, I don't think they'll care about that much. They're not going to like you because you're a load of trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool."

He looked at me quizzically. He didn't get my Music Man reference. Oh well, you can't win them all. "What about a pool?"

I laughed. "Nevermind, we'll have to watch that movie next." He shot me one more confused look before turning back to the movie. "David?"

"Yes?" he said again.

"Thanks in advance."

"For?" he asked.

"Coming with me tomorrow."

"Anything for you," he said without looking away from the TV. I sighed. I had a feeling he was missing the point of the whole conversation we had in the car.

I looked at the clock on the mantle. It was almost 2 in the morning. "Merry Christmas, David."

"And a Merry Christmas to you."


	40. Chapter 40

*****Finals are over! Time to get back to Sloane and David.*****

I woke up on the couch to the sound of my phone ringing. It was full daylight, which meant David was no longer here. I ambled over to my purse. It was Sydney.

"Merry Christmas, Syd."

"What the hell happened to you? You were supposed to call me when you got in! I had to call Rum Runners! David said you were fine, but asleep. He didn't even tell you I called, did he? Do you not check your phone?" God, she was worse than my mother.

"I _was_ asleep, Syd."

"You didn't check your phone for two days?"

Oh, she was either going to love this or hate this. "I've mostly been asleep. I only just woke up last night."

"You slept for a day straight? Are you getting sick? Do you need me to come home?" It took almost all I had to not call her mom.

I answered her questions in their respective order. "I did, and I'm not, and you don't have to come home for me."

"So, what's going on?"

I had to do and internal debate on whether or not to tell her about my…episode. "Promise me you're not going to come home because of it?"

"No deal."

I fidgeted. I didn't play that very well at all. "I kind of had a small fight with David on the ride home."

"So far, so good. Then what?"

"Then he kind of snuck up on me in my bedroom, and I snapped."

She gasped in delight. "Did you stake him? Wait, no, I just talked to him yesterday. What did you do?"

"I beat the shit out of him and screamed at him, then uninvited him from our house."

She laughed. "Good for you!"

I let that go. Call it my Christmas present to her. "So, having fun with Gary?"

And she was off and running. I went to the fridge to pour myself a Pepsi and a bowl of cereal. "Yes! He's so sweet! I mean, he knows that I'm from Michigan, and this is just a vacation fling for me, which is good because I'm in no condition to be in a relationship, especially a long distance one."

I took a bite of my cereal as I answered. "Uh huh."

"Are you eating?" she asked as I chewed.

"Uh huh," I replied again.

"Did you just wake up again?" I have no idea why she drew that conclusion. I eat more than once a day. Maybe I only eat on the phone in the morning? But then again, when was the last time I talked on the phone while eating? That could have been years ago.

"Yep," I answered between swallowing my Chex and taking a swig of Pepsi.

"Something _is_ wrong, you're not one of those people."

She sounded worried, I was just confused. "What people?"

"You know, those people who can wake up, then take a nap again. You're just too energetic to sleep that much. How long have you been up since you got home?"

"Total?" I took the time to sum it up as I finished my cereal. Maybe an hour of laying on the floor in my room during my mental break, then another maybe 6 last night. "I don't know, maybe 7 hours. I'm not really keeping track."

"You've been home for almost two full days, and you spent only 7 hours of that time awake. I hope I don't need to explain…"

"I know," I said. I did know.

She sighed. I could see her in my mind's eye rubbing the bridge of her nose as she did. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"I did tell you, I snapped. I guess my body just needed some time to recoup."

She paused. "I'm coming home."

"Syd…"

"Don't even try arguing. I'm calling David as soon as the sun sets and flying back tonight."

"I wish you wouldn't."

"Don't get grumpy with me, little missy. You obviously need me," she responded. "I love you, see you tonight."

"I love you too, hun." I hung up the phone and finished the last swig of Pepsi before pouring myself another glass. From the kitchen, I could see the boxes I had left in the foyer. I walked to them to see who they were addressed to (I would bet they were all for Sydney; I never get packages). As I leaned down to gather the boxes, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. A bundled figure was in my driveway, shoveling snow. I slid on one of the several pairs of tennis shoes whose home was at the front door, pulled the hood of my sweatshirt over my head, and stepped outside. "Hello?"

The bundled form threw the shovel into a giant pile of snow and turned toward me. "Hey, Mac," it said.

I squinted, hoping it would help me discern who was in my driveway. Even then, the only thing I could see was a mass of clothing. The person pulled the hood of their down jacket down and unwrapped a scarf from their face. "Moose?"

"Yea. Merry Christmas!" After surveying the work he had done, he walked back toward the house and me.

"You too. Did you just stop by to shovel my walk?" Color me confused. I couldn't imagine he didn't have anything else better to do on Christmas.

"Nah," he said, laughing. "David O'Hara called, asked me to watch you today." He followed me inside as he shucked more and more of the layers.

I took his coat from him as I threw off my own tennis shoes. "I appreciate you shoveling my walk for me, and even sticking around today, but don't feel you have to. I mean, it's Christmas. Go home and be with your family."

"Don't worry about it. Mind if I start a fire, it's really cold outside."

I shrugged. "Sure. There's fire wood in the garage." I went back to what I was doing, checking out the packages that had come while I was gone. As expected, all were for Sydney. I piled them up and carried them to the small fake tree that we had set up before we left. While I was thinking about it, I turned on the multicolored lights. Now it felt like Christmas.

Moose returned carrying a load of firewood. He expertly built and lit a fire in the seldom-used fireplace, then settled onto the floor in front of his fire. "That's better," he said. "So, what's on for today?"

I sat on the floor next to him to feel the warmth on my back. "Nothing. I'm going to my parents house tonight for our family Christmas with David."

He looked at me with surprise. "He's going to meet your parents, huh? That's a big step in a relationship."

"If there were a relationship, then it would be a big step."

Now not only was surprise in his eyes, but a touch of hope. "You two aren't together anymore? He could have fooled me this morning."

"What made you think that?" I said, anger seeping into my voice.

"Well, first of all, he's in your house while you're asleep. That's trust. Also, he kissed you before he left for the morning."

Trust had nothing to do with it. "Apparently he's slow on the uptake, even though I explained it to him in no uncertain terms."

"That's good to know," he said under his breath. "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? Do you think you'd have some time to help me in the lab?"

I shrugged, ignoring his earlier comment that wasn't meant for me to hear. "I can help. What are we doing?"

"I'm going to leave it a surprise, but I'm sure you'll love it. I got some really awesome samples in. We get to wear some really cool equipment."

My interest was peaked. "Sounds like fun."

When I was sufficiently warmed, I stood. "I'm going to get dressed. Feel free to help yourself to anything you want." He acknowledged my statement with a grunt before I walked upstairs. I was still debating what I was going to wear tonight. I knew David was going to look glamorous and fantastic, even if he ended up just wearing a t-shirt and jeans. That's just the way he is. I decided on a pair of nice jeans and a cardigan set in light blue. As for shoes, I decided on knee-high boots. It was a snowy, miserable winter in Michigan. Knee-high boots are the only thing keeping my legs from freezing off.

When I came back downstairs, Moose was sitting at the kitchen table with a double-decker peanut butter and jelly with an entire bag of chips sitting in front of him. I sat down across from him. "You look nice," he said between bites.

"Thanks."

"So are you going to tell me about this whole wedding thing?"

I started to explain about Eric and Pam, Sookie, and Filipe and Victor. I didn't tell him what Sookie could do, only that she is Eric's date much to the dismay of Filipe. Moose listened closely while finishing off a bag of potato chips. "So Filipe's got the hots for this Sookie, too, huh?" I nodded. "Why can't he just take her? The vampire she's with…"

"Eric," I supplied.

"Yea, him. He's one of Filipe's underlings, right?"

"Yea, but Eric and Sookie are the equivalent of married, so he can't just take her. She has to leave Eric on her own."

"That doesn't mean much, does it?" he asked. I shrugged. And therein lies the problem. "And Filipe has the hots for you, too." I nodded again. "Do you think he'll…"

"He sent a spy to East Lansing to check me out. So, yea." I was fidgeting my hands beneath the table. If I was already uncomfortable, I may as well get everything out and on the table to begin with. "Oh, and someone, probably not Filipe, tried to blow me up."

He stopped eating all together and stared at me. "How?"

"They rigged my limo to blow on the way back from a bar. I guess it completely obliterated the limo." I subconsciously laid my hand over where I had been impaled.

"But you survived, obviously. Did you…see it coming?" He was asking if I had a vision warning me of what was about to happen.

"Not soon enough." I leaned back into the kitchen chair and pulled my cardigan set up to show my silver-dollar sized scar. He leaned over the table to get a better view. "Apparently, it was close."

"What happened?" he asked, concern on his face and in his voice.

I explained how I had the vision just before the limo exploded, and Idi, David and I didn't have time to get far enough away. I left out how I had slit my wrist for David. At this point, I was wishing I had just let him ash away.

Moose was silent as I finished my story, only moving to eat from the bag. He jumped to his feet as he swallowed the last few chips in the bag when there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it."

"Sit, finish your meal. It's only David." I could feel him getting closer almost as soon as the sun set.

"No, I'll get it," he said, pushing me back down in my chair and rushing past me. "It is my job."

I let him go. It wasn't worth it to argue with him. Almost a full minute later, both David and Moose entered the kitchen. Neither of them looked particularly happy. "See you tomorrow, Mac. What time should I pick you up for our date?"

I smiled at him uncontrollably. I knew exactly what he was doing, and I loved it. Nothing was better than playing with David's head. "I'll call when I wake up. That is, of course, if you're not already in my living room."

He winked at me before turning and walking to the foyer. David glanced back and forth at the two of us, me still sitting at the kitchen table and Moose fumbling around in the foyer. Once Moose had rebundled for the cold night, he was out the door, leaving me alone with David.

"I did not realize you were now dating the shifter." He sounded a tad depleted but even more curious.

I smiled, stood, and walked to the small tree. I turned off the lights for the night and grabbed the present I had gotten David before we left for Maryland. I had gotten it for him, I may as well just give it to him. I turned to walk back to him, but he had followed me into the living room and was standing eerily close to me. I took a couple of steps back to give myself some breathing room, then handed him the box. "Merry Christmas."

After thanking me, he opened the box. Inside was a light blue cashmere sweater exactly like the one I got blood on months ago. On top of the sweater was a note I wrote:

_Hopefully I don't ruin this one, too._

He smiled at me before taking off the black sweater he was wearing and replacing it with the new one. As always, he looked fantastic. Along with the shiny black shoes and the flat front black slacks, he looked like a GQ model.

But I wasn't thinking about that now. I cleared all those thoughts from my mind. "Are you ready to go?"

He didn't say anything, instead flourishing an arm in the direction of the door. I took that as a yes and slid on my coat. He followed me out the door.

I tucked myself into the passenger seat of his Mercedes after placing the presents for my parents in the back seat. As soon as I buckled my seatbelt, we took off. "How do you know where you're going?" I asked.

"DeCastro is not the only one with spies," he responded. I was taken aback. Filipe spying on me was one thing, David doing it was a whole other thing. Never before has he been so unabashedly vampire in front of me. "Am I to play the part of your boyfriend?"

"Yes." My whole body shivered as the seat warmer warmed the chill from my body. "I hope you ate," I said as an afterthought.

"I did," he replied.

The rest of the relatively short drive to Okemos was silent. We passed the overpriced restaurants and shopping malls on our way to the large, sprawling neighborhood. Without any direction from me, he pulled into the driveway of the oversized two story house I called home for 18 years. I slid out of the car. Before I could grab the presents for my parents, David had circled the car and grabbed them for me. He wrapped his other arm around my shoulders. I took a deep breath and allowed it.

I rang the doorbell. My mom answered the door, apron still around her plump waist. Her perfectly highlighted brown hair had recently been cut short and her nails professionally done. As always, she was smiling from her mouth all the way up to her shining brown eyes. "Sloane! I was wondering when you were going to make it. Come in, you two!"

David followed me in the door and we both peeled off our coats. "Mom, this is David. David, my mom."

I about burst out laughing when David greeted my mom, pulling out his full Irish accent for good measure. "A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. McIntosh." There was something very wrong about a 128 year old vampire being so formal to a 'mere human'.

Mom swooned. "Please call me Kendra. Can I get you two something to drink? Your grandfather sent a few bottles of Sauvignon Blanc from the vineyard."

"Sure, I'll have a glass," I said.

"None for me, thank you," David said.

I walked into the impeccably decorated living room, where my dad was sitting in his chair watching TV. My dad was the exact opposite of my mom. At the same height as David, he was an impressive man. The fire-red hair he had at my age was slowly lightening as he aged, now a light strawberry blond. The full beard he had worn since, well, I can remember was finally starting to show some gray. Even in his fifties, he was strong and fit. He still looked like an authentic Irish farm hand, like he would be more comfortable in jeans and waterproof boots than the grey slacks, white button down, and yellow sweater he was in. "Dad, this is David."

My dad stood and extended a hand in David's direction. Much to my surprise, David took it. "Nice to meet you, David," my dad said. "I'm John."

I sat in the spot that had always been my own when I had lived here. David sat down next to me as my mom handed me a glass of white wine. I was already regretting the decision to come over. Maybe I could fake an illness? No, I'd never hear the end of it.

"So, David, what do you do?" my mom asked as she sat down on her chair next to my dad's. She was wasting no time in starting her mind games.

"My sister and I own several properties around the Lansing area."

That caught my dad's attention. "Like what?"

"Rum Runners, The Post, a few apartment buildings in downtown Lansing, Stadium District Condos, among others," he answered. Wow, I had no idea he owned most of Lansing.

My mom was the first to put two and two together. "David O'Hara?"

He looked surprised. "Yes, you've heard of me?"

"You were on the news a few months ago, you were targeted in those Fellowship of the Sun attacks." I hadn't known that that had been such big news, but then again, I had bigger problems at that point.

The last clue tipped my dad off. "You're a vampire?" My dad looked at me, gauging my surprise at the statement. Like I hadn't known. I smiled widely at him.

"I am," David said.

I looked over at my mom, whose jaw had dropped. "Did you two know each other before the FOTS attack?" she asked when she recovered.

"For about a week at that point," I answered.

And, shortly after the realization that David was a vampire, my mom realized he was trouble. "I think dinner's ready," she said before practically running back into the kitchen.

My dad went straight back to watching what was on TV, which of course was ESPN. He always took news in better stride than my mom did. He had more of a live-and-let-live view of life. "How do you think the Spartans will do this year?" he asked David.

"We lost some good players, but I think we will bounce back. The new big Garrick Sherman is doing well against the smaller out of conference teams, but he is not yet large enough to deal with the bigs of the Big Ten," David responded without pausing.

"I'm interested in seeing him against the Big Ten, too. When's their first in conference game?" asked my dad.

"We play Northwestern on January second at their arena and return home to play Wisconsin at home on the sixth."

"That Wisconsin game should be a good one."

"Indeed. My sister and I have season tickets to the men's games, yet we never go. You are welcome to the tickets."

"Wait, you have men's basketball tickets? You never told me this," I asked.

He grabbed my hand and kissed the back of my palm. "I do. Would you like to go?"

I didn't even care about the inappropriate touching on David's part. I was excited to see a game in person. "Yea!"

My mom's voice floated down the hallway. "Sloane, I need your help in the kitchen."

I stood and David followed suit. "Stay here, she wants to drill me," I said as I pulled my hand back from his grip. He sat back down and I made my way into the kitchen with my glass of wine. "Yes, mom?" I could still hear the conversation going on in the living room, so I was positive David could hear this conversation, as well.

"He's not good for you," she said in a low voice as she topped the lasagna with a last layer of cheese before popping it back in the oven. At least she made my favorite.

I looked her dead in the eye as I leaned against the island, watching her work. "I know." I felt a pang of sadness that wasn't my own; David could hear this conversation and was listening intently.

"Then why are you with him?" she asked emphatically.

I dropped my gaze to the lasagna. In truth, I wasn't really with him, but just a few days ago, I had been. In the grand scheme of things, nothing that major had happened in my life with vampires to change my world view that much. "I'm happy when I'm with him, and I think he loves me." At least that was the truth.

"Are you really happy?" God Damn, she is perceptive.

I shrugged before she turned and opened the oven to return the lasagna. "We had a fight, so I'm less than happy with him right now. But we've tried the whole apart thing before. We were both miserable."

That caught her attention. "Do you two fight a lot?" She pulled the oven mits and apron off as I took a large sip of my wine.

I laughed lightly. "We're both very strong willed." That was an understatement. I refilled my wine and returned to the living room before she could ask any more questions. David and my dad were in the middle of a heated conversation. From what I could tell, it might be about professional football, but then again, it could be about Olympic luge. The only sports I pay attention to are MSU sports.

The conversation ceased as I sat back in my spot next to David. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close so he could whisper in my ear. "Of course I love you," he whispered before kissing my temple.

I tried to pull away casually. "Eavesdropper," I replied.

Several minutes passed before mom came back into the living room. "Dinner's ready." She looked at David and then looked mildly abashed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't have anything for you."

"I ate before I came," he replied.

She immediately scanned my neck for bite marks. When she didn't find any, she turned her back to us and went back into the kitchen, dad and I following. Silently, she served three plates of lasagna and salad. David followed the three of us into the dining room and sat at the table with us while we ate. He was surprisingly good at small talk, especially for a vampire. I stayed mostly quiet, only answering questions when directly asked. "Are you ready for your gifts?" my mom asked.

"I guess," I answered. I stood and made my way to the formal living room where the tree always stood. As expected, the 9 foot tree stood with lights twinkling, still wrapped and already opened presents alike beneath it. David followed closely behind me, and my parents behind him. My first order of business was distribute my gifts to my parents. They both thanked me profusely for their gifts; tickets to a jazz festival for my dad and a necklace with a handmade glass pendant with matching earrings for my mom. Next was my turn. My mom got me a winter white wrap (I tend to freeze in the winter, no matter how high I turn the heat at my place) and my dad got me the Shoot Em Up Blu-Ray (I'm a sucker for Clive Owen). I sighed and leaned into the backrest of the loveseat. As much as I loved my parents and my gifts, I was getting tired of the tension in the room.

"Sloane, dearest, we must get going soon if we are going to be at my sister's house." He stood and turned his back to my parents so he could offer me a hand. When I didn't take his hand immediately, he added, "unless you would like to stay here and skip visiting Emma and Lee. I know she has been looking forward to seeing you since she returned from her honeymoon." I quickly took his hand before he retracted my get out of jail free card all together.

"Oh, did your sister recently get married?" Either my mom was playing dumb, or the wine was getting to her head.

"It was more of a vow renewal, mom," I answered.

Finally, she put it together. "Oh, it was her wedding that you were in. That was a short honeymoon."

"It was not their first, nor, hopefully, will it be their last," David said, as if that answered any implied questions. I guess it was better than the real reason David called them back. As much as Sydney didn't need to know about the extent of my break down, my parents didn't need to know about it at all. "Well, we should be going." He turned to my parents and, with a smile, said, "126 years, and Emma still has not developed any patience."

My parents weren't quite sure what do to with that comment. Before they could recover, we were halfway out the door. "Bye mom and dad," I called over my shoulder before I closed the front door.

I stashed my gifts in the back seat of David's car before stashing myself in the passenger seat. I took a deep breath before David pulled out of the winding driveway. I was glad that was over. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, but they are from another world, a perfectly suburban world. I couldn't really relate to them anymore. "Your father is quite amiable, but your mother dislikes me."

"Yep." No sense in denying what he already knew. "So where are we going?" I asked as he weaved through the neighborhood.

"Where ever you would like to go."

I looked over at him. "I thought we were going to Emma and Lee's. I was really asking where that would be."

"I apologize, but I lied to your parents. I could feel how uncomfortable you were there."

"Oh, so _now_ you're spying on my feelings," I said under my breath. I don't really know why I bothered to be so quiet with my snide remark, it's not like he couldn't hear it even as such a low volume.

He let that comment go. "However, I am sure Emma and Lee would be delighted to see you."

I looked at the dashboard clock; it wasn't even 9:30 yet. "Did Syd get a hold of you?"

"She did. She will arrive home around 11," he said as he turned west on Grand River Avenue. We were heading back towards Lansing and East Lansing. "Where to, my beautiful Queen?"

"Stop it, I'm not your beautiful anything."

"Ah, but you do agree that you are beautiful," he said with a smug look on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "Just take me home. Emma and Lee can come to me, if they…" Before I could finish my sentence, I got a vision. Sookie was crouching in the sunlight, trowel in hand, weeding a large garden. I could feel the sunlight on her back and the weight of the trowel in her hand, but I couldn't hear the wind or the subtle rustling of the nature that surrounds her home. In fact, I couldn't hear anything. Even the ambient noise of David's driving was gone. I may as well have been in a vacuum.

I physically jumped as something startled Sookie. Terrified, she turned quickly, thrusting the trowel up and into the person responsible for startling her. I was sure I yelped as the trowel slid into his abdomen, but I couldn't hear it. Before the impaled man hit the ground, I was back in David's dark car. I was gripping the seatbelt across my chest with both hands.

"If they…" David repeated. I jumped as he reached and touched my arm. "You are safe, I am here."

I didn't respond to him at all. Instead, I feverishly searched my purse for my phone. When I found it, I called Sookie's cell phone. After ringing 6 times, it went to voicemail. "Dammit," I said as I Googled Merlotte's Bar and Grill in Bon Temps, Louisiana (thank God for iPhones). Luckily, it was listed in the Yellow Pages. I called that number next, again to no avail. I was running out of options. Where would Sookie be late Christmas day? Somewhere where she wouldn't be answering her cell phone? "Do you have Eric's cell number?" I asked David.

"I do," he answered as he handed me his cell phone. I scrolled through his contacts, finally stopping at 'Northman'. I hit the call button.

"Yes," Eric answered.

"Is Sookie with you?" I cut straight to the heart of the matter.

"Who is this?"

"Sloane. Is she with you?"

"She is not. Is she in immediate danger?" he asked.

"I don't know. Just have her call me when you see her, OK?" I hung up before he could answer and pulled my phone back out. The best I could do was text her and hope she got it before she decided to do any gardening.

_Call me ASAP. Trouble._

"What did you see?" David asked.

"Sookie sticking someone with a garden trowel." I checked my phone for any sign of response. There was none. "I don't know what it means."


	41. Chapter 41

****A few notes about this chapter:  
1) There's a spot where this chapter gets somewhat technical. I tried to keep the technical jargon down to an absolute minimum, but don't worry too much of you don't get it.  
2) Moose's point of view takes over at the end of this chapter. I will be flipping between him and Sloane for the next couple of chapters.  
Enjoy!!****

I was much happier now that Sydney was home. When I woke up the day after Christmas, my life was (mostly) back to normal. Sydney had my Pepsi and cereal all set up when I ambled down the stairs, her in her usual chair with a paperback. "Well, you're in a good mood today," she said as she peaked over her book at me.

"I just missed you," I answered sarcastically. It was true, though. I was in a good mood. I sat at my usual spot at the kitchen table and finished what Sydney had set out for me.

"What's your plan for the day?"

I told her about the mystery lab experiment I was going to run with Moose. "Speaking of, I told him I'd call him when I woke up, but I have to take a shower first." I deposited my empty dishes in the sink and practically skipped back up the stairs.

When I was clean and clothed, I called Moose. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hey Moose. I'm up and ready for our date whenever you are."

"Awesome. I'll pick you up in a half hour?"

"OK, see you then." I tied on my tennis shoes and went back downstairs. Sydney had disappeared, off to do whatever she had planned for the day. I was soon to follow.

Before I could even set my phone down on the table to pack my bag, it rang again. I looked at the caller ID; it was Sookie.

"Hey, are you OK?" I answered.

"Yes, I'm fine. You scared the bejesus out of Eric," she answered.

I shrugged. So? I cut straight back to what I had seen last night. "You aren't planning on doing any gardening soon, are you?"

She paused. "No."

I told her what I saw. "If you were scared enough to stab first, ask questions later, something was going wrong. I just thought you should know."

"OK, thanks for the warning. How was your Christmas?"

"Just fine, David and I went to my parent's house. And yours?"

"Just delightful," she answered, smile in her voice. I smiled with her.

"Well, I have to go. Be careful."

"You too."

I felt instantly better that Sookie had been warned. I did my good deed for the day.

"So are you going to tell me what we are doing today, or am I going to have to guess?" I asked as I unlocked the lab and switched on the lights.

"You know that new bug no one can get their hands on?" he asked, as excited as a school boy on Christmas morning.

"Yes…"

"I got some!" He grabbed two small cryovials from the biofreezer, careful to handle them with care and only while wearing gloves.

"You got some dead flu? How?" I asked. Dead flu was the newest pathogen circling the globe, and was horribly misnamed. The word 'flu' implies that the disease is caused by a virus, where it was believed that dead flu was caused by a parasitic bacterium. While generally harmless to your average humans (rarely even causing any symptoms), it was deadly to any vampires within a matter of hours. With such a new pathogen, there were more unanswered questions than answered questions. For example, scientists still don't know how the bacterium is transmitted to vampires or the exact action of killing.

"I have a friend at Sparrow Hospital who owes me a favor." He pulled two plastic bags from his drawer and tossed one at me. I opened it; it had all the gear necessary to deal with such a deadly pathogen. I put on the face mask as the disposable lab coat, followed by our usual latex gloves. I had already pulled my hair back into a tight bun at the base of my head. I was ready.

"So what am I doing?" I asked Moose when he handed me a cryovial.

"You're going to help me with my plasmid prep." He was going to look for common pathogenic plasmid DNA or pathogenicity islands. I doubted he'd find anything, but sometimes no result is more interesting than getting results.

It took several hours, but we were finally ready. I was transferring the liquid containing our DNA segments into smaller tubes when I felt a sudden sharp pain in my chest. It felt almost like when I had the vision about being shot in my backyard, but did not hurt nearly as much. That said, the shock of it still caused me to drop the pipette and the empty tube and clutch at my chest.

Moose turned to me immediately, steadying me with one hand on my upper arm. "Mac, you OK?"

I was not OK. I could have sworn I was falling. It felt like, despite the fact I was fighting to stay in the here and now, something was pulling me into unconsciousness. It felt like David's stunt to get me some sleep months ago. It felt like a heavy sedative. "I'm fine," I said as I grabbed the lapels of his lab coat as a last ditch effort to hold onto consciousness. "Don't call an ambul…" Before I could finish my sentence, I was gone.

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Mac's eyes slid closed. "Don't call an ambul…" she murmured before her knees went weak.

Luckily, I had fast reflexes, or else Mac would have ended up as a heap on the floor. I braced my arm around her waist and pulled her toward me, using my other hand to lay her head against my chest lightly. Despite my cool exterior, my interior was screaming. I'm pretty sure Mac's last wish was that she didn't want me to call an ambulance. I was alone with a woman who, for no visible reason, just fainted. Calling an ambulance would have been one of my first moves. I pulled the face mask off of her.

I stood motionless holding Mac to me for what felt like hours trying to figure out what do to. "Mac?" I said gently into her hair, hoping the sound of my voice calling her name would rouse her. No such luck. I tried again, and again, no luck. I could feel her rhythmic breathing against my chest. The rational part of me knew that breathing was a good sign and started looking for other heath cues, but all the irrational part of me could do was enjoy the moment. She smelled so good. I couldn't help but picture our bodies pressed together in a whole other way…

I stood planning my next move until I was startled out of my contemplations. "Am I interrupting?" I heard from the door. I whipped my head around, careful not to disturb Mac. David O'Hara was leaning against the doorframe, hands in his pockets. His face looked completely disinterested.

I held my hand out in a 'stop' motion when he moved to take a step forward. "Don't come in here." Before I could explain why he was being banished from the lab, Mac's head slid down my chest. I moved to catch her. "We've been working with dead flu in here. You need to stay out of here."

He stepped back and exposed his fangs. "What is wrong with her?" he asked.

I shook my head in frustration. "I don't know, she grasped at her chest, said, 'I'm fine, don't call an ambul…' and fainted." As much as I wanted to, I could stand here just holding her until she woke up. I shifted her upper body so I could lace my arm underneath her knees and lifted her into my arms. I just wasn't sure what I was going to do with her now.

I considered my options. I could take her to one of our places, but that would mean possibly contaminating a larger area with dead flu. A rumor had been circulating among the shifter population that shifter children had a higher incidence of symptoms after exposure to dead flu, and I wasn't about to expose my niece. I'm sure that Mac wouldn't want to expose any of her vampire buddies to the bug, either. Another option was to take her to the student lounge, which had a couch. On the downside, if anyone came in and saw her passed out on the couch, they might start to question. But it was the day after Christmas, and no one was going to be here. It was most likely just the three of us in the whole building.

In the split second it took me to analyze my options, David had contemplated Mac's condition. "I believe she is having a vision. She has done this once before, when she was shot. Her breathing is normal, so I am not concerned."

I nodded. "OK, you need to stay at least…" I thought what would be an appropriate distance that he would also agree to. I mean, the next state wasn't far enough away from her for me, but I doubt he'd agree to that. "Stay at least 6 feet from either of us, we might be carrying it. Don't touch anything we touch, and don't stay too long." He nodded as I passed him carrying Mac, her body completely limp. Luckily, the door to the student lounge is rarely closed and never locked. I was able to walk right and in set her down. Again, O'Hara stood against the door frame. "Why are you here?" I asked him.

"To monitor Sloane." He answered. He had been watching her like a hawk ever since she had her supposed break down, looking for any signs of trouble. He was concerned enough to even call me away from my family on Christmas day so I could watch her.

"She's doing fine when you're not around. Have you considered that you hanging around her probably isn't helping? Weren't you the root cause of her meltdown?" I didn't think before that came out of my mouth, it just did. I regretted it immediately.

"I have," he answered.

I looked at him with surprise. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you…why did you come?"

"She is vulnerable right now and should be protected. It is the least I can do for her."

I nodded. He considered her his responsibility. "You're going to have to leave her with me tonight. I don't want to be responsible for killing the most liked and respected vampire in the state of Michigan."

Without saying anything, he turn and was instantly gone. I turned back to Mac. She looked almost angelic in her sleep, which made me laugh. You'd never guess the hell she can cause. Her hair was starting to fray out of her bun and I brushed the few stray strands out of her face. I sat on the floor at the head of the couch, watching her closely for any signs of distress. She continued to breathe normally, her skin staying the perfect shade of pale pink. I pulled her latex gloves off and felt the skin of her hands. She was warm, but not overly so.

She startled me when she gasped as her eyes shot open.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

From blackness, there was light.

My eyes shot open. When they finally adjusted to the light, I could see I had been moved to the dingy student lounge. I could also see that Moose was sitting extremely close to me. "Jesus, Mac. Never do that to me again," he said clutching his own chest this time.

I felt at my chest with my hands, which had been ungloved. I was back to normal. "No promises," I answered.

"How you feeling?" he asked me, taking a chance to look me over head to foot.

"I'm fine, it was just a vision. I've had one like that before, they're not a huge deal."

"That's what O'Hara said, when you were shot. What did you see?"

"When did you talk to David about this?" I assumed that was the O'Hara he was talking about. This whole males-only-call-people-by-their-last-names thing is really confusing.

"He stopped by to check on you just after you fainted."

I scowled. "I'm sure he did," I said under my breath.

"So, what did you see?" he asked again. He was less interested in my annoying quirk and more concerned about any upcoming trouble.

"Nothing, those are all about what I feel." I explained. "I felt like someone shot me in the chest with a paintball gun and then shot me full of sedatives."

He paused. "So, what does that mean?"

I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. As far as visions go, those are the least helpful."

He laughed. "Great."

I pushed myself off the couch with ease. "Did you finish the plasmid prep?" I asked. Vision or no vision, I still needed to finish my (or Moose's) work.

"Nope, I was more worried with you."

I rolled my eyes. "Silly. Shall we?" I headed out the door and back into the lab. Everything had been left exactly as it was. I put the discarded face mask back on and got a new pair of gloves.

"We were almost done, why don't you just let me finish and sit down," Moose said as he pulled one of the rolling computer chairs away from the desk and pushed it toward me.

"Don't be ridiculous, I can't let this rule my life. Anyway, I feel fine." I picked the pipette up off the floor, changed the tip, and grabbed a new vial. Without another word, I finished partitioning the samples, handing every third vial to Moose for loading onto the gel. Within 15 minutes, I had stashed the extra sample in the deep freezer and Moose had loaded and set the gel to run overnight. Once everything had been sufficiently cleaned, we bundled up to head home.

"Oh, um, you might want to shower pretty thoroughly when you get home and wash everything you're wearing. I may have contaminated you when you collapsed," Moose said as we walked out of the warm building into the freezing cold. I was glad that Moose had parked close to the building.

"Will do." I wrapped my scarf around my neck and pulled down my cap. The temperature was dropping fast.

I stopped mid tracks just before crossing the street. I had a very bad feeling all the sudden. "Are you alright?" Moose asked.

I didn't answer because I was seeing what was about to happen, too bad it was way too late to even help. "Run," I whispered.

Moose wrapped a protective arm around my waist. "What's wrong?"

I pushed him away. "RUN!" I yelled at him as I turned. Before I could run myself, two sharp pains, right after another, shot through my chest. I was having a replay of the vision that drew me into unconsciousness earlier, only this time it was real. I dropped to my knees as I heard Moose grunt in pain behind me. Black was fading in on me fast.


	42. Chapter 42

I woke up to utter darkness, the rocking of the back of a large car, and the smell if cigars and wet dog. I tested the movement of my arms and legs. The good news was I could feel and move my limbs. The bad news was I was completely bound, unable to use any of that utility. My arms were bound behind my back, which was not only painful, but also made it harder to protect myself. I knew my eyes were open, so I tried to shake the darkness from my eyes. I could feel the fabric rustling against my face and neck as I did. I panicked about my current situation and screamed, which was shortly followed by quick slap across the face. "Shut up, bitch," came a voice from across the car. I did as I was told; screaming did me no good. Someone raised the bag over my head just enough to duct tape my mouth closed. I tried to fight, but with my ankles bound and my hands tied behind my back, I wasn't very effective. I did earn another slap across the face, though.

"What makes them special?" asked a voice in the car. Them?

"Shut up, Mark," said another voice.

Another voice charmed in. "She's kinda hot. Are you sure we were supposed to bring the dude, though?" What 'dude'? Was Moose here too? Or David? Idi? I needed to know. I started to struggle against my bindings quietly, but it was no use. I wasn't getting anything but rope burn.

"Everyone just shut up," said the one in command again.

I started to struggle harder when I felt the 'dude' next to me rouse from his sleep. I could feel his body go stock stiff, then I could feel his arms move as he tried to free his hands like I had. "Mac?" said Moose next to me. With the tape across my mouth, all I could do was mumble.

I could hear Moose grunt as something hit him hard. "No talking," said the one in command again. The rustling next to me made me think that Moose was getting the same tape treatment as I did. "We're almost there."

Oh, shit, I was running out of time. I needed to assess what my options were. It didn't take me long to figure out I had none.

The car pulled off the highway and started to slow. Minutes after that, it came to a complete stop and two hands grabbed each of my arms and hauled me out of the car. Despite my coat, scarf, and hat being taken from me, I wasn't all that cold. Just as soon as I got my footing, my captor knocked my legs out from under me, causing me to drop to my knees. I moaned as that tore through my jeans and scrapped both my knees. "Bow to your new king," said a familiar voice as the bag was pulled from my face. In front of me stood Victor Madden and behind him was Filipe himself.

"_Mi mariposa_, how nice to see you again." Filipe approached me, completely ignoring Moose in the process. He pulled the tape from my mouth. "Have you been mistreated?" He grabbed my chin and turned my head to the side to see where I had been slapped. "She was not to be touched," he said to everyone and anyone that was standing behind me. "I apologize again for the actions of others. You were not to be harmed in the process."

"Fuck you," I said as steadily as I could as I starred him in the eye.

He backed away from me slowly before turning to the leader of my captors. It was slowly becoming obvious to him that being sweet 1) wasn't fooling me, and 2) wasn't getting him anywhere. "Get rid of the shifter, then I will pay you."

Two shifters grabbed each of Moose's arms. "No!" I screamed as I fought against my bindings even harder. "Stop!"

Filipe held a hand out in a stop motion and the two captors paused. He walked toward me. "You wish for me to keep the shifter alive?"

I knew where this was going, but I had no choice. "Yes."

"Bring him," said Filipe. He pulled me to my feet. "I will expect payment for my generosity at a later date," he whispered into my ear. I shivered at the thought.

The one captor that wasn't hauling Moose flipped my over his shoulder and followed behind everyone else. He dropped me into a plush, padded seat in a small jet next to Filipe and across from Moose. Victor was forced to sit next to Moose. After collecting a large envelope from Victor, my kidnappers left the plane. It was just two vampires, a shifter, and a seer left.

It seemed like we were in the air before I could blink. "Are you going to behave?" asked Filipe.

"Probably not," I answered.

"I wish you would, I feel you would be more comfortable were your hands free." Filipe turned to Moose and roughly pulled the tape from his mouth. Luckily, Moose was clean shaven, or else that would have really hurt. "What is your name?"

"Mustafa," he answered

Victor shuffled though the pages of a small binder. "The coworker," he supplied to anyone that was listening. He tossed the binder aside and picked up a filthy bag and handed it to Filipe. It was my purse.

"Let us see what Ms. McIntosh carries with her." He pulled my wallet and out and looked at my license. "So photogenic," he said as he tossed it aside. Next he pulled out two different tubes of lip gloss (one medicated, one purely for show) and after smelling each one, tossed them aside as well. Next he pulled out my iPhone. He scrolled through my contacts for a while. "You and Sookie Stackhouse are close?"

"We had breakfast," I answered. It wasn't an answer at all; I wanted Filipe and Victor in the dark as long as possible.

"You called her last night, and she you this morning."

"I was calling to wish her a Merry Christmas but she didn't answer. She called me back later." I was lying through my teeth, as necessary. I looked across to Moose, who was watching me with apologetic intent. Being captured by at least 3 apparently Army-trained kidnappers was not his fault at all. I smiled back at him, hoping it would ease his mind.

"I will keep this." Filipe said as he shoved my phone into his front pants pocket. He continued to pull odds and ends out of my purse, tossing them aside when he deemed them unimportant. When he pulled the canister of vampire mace from the bottom of my purse, he hissed and handed it to Victor. He said nothing, only glared at me with triumphant glee. I couldn't look at him anymore; I focused on the blackness out the small port window.

"Are you feeling OK, Mac?" Moose asked quietly. "You look flushed."

I did an internal check. I was feeling a bit sore, but that was expected after being kidnapped. I also had a headache, which could have easily been a product of being drugged with some unknown sedative. I was also feeling quite tired and weak, but I had been constantly struggling against my restraints since I woke up. That was also to be expected. "I'm as fine as I could be in this situation," I responded.

"Enough, my King. We should administer the treatment." Victor was getting impatient. I couldn't understand why, it's not like he had anywhere else he could be.

"Patience, Victor, no need to resort to the serum if there is no point. We will ask kindly first." He turned my shoulders to better face him and, without letting go, politely asked, "_Mi mariposa_, tell me what you are." Victor pulled a small syringe from a briefcase and handed it to Filipe. "I would hate to have to coerce you. I am aware of how much you dislike needles."

I started feeling very sick to my stomach at the sight of the syringe. I closed my eyes to try and stem off the flow of nausea.

"Will you tell me?" He asked.

I wasn't sure I could open my mouth to answer without throwing up. I shook my head no without opening my eyes.

"Then you give me no choice." He handed the syringe back to Victor so he could reach around me and untie my hands. He smelled like cinnamon sugar and freshly cut grass. He pulled my arms back around and examined the rope burns around my wrists. I could have fought him, but where would that get me? I'd still be locked in a small plane a mile above ground with him. I let him kiss the insides of both of my wrists. When he then wanted to strap my wrists to my chair however, I started to fight. I threw my legs about, which were still tied together and tried to rip my arms from his grip. It was no use, between both the vampires, they could easily overpower me. In no time, my arms were strapped to the chair with leather buckles, wrists up.

Victor approached me with the syringe and I screamed and fought for all I was worth. He pushed me back in the chair with one arm. "Hold still." I screamed one last time when he plunged the syringe into my arm, all of my muscles were tight. "It should take a few minutes to become effective."

"What did you just inject her with?" Moose yelled as he struggled against his restraints.

I was having a hard time holding on to this reality. I couldn't be sure, but I thought that Victor answered, "A 'truth serum' of sorts, made especially for her by the Fae." My hands slowly loosened from their balled up state as my muscles relaxed.

I watched from the outside in as my mind foggied, absolutely nothing I could do about it. Moose dropped to his knees in front of me. I could tell he was talking to me, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. All I could hear was a conversation in a language I couldn't understand. "Ne zapusti," I repeated aloud. I had no idea what it meant or what language it was in, but I repeated it just as the woman's voice did.

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I dropped to my knees in front of her and leaned against her legs. "It's OK, Mac, you're OK. You have to stick with me." I examined her face. She was pinker than normal, her cheeks flushed. A slight sheen of dew covered her skin.

Her head rolled back and landed on the plush headrest. "Ne zapusti," she whispered.

The second in command lifted me out of the way and threw me back in my chair before grabbing Mac's face. Her eyes were open, but completely blank. There was no recognition in them at all. She didn't even see him. She was seeing something else entirely. "What are you?" he asked.

Obviously, she didn't answer. She couldn't even hear him. He shook her, but again she didn't respond. "Victor," said the King as a warning. "How many times must I tell you? She is not yours to punish."

He let go of Mac and she fell limply back into her seat. "Yes, my King," he said with a mocking tone. He went back to his seat to allow the King to give it a try.

"My Sloane. I order you to answer me. What are you?" He said.

Surprising all of us, she responded. Too bad no one knew what she was saying. "Prosim, pomagajte mi."

He turned to me. "What did she say?"

I shrugged. "What? I'm foreign so you assume I speak all languages? I have no idea."

He turned back to her and hit her hard enough to split her lip. Her head rocketed to the side, but other than that, she had no reaction. I hoped that she couldn't feel it. He righted her head and hit her again, this time connecting with her eye socket and leaving a bleeding slit over her eyebrow. I didn't think I could watch much more of this. When she didn't respond again, he ripped her arms free of the bindings as grabbed her neck, lifting her out of the chair. I struggled to free my hands, to do something to be able to help her. I was making leeway in freeing my hands, but not in time. He lifted her into his arms and after extending his fangs, tilted her neck to the side. "Don't!" I yelled. He paused for a second, but in the end, my plea didn't stop him. When he leaned back down and nestled his head in the crux of her neck. "Stop, I think she has dead flu," I pleaded again. He dropped her, letting her crumble to her knees, and backed away. He didn't look convinced, but he was smart enough to play it safe. Still, I nailed the point home. "We were working with it before we were kidnapped, I think she was exposed." I turned my back to the vampires, presenting my still bound hands. "Untie me, let me see. Let me help her."

I felt the bindings around my wrists loosen and fall away. I didn't know which vampire let me free of my bindings and I didn't care. I dropped to my knees next to Mac and gently felt her forehead, careful not to hurt her. She felt hot, even to me. As soon as I touched her, her entire demeanor changed. Her previously relaxed, absent look turned into straight fear and she backed away from me and into exterior wall of the plane. Her eyes were still unseeing and unfocused. She was still having a vision. A tear fell down her cheek, combining with a small trickle of blood that had worked its way down her cheek as well. I untied both her and my ankles before approaching her again, setting my hand gently against her neck to feel her pulse. Her pulse was strong but fast and she was shivering lightly.

"Is she infected?" asked the second in command. He was not concerned for her health or even unphased. He almost sounded thrilled.

I looked at the second curiously. "She's definitely sick," I answered. I could hear her breathing quicken, which accentuated a slight wheeze.

The King was furious, but knew better than to approach her, especially while she was bleeding. As long as I stayed near her, I was also relatively safe. Not to mention, that made it several times easier to protect her. The two vampires sat as far away from her as possible. With my back to them and facing Mac, I whispered, "Come on, snap out of it." I had nothing to do for the foreseeable future but sit here and watch Mac slowly deteriorate.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

The first thing I remember after being injected with an unknown liquid was Victor sitting across from me in relative darkness, watching me with joy. "Mac?" I heard from beside me. I turned my head as contrast returned to the rest of my vision. Moose and I were both sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall of a small jet. I felt like shit from head to toe, but the left side of my face felt the worst. I stuck out my tongue to explore my aching lip only to taste blood. When I wiped a stream of cool wetness from my cheek with a shaky hand, I pulled back bloody fingers.

"Yea," I responded to Moose. "I take it Victor's little truth serum didn't work as he had planned and they got a little…impatient?" I looked past Moose to Victor's face. It had fallen from joy to pure rage.

"You guessed right," Moose responded. "How are you feeling?" He laid a hand against my forehead gently for a second before pulling it back.

"Tired, sore, like someone's squeezing my lungs." I answered. All of it true. I tried to stand, but couldn't get myself upright on my own. My symptoms in combination with the activities of the afternoon, I drew the most obvious conclusion. "I have dead flu, don't I?" I looked up at Filipe, whose face confirmed my suspicions. I couldn't help it, I started laughing. "That must piss you right off, doesn't it?" I asked Filipe. "You went through all this trouble to finally own me, and now you can't even touch me," I gasped between giggles. The laughing was making breathing even more difficult, to the point where I was getting light headed. When I stopped laughing, I smiled up at him to match his furious expression.

"I am a patient man, I can wait until you are no longer sick." He crossed his leg and continued to watch me. "You will be mine."

I shook my head no and absently covered the scar on my stomach with my hand. Scientists had been doing early studies on the action of killing for this particular disease, and early hypotheses said that the bug lives on vampire blood, metabolizing it into a toxin that affects the cells of the body in some unknown way. None of the infected vampires that had been studied lived long enough for the scientists to study the exact mechanism. With the amount of David's blood I had in me at the moment, I was going to get a lot sicker. I couldn't be sure I was going to survive.

Moose was the first besides me to put two and two together. "Shit, how much?" he whispered.

"A lot," I responded quietly. I covered my mouth with my hand as I started coughing, my body's attempt to clear whatever was pooling in my lungs. My palm was now covered with a fine mist of blood to match the tips of my fingers. Louder, I said, "Am I allowed to go to the bathroom? Does this plane even have one?" Vampires sometimes forgot the most essential things when it came to human necessities. I didn't want to assume.

"It does," responded Filipe, slightly amused by my question but still furious at my condition. "And you may."

I tried to push myself up again with only one hand using the seat of what used to be my chair as a support with no success. Moose stood quickly and extended a hand. I didn't know why, but for some reason I felt the need to hide the extent of my condition from Moose. I guess I thought that if he knew, then he'd do something unnecessarily stupid to get me help. I balled up my bloody hand and gave him my clean one. When I was finally upright, I stood on shaky legs. "You need help?" he asked.

"I'm not an invalid, I can walk." I put my clean hand on the back of the seat next to Victor as I passed to steady myself (an action he took offense to, extending his fangs in response).

"It's the first door on your left," said Filipe from his seat when I paused at the back of the plane, contemplating which of the three doors the bathroom would be. Again with my clean hand (the bloody one still balled up and pressed against my chest), I opened and closed the door, throwing the lock when I was inside. When I was sure I was alone, I leaned heavily into the sink base for support as I turned on the cold water. Filipe had obviously not put the amount of money into his own plane as Emma and David had and the bathroom was sparse and utilitarian. After washing the blood off my hand, I looked into the mirror at my face. After the initial nausea passed, I wetted a piece of paper towel and rubbed the last of the blood from my face, as well. I wasn't starting to bruise yet, but that may just be a side effect of the infection. If the pathogen was working its way through vampire blood as fast as it did in vampires, I was nearing the point where I didn't have any blood to spare for bruises. But just because I wasn't bruising yet didn't mean I didn't look like hell. Aside from the gashes above my eyebrow and across my lip, my skin was pale, almost yellow, and clammy to the touch. My eyes were sunken and sallow and missing their usual glimmer. Even my lips were pale and chapped. I wetted my hands and smoothed out my ponytail before sitting down on the lid of the toilet. I needed a moment to rest. I coughed again, and again I washed a fine spray of blood from my palm.

I was startled as a voice cam on over the intercom. It was the first indication I had that anyone else was on this plane with us. "Please take your seats; we are beginning our decent into Las Vegas." For a split second, I felt hopeful; maybe they would be able to help me escape. But with my luck, they were in on it and wouldn't care about Moose's and my situation.

With some work, I stood and unlocked the bathroom door. When I emerged, the three men were in their seats. Moose stood to help me, but I motioned for him to sit back down. Slowly and without any help, I lowered myself into my seat and looked out the window at the lights. I had always wanted to go to Vegas, but obviously not like this. Instead of the lights of the city being welcoming, they had the dreaded feel of walking into a twisted House of Horrors.

We landed on a lone landing strip at a small airport not far from the city. When the plane came to a complete stop, Filipe stood and approached me, getting as close to me as would be smart. "Do I need to bind your arms and legs again or can I trust you to behave during the ride to my palace?"

I smirked. "Do you think I have a chance of out running you?"

That was apparently the wrong answer. "That is not my concern." He turned back to Victor. "Tie them both," he said before stepping down the staircase and onto the runway.

Obviously unhappy with the task, he handed the rope that had been around my ankles and wrists earlier to Moose. "Tie her," he said, standing far away from me.

"Do it yourself," responded Moose as he threw the ropes back at him.

"It's OK Moose, just do it." I pushed myself into a standing position and offered my wrists to him. It wasn't worth him getting beaten for something so small. I was going to be tied up no matter who did it.

After a long pause, Moose gently tied my hands together as to not hurt my already raw wrists. "Tighter," said Victor, looking me right in the eye as he did. He really liked watching me suffer. After another long pause, Moose did as he was told. I flinched in pain as the ropes burned my wrists, which just delighted Victor. When he was done with my wrists, I sat so Moose could tie my ankles together.

"Sorry," he whispered as he finished up. I tried to smile at him though the pain, but it came out as more of a grimace. When he was done, he stood and approached Victor, offering his wrists just as I had done to him. Victor quickly tied his wrists and ankles. I yelped as Victor punched him hard in the face, knocking Moose out cold. He collapsed to the floor. Victor smirked at me before calmly walking out of plane just as Filipe did.

I looked out the window to watch Victor. Before he was even off the staircase and on solid ground, he was barking orders to two tall, muscular Weres dressed all in black. Both Weres listened to the directions for a few seconds before climbing the staircase into the plane. "I'll get the girl," said the larger one, approaching me with a sneer on his face. He 'accidently' brushed his hand against my chest before hoisting me over his shoulder, then not-so-accidently squeezed my ass as he carried me out of the plane. I wanted to fight him, but I just couldn't muster the energy. I was deteriorating fast.

He deposited me in the back of an ostentatious limo, followed shortly after by the Were carrying Moose. I slid down the leather seat onto my side so I could lay my head down. I closed my eyes and tried as hard as I could to send 'come save me' to David. I didn't think David would be able to 'hear' me, I was half way across the country, but I had to try and do something. It was the only thing I had the energy for.

Almost immediately, I felt him respond with calming thoughts. It was like he was rubbing the back of my palm with his thumb. Despite my awful situation, I felt better. I quickly fell asleep.


	43. Chapter 43

***** Here's a little Christmas present from me. Enjoy!*****

I woke to the sensation of being carried over someone's shoulder. When I opened my eyes, everything was upside down; all I could see was large feet in black boots and marble flooring. I tried to open my mouth to cough, but it was taped shut again. I did the best I could to clear my lungs, and I moaned as it caused pain to shoot through my ribcage.

"The princess is awake," said a very bored Victor. I looked to the left to find his incredibly expensive dress shoes and impeccably pressed pants walking at the same pace quite a distance away. Really, who kidnaps people in business attire?

"Indeed she is. Leave her in the throne room, away from my throne," added Filipe.

The group came to a stop. When the man carrying me turned, I could see Moose thrown over Victor's shoulder, still unconscious and hanging limply. "And him, Sir?" asked Victor.

"In one of the silver rooms in the basement would be fine." I watched as my unnamed carrier turned right and Victor (and Moose along with him) turned left. "Set her down gently." The carrier lowered me to my feet, tore the tape from my mouth, bowed to Filipe, and went to leave. "Stay, we will not be long." The beefy guard stood just inside the door, posed like a true bodyguard.

I felt like complete and utter crap. History has told me that when I was miserable, I was snarky. I couldn't help myself. "Desperate, are we, Filipe?" My lungs had deteriorated during the ride here to the point where I had to take a deep gasping breath every few words. He settled into an over-the-top, honest-to-God throne and nodded to the bodyguard. I listened to the squeak as the military boots approached me from the back, too tired and weak to turn and look. He approached, paused, then kicked me knees out from under me while yanking my ponytail back. The end result was me on my knees, head forced up to look at Filipe.

"You will call me King," Filipe said.

When it was obvious I wasn't going to fight, the bodyguard let go of my hair and stepped back. When I was free, my attitude came back. "How old are you, anyway?" I paused to catch my breath, not for dramatic effect. "Was it customary to…kidnap your brides when…you were growing up?" I wheezed between sentence fragments.

He nodded to the bodyguard again, who hit me with something long and hard in the shoulder. I fell over onto my side. Luckily, my hands were tied in the front, or else I wouldn't have been able to catch myself. I wheezed and coughed up more blood (without covering my mouth this time, take that vampires) before pushing myself back up into a sitting position. One more blow like that and I'd be down for good. "Acquiesce to my demands, and I will make you very comfortable," said Filipe. I didn't answer, I just rolled my eyes. I'm sure he would, but I'm nobody's pet. "If you do not comply, I will be forced to make you quite uncomfortable."

"I'd rather just go…home," I said, wheezing mid-sentence.

"In your condition, you cannot afford to be difficult."

"Ask David, being…difficult is in my…nature."

He sighed and pushed himself up from his throne. "Put her in the viewing box and send in my next appointment," he said before leaving through a side door. "And send dinner into my private room."

"Yes, sir." The bodyguard lifted me off of the floor and threw me over his shoulder again. We left the same way we came until we turned left down another hallway. He opened a thin door that opened into a room smaller than my closet at home. The two side walls were shiny like they were coated with silver. The wall opposite the door was not even a wall at all; it was a floor to ceiling window that looked on to Filipe's throne room. The bodyguard set me down on my feet inside the room facing the window. "Stand or he'll make you," he said apathetically before slamming the door and throwing the bolt. I was now the entertainment, like a prostitute in a brothel in Amsterdam.

I braced my hands against the window for support, and then leaned my forehead against the wall. I didn't move until I heard a far away door open. I lifted my head and searched the throne room. In the far corner, through the door I had just been carried out of, emerged a pale figure. I watched as the figure slowly strolled the length of the throne room. Once he got closer, I recognized him. Bill Compton approached the window slowly, recognition covering his face as well. I didn't say anything, I wasn't even sure he would be able to hear me through the glass. I leaned my forehead back against the wall so I wouldn't have to look at the pity on his face.

"She is beautiful despite her condition, no?" Filipe said. It turned out I could hear through the window. He had materialized behind Bill and was wiping blood from his lips.

"Yes," Bill replied. "For what is she being punished?"

I caught myself against the wall as one of my knees buckled and struggled to push myself upright again. The heat my body was kicking off swirled around the tiny room, making me even more lightheaded. "Insolence," replied Filipe. Bill responded only with a nod. "What brings you to Las Vegas, Mr. Compton?"

"Business. There is several of our kind in the Las Vegas area that I am yet to interview for my database. Is she not well?"

"Ironically, she has dead flu." Filipe turned away from the window and walked to his throne.

I looked up at Bill, who was watching me intently. "Please help me," I whispered. He nodded almost imperceptibly before turning to follow Filipe.

"How long will you be in Vegas?"

Bill answered, "About a week."

Both of the vampires turned to look at me when I had a coughing fit. Filipe looked annoyed, where Bill's face was half pity and half revulsion. No longer able to force myself to stand, both my knees buckled and I collapsed to the floor. Filipe looked disappointed. "Very well, Compton, you may leave." Bill bowed deeply before turning to leave without another glance in my direction. Filipe stood as well, but instead of following Bill out, he approached me again. "Have you changed your mind? Do you agree to yield to my will?"

"No," I whispered. I was drowning in the humidity in this room, grasping for air with every breath.

"Then you must stand."

I shook my head no. "I can't."

"Stand and face your humiliation or I shall force you." I didn't even respond, I simply nodded no again as my eyes slid shut. A minute later, I felt a cool breeze rush into the small room as someone opened the door and grabbed me by the upper arm.

The strong hand shook me before saying, "Get up." It was a new voice; younger than the other bodyguard that had beat me less than an hour ago, more timid. I didn't respond, I needed to save my breath for living. He shook me again, and again I made no response. "She's out cold, Sir. She doesn't look so good, I think she needs a doctor." Was it empathy or sympathy I heard in his voice?

"She will get medical attention when she comes to her senses and yields to me. Until then, she must suffer," said Filipe from far away.

"Yes, Sir. What should I do with her?" He gently leaned me back against the wall as he waited for an answer.

There was a long pause before Filipe spoke again. "Throw her in with the shifter. Notify me as soon as she wakes."

"Yes, Sir." The bodyguard laced his head through my arms and lifted me off the floor.

Now that I wasn't surrounded by my own heat, it was easier for me to breath. "Help…me," I breathed as we walked.

"Shh, quiet," he whispered as he carried me onto an elevator and pushed a button. When the doors closed and the elevator jerked downward, he added, "Take this opportunity to get some rest." I leaned my head against my upper arm and his shoulder as he carried me through a long hallway. "Hold on," he said as he pulled his arm from my back momentarily to grab his keys and open a door. After I heard the squeaky hinges of the door creak, he carried me another couple of steps before setting me down and removing my hands from around his neck. He untied my wrists and ankles before rustling something else beside me. A minute later, the door closed.

"Mac?" I could feel a cold hand rub my cheek.

"Moose," I breathed.

"Jesus, Mac, you're burning up." He pulled me into a sitting position and pulled my sweater off me, leaving just the white camisole I always wore into lab. He laid me back down and tucked my balled-up sweater under my head. Next he wrapped his cold hand around my wrist. I moaned, the cold felt so good.

"Cold," I breathed.

"What?" He leaned down to put his ear closer to my mouth. I tilted my head to the side to cough, leaving a trail of blood from my mouth across the metal floor. I pressed my cheek against the coldness.

I didn't move when I heard the creak of the door opening. "Here," said the voice of the bodyguard again.

Moose's voice was next. "What is it?"

"Just ice," said the bodyguard. "If anyone but me comes, hide it. Especially if King DeCastro comes down here."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Moose.

"I don't know," he answered before shutting the door again.

Moose didn't waste any time. I moaned again as he rubbed an ice cube up and down the back of my neck, over my chapped lips, and down my arms to my raw wrists.

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

She wasn't going to last much longer. With as hot as she was, her skin should have been flushed and she should have been drenched in sweat. Instead, she was paler than the palest vampire and only a slight sheen of dew covered her cheeks. Her body's ability to regulate its own temperature was slipping, which was usually followed by kidney and liver failure. The most concerning part, though, was her labored breathing. She was breathing as if she had just finished simultaneously running a marathon and being strangled. Her labored breathing was probably related to the reason she was now coughing up blood. I held two large ice cubes to her wrists to cool her while leaving another to sit on her chest to melt. She moaned as the water from the melting ice cube trickled down her body. "Too cold?" I asked, but I got no answer.

When the ice cubes I was holding on her wrists melted in record time, I grabbed two more from the bag. I tucked one between the back of her neck and her balled sweater and rubbed the other on her forehead and across her chapped lips. I continued to try and cool her down until all the ice was gone. At that point, all I could do was stay away from her as to not add my body heat to the problem.

I shoved the small plastic bag the ice had been in into my pocket when I heard footsteps coming. Moments later, the door opened. The same guy that delivered the ice swung the door open, then stepped aside to allow the King to see past him. "Has she not awakened? I find myself growing more and more impatient." He was careful not to actually step inside the room, the silver obviously bothering him even where he was.

I scooted back until I could lean against the wall nearest Mac. "Sorry, but I don't think she will," I said, defeat in my voice.

"You believe she is dying?" I nodded yes as I looked down at her, her chest still laboring to feed enough oxygen to the rest of her body. "How long?"

I shrugged. "It could be an hour, she could last three days. If you get her help now, it's possible she could make it."

He didn't say anything, he just backed away. The ice-giving bodyguard closed the door behind him.

It didn't take long for the second in command, Victor, to appear. The same bodyguard opened the door, and again, Victor stood well outside the threshold of the room. Victor, however, dismissed the bodyguard before he spoke.

Victor was smug. "Unbelievable," he said. He leaned against the wall opposite the door. "She survives my well placed bomb without a scratch, and then manages to kill herself without any help. Absolutely unbelievable."

I jumped to my feet. "You were the one that tried to blow her up? Why?"

He shrugged. "She would have made it more difficult for me to overthrow DeCastro."

I dropped back to my knees as Mac started a coughing fit. I rolled her onto her side so she wouldn't choke on her own blood. "How so?" I said as I rubbed her back.

"I just could not take the chance that she would decide to take him up on his offer and warn him."

"Warn him how?" When she was done coughing, I used her sweater to wipe the blood from mouth.

"You must know," he said, smug smile widening. "She is an extremely rare and extremely powerful psychic."

I shot him a confused look. "Wait, you knew?"

"Of course," he answered.

"Why don't you just overthrow him now and take Mac for your own?"

"Several reasons. For one, I am not yet ready to assume control, but more importantly, I would never give a lowly human that much power over my kingdom. Humans are fickle and uncontrollable. They easily 'switch sides' merely on a whim."

I was dumbfounded. He went through the trouble to try and kill her for something she might not even know and definitely wouldn't warn anyone about. Victor used his foot to slam the door to our silver cell shut.

I went back to leaning against the wall near Mac until the door swung open again. The bodyguard tossed two bottles of water into the room before quietly shutting the door. I opened one bottle and tested it, just in case. The seal was unbroken and it tasted like water, so I propped Mac up with one arm and with the other slowly poured it down her throat. She was already looking mildly better by the time she finished half the bottle. I finished off the bottle and hid both the full and empty one behind my back. I lifted her into my lap and leaned the side of her head against my shoulder. I adjusted our bodies until I could feel her breathing against my arm and closed my eyes. I also needed some rest.

I jolted awake when I felt movement against me. "David?" Mac breathed.

I laid my hand on her cheek and tilted her head up as the painful twinge in my heart faded. "Just me." A tear of relief came to my eyes because she was awake. Hopefully, it meant she was recovering.

"You're…cold," she struggled to say.

"Only compared to you," I responded.

"Thirsty," she whispered after coughing lightly. I shifted both of our bodies so I could grab the now warm water from behind me and opened it. She opened her mouth and I poured water into it little by little for her.

"How you feeling?" I asked as I closed the bottle and tucked it back behind me.

"Not…good," she replied. "You shouldn't…be so…close…to me." She raised her hands to my chest and pushed, but wasn't strong enough to push herself away. "Don't…want to…get….you sick," she wheezed.

"Don't you worry about me, if I'm not sick yet, I'm not getting sick." I grabbed her arms and lowered them into her lap.

My body stiffened as I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. "Someone's coming," I whispered.

She didn't have far to go to look unconscious. She leaned her head back against my shoulder as it had been and closed her eyes. When the door opened, she was completely limp.

"How's she doing?" asked the bodyguard.

"Breathing," I answered. She was doing slightly better than that, but I was going to play that as close to the vest as I could for as long as I could. "She's looking better though, thanks to the water." I tossed him the empty water bottle with my one free hand that wasn't holding Mac up.

"Good." He looked at his watch. "You have about a half an hour until dusk, which means you have 25 minutes to finish the water." He leaned back out of the room and went to leave. Just before throwing the bolt, he tossed another bag of ice and a protein bar into the room.

I couldn't believe how time passes when there's nothing to hint you to it. I simultaneously thought we had been in this room only a few hours and several days. His warning was the only notice I had to the time of day since we got here.

I grabbed the protein bar first and offered it to Mac. She shook her head no. "You should eat," I added.

"Not…hungry, you…eat." She pushed my hand and the protein bar away.

I opened the package and tore the smallest piece from the corner. I held it in front of her mouth. "Just a small bite." She raised her shaky hand again, but this time took the piece from me and popped it in her mouth. The piece wasn't big enough to chew, she simply swallowed it whole. I tore off another piece and repeated. "More?" She shook her head no. I popped the tiny piece in my mouth then took a large bite before offering her some more. "Please, one more bite." I was desperate to get something in else in her stomach. Her body needed energy to fight off this infection. She shook her head no again as her eyes slid shut. I shook her gently, hoping she would open her eyes again. "Mac, stay with me. How about some water? Do you want more water?" She didn't open her eyes, but she did nod and open her mouth. I tilted her head back and little by little poured water down her throat until the bottle was empty. "Hungry now?" I asked, hoping that the water had somehow triggered her appetite. I wasn't surprised when she shook her head no, though. I finished off the protein bar in two large bites. After swallowing and shoving the empty wrapper into my pocket, I felt her forehead. She was still on fire. "Do you want the ice?" Finally, she nodded her head yes. There was something I could do for her. I grabbed the bag of ice and pulled one ice cube out. "Open your mouth." As soon as she did, I popped one ice cube in there. I pulled the last two ice cubes out of the bag and rubbed them up and down her arms, over her chest, up her neck, over her forehead, and over the slit over her eyebrow. She moaned and tilted her head into my shoulder as I rubbed the ice cubes over the back of her neck. That was the first time since we had been in this room that I was overcome with lust for her. I had to work to fight the urge to kiss her lips passionately, settling instead for her light and quick kiss to the forehead. I continued to gently rub up and down her arm even after the ice cubes had melted away until I fell into a trance.

I was startled out of my trance-like state when the door opened again. It was the same bodyguard, back to collect the trash. I emptied the bags and wrapper from my pocket and handed them to him, along with the empty water bottle. Without saying a word, he slipped back out the door and threw the bolt.

It wasn't long after dark that the King made another visit. The door slid open again, and again he didn't pass the threshold of the room. "I did not put her down here with you so you could coddle her," he said.

"Being upright helps her breathe," I answered.

He raised his eyebrows. "So she is still alive?"

"Barely," I answered. _No thanks to you_, I added in my head.

"Very well," he added. Without saying another word, he turned and the door slid shut again.

Almost an hour later, she spoke. "Run," whispered Mac. "Leave…me."

"I'm not going anywhere without you."

"Run," she repeated. "Shift."

I wasn't going to shift and I wasn't going to run. "This room is silver, Mac. Shifters in animal form don't like silver any more than vampires do." I held her a little tighter as she started another coughing fit, getting blood all over the both of us. When she was done coughing, her entire body went limp and her head rolled back over my arm. "Mac?" I said, panicking. I tilted my head down and put my ear just in front of her mouth. I couldn't hear or feel her breathing. I pressed my fingers to her neck to feel a pulse. It was there, but only faintly. It was thready and irregular. "Help me!" I yelled to anyone that could hear me as I laid her flat on her back. I leaned over her and breathed into her mouth, starting CPR. I could hear the blood gurgling up from her lungs as I pumped her heart for her. When she didn't come to the first round, I tried again, breathing for her and pumping that air through her body again. Every time our mouths met, all I could taste was blood. It took several rounds before she started coughing and breathing on her own. I turned her onto her side again so she could cough up blood without choking on it. I felt her neck again as she coughed. Her pulse wasn't nearly as strong as I would like it to be, but it was there, and that's all I could ask for. I rolled her back onto her back when she was done coughing and laid down next to her. Now I needed to get my heart rate back in check.


	44. Chapter 44

"David," Mac barely whispered as I lay next to her. "David," she repeated.

I sat up and grabbed her hand. "He's not here," I said as I wiped the sweat from her forehead. At least she was sweating, that was progress. Even if her heart almost stopped just a few minutes ago. "It's just me, Mustafa." I said, wishing it was my name she called when she was in need.

Her eyes darted back and forth behind her eyelids as if she were dreaming. "Breathe," she said next.

I lifted her into a sitting position again, swinging my legs around behind her so she could use my chest as the back of a chair. "Is that better?" I took it as a yes when she didn't respond. I lifted her knees and crossed my legs underneath them, putting myself in a more comfortable position.

She caught my attention when she weakly squeezed my hand still wrapped around hers. "Moose," she whispered.

"I'm right here," I said with a smile as I squeezed her hand back.

Her whole body tightened as her eyes flew open. "David," she whispered again.

I rolled my eyes behind her. For not being with him, she thought about him an awful lot. "He's not here, Mac," I said, more impatience in my voice than I intended.

She shook her head yes as her eyes closed again. "He is." At that moment, the door flew open and banged heavily against the wall. Standing on the other side were David and Emma O'Hara and a vampire I assumed to be Lee Wong. Behind them were two large Africans, both carrying bloody weapons. I lifted Mac off the floor as I shot to my feet.

"Back away," I said as I ran out of the room, the vampires surprisingly complying. "Don't touch her." I stopped just outside the silver door to assess my surroundings. "Lead the way," I said to David, who was looking down at Mac, who was almost lifeless in my arms. She looked horrible. Pale and covered in sweat, dirt, and blood, she looked like she had just escaped from some nightmare. I guess she did.

The two African blocks of muscle started the way, followed by Mac and I, and finally Emma, David, and Lee not far behind. "Symptoms?" asked Emma.

"High temperature, weak, pale, dehydrated, can't breathe, and coughing up blood," I responded as I carried her up the stairs.

"Pulse?" she asked.

"Weak and irregular." I didn't think those two years I spent in medical school before deciding it wasn't what I wanted to do would ever pay off. I paused and leaned against the wall as fighting erupted ahead of us. Lee and David rushed past to help the African bodyguards and Emma stayed as close to me as she could manage. "I think the dead flu is turning all that vampire blood she has in her against her. She breathed in the bacteria, so I think that's why her infection is the worst in her lungs," I explained.

"I can treat her, but I need to get supplies. Tell them to meet me back at the hotel." She ran past me, past the fighting, and down the hallway before I could even ask who 'them' was. I waited until the noise calmed down, then peaked my head around the wall. Four vampires stood amidst a slew of fallen and bloody bodies.

"Come," said David. He and Lee fell back to flank Mac and I as I followed the African blocks ahead of me. In no time, we were outside. Luckily, I was carrying my own personal oven, or else I would have been very cold. Snowflakes were falling in the darkness, but not sticking at all. This probably felt very good on her skin, though. I followed them to a van and laid her in the back. When everyone (but Emma) had piled into the van, David asked, "Where is Emma?"

"She said she needed supplies and to meet her at the hotel." With a good answer, he nodded to the bodyguard that was behind the wheel, and we took off.

We sped down the strip and pulled into the back of a large hotel, descending down into a large underground parking ramp. I wasn't all that familiar with Vegas and couldn't tell one monstrous hotel and casino from another, so I had no idea where we actually were. I carried her into a large service elevator. "She asked for you," I said as the elevator pulled us up. I figured I didn't need to explain who I was talking to at this point.

"For me or for Idi?" asked David

I gave him a puzzled look. "You, obviously. Who the hell is Idi?"

"I am Idi," said one of the large African bodyguards. "This is my brother, Idriis." He pointed to the other bodyguard, the one with a large scar on his face. Great, I apparently had more competition.

I shifted Mac in my arms as the elevator doors open and followed David down the hallway. "Why would she ask for you?" I asked Idi.

"King O'Hara believes she is fond of me."

I couldn't imagine why. As far as I was concerned, he didn't appear that attractive and he wasn't the warm personality that Mac was usually drawn to. I guess I would have to ask her about it later.

I followed David into a hotel room with two queen-sized beds in it, along with a coffin. The presence of the coffin somewhat creeped me out. It was so…morbid. I gently placed her on the bed closest to the bathroom and felt her forehead. She was still burning up. I grabbed the ice bucket from the nightstand and shoved it at David. "Fill this with ice." He stood, holding the ice bucket, looking at me like a lost puppy. "There's an ice machine somewhere on this floor. Find it, fill the bucket with ice, and bring it back." I rushed into the bathroom. I was hoping it would have a joint shower and bathtub, but no such luck. There was a soaking tub and shower stall. I chose the shower stall. I turned the water cold and opened the door before stripping off my shirt and shoes. I picked Mac up off the bed and mentally braced myself for the cold that was coming. After taking a deep breath, I stepped under stream of water, positioning Mac so she was getting a majority of the water. When the freezing water hit her, her eyes fluttered open. I turned her to soak her hair before adjusting her so the water was focused on her chest. "Does that feel better?"

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

All the sudden, I was covered in coldness, and it felt wonderful. It took some work, but I opened my eyes. I was surrounded by neutral tile, chrome fixtures, and a wet, shirtless Moose. "Does that feel better?" he asked.

"Where…are…we?" I gasped.

"We're showering together in David's hotel room," He answered, smug, amused smile on his face. I laughed a few times before erupting into a coughing fit again, spraying blood all over the shower stall. "Take it easy, there, Mac," he said.

"I'm…sure….he's….just…thrilled," I wheezed. It was always just a touch easier to breathe after a coughing fit. Moose backed into the tiled wall behind him and slid down the wall, settling me in the stream of water in his lap. Now that he had a free hand, he pressed it against my forehead. I looked up into his face. It was subtle, but his jaw was shaking lightly like he was shivering. "I'm…cool…enough…now."

"No, you're not, you're still hot to the touch. Close your eyes." I followed instructions and he shifted me so the stream of water was flowing over my face and hair. I opened my mouth, catching a few of the droplets in my mouth. He pulled me back out of the stream and felt my forehead again. "Better," he said to himself. "Ready?" he asked me. I nodded, saving my words when possible. "OK," he said as he lifted me again, tossing me in the air lightly to shift my weight to a more comfortable position for him. I weakly wrapped an arm around his neck and laid my head on my bicep. "You really don't weigh anything, even sopping wet." He carried me out of the bathroom and set me down on the closest of the two beds. I followed his gaze; David was leaning against the wall on the far side of the room, holding a bucket. "Did you find ice?"

"Yes," he answered as he approached the bed. Before he could get too close, Idriis put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"My King, it is not safe to be around her."

David pushed his hand away slowly. "The shifter cleaned any ambient flu from her body. As long as I do not drink her blood, I will be fine." David did not take his eyes off me. I followed Idriis' gaze past me to Moose for approval.

He took a deep breath and looked down at me momentarily before addressing David again. "I guess its safe enough. But if she starts coughing, get away from her as fast as you can."

With a sort of approval from Moose, Idriis backed away and David approached me. He set the bucket of ice on the side table as Moose went back into the bathroom. David grabbed my hand, and just like he had done mentally however many hours ago, he rubbed a circle on the back of my palm with his thumb. "Hi," I whispered.

"Hi," he said back. He pulled my hand up to his face and gently kissed my knuckles.

"You…shouldn't…kiss…me," I said as I furrowed my eyebrows.

He smoothed my eyebrows with the thumb of his other hand. "Let me be the one to worry about my welfare."

I didn't have the energy to argue with him. Emma would yell at him for me, wherever she was. I squeezed his hand and smiled. "You…came…for…me."

"Of course, my beautiful Queen." He gently touched the slit above my eyebrow, then gently rubbed my chapped lips. "Your lips are rough. Do they hurt?" I nodded yes. Of course they hurt, everything hurt. I think my hair hurt at this point.

"Rub the ice on them," said Moose from the doorway of the bathroom. He had wrapped both of the towels around him. David grabbed an ice chip from the bucket and rubbed it on my lips so gently it felt more like a rush of cold air.

"Move aside, brother," said Emma as she rushed into the room. She was carrying a small tank and some tubing in her hands. As soon as she set the tank down at my bedside, she tossed a set of keys to Idi. "Please retrieve everything else that is in the trunk and return the keys to their owner." Idi left immediately, followed by Idriis. David moved to the end of the bed where he wouldn't be in the way, but he wasn't all that far from me, either. Before leaning in, Emma donned gloves and a facemask. Once properly clothed, she pressed her forearm to my forehead. "You gave her a cold shower?" she asked Moose.

He nodded. "I'd say her temperature was somewhere around 105, 106."

Emma nodded. "Smart." She laid her ear against my chest to hear either my breathing or my heartbeat, not needing a stethoscope for either with her vampire hearing. She connected the tubing to the tank then ran the tubing over my cheekbones and into my nose. The cold oxygen started to flow into my nostrils, instantly making it easier to breathe. I closed my eyes and sucked in the sweet oxygen. "Does anything hurt, Sloane?" asked Emma. I shook my head yes. "What hurts, dear?"

"Everything," I said without opening my eyes.

I could hear the smile in her voice. "Is there anything that I should be concerned about? Besides your illness, of course." I shook my head no. "Take off her wet clothes," she said quickly. I shook my head no. "You wish to keep your wet clothes on?" she asked when she noticed me shaking my head.

"Cold," I explained. They were cold, which felt wonderful against my skin, even if I was laying her in wet clothes. Sometimes, the trade-off is worth it. I turned away from Emma as I coughed up more blood, Moose there to catch it in the towel he had wrapped around his shoulders.

"Now that your temperature is within an acceptable range, I prefer you not stay in these wet clothes. I promise to keep you cool." It sounded like she was pleading with a difficult child. As soon as I nodded yes, someone was stripping off my shoes and socks. Whoever was stripping me left my tank top on me, thankfully. Almost immediately after I was sufficiently stripped, there was a sharp pinch in my arm. I groaned and opened my eyes to see what had caused me the pain. Emma was taping an IV to the inside of my arm. I closed my eyes and turned away. "Please rest now."

Now that Emma had done all she could do, David took up his vigil next to the bed. He grabbed my hand and addressed someone in another language. That couldn't be good. I squeezed his hand lightly, which only served to pull his attention back to me. He lifted and kissed the back of my hand. I quickly fell into a trance as I focused on the circles he was rubbing on the back of my hand.

I didn't remember falling asleep, but the next thing I knew I was upright. I took a second before opening my eyes to survey my condition. I felt 300 times better than I had, I could finally almost breathe. That said, I had a long way to go. I was still remarkably weak and I was still wheezed and could barely catch my breath. But at least I didn't feel like I was on fire anymore.

I opened my eyes to the sound of light snoring and rustling paper. I was sitting in David's lap as he was reading the newspaper. How very human. "Good evening," he said as he tossed the paper aside. Now that the paper was out of my way, I could see the source of the snoring. Moose was passed out on the other bed. Moose was not a big man, but he could take up space like nobody's business. Not even a small cat could share that queen-sized bed with him.

"Hi," I responded. I struggled to push myself away from him so I could look up into his face. I frowned; he looked really pale. "You aren't sick…are you?" I said, only stopping to breathe once during the entire sentence. Progress.

He smiled and kissed my forehead. "I am not sick, no."

"You're so pale," I said after taking a deep breath.

"I have not had a chance to eat." Oh. A whole other kind of pale. I looked deeper into his eyes, finally noticing the hunger and lust behind them. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and, holding me tightly to him with one arm, texted faster than the speed of light. It was then I noticed the IV inserted in my hand. I turned my head and buried it in David's chest. "What is wrong?"

I raised the hand with the needle taped to it. "Pull it out," I said into his chest, on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Emma will be angry with me," he said. Despite Emma's expected protests, I could feel his cold hands unfasten the tape and expertly pull out the needle. He kissed the back of my hand when he was done. "However, I would rather her be angry with me than you."

As if on cue, Emma burst through the door and was at my side in an instant. "I see my patient is awake. How are you feeling? Where is your IV?"

"Better, thanks." I wasn't going to explain about the IV. I pulled the oxygen from my nostrils and tried to push myself off David's lap without success. "I have to pee," I said when he wouldn't let me go. I was sticking to short sentences until I could finish a long one without having to stop and rest in the middle of it. David lifted me off of his lap and onto the edge of the bed. I slowly pushed myself onto my feet, making sure that my legs could handle it. I could stand OK, but walking was going to be a bit more difficult. Before I could ask for it, Emma laced her arm around my waist and lent me her strength for the short walk. She leaned me against the countertop and drew me a hot bath. "I will be back with some clothes and to help you." She closed the door, letting me use the bathroom in peace. When I was done, I stripped down and settled into the bath. I wasn't high on my list before, but now that I was here, it was heaven. Shortly after I settled into the bath, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," I said quietly. Emma opened the door just a crack and slid in, closing the door behind her once she was inside. She set a pile of clothes on the small faux granite countertop and perched herself on the lid of the toilet. "What happened?" I asked.

"We rescued you," she answered.

Duh. "I mean the…blow by blow." I took a deep breath and moved into a more comfortable position. "Did you…kill them?"

"Everyone but Filipe and Victor. It seems I am picking up a bit of your talent."

I twisted my head to look at her. "What?"

"Were you aware that many older vampires develop extra talents?" I nodded yes. "Well, mine is the ability to absorb the talents of others for a short period. In the case of David and Lee, it seems to be a permanent acquisition. It seems I am now gaining yours, in an extremely limited manner."

Ah, and the pieces of the puzzle start falling together. "What did you…see?" I wheezed as I turned back to face the front.

"I had a…I forget what you call them…a gut feeling?"

That's too bad, I would consider disobeying a 'gut feeling' as she put it to be able to tear them limb from limb. "Too bad," I said before dunking my hair under the water. "I hope you…at least tortured…them or something."

I could hear the smile in her voice. "Idi enjoyed exacting revenge for the pain Victor in particular has caused you, as did David."

"Oh?" I squeezed the excess water out of my hair and piled it on the top of my head.

"I believe Idi took off his right arm, and David his ears."

I turned around, shock on my face. When I was thinking torture, I was thinking binding them in silver or rubbing garlic all over them. Nothing so…severe. After I recovered, I asked, "and Filipe?" afraid to hear the answer.

"After torturing Victor, we bound them both with silver and locked them in their own silver-lined cage." I was starting to feel a little sick just thinking about it. I guess when it came to torture I was all bark and no bite. I started to push myself up but only made it a few inches before Emma tucked one hand under each of my armpits and lifted me out of the tub. She turned around while I toweled off and put on the clothes she had brought in for me, yoga pants and a matching tank. She pulled her wrap sweater off and wrapped it around my shoulders as I walked out of the bathroom and plopped back on the end of the bed. The short walk was exhausting. "I should reinsert your IV."

"No," I said emphatically. I could feel the slight twinge in my fingers and toes that proceeds a panic attack. I scooted back on the bed and away from Emma as fast as I could. Shortly after banging my back on the headboard next to David, I leaned over the edge of the bed, hacking. Maybe I wasn't making the progress I had thought; a fine spray of blood covered the bedside table and rug. "Stay back," I said when I recovered the ability to talk. "Blood." I wiped the excess blood that was dripping down my lip on the back of my hand.

Before I could push myself to my feet so I could wash the blood from my hand, David swooped me up and deposited me in his lap. "You will have to get through me first, sister." Emma gave up, crossing her arms across her chest.

I tried and push him away, but he had a death grip. "Stay back, David!" I took a gasping breath, still attempting to fully recover from my coughing fit. "I don't want to…get you sick."

"The shifter tested your blood, you are no longer contagious." I let him pull me into his body mostly because I couldn't stop him.

"He has a…name," I wheezed. I sounded like an asthmatic that just finished a marathon without their inhaler.

"Who?" David asked.

"The shifter's name is…Mustafa." I said. I hated to admit it to myself, but being in David's arms was somewhat comforting. No one could get me here. Except David, of course. That thought shot me back to reality, the content mood falling away.

"I apologize, _Mustafa_ tested your blood and you are no longer contagious." He had obviously picked up on my change in mood, but had misinterpreted the cause. I tried to clear the image of David's face covered in rage that would be burned onto my retinas for probably the rest of my life, to no avail. I had managed to terrify myself with nothing more than a memory.

"Who else came?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant. I even relaxed into his arms as much as I could.

Emma's face was telling me I was less than convincing. "I will be in my room," she said. "If that is acceptable to you, Sloane," she added as an afterthought. She didn't want to leave me unprotected ever again, even if that meant babysitting me when I was with her brother. I nodded, allowing her to escape the awkward situation. Moose's snoring hiccupped when the door slammed shut, only to fall into a comfortable rhythm again shortly after.

"Lee, of course, as well as Idi and Idriis," he answered quickly while focusing on the slight movement in my face. I leaned against his chest so I wouldn't have to look him in the eye as I tried to deceive him. It didn't work, he tipped my head up by hooking a finger under my chin. "And I believe you are aware that William Compton is in town. Your heart is racing, my dear."

"Bill helped?" I asked, avoiding the last statement. I was trying to calm my nerves and my heart rate, but it wasn't working.

"He supplied the technical information needed, but refused to help in any other capacity." Not that I could blame him. I had a feeling that Filipe would not be kind if he knew even the small betrayal Bill had done, let alone if he had stormed the castle, so to speak. "Are you excited or frightened?"

"I had a small….internal panic….attack." Gasp. "No big deal." He wound the tubing around my ears to start the supply of oxygen to my body again. I had to admit, it was almost immediately better. "So who's manning…the fort?" I asked, attempting to change the topic.

He ignored my attempt. "Panic about what?" Adrenaline shot through my body, setting it on fire again momentarily. "Am I the source of your panic?" he asked. I froze, I couldn't answer. My lungs froze too, which only served to shoot more fear and panic throughout my body. He laid my head back on his chest and started rubbing my back. "Calm down, Sloane, you need to breathe. I promised you I would never harm you again, and I meant it." A bigger panic had taken over; I couldn't restart my systems. I struggled to pull in a gasping breath as tears ran down my cheek, but it wasn't enough. "Breathe," was the last thing David said before I lost consciousness.


	45. Chapter 45

Someone was shaking me. "Wake up, Mac." When I opened my eyes, Moose was leaning over me, one hand gently laid on my shoulder. "We gotta get to the airport."

I was still incredibly groggy. "What?" I said as I flipped onto my back to stretch.

"Time to go home. Feeling hungry at all?" he said trying to hold back laughter.

"What?" I said accusingly. Had they colored all over my face? Was there drool hanging from my lip? What was he laughing at?

"Nothing." He said. I narrowed my eyebrows at him as I sat up. He couldn't hold it back anymore, he laughed hard.

"What?!" I said a bit more emphatically.

"Your hair is just…" He paused to find the kindest way to put it. "…a work of art." He reached around and pulled my ponytail holder out, then fluffed my hair. He laughed quietly. "Better, but not presentable."

I glared at him light heartedly and pushed myself off the end of the bed. "Shut up." Shakily, I walked into the bathroom. My hair was a complete mess. I leaned my head over the sink and tried to wet down the most problematic areas. After wetting most of my hair, I pulled it into a sleek bun at the base of my head. Someone had left a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, face wash, and a small bottle of my favorite moisturizer on the countertop. Tucked between the face wash and the moisturizer was a note with my name on it. I unfolded it.

_I love you. I will see you at home, when you are ready._

_D_

Beneath that, in perfect cursive, was another note.

_McCarran is a large airport. I would prefer you let Mustafa push you in a wheelchair, but if you insist on walking, please do so slowly and with frequent breaks. You and your lungs are still very weak. _

_I packed your things in my purse, including your cell phone, which David pulled from Filipe's pocket. Please do not use it, I fear it may be somehow bugged. A new one will be waiting for you when you get home._

_Take it easy, as they say. Doctor's orders._

_Emma_

I brushed my teeth, then grabbed the note and the moisturizer and met Moose near the door. He handed me the sweater that Emma had given me the night before, a pair of shoes I didn't recognize, and a purse that was way too expensive to be my own. After putting on the sweater and the black ballet flats, I looked like a soccer mom. I put the moisturizer and the note in the purse while I rifled through it. I was really hoping my small bottle of Advil had made it in here, because I had a splitting headache. At the bottom of the bag, I found the bottle. I popped two on my mouth and swallowed them dry (I know, I know, it's bad for your stomach. At this rate, I wasn't going to live long enough for it to matter). "Here," Moose said, holding out a small bottle of orange juice for me. "If you're not hungry, at least drink this." I opened it and took a sip to appease him before stashing it in my purse. I wasn't in the mood for orange juice. I wasn't in the mood for anything to eat or drink, really.

"Let's go." I passed him and walked into the elevator across the hall.

The sun was shining through the lobby doors when the elevators doors opened. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground. I internally cursed whoever it was that decided I no longer needed a coat. I walked straight up to the hostess behind the counter and handed her my room key. "I'd like to check out."

"OK." She took my key from me and coded my room number into the machine. "You're all set, Ms. Jones. Did the vampire-ready room help with your migraines?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yes, thank you," I answered, playing along with whatever story Emma and David had laid to remain anonymous in enemy territory, so to speak.

I backed away from the counter before she could ask any more questions. Before I could get to the front door, she flagged me down. "Oh Ms. Jones, someone left a package for you last night." She pulled two garment bags from behind the counter. "You'll need them, too. It's chilly outside!" she said cheerfully as she handed me the bags. I opened one and Moose opened the other. Inside were two peacoats, one men's and one women's. I slid on the charcoal gray coat and put on the emerald colored scarf and hat that were included with the package. Moose was now in a similar outfit, only his coat was black and his scarf and hat were tan.

"Thanks," I said before we walked out of the hotel. We were on the strip somewhere, so there was no shortage of cabs. Moose flagged one down in no time.

Apparently Moose and Emma had been talking, because as soon as we were in the airport, he insisted on a wheelchair. "Either that or I'm throwing you over my shoulder."

"I'll look ridiculous," I pleaded. "Besides, I think a little bit of exercise would be a good idea." I tried to hide the mild pant that followed my longest sentence in the past few days.

I smiled at him widely like a child smiles at their parents after asking for a particularly expensive toy. "Fine, but the second you even LOOK winded, you're getting a wheelchair."

I nodded in agreement. "OK." I said. I was still recovering from my long sentence.

I didn't make it as far as I thought I would before I needed to take a break, only half a terminal. "Hold on," I said as I sunk into an incredibly uncomfortable plastic airport chair. I bent forward as I wheezed and panted. Being short of breath was only half the problem. My legs were also feeling very weak and rubbery.

"You alright?" I nodded yes as I held up a 'one minute' finger. "I told you we should have gotten you a wheelchair." Moose jogged to the nearest gate desk, and after a short conversation with the stewardess, he jogged back. "They're bringing one for you. You wouldn't be so fragile if you ate something."

"I'm not hungry," I said when I got my breath back. "And I'm not fragile." He eyed me suspiciously.

"You just sit here and relax," he said as the wheelchair arrived. I shot him a rather nasty look as he helped me into the chair and started to push me. I counted; it only took 37 seconds before he popped the first wheelie. I grabbed onto the grimy arms and laughed quietly while he had his fun.

Because of my 'fragile' state, the flight staff allowed Moose and I to board first. We settled into our first class seats (thank you, David) and watched as the plane filled up behind us. By the time the plane was about to take off, I was ready for a nap. I pulled my legs up under me so I could sit Indian-style and leaned back into the headrest. "Tired?" asked Moose. I just nodded. "Come here." He pulled me over until I was leaning against his shoulder. "Do you want a blanket?" I yawned widely before nodding yes again. I felt him move as he flagged down a stewardess. "Can she get a blanket?" The stewardess mumbled quietly as she pulled a blanket down from the overhead compartment. I lifted my head off his shoulder as he helped me spread the blanket across my legs then leaned against him again.

"Are you two newlyweds?" asked the older woman across the aisle. She leaned across the aisle, awaiting her answer.

"What makes you say that?" asked Moose. Not a yes or a no answer. I yawned and closed my eyes, settling in as the plane started down the runway. My second wheezing yawn caught his attention. "Can you breathe OK?" he whispered to me. I nodded, not wanting to interrupt his conversation with the older woman.

"Just the way you are with each other. I have a knack for understanding relationships between people. You know, you two are just about the cutest couple I've seen in a while, besides my son and his fiancée, of course."

"Well, thank you," Moose said quietly, playing to the woman's assumptions.

"Is she a nervous flier?" she asked in a quieter voice. "You know, my daughters a nervous flier, and she eventually went to a hypnotherapist to help her get over her fears. I can give you his number…" she said as she rifled through her purse.

"No, no thank you, she's not scared, she's sick."

She gasped. "Oh no! What's wrong?" She lowered her voice as to no alert the other passengers. "Is it contagious?"

"No, it's not contagious. She had a serious lung infection. The infection has cleared, but she's still recovering."

I yawned again and tuned out the conversation. In no time, the ambient noise of the airplane and the low oxygen content of the recirculated air put me to sleep.

"Hey, we landed," Moose said while he shook me lightly. I stretched and yawned.

"Well hello, Mrs. Fallahin! Your husband and I have been chatting during the flight. You are one lucky woman!" said the older woman across the aisle.

Moose winked at me as I shot him a rather unamused look. Moose had apparently let this woman's assumptions go too far. I extended a hand toward the older woman. "Sloane," I said.

"Ruth," she said as she shook my hand.

I smiled mockingly at Moose. "What all did you two talk…about, darling?"

He laced his fingers between mine. "Lots of things. How we met, what we do, she told me about her kids…"

"My son's in public health, too. He's on the business side, not the science side, though," she added, not to be ignored for even a second.

"That's nice," I added. I practically flew out of my seat as soon as the stewardesses released us. Don't get me wrong, I love random conversations with strangers, but in my current condition, holding a conversation was difficult. All I wanted to do was get home, take some Advil, and fall into bed.

"Here," Moose said as we walked out of the plane and into the small terminal at Lansing's only public airport. "Eat these." He handed me a small bag of salted peanuts.

"No thanks," I said, refusing the bag.

"Please, you haven't eaten anything in three days. You need to eat. You look like hell." He opened the bag as I sat down to rest mid-terminal. "Just start with one."

I sneered at him. "You sure do know how…to make a girl feel pretty."

"You're starting to worry me, Sloane. You need sustenance." He hadn't called me by my real name since we first met, I must really look like hell. I took one peanut from him and forced myself to chew and swallow it. I had to shake my head no when he offered another one; just the thought of eating it made my stomach churn. "Please?" he begged.

"Not peanuts," I answered. I had never liked peanuts to begin with, making them downright unbearable right now.

He set the small bag of airplane peanuts on the seat next to him. "OK, what do you want? We can stop somewhere on the way home."

"Toast," I said. I wasn't in the mood for anything, but I agreed to try and eat something, if only to keep Emma from sticking another IV in my arm.

He nodded as he helped me up. "OK." Lansing's airport was extremely small, and apparently even Moose thought a wheelchair for such a short walk would be ridiculous. We walked through the baggage claim area, even though we had no baggage to claim, to get to the terminal exit. Sydney was sitting beside one of the baggage claims, fidgeting nervously. She flew to her feet and sprinted at me full speed once she noticed us.

"Oh my God, Sloane! I'm so glad you're OK!" she screamed as she almost tackled me. Luckily, Moose caught the two of us, or else her momentum would have knocked me to the floor. When she was done squeezing the life out of me (something I'm sure she meant as a hug), she studied my face. "Are you OK?" she asked.

"I'm getting there," I answered. I appreciated her enthusiasm, but all I wanted to do was go. More importantly, I _needed_ to sit. "Can we…?"

"Sure, sure." She led the way out the door and to the short term parking lot.

"Where are you parked?" asked Moose. I was wondering that myself.

"Almost in the back, over there." She pointed to the back left corner of the parking lot. "This is the busiest I've ever seen this place." It was true; the Lansing airport was unusually busy. It must be all those people coming home from holiday festivities.

Moose looked down at me. "Do you want a wheelchair?"

I looked at the unshovelled path and the parking lot covered in grey slush. "No, too hard to push."

"You want me to carry you?" he asked. I bit my tongue and my pride and nodded yes. The short walk through the airport had exhausted me. It almost felt to me like I was doing better in Las Vegas. He picked me up and held me close to him, trying to block the whipping wind from hitting me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in my arms. The cold wind was making it even more difficult for me to breathe.

"Why does she need to be carried?" asked Sydney. I had no idea how much she had or had not been told.

"In the car," he said as he started off in the general direction Sydney had pointed. In what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes, Moose set me back down on my feet just outside the passenger seat of Sydney's clunker. He climbed into the back of the car, leaving the passenger seat for me.

Sydney turned the heat on high as soon as she slipped into the driver's seat. "What happened?"

She was looking me right in the eye, so I tried to make my answer as short and sweet as I could. "Moose and I were working with…dead flu when I had a vision…and fainted."

She interrupted. "Woah, why are you talking like that?"

"Dead flu," I answered.

She looked puzzled. "Drive," I said before I turned to Moose to allow him explain. Waiting for me to spit it all out could take days.

"When she fainted, I caught her before she could hit the ground, but I was still wearing my lab gear. I guess I contaminated her when I pulled her mask off to make sure she was breathing."

"But dead flu isn't even dangerous for humans, why…" She shook her head to try and get it all straight while we sat at a red light.

"Because of all the vampire blood in her. It fed on the vampire blood in her bloodstream, creating a massive infection in her lungs."

She nodded, accepting that information. "OK, so after the vision, what happened?"

"O'Hara - I mean David - stopped by to check on her, but I sent him away because of the dead flu. When she came to, we finished up and left. We were walking to the car when Mac got a bad feeling."

"Ohhh," said Sydney.

"Yea, the next thing I remember, I was in a car, bound and blindfolded. That fucker from Navada…"

"Filipe and Victor," I supplied.

"I know their names," he snapped at me. I didn't hold his anger against him; it wasn't me he was mad at. At least I was pretty sure. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Those fuckers paid some people to kidnap her so he could have her for himself, I was just a lucky addition."

"Oh, no." said Sydney.

"They loaded us onto a plane and shot her full of some potion some alchemist brewed up and she went into some trance, like she was mid-vision, but for hours. When she wouldn't answer them like they wanted, they beat her. DeCastro wanted to bite her, but I told him she had dead flu. That obviously pissed him off because he couldn't touch her anymore."

"How did you know she had it?" Sydney asked. I might as well not be in the car. I curled into the well-worn seat and stared out the window.

"I didn't, I guessed. Even during the short flight, though, she got a lot worse. When she got really bad really fast, I knew. She was already running a high fever by the time the plane landed. Next I knew, I was in a floor-to-ceiling silver room and Mac was gone. I flipped out."

"Where were you?" asked Sydney.

"Filipe's throne room." She didn't need all the gory details.

"Why? What happened?" But of course, she wasn't going to let it go.

"He threatened me and told me to…go over to the dark side,…when I said no he put me…into a small room with…a window so he could watch…me. When I was too weak…to stand anymore and fainted…he threw me in with…Moose."

"Oh, Pony…" I could hear the coming tears in her voice. "But you're OK, so something good happened?"

"When the guard brought her in, she was in bad shape. She wasn't breathing very well and she was running a really high fever, not to mention she was borderline unconscious. The guard took pity on her and brought her some ice and water, which was probably the only thing that kept her alive. We sat in there all day and the next night, O'Hara and his friends sprung us." Moose took over again seamlessly once he was there to remember what happened.

"But she's still sick?" Sydney asked as we pulled into the driveway. Home sweet home.

"She's getting better, it's just going to take her some time to heal."

"How long?" she asked as we both climbed out of the car, Moose following close behind.

"I don't know. A week, two…it will depend on if we can get anything in her."

"Toast," I said as I slowly walked toward the front door. I still wasn't hungry, but toast was going to be easier to force down my throat than peanuts, that's for sure.

Moose helped me out of my coat and shoes as Sydney rushed into the kitchen to make some toast. I looked up the long flight of stairs. I longed to be in my bed, but the staircase was daunting. I decided to take it just a few steps at a time. "Do you want some help?" asked Moose, obviously keying in to my plan.

"Will you get me some…water?" I asked. He nodded and headed for the kitchen and I started up the stairs. I made it up five before I stopped to take a break. I was still sitting in the staircase five stairs up when Moose came back with my water. He handed it to me and sat down next to me.

"Sure you don't want a lift? I don't mind carrying you around, I promise."

I took a swig of water. "I want to do it." I handed the water back to him, and with a good grip on the handrail, did another four steps. I was sure I looked like my grandmother, whose arthritic knees and hips made her take stairs at a very slow pace. It had always been annoying to me as a child, but now I understood. I took another swig of water as I sat. At that point, Sydney was back with white toast with butter and cinnamon on it. It was her special I-don't-feel-good toast.

"What's wrong?" she asked, puzzled as to why Moose and I were both sitting near the top of the staircase together.

"Just resting," he answered. I handed him the water again and finished the last four stairs on my own. I did an internal happy dance at my accomplishment, little as it was. I took another short standing break before walking the few steps into my bedroom, Moose and Sydney not far behind. Everything was as I left it; bed unmade, clothes strewn across the floor. I sat up in bed and finished off the water before taking the toast from Sydney. I took a few bites before setting the plate down on my bedside table. Moose picked up the plate and shoved it back into my hands. "You have to finish it."

His face looked so worried; I needed to lighten the mood. "If you haven't noticed…I'm not doing anything…very fast these days,…give me a second." I set the plate back down on the bedside table as Sydney sat on the end of the bed.

"Do you want some of my special tea?" she asked.

I nodded yes. "Please," I said. The combination of strong, dark tea, a touch of milk, lots of sugar and some honey actually sounded really good right now. She patted my feet and headed out of the room. "Thanks," I said as I looked Moose right in the eye. "For everything."

"Welcome," he said.

"I'm sorry, too," I added. "This shouldn't be…your problem but I...somehow dragged you in."

He looked down, not quite sure what to say. "Let's just keep incidents like these to a minimum, OK?" I nodded at him. "Are you OK for the night?"

I nodded yes again. I liked the yes and no questions today. "Go home," I said. He leaned over me and gave me a gently hug before he left the room as well.

"Finish the toast," he said over his shoulder as he walked down the stairs.

I was alone, which gave me a slight panic attack, but I was safe. Sydney was only downstairs, keeping an eye out. I was safe in my bed. I closed my eyes for a second and pulled my comforter up to my shoulders. I wasn't getting out of bed until the semester started and I had to.

"Here you go," said Sydney as she put a mug of steaming tea in front of me. "Where'd Mustafa go?"

"Home," I said as I smelled the tea.

"So?" she asked as she crawled on top of the covers. I raised my eyebrow as a nonverbal 'so what?' "So you and Mustafa?"

"There's nothing there," I said. I added _at least for me_ in my head. It was screamingly obvious Moose had other intentions in mind.

"Are you sure? Because he is really..." I slapped her lightly on the thigh before she said something inappropriate. "OK, OK. I'll let you get some rest. Yell if you need anything." I nodded 'OK' before she walked out of the room, closing my door until it was only open by a crack. I took a small sip of my tea to test the temperature. When I found it wasn't going to scald my taste buds off, I took a larger sip. I took another bite of my toast for good measure and settled back into bed.

"May I come in?" asked a deliciously Irish voice not 10 minutes after I settled in. I opened my eyes; David was leaning against the doorframe. He held a single hydrangea. When I nodded yes, he slowly lowered himself onto the side of the bed and handed me the flower. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he grabbed my hand.

"OK," I answered. I liked answers that were short and relative. Compared to where I had been, lying on a cold silver flood, slowly drowning myself to death, I was just dandy. But compared to how I felt in the hotel room in Las Vegas, I was slightly worse. So really, where did I stand? I laid the flower on the pillow on the other side of the bed that I never use and left that question for later consideration.

He kissed the back of my hand. "Good." He lifted my cup of tea and sniffed it. After shuddering lightly, he asked, "have you eaten?"

I pointed to my half-eaten toast. "Some." He nodded but looked disappointed at the quantity. We sat in silence for a few minutes before I gave in and scooted over, leaving just enough room for David to get under the covers with me. When he didn't get it at first, I lifted the comforter. "Get in," I added. It was silly, but I felt better with him here. At least I wasn't alone.

He toed off his shoes and crawled in next to me. I laid my head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around my waist. "I feel as if your illness is my fault."

I looked up at his face to gauge his expression, but his face was completely expressionless. "How so?"

"Were it not for me, DeCastro would not know about you."

"But I would still be…working in the lab…and I would still have…gotten sick," I added.

"You would not have had my blood in your system, and…" I pressed my finger against his lips before he could finish that sentence. I didn't take it off until he stopped trying to talk. "I apologize."

"Will you go downstairs…and get my laptop…and the DVD…The Music Man?" I said after propping myself on my elbow. He slipped out of bed and in no time was back with the goods. He took his place on the bed, except he sat up, propping pillows behind him. After he set the laptop on his lap and inserted the DVD, I leaned against him as we watched the movie.

"Hm, " said David when it got to the point in Act 1 where Harold is trying to convince the townsfolk that a pool table is no good and he starts to sing "Trouble". "I see now. So I am as much trouble as a pool table?" He said, remembering early Christmas morning when I had quoted these very lyrics.

That wasn't quite the analogy I was trying to make, but it worked. I giggled. "Yup."

"Hm," he said again. I laughed again and settled in for the rest of the movie.

I didn't make it quite through the whole movie before the water (or the tea) worked its way through my system. I pushed myself up and scooted to the edge of the bed. I paused before I pushed myself to my feet to make the short walk to the bathroom. "Do you need help?" asked David.

"No." I pushed myself to my feet before he could insist on something. Once my legs were beneath me, I steadied and started the short walk to my bathroom. When I was half way between my bed and the doorframe, in relative no man's land, with nothing to reach out and grab for support, my body stopped listening to me. I was aware I was dropping like a brick, but there was nothing I could do about it. Before my head hit the ground, I was elsewhere.

It was dark and dingy; everything looked decrepit and uncared for, including Sookie, whose future I was in. An old family picture hung haphazardly on the wall. I didn't recognize anyone in the picture. Haziness cleared from my mind as movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. Pure panic took over as I noticed the gleaming silver caps on the pointy teeth of the thin woman in the equivalent of a body condom. In one hand was a sharp blade. Sookie screamed, but the question was, did I?

**SYDNEY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I dropped my book and bolted up the stairs when I heard the blood-curdling scream come from Sloane's room. I threw the door to her room open and was vaguely aware when it crashed into the wall and bounced weakly back at me. "What the hell did you do to her?" I screamed at David, who was straddling her hips, holding her writhing body to the floor as she continued to scream. I rushed to her side and tried to push him off of her without success. "Get off of her!" I commanded.

"She is having a vision," David explained calmly. "I am merely trying to ensure she does not hurt herself in the process."

Watching her struggle against him while she was in obvious pain tore at me. "Sloane, hun," I said as I shook her lightly on the shoulder. David was right, she was in the middle of a vision. She didn't respond to me in any way when I spoke her name and now that I was paying attention, she wasn't specifically fighting against David. Her hands were free, but she wasn't clawing at him to get away, she was only flailing.

"Hold her head steady," he commanded. I followed directions, trying to simultaneously hold her gently enough to not hurt her but hold her firmly enough so she couldn't hurt herself. I braced my elbows against her clavicle as I braced one hand on either side of her face. Once I hand her under control, David released her shoulders from his grasp so he could pull his cell phone out of his pocket. He hit speed dial on his expensive Blackberry and held the phone to his ear.

"You're making a call? Really?" I added as I struggled to hold her as still as I could as gently as I could. In her condition, she wasn't very strong, which made being forcefully _gentle_ my priority.

He ignored my comment. "Emma. Sloane needs you," he said into the receiver. "I am worried about what this vision is doing to her already weak body," he added after a short pause. "A minute, maybe more," he answered after another short pause. After listening to a few instructions over the phone, he hung up and tossed it to the floor. "Move," he said to me. I blindly followed directions, leaning back on my haunches, still at Sloane's side, letting David take my place. I couldn't tear my eyes away from her, even though she was tearing at me. Tears started to run down my face. "Go invite Emma in."

I shook my head no. I couldn't leave her, not like this. I didn't care if I was only going to be downstairs. "No," I added for good measure. The screaming, which had only gotten more frantic, was working against her already ineffective lungs to the point her lips and the tips of her fingers were turning a blueish-purple. I resisted the urge to shake her violently, anything to get her to snap out of it.

I looked up as he called my name, something I didn't think I'd ever heard before. Meeting his eyes was a mistake. I immediately felt calmer, more pliable. "Go let her in," he said again. Before I could object, I was pushing myself to my feet and calmly walking down the stairs.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

This was one of the most terrifying, painful visions I had ever had. I could feel both of our pain, both the slicing jabs and the tearing bites that Sookie was going to endure at some point in the future and the stinging numbness in my fingers, the splitting headache, and the panicky tightness in my chest from the lack of oxygen the screaming had caused me. Still, I couldn't stop myself from screaming and doubling my pain. A split second of precious relief when the vision started to fade was followed by gasping sobs. When I was back to the here and now, David filled my vision, and he pinning me to the floor. I caught his panicked gaze. I calmed slightly, taking the opportunity to gasp for air, finally noticing the oxygen tubing that had reappeared under my nose. When his gaze softened, however, I broke down again. "Don't…let…them," I gasped to David between sobs.

"I will not," he said as he pulled me into his arms, cradling my body to him like a child's. I pulled him to me as he pulled me to him, sobbing desperately.

I buried my face in David's chest as I cried, barely registering Sydney's voice in the background. "Don't let them what, hun?" she said as she rubbed the back of my head.

"Don't…let…them…take…her," I gasped between sobs.

"Take who?" asked David, a peculiar echo between his voice and the reverberations in his chest. I couldn't answer, oxygen deprivation finally getting to me. The sobs quieted as exhaustion took over, my eyes closing comfortably. "Is it safe to give her blood yet?" reverberated from David's chest as I drifted to sleep.

Emma's voice floated through the air. "Not yet," she said.

A warm hand pressed against my forehead lightly, then moved to my neck and paused for another few seconds. "She needs fluids," said Dr. Lupe. It was his hand against my neck. "Some acetaminophen wouldn't hurt, either, and a low dose of diazepam. Her temperature's not too high, but I'd rather be on the safe side. When was the last time she ate?"

"She ate some toast," said Sydney quietly.

"Anything else?" asked Dr. Lupe.

There was a long pause. "I…I don't know."

Dr. Lupe sighed. "I want to take her in to the hospital. I can keep a better eye on her there, get her some tests."

"No hospitals," I whispered lightly, almost inaudibly. "No needles," I added.

"No hospitals, no needles," David repeated louder. "I will watch her until sunrise then I am sure Sydney can take over."

There was a long pause before Sydney chimed in. "Uh, yea, of course."

"Thank you Doctor, thank you Emma. If we need anything else, we will call you." Silence and David's breathing followed, both working quickly to lull me all the way to sleep.


	46. Chapter 46

I could smell David's sneaky betrayal before I opened my eyes. It smelled like hand sanitizer, plastic, and sterilized surfaces. It smelled like a hospital. I opened my eyes to find myself still wrapped in David's arms exactly as I had been, the only difference being the location. Instead of sitting on the floor in my bedroom, we were sitting in a hospital bed. "Traitor," I whispered good-naturedly. It was hard to be mad at him when I was feeling so much better.

He jolted out of downtime and looked down at me, unguarded smile covering his face. "Please forgive me." He kissed my forehead, then my nose, then my lips gently. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," I said.

"And how is your breathing?"

I took an experimental deep breath. Either Dr. Lupe had given me a lung transplant or he could work miracles, because I was feeling almost back to normal. Granted, I was still hooked up to the oxygen, but still. It was a fantastic breath. I smiled up at him. "Good."

He pulled a small object out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was a brand new iPhone. I turned it on; all of my information had been preloaded on it for me. "Sydney had requested you call her as soon as you wake."

"Where is she?" I was expecting her to be sitting not-so-patiently at the end of my bed. Instead, it was just David and me.

Wait. It was just David and me. No doctors, no other vampires, not even a shifter, just David and me. And I wasn't having a panic attack. I smiled up at him at he answered me. "Asleep in the doctor's lounge upstairs."

I scrolled through my contacts to get to Sydney's cell number. On the way, I passed contacts for both and Idi and Idriis Mdo, Emma O'Hara, Lee Wong, and Jeremy Soto. "Who is Jeremy Soto?" I asked.

"My day man," he answered. "He is also at your disposal, should you need anything."

I shook my head as I passed his contact information in my phone. "I've managed just fine without him for several years…"

"Yes, but I have not been inadvertently been putting you in danger for several years."

"David…" I scolded. I didn't want to hear about it.

"Humor me," he added before I could yell at him. I sighed as I gave in even though it really irked me. It wasn't like I _had_ to call him, he was just there if I needed him. And I promised myself I wouldn't. I scrolled past Jeremy Soto's number to Sydney's and pressed send.

"Hello?" she said groggily.

"Hey Syd."

"Sloane!" She was instantly awake, and I was willing to bet on her feet. "You're awake?"

"Yup."

"Hold on." She hung up the phone. She was in the room in a flash. "Sloane?" she said when she sprinted into the room, tears falling from her face. She launched herself onto the bed and pulled me away from David and into her own arms. "Don't you ever do that to me again, you hear me? I never want to do that again." I yelped when she slapped me on the arm. She pulled her hands away from me. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Do what?" I asked, rubbing the where she had slapped me gingerly. Instead of answering me, she pulled me back into her embrace. "You're suffocating me, Syd."

"Oh, sorry." She didn't let me go, but she did loosen her grip.

"I'll leave you two alone," David said as he lifted the rest of my body from his lap, set me on the bed, and gracefully uncoiled himself from the bed. "I'll be just outside." He left the room and closed the door, leaving just Sydney and I in the hospital room alone.

"What did I do, hun?" I asked again.

She let go of me and settled cross-legged at the end of the bed. "I've done a lot of things for you, hun, but I never want to hold you down while you scream in pain like that again."

Tears welled in my eyes, I felt horrible. She had never asked for any of this, she never asked to be pulled into this mess. She deserved to pursue what she loved in peace without having to constantly worry what was lurking around the corner because of me. "I'm sorry," I whispered as I dropped my gaze to my hands.

"Don't cry, Pony," she said apologetically as she grabbed my hand. "I know you couldn't help it; I shouldn't have even said anything."

The tears were falling in earnest now, obscuring my vision. "I didn't mean to…"

"I know, I'm sorry I said anything." She pulled me back into a hug and I didn't resist.

I stopped crying and wiped the tears from my face when Dr. Lupe walked in. He eyed us suspiciously, but decided not to ask why we were both crying. "How's my patient?" he asked, occupying his eyes with the chart he pulled from the end of the bed.

I pushed away from Sydney and scooted back to the head of the bed. "Fine." Sydney stood and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"How's the breathing?"

"Fine," I answered again.

"And your throat?"

"Fine." On the third 'fine', I had earned a look from him.

"Anything to say other than 'fine'?" he asked. I shook my head no and turned away from him slightly. I did _not_ want to be poked and prodded right now. Sydney emerged from the bathroom, tissue in her hand, and headed straight out of the room, closing the door behind her again. Dr. Lupe watched Sydney leave, then turned to me. "Did you two have a fight or something?" he asked softly. I shook my head no again. He could tell I was upset and wanted to comfort me somehow, but he wasn't sure how. His palm hovered over my shoulder, then my hand before he stuffed his hand back into his lab coat. "Well, I'm releasing you into Emma's care. Remember to drink lots of fluids and remember you _have to eat_. I don't want to see you in here suffering from malnutrition again." He took my arm and pulled up the sleeve to the wrap sweater Emma had given me, revealing an IV taped to the inside of my forearm. "I had to drain 4 bags of nutrients into you before I could get your electrolytes and your blood sugar back in check." When I didn't respond, he glanced up at my face. I must have looked like I was going to be sick because he sat down on the bed with his back to me and pulled my forearm into his lap, essentially blocking my view. "Don't look."

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on other things. I thought about the masses of work that was most likely sitting on my desk, the millions of emails I hadn't gotten a chance to read, most of them probably from students complaining about a bad grade or asking to change sections in a class. I made the mistake of thinking about what had put me here in the first place. I thought about the mistreatment that Moose had to endure because of me, which brought me full circle back to the heartache I had been giving Sydney lately. I had been putting the only people who I cared about and who cared about me through hell. The tears started to fall harder as a small sob escaped my lips. Once one sob escaped, the rest flooded out. I had reduced myself to a crying child in a matter of seconds.

Apparently, how to deal with crying women was not something they taught in medical school. Dr. Lupe awkwardly patted my shoulder before hurrying out of the room. Before the door could close, David slid back in and sat next to me on the bed. He had obviously had more practice at this. He grabbed my hand gently and after kissing my palm, he wrapped his and my arm around my waist and gently pushed me down until I was lying on the bed. When I curled away from him, he traced my body with his own. "What would you like me to do?" he asked quietly.

I turned onto my back so I could look up into his face. "Make it stop." I wanted it all to stop. I wanted to be normal, undesirable, average. I wanted to live a predictable life in peace; get married to a great (human) guy, maybe get a dog or two, have a couple of kids, grow old, retire, and die like normal people. It had never been clearer to me that I was never going to have any of that. I couldn't even get sick like normal people or have a quiet movie night at home like normal people.

He brushed a tear from my cheek and licked it off his finger. "Tell me how, I will do anything." I rolled away from him again, and again he wrapped himself around me, softly whispering little nothings in another language into my ear. We laid there for several minutes before he spoke English to me again. "Would you like to stay here or would you like to go?"

I wiped the tears from my eyes and pushed myself into a sitting position. "Go."

"Where would you like to go?" he asked.

I didn't want to go home. Sydney would be there, and I didn't think I could face her just yet. I needed to go to work, to have something to occupy my mind, get me thinking about something else for a while. The solitary sounded pretty great, too. Of course, neither David nor Emma were going to let that fly. I needed to be sneaky about it, just like he had been sneaky about getting me to the hospital. "Your place," I answered after a quick eureka moment.

He smiled and after getting off the bed and appearing at my side in a split second, he offered me a hand. "Of course." I took it and after I was steady on my feet, I followed him out of the room.

As soon as we were clear of the doorway, Emma fell in step behind David and next to me. She grabbed my arm and lifted the arm of the sweater to reveal a band-aid where the IV had been. I squealed when she ripped the band-aid off and licked the small dot of blood from my arm. After looking back to see what all the commotion was about, David rolled his eyes and continued toward the elevator. I, however, stopped in my tracks and turned, shocked, towards Emma. She bowed her head slightly. "I apologize. I have been curious for some time now as to what you taste like and have been looking for an opportunity to taste you. I must say, you are everything David said and more," she said as she licked her lips in ecstasy. "It is a wonder he has not drained you yet; I do not know if I would be able to resist if I ever got the chance to sink my teeth in you."

I was paralyzed with…what was it? Shock? Fear? Something else? David wrapped his arm around me and put himself between Emma and me. I followed as he slowly pulled me along with him, into the open elevator. He pressed the button for the lobby and the doors closed. "Emma, perhaps you can come by and check on her tomorrow? I believe you have scared her enough for one night."

I was trembling lightly in David's arm. Was I really that tasty to them? Would it really be that easy for one of them, David included, to lose control? "Yes, my King," she answered, obviously attuned to the fact that David was less than pleased with her. The ecstasy that had been in her eyes fell away quickly as she tried to cover her ass. "I apologize." When the elevator doors opened, she bowed deeply in front of him and disappeared. David led me toward the lobby door, stopped just feet before the threshold. He turned me toward him and tilted my face until I was looking him in the eye. He looked utterly pissed, which just scared me more. He shrugged his coat off and wrapped it around my shoulders before lifting me into his arms. Almost paralyzed, I let him pick me up. He held me tight as we ran to the car. He deposited me into the passenger side and kneeled down in front of me.

"I will never let anything like that happen to you," he said as the anger on his face melted away and softness covered his face again.

"OK," I answered. Satisfied with my answer, he buckled me in, closed the passenger door, and slid into the driver's side. The ride was incredibly quick because we only had about a block and a half to go. I was already scheming as we took the elevator to the fourth floor to David's penthouse apartment. I was stripping off clothes before he even opened the door, peeling off the wrap sweater as he fumbled with his keys. As soon as he got the door unlocked, I kicked off my shoes and tossed the sweater onto the foyer table. "I'm going to take a shower," I said as I stripped off my tank and tossed it onto the kitchen island as I passed, revealing the fact I hadn't been wearing a bra (Emma hadn't brought me one after my bath in Las Vegas, and I hadn't had the time or energy to fix it). Footsteps let me know David was following, gathering up my discarded clothes.

He cleared his throat. "Yes, OK." I smiled to myself; my plan was working. I waited until I got into the luxurious bathroom before I shimmied out of the yoga pants, revealing that I hadn't been wearing anything under them, either. I watched David close his eyes and turn away in the mirror, obviously working hard to control himself. "I'm afraid I do not have anything for you to eat. I should run to the store while you shower."

Crap, that's not what I wanted at all. I needed him to stay here so I could send him away once I was dressed. "No, stay," I said quickly as I turned on the water in the shower stall. "Just in case I slip and fall in the shower. I'm still a bit shaky," I added on the fly.

"Alright," he added after a moment. He leaned against the countertop, careful to avert his eyes, staring at anything but me. I stood naked and shivered while I waited for the water to heat up to an acceptable level. Why do vampires insist on keeping their homes so cold?

As soon as the water was warm enough, I hopped under the stream and quickly showered. "David?" I asked as I rinsed the conditioner from my hair.

"Yes, Love?"

I hesitated. I didn't want to give him any reason to leave the room, including being angry with me. "Is it really that hard…I mean, when I bleed, do you…" I should have spent that time considering exactly what I was going to say.

"Yes, it is," he answered, figuring out what I was trying to ask.

I quickly shaved my legs and armpits. "I'm sorry." I felt like I was doing a lot of apologizing today.

"You have nothing to apologize for." I did one last rinse and turned off the water, opening the stall door and extending a hand in David's direction. He was mere inches from the towel rack, after all. Instead of giving me a towel, he watched me wring the excess water from my hair with my other hand, taking in every little thing about my body. He approached me, getting so close that I could feel the coolness of his body against the heat of mine. He gently grabbed my shoulder and traced around the scar left from the bullet hole, then did the same thing with the larger scar on my stomach from the limo. My skin quivered under his touch; all the sudden my libido had snapped back and was in full force. He gently rubbed his hand over my ribcage where I had broken ribs, barely brushing past my breast in the process. "Absolutely nothing," he whispered. I started to shiver again, but this time it wasn't because I was cold. I grabbed the hand that was resting on my ribcage and pulled it up to my lips, kissing his palm then the tip of each finger before intertwining my fingers with his and dropping them to my side. He left his hand in mine and caressed my face with the other hand. I kissed his thumb as he ran it over my lips.

Now it was his turn to shudder as I ran both of my hands up under his black t-shirt, up his abs and to his chest. I left one hand on his chest as I pressed myself against him and ran my other hand down his back. I could feel every hard inch of him beneath his jeans and it made my knees weak. Luckily, he wrapped both of his arms around me and lifted me off the ground just enough so he could kiss me deeply. After one long, deep, passionate kiss, he set me down on the countertop, leaving both of our hands free. I worked on unbuttoning his jeans as he practically ripped his shirt over his head. He took over undressing himself as I kissed his neck and chest, already panting with want for him (and possibly just shortness of breath). When he was just as naked as I was, he lifted me up gently and carried me to the bed, setting me down like I was a precious child. He leaned over me, kissing my neck gently as I tangled my fingers in his hair. "Relax," he whispered gently into my ear as I wrapped my legs around his. "Let me do all the work." He kissed a trail down my neck, between my breasts, over my belly button, and finally down to my sweet spot. I arched my back and moaned in response. He lapped at my center until I was practically hyperventilating. He stopped licking and loomed over me again. "Relax," he repeated, obviously not impressed with my effort. If he wasn't going to get on with it soon, I was going to take what I wanted. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself up to him, kissing his lips hard and nibbling on his lower lip. "You are so impatient and bull-headed," he said as he pushed me down onto my back, holding my forearms to the bed near my head. I was pinned beneath him, and there was nowhere I'd rather be right now.

"Please, David," I begged. I wrapped my legs around him even harder and arched my back again.

"As you wish, my Queen." I screamed in pleasure as he buried himself in me. I turned my head, baring my neck for him. He pulsed in and out of me as he kissed my bared neck, which was slowly driving me over the cliff. I screamed David's name as I orgasmed, him following shortly behind. I lay on my back, panting, with David's arms around me for several minutes. "I should not have allowed that; your breathing still has not returned to normal."

I pushed myself out of his arms and trotted over to the dresser. "I'm fine." I pulled on some sexy underwear just to spite him for his last comment and pranced into the bathroom. That comment had snapped me out of my post-sex euphoria and back to my intense desire to escape. After cleaning up, I emerged to a fully dressed David sitting at the end of the bed. His fangs came down when I emerged. "Not a chance, big man," I said as I passed. I leaned over and grabbed a pair of jeans and a cowl neck sweater and climbed back onto the bed. It was time to put my plan into action. "Do you have any Pepsi?"

"I do not believe I do," he said as he slipped his shoes on.

"Would you mind running down to the 7-11 real quick?"

He circled the bed and kissed me on the forehead. "Of course." He turned and walked out the door.

It wasn't going to take him long enough to get me a Pepsi, I needed to add something he wasn't familiar with. "And get some cinnamon applesauce too, please."

He turned back to me and smiled. "Of course."

As soon as I heard the door shut I jumped to my feet and ran to the door. Now came the most integral part of the plan. Everything hinged on David actually _running_ to the store. I slipped on the same black ballet flats Emma had left for me in Las Vegas and checked the bowl that David always left his keys in. Finally, something went my way. His keys were just where he had left them. I grabbed one of the several coats in the coat closet (a black leather motorcycle jacket…did David have a motorcycle?), grabbed the keys, and ran down the stairs. Once I was out of the building and thoroughly winded, I hit the unlock button on the key fob. The parking lights of David's car lit up and I rushed over to the car and hopped into the driver's seat. I threw the car in drive and peeled out of the parking lot, headed toward my house. If this was going to work, I needed my purse. I pulled into the driveway next to my car and ran into the house. "Sloane?" said Sydney from the kitchen.

"Gotta go," I said as I grabbed my purse from the foyer and ran back out the door.

"Wait…" I heard Sydney say before I ran out the door and to my car. I peeled out of the driveway and headed toward campus.

It was just after midnight the week between Christmas and New Years, so I was able to take the space closest to the building. I pulled my student ID out and swiped it over the electronic lock, allowing me into the building. When the door clicked closed, I felt mildly better. That simple step made it so much more difficult for anyone to get to me, giving me half of what I wanted---solitude. The next step was getting into lab. I wheezed heavily as I walked to the elevator and too it up to the third floor. Usually, I would take the stairs to the lab, but my lungs weren't quite feeling it. I opened the door to the lab with the same ID card and closed it behind me, making sure that it was locked. I leaned against the door to catch my breath. When I could breathe again, I turned the lights on and turned toward the lab. I didn't really have much of anything I could do right now, until I saw the gel still set up in the fume hood. I went over and checked it, the agarose had been sitting in a steady current for several days and had completely melted. I poured the thick liquid down the drain, followed by several minutes of tap water, and started all over again.

"Hey, Mac," I heard as when someone shook me. I lifted my head from the table groggily and spun around. Matt, the shy but adorable kid-brother-like PhD student that had been in the lab only a couple of months was sitting back on his haunches looking at me. "Have you been here all night?"

I looked at the clock that hung above the door. It was ten in the morning. "I guess so." I answered. "What are you here for?"

"I have to cycle the cultures. This was taped to the door for you. Are you alright?" he asked as he handed me a delicately folded piece of paper. "I, uh, I read it."

"Yea, I'm fine," I said as I opened the note. In David's handwriting, it said:

_You cannot hide from me forever. We will talk about this tonight.  
Never steal my car again. If you wish to borrow it, you must ask._

Oh, shit, he was pissed. And he was wrong, I could hide. And I planned to. "Are you sure you're OK? If this guy is bothering you, you should tell someone." Matt's concern came through in his extremely expressive voice.

"No, he's not bothering me, he's just angry."

Matt smiled ear to ear as I shoved the note into my pocket. "Did you really steal his car?"

"Yep," I said, mildly proud of myself. I was a felon. I should have been really upset with myself, but I wasn't. It was thrilling.

He extended a fist bump. "Awesome! What kind of car is it?"

I shrugged. "Some kind of Mercedes."

Matt actually jumped up and down. "Holy shit, A Mercedes?"

As proud as I was of my felonious actions, I didn't want to sit here and talk about it forever. "Yup. Well, I gotta get going." I pulled my coat back on and grabbed my purse.

"Do you want me to walk you to your car, just in case that guy is waiting for you out there?" He started pulling on his coat before I even answered.

The last person to walk out of this building with me got kidnapped. I was not going to do that again. "No need, its daylight out."

He followed me anyway. "Fuck, Mac! He's a vampire? You stole a vampire's car? Wait until the guys hear about this…"

"No telling any guys, I don't want to get arrested." I pushed the button for the elevator. "Especially don't tell Moose, he'll kill me himself."

I was disappointed when he stepped into the elevator with me. "Why, what's special about Moose?" I pushed the button for the first level and the door closed. "Are you two…together?" I didn't even dignify that with a response, which was apparently the wrong answer. "Damn," he said, obviously disappointed. "I guess I missed my chance." I had no idea he had a thing for me. I apparently hadn't done anything vision-related in front of him yet to freak him out. Just give it time, sooner or later, I would.

I shook my head as the elevator doors opened. "I'm not 'with' anyone, Matt. I'll see you in the new year," I added as I walked toward the door.

"Want to go out with me for New Years Eve, then?"

"I have plans already," I answered, just a tad too quickly. My plan was to sit at home and avoid the drunks.

"Yea, with Moose," he mumbled behind me. He held the elevator doors and let them close with him inside.


	47. Chapter 47

I was pacing the living room floor, watching the sun set, cell phone in hand. Knowing the impending wrath was making me really nervous. I had tried to talk myself down all day, telling myself that he couldn't be that mad anymore, that uninviting him from my house right now would only serve to piss him off more. But every time I had lulled myself into a semi-calm state, the fury in his eyes as he threw me around that hotel room in Maryland would surface again, as would the complete terror I felt. It was to the point that the thought of David scared me a thousand times more than the thought of Filipe and Victor. Filipe and Victor might be diabolical control freaks hell-bent on dominating me (or killing me, depending on which one we're talking about), but at least they were constantly in control. There is nothing more frightening than an out of control vampire, and David tended to lose it.

I felt David's anger as soon as the sun set, and it nearly paralyzed me. I dialed the one person that I trusted explicitly and who was as strong, if not stronger, than David. I dialed the number listed under Idi Mdo. "Miss Sloane," he answered.

"Did I wake you?" I asked. I didn't care, but it was polite to ask anyway.

He must have heard the panic in my voice, his interest now peaked. "No, I was just rising. What can I do for you?"

"He's really mad at me, Idi." I glanced at the front door, nervously waiting for it to be broken in. "What do I do?"

"What is he mad at you for?" he asked.

"I stole his car and hid. He left a note."

"For what reason did you feel you needed to hide?"

I shook my head. Now that I had a chance to actually think about it, running was really stupid. Hindsight's always 20/20. "It was stupid, but I just really needed to be alone. Between Sydney being mad at me and David smothering me and Emma licking me….I just couldn't take it."

"I see. Please hold." I could hear as he set the phone down on a hard surface for maybe ten seconds. "Is Miss Sydney there as well?" he said once he picked his phone back up.

"No." I promised myself I was done putting her in harm's way. I had sent her out on a couple of errands that would take at least a few hours just a half hour ago. She wouldn't be home until well after anything that might happen.

"Would you like me to come as a bodyguard?" he asked.

"Please. When can you get here?" I could feel David working himself to a fever pitch, and he was coming for me. He was close.

"Ten minutes if I run, fifteen if you would like me to bring Idriis."

"Hurry," I said before the door swung open. I screamed and dropped the phone when I saw the raw fury on David's face. In the second it took me to take a step back, David was behind me, holding my arms to my side with one arm and covering my mouth with the other.

"Silence!" he yelled. It only served to scare me more, I struggled to free myself from him until I had no more energy to fight. I panted and trembled in terror, tears falling down my cheeks. He was going to snap me like a twig before Idi could get here, I just knew it. "I only wish to talk to you. If I remove my hand, will you be quiet?" He was trying very hard to be civil, but I could still hear the anger in his voice.

I nodded. What else was I going to do? Shaking my head no wasn't going to get me anywhere. I remained quiet except for the almost silent sobs that accompanied my tears. He pushed me into the armchair in the corner and loomed over me. I instinctually curled into a ball, covering my head with my arms when he leaned down quickly to get my attention. "Look at me!" he yelled as he grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me back into a sitting position. Once he looked into my eyes, his own softened. He let go of me and paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. "You make it very difficult for me to keep my promise."

I was only barely listening to what he was saying, instead I was planning my escape. The easiest thing to do would be to rescind his invitation to my house. When he reached a peak distance from the armchair he had parked me in, I quickly said, "David, I rescind your invitation."

Anticipating the words that were going to come out of my mouth, David grabbed me before I could finish the sentence. "We will finish this, whether it is in here our outside, I do not care." He carried me, kicking and screaming, out the same way we came. I toppled the foyer table and shattered the mirror above it, succeeding only in imbedding several shards of glass in my bare feet.

It was snowing hard outside all of the sudden. Michigan winter storms could be like that, one second it's clear, the next it's a blizzard. David shoved me into a frozen, snow-covered Adirondack chair that no one actually ever sat in. He held my wrists to the rough, warn wood, so I kicked at him as I screamed for help. "Quiet!" he yelled again. I flinched away as he yelled at me, turning my head to the side to deflect any incoming blows. I stopped fighting and pulled my knees to my chest when David let go of my wrists. I looked at my bloody feet; everything I had ever heard was to not pull glass out of a wound yourself. Little pieces might get lodged in there and you'd never know. David walked away, finally stopping to lean against the front door. Now I couldn't get away. My best bet was to book it for the neighbor's place and hope they were home. "Why did you run?" he asked, his voice back down to a normal speaking voice, but still seething with anger.

"I needed to," I stammered.

He slammed his fist against the door, leaving a crack in the old wooden door nearly three feet long. I yelped and scrambled off the porch and toward the neighbor's. Pain shot through my feet at every step. I was also leaving a trail of bloody footprints.

I don't know why I insisted on trying to run. There was no way I could outrun a vampire. He easily caught up with me, throwing me against the garage wall hard enough to knock the wind out of me. He held me to the wall with his forearm, my feet dangling a good foot above the ground. I grabbed at his arm. Not to push him away, that would have been a futile attempt. I was trying to hold myself up. "I was nothing but gentle and understanding, and you repaid me by stealing my car and running from me. I deserve a better explanation."

I nodded. "OK," I added when I could manage a breath. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again." I pleaded with him, anything to get him away from me. "I promise, I swear. Please let me go," I sobbed. I started to struggle against David as I saw Idi slowly approaching from behind, weapon drawn.

"Step away, my King," he said once he was within striking distance. He flourished his favorite weapon at David's back.

David whipped around, startled by Idi's sudden presence. He threw me toward the fence like a stuffed animal in the process. I grunted as I went through the old wooden fence and knocked my head against the back patio in the process. I took a quick inventory. I pulled out a shard of wood that had imbedded itself in my thigh and another that had imbedded itself in my wrist. Once I was free of any larger pieces, I turned to look where I had just been. David and Idi were both watching me, David with pure horror on his face, and Idi with one eye on David. David had a brand new slice on his upper arm which was healing before my eyes. I flinched and started crawling away when David took a step forward. "Sloane, I…" I stopped and turned toward David, pure hate in my eyes. Now that Idi was here and I no longer had to be terrified of David, my mood had shifted from scared to angry. He seemed to understand that an apology was not going to get him anywhere. "I will call Emma," he said as he pulled out his cell phone.

"No, you will not," I seethed as I pulled myself to my feet painfully and only with the help of the patio furniture. "I don't want anything to do with either of you." I limped toward the back door. "Idi, will you please drive me to the hospital?"

"Yes, Miss Sloane."

I looked in the sliding back door at the damage I had done to the house before I entered. There was glass all over the floor and the table was lying on its side. I also looked down at myself, bleeding almost from head to toe. I took a deep breath and sucked up the nausea. I knew what it was going to look like when Sydney got home, and she was going to freak out. I promised her that I was done scaring her like that. "I need to clean this up before Syd gets home." I opened the back door and hopped over to the wooden kitchen floor, sidestepping the carpet in the living room all together. I grabbed the hand towel hanging from the fridge door and wiped up the bloody footprints I left on my way to the foyer. I lifted the table back into its proper position before sweeping up all the broken glass.

"Invite me in, I will clean up this mess," David pleaded from the open back door. I looked up at him for a split second before deciding that I wasn't speaking to him again. I went back to my sweeping, painfully gathering all of the broken glass and tossing it into garbage in the kitchen. I also pulled the now broken mirror off of the wall and tossed it into the larger garbage in the garage. When I threw the same towel to the floor to clean up more bloody footprints, the towel was now soaked in blood. I looked down at it quizzically. My feet were bleeding, that's for sure, but not hard enough that wiping up a few bloody footprints and some drops of blood would completely soak the towel. I stood, suddenly light headed and walked into the kitchen to toss the bloody towel into the laundry room and grab another one. I noticed the reason for the bloody towel as I tossed it into the washer. Blood was rushing out of the wound in my wrist faster than anything else I had ever seen. I grabbed two new towels, tying one tightly around the wound and using the other to clean up the blood.

After finishing up the last of the blood drops, I stumbled as I went to stand. I stood too quickly, causing everything to go black for a moment. When vision returned, I looked back at the back door. David and Idi were still standing there, watching me with interest. David was on the phone. "Please come in, Idi," I said. In an instant, he was at my side.

"I should take you to the hospital, Miss Sloane."

"I have to finish cleaning." There were still bloody footprints in the snow outside. I threw my new gray peacoat on before painfully shoving my feet into a pair of slip-on shoes. I wasn't sure what I was going to do about the bloody footprints…cover them with snow? It was already snowing pretty hard, I wondered how long it would take for the blizzard to cover them.

"I will call Idriis over to clean it. You must go to the hospital."

"I will clean it," said David from several yards away. "Take her."

I grabbed Idi's arm as the Earth swayed in front of me. "OK," I said. Idi ushered me into the passenger seat of my own car and pealed out of the driveway. I didn't care much about the speed at this point, I was more interested in pulling the shoes off of my feet. I gasped in pain as I pulled the bloody shoes off and tossed them into the back seat.

Idi lifted me out of the car when we arrived at the hospital and carried me into receiving. I was pretty sure this was the first time that I was still conscious as I was brought into the hospital. I was surprised at the flurry of activity that starts when someone is carried into the ER. Several nurses flocked to me, each asking me questions at the same time. Idi answered many of the questions for me. "Dr. Patrick Lupe should be expecting us."

A few of the younger nurses fell away and the eldest of the nurses took over. "This way." Idi followed the nurse to a back room and set me on the bed. I pulled my coat off, careful not to disturb my wrist. The nurse took one look at me and glared at Idi, assuming he was the source of all of these injuries. "What happened?" she asked him.

"She was attacked and thrown through her fence. I do not know how she got glass in her feet."

"I accidently kicked the mirror as he dragged me out of the house," I answered matter-of-factly.

Dr. Lupe walked into the exam room, still in his jeans and Georgia Tech sweatshirt. It was obvious that he had been off duty until very recently. He looked me over from across the room as he pulled on a lab coat and gloves. "Thank you, Marcia," he said, dismissing the nurse. He didn't speak again until after she had closed the door behind her. He let out a long sigh. "David, David, David." He pulled my wrist out and untied the towel. After fully examining that wound, he shined a light into each of my eyes. "You have a concussion; did you hit your head?"

"I guess," I answered. He laced his fingers into my hair and felt my scalp.

"I don't think your skull is cracked, but I want to get an X-ray just in case." He wrote something down in a chart before he pulled out his stethoscope. "Let's check your lungs while we're here." He pulled my cardigan to the side and pressed the stethoscope to my chest. "Sounds good." Next he pressed his fingers to the inside of my intact wrist to feel my pulse. He frowned. "Your heart is racing." He pulled a blood pressure cuff from the wall and hooked it to my arm. "How much blood did you lose?" he asked after frowning at the cuff. I just shrugged. I didn't know.

"Perhaps a litre and a half, maybe more," Idi answered for me.

Dr. Lupe kneeled down and looked at the gash in my thigh before checking out my feet. He rubbed his forehead as he sighed. "There's too much blood here, I can't see anything." He stood and grabbed a hospital gown from a pile in the corner. "Do you think you can stand long enough to shower all this blood off of you?" I nodded yes and he handed me the hospital gown. "Good. There's a shower in that bathroom. If you start feeling lightheaded or dizzy, sit down and say something. I'll be right out here." I nodded again and pushed myself to my feet, limped into the bathroom, and shut the door.

Since I wasn't soaping up, it didn't take me long to shower. I put on the hospital gown and my underwear and balled up my bloody clothes. Idi helped me back onto the bed as Dr. Lupe started cutting bandages to the right size. After wrapping one around my wrist then doing the same to my thigh, he pulled my eyelids up and checked my eyes again. "Dammit," he mumbled. "I know you're going to object, but I need to give you a transfusion." I just turned my head away from him and closed my eyes. "No, open your eyes, Sloane. You can't go to sleep with a concussion."

"I'm not sleeping. Put the IV in."

"I need to grab some bags," he said after a long pause. "I'll be back."

I opened my eyes and turned to Idi. He looked extremely uncomfortable. I was about to tell him he could leave if he wanted to when the nurse opened the door. "There is a gentlemen here asking to see you. It if after visiting hours, but if you want, I can send him back."

It was David, it had to be. I looked back to Idi. "I will handle him." I'm sure he was glad to have any reason to leave the room. He left the room still carrying my bloody clothes and shut the door behind him, leaving just the nurse and me in the room.

"Do you want to press charges? I can have the cops here to arrest him in just a few minutes."

She must mean Idi. I forced myself to smile at her. "No, he didn't do this."

She put her hand on my shoulder. "He's not going to stop, he will just keep beating you. I see it all the time."

"You don't understand," I said. "He didn't hurt me, he's paid to protect me."

She paused for a second before turning and leaving the room. I yawned, tired again. I knew Dr. Lupe didn't want me to, but I closed my eyes again anyway. Just for a second, I promised myself.

When I opened my eyes what seemed to me like only seconds later, I was already hooked up to an IV and Idi was back in the room. I turned my head away from the IV and took a deep breath. "The doctor has requested I not let you sleep anymore."

"Uh huh," I said. It was obvious he had no idea how he was going to about that, which was just fine with me.

"The King wishes to see you," he said as he covered the IV with the blanket that someone had also covered me with at some point.

I turned my head to look at him once I was relatively sure I wasn't going to get a glimpse of something that would upset me. "And what did you tell him?"

"I told him you were unconscious and I would not let him in to see you without your permission."

I reached out and grabbed his hand. "Thanks."

He looked down at our hands, and so did I. His extremely dark skin contrasted starkly with my almost albino skin, making our hands look like a chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream cone. Mostly chocolate, though. "May I sit?" he asked, nodding to the edge of the bed. When I nodded yes, he perched himself on the bed, still holding my hand. "He wishes you to know that he did not mean to hurt you, he merely wanted to get you as far away from the fight as possible. It seems I startled him more than I anticipated."

"Good for him," I said, turning onto my side, still facing Idi. I didn't much give a shit; the fact was he scared the hell out of me, dragged me out of my own home, then threw me through a fence. That was my limit. It was going to take me longer than a hospital visit before I could forgive him for this, if I can ever forgive him for this. After a few minutes of silence, I changed the subject. "Can I ask a question?"

"Yes," he answered.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

He nodded once. "Understood."

"How old are you?" It was a question that had been irking me for a while.

"Approximately 625," he answered as if I had asked him his favorite color or best vacation.

My jaw dropped. "Oh."

"How old are you?" he asked.

"23," I answered. He turned his head to look at me, small, hesitant smile on his face. I smiled with him, trying to hid the giggles that were rising to the top without success. When we were done laughing, I asked, "When can you take me home?"

"Soon," he answered. He grabbed a pile of clothes off the bedside table and set them next to me. "King O'Hara brought you clothes."

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and pushed myself on to my bandaged feet. It wasn't until the blanket fell away that I remember what was stuck in my arm. "Jesus," I mumbled as I slammed my eyes shut. I was already dizzy and nauseous because of the concussion, and the needle in my arm wasn't helping. Idi steadied me as I waivered. I extended my arm toward him, eyes still closed. "Pull it out."

"I will find the doctor," he said as he pulled his arms away from me.

"No." I said, flailing my free arm, looking for him without opening my eyes. I latched on when I felt his cold hand. "Pull it out or I am going to faint." I tried taking deep breaths to calm myself down, but it wasn't working like it usually did.

He hesitated, which was not helping me. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, needing to anchor myself to this room somehow. "Sit."

I made the mistake again of looking down, catching a glimpse of the needle again. This concussion was messing with my thought process, making me slow and forgetful. My knees went weak and everything went black.

**SYDNEY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

When the front door opened, I assumed it would me Sloane and David, back from some other errand. I was relieved; I had gotten home from the grocery shopping for her almost an hour ago to find Sloane gone and no note as to where she might be. "Where've you been, girl?" I asked when I turned my head, following the creaking footsteps that were approaching where I was sitting on the couch. I was expecting Sloane to circle the couch and plop down next to me. Instead, Idi was carrying her and she was unconscious again. "What happened?" I asked, trying to be calm. Idi didn't seem too concerned, so I tried to follow suit.

"Needles," he replied, stopping just inside the living room threshold. "Where should I put her?"

I took a deep breath and sent up a silent prayer; it wasn't serious. "Her room's at the top of the stairs, the door on the right."

He nodded and disappeared up the stairs. I waited downstairs for several hours, looking to be a good host and show our guest out. When he hadn't come downstairs by midnight, I shut everything down and headed up the stairs. I did have to work in the morning, after all. I knocked on the door quietly before I opened it just a crack. When I peaked my head in, Idi was standing guard mere inches from my face. Sloane was still out cold, but looked comfortable underneath her comforter. Idi turned his attention from Sloane momentarily to see who was intruding, going right back to watching Sloane when he determined that I was not a threat. "Are you going to stay the night?" I asked in a whisper.

"Yes," he replied.

OK, then. I nodded and opened the door a bit more and leaned against the doorframe. "OK. There's a key on top of the framing of the front door, please lock up when you leave. There's blood in the fridge, too." I turned to leave, but made one more comment before going to bed myself. "You know, you can sit down." I pointed to the chair in the corner that was covered in its usual pile of clothes. "You can throw those clothes on the floor, they're dirty."

He considered the chair in the corner for about a split second. "I am fine, thank you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Or you could sit on the bed. She doesn't bite."

"I am fine," he responded again. I shrugged my shoulders and closed the door. After getting into my pajamas and getting ready for bed, I climbed under my own covers.

****END OF PART THREE****

**Don't worry, avid readers—I'm already working on part 4.**


	48. Chapter 48

**PART FOUR:**

It had been exactly two weeks since my last hospital visit after careening through my own fence (trust me, I was counting). A construction crew had arrived the morning after and had my fence all fixed up before Sydney had gotten home from work, contracted and paid for by David. The next day, a dozen hydrangeas were delivered every hour on the hour, all cards with pleading requests for forgiveness in David's handwriting. When Best Buy's Geek Squad arrived on the third day with a 37 inch flat panel high definition 1080p TV, I had had enough. I thanked them profusely and tipped them for their trouble before I sent them (and the TV) away. After they left, I had opened the note.

_For your bedroom as you recover. Please forgive me. -D_

No, I'm not putting any reminders of David in my bedroom. I had already had 24 dozen hydrangeas peppered on every surface on the first floor. At that point, I had called Jeremy the Day Man and asked him to call off the dogs.

At the end of two weeks, I still hadn't talked to any of the fanged persuasion except Idi and I couldn't have been happier. As my mood rose, however, David's soured. I could feel his depression deepen every night, which is why I was now sitting on the couch, pissing and moaning. I tried to not let it get to me, but as his mood worsened night after night, more and more of his sour mood seeped into my consciousness. "God, what does he want from me?" I erupted, startling Sydney sitting across the room.

"Why don't you just call him and ask?" she said, not even pulling her eyes from the TV to answer my question. She was just as sick of this as I was.

"No, I'm not giving him any reason to think he's allowed back into my life."

She threw her arms into the air in frustration. Just before she could open her mouth to object, there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," I said as I pushed myself off the couch. "Hey, Idi." I said after I opened the door. It was my first vampire in two weeks. It was oddly anticlimactic. I stood to the side to allow his massive body past me. "Come on in." He was wearing a black suit and tie under his overcoat, meaning that he was on duty as the Queen's errand boy.

He stepped past me into the foyer, but didn't bother to take his coat off. He wasn't staying long. "I have come at the request of my Queen."

I nodded and crossed my arms across my chest subconsciously. "OK, what does she want?"

"She requests your presence at court tonight."

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

He looked at me like I was crazy. "I do not know."

I sighed and pulled my ponytail down, scratching my head to release the tension. "Do I have to?"

"No one has ever defied the Queen." I really hated non-answer answers.

"So that's a yes?"

"For anyone but you, that is indeed a yes. But you are special." I cocked my eyebrow, a silent 'so?'. "King O'Hara has declared you are untouchable, and she would not be foolish enough to defy her King."

I pushed myself up onto the still empty foyer table and dangled my feet. "Give it to me straight, Idi. If you were me, would you go?"

"Yes, if only to find out what she wants of you."

I really really really didn't want to go, but I trusted Idi and I had to say, I was a bit curious. "You'll be there?"

He nodded yes. "If you would like me to be, I will be at your side."

"Will David be there?" That's what I was really nervous about. Ever since our last meeting, I was a bit wary about Emma, but nothing serious enough to give me the nervous jitters that I had now. David was the real reason I didn't want to go.

"It is possible." He knew how little I wanted to see David. "I will protect you better this time. He will not touch you if you do not want him to."

I swallowed and nodded once. "OK."

"You will need to change," he said as he looked at me head to toe. Maybe I had pulled off my wet jeans when I got home that day and threw on some sweatpants, but I didn't look ridiculous or anything. I followed his gaze down my body.

"I'll go throw on my jeans," I said as I started up the stairs.

"Jeans are unacceptable," he added.

My jaw dropped as I turned back to Idi. "She wants me to come to her, _and_ I have to get dressed up?" I took a step down the stairs. "This is ridiculous," I mumbled. "OK, what do I wear?" He did the vampire equivalent of a shrug. I extended a hand toward him. After he took it, I led him up the stairs, into my room, and to my closet. "Pick something," I said as I pulled the closet doors open. "I'm going to fix my hair."

I shut myself in the bathroom and grabbed both sides of the sink. I didn't know why I was so nervous. I threw up a silent prayer. _Please, if this nervousness is a sad excuse for a vision, give me something more concrete. _ I pulled my hair into a low bun and threw a touch of foundation and some mascara on. After a touch of lip gloss, I emerged from the bathroom. Idi had laid a dress that was actually a bridesmaids dress on my bed and respectfully left the room. I changed into the appropriate underwear for the dress and slipped the amethyst colored dress on over my head. I pulled the silver heels that I had worn at that wedding out of my closet and slipped them on. Because it was the middle of winter and I wasn't going to bare both my legs and my arms for anyone, I pulled on a black tuxedo style blazer and buttoned its only button. When I opened the door, Idi was standing just outside. "Alright," I said. "Let me tell Syd where we're going, then we can leave." I slowly walked down the stairs in the heels and into the living room.

"You look nice," Sydney said.

"Thanks. Idi and I apparently have a date with Emma, don't wait up."

Her interest was piqued. "Oh?"

"I have no idea." I waved as I turned for the door. Idling outside was another town car. I followed Idi into the back seat and the car took off.

On the outside, the O'Hara complex looked like a large but plain home. On the inside, however, it was beyond grand. Cut and polished marble and well-worn mahogany covered almost every surface. All of the furnishings were obviously antiques. Idriis was standing just inside the door, visibly missing his other half. He was happy to see his brother until the point after Idi hung his and my coat when he followed me farther up the hallway. Then he was disappointed. We passed another couple of guards at the end of the hallway. Idi nodded to the two men I had never seen before. I grabbed his hand as we walked up the staircase and passed another set of bodyguards, this time a male and female pair. I recognized the female, it was Varana, the small Indian bartender. She nodded to both Idi and I as we passed. At the end of another hallway was a grand set of double doors, outside which sat a smaller woman in a black suit. She was holding a clipboard and pulled a pencil shoved into her neat bun as I approached. "Name?" she asked.

"Sloane McIntosh," I said as I rolled my eyes. Idi squeezed my hand.

"Purpose?" she said as she scanned the list for my name.

"How the fuck would I know?" I snapped. I wanted to turn around and go home. I'd hitchhike if I had to.

Idi squeezed my hand again, this time harder. "She was summoned." I turned a tuned ear to my hand to listen for cracking bones. I didn't hear any.

The woman finally seemed to notice Idi and raised her gaze to his. "And your purpose here tonight, Idi?" She didn't sound happy to see him.

"Bodyguard," he replied calmly.

"For whom? The Queen, I assume."

"No. I have orders from the King to protect Miss Sloane from anyone and everyone, including his own kingdom. I am here in that capacity."

The woman looked me up and down, clearly not seeing what all the fuss was about. "You may go in."

Idi opened the door for me and I gave the woman a wide berth as I walked into the room. It was large, just like the rest of the house, and done in the same marble and mahogany motif. Emma was sitting behind a desk much like the one in the office at Rum Runners, Lee standing behind her. "Sloane!" she said, obviously happy to see me. She emerged from behind the desk and approached slowly, watching Idi's every move. He stood motionless, still holding my hand, waiting for me to give him some signal. As Emma got closer, Idi pulled me behind him, still holding my hand.

"I am sorry my Queen, but she is still weary." He swung his other arm behind his body and expertly found my waist, placing his hand on my hip.

"Of me?" she asked, shocked.

"Yes, Ma'am," he replied.

"Oh, Sloane. You have nothing to fear, dear." She may have sounded confident, but she stopped in her tracks, even taking a few steps backwards.

"What do you want?" I said as I peeked my head around Idi.

"Please do not be afraid," she said. "I would simply like to talk about my brother."

Oh, here we go. "What about him?"

I yelped as I heard another voice come from behind me. "Yes, sister, what about him?" I turned around; David was standing just inside the door. He looked terrible. He was pale, his eyes were distant and apathetic, even his posture had changed to more of a slump.

I switched which side of Idi I was hiding on, putting him between David and me. I would much rather expose my back to Emma than David. I squeezed Idi's hand as he turned to face David. "I want to go now," I whispered to him.

"Do not go just yet," said David. "You look beautiful tonight."

I screamed when I heard Emma's voice, much closer than it had been before. "You have nothing to fear, Sloane," she whispered into my ear.

I held one hand to my pounding heart while my other hand squeezed the life out of Idi's hand. If he had circulation, I would be cutting it off. "All vampires that aren't Idi need to stay at least 10 feet away from me." It really only applied to Emma, because she was the only one within 10 feet, but I thought it would be good to include all non-bodyguard vampires to the list for future reference.

Emma took several steps backwards at a slow pace, solely for my benefit. "David, Lee, and Idi, would you please give Sloane and me some privacy?"

Idi looked down at me for approval as Lee and David shuffled out of the door Idi and I had entered. I shook my head no. "I am to stay," Idi said.

Emma was starting to look a bit exasperated. She took a deep and unnecessary breath as she sat behind her desk again. "David," she said, reaffirming the topic of conversation. She pointed to a chair in front of the desk, but I'd rather stand. I nodded a silent 'no thanks'.

"What's wrong with him?" He certainly didn't look healthy, even for a vampire.

"Time wears on him more harshly than it does others of our kind."

"Time is what's wrong with him? You're telling me he's just old?" Eric was over a thousand and he seemed beyond healthy. David's not even 150 yet. I wasn't really buying it.

"Most of our kind build mental barriers over time; it is what makes us uniquely vampire. Because of David's talent, he doesn't build those barriers." I stayed quiet. I didn't seem to think any of this was even remotely related to me. Why was I here again? She must have seen my attitude in my eyes, because she answered my silent question. "When he is with you, however…he is different. The years seem to not bother him quite as much. He is happy again." She took another deep breath and finished her thought. "He will not go to his own bar, he forgets to eat. The last time I saw him like this, he gave away his kingdom and left. I would rather he not do that again."

"I still don't get why I'm here. What am I supposed to do about it?" I was about to say she should find him a psychotherapist, but I wasn't sure something like that would even be effective for a vampire. I also didn't envy that therapist.

"Forgive him. Allow him back into your life." She looked at me like she was asking me to take off my shoes before I stepped on the carpet.

I was afraid of that. "Ha! No thanks, I prefer my body in one piece."

I jumped and closed my eyes when she slammed her hands on the desk and stood, looming toward me. I had decided when I was being frozen and tortured while hooked to the ceiling several months ago that if someone was going to kill me, I didn't want to see it coming. The anticipation is half the problem. "He did not mean to hurt you!" she yelled at me.

I opened my eyes. "I guess that temper runs in the family," I sad once I could be fairly sure my voice wasn't going to be shaky and weak.

You could almost see the steam rising from her ears. Her jaw clenched as she sat down deliberately in her chair. It was her turn to close her eyes. "Please. He is my _brother_," she emphasized, like the fact it was her brother would make me risk my life. "You have done more for me before."

I raised one of my hands in a 'stop' motion. "I saw that outcome; I knew exactly what I was getting into. This is completely different."

"This is no different. He will not hurt you again." She seemed very sure, but I knew better.

"I've heard that before."

"Please just give him a chance to prove it."

It was my turn to lose my cool. "No, Emma!" I took my time straightening out my blazer to give me time to cool down. "I love him, Emma, I really do. I love him so much it scares me. But I can't take the heartache or the fear anymore. I still can't look at him without flashing back to the hotel room and seeing all that anger in his eyes." Tears started to fall down my cheeks. "If I built up that trust in him again, and he breaks it again..." I wiped my cheeks on the back of my hand as I let Idi's hand fall from mine and turned on my heels. I slowly walked out of the same doors I had entered, making sure to watch where I step through my blurry vision. David and Lee were silently milling about in the hallway. I walked past them without acknowledging either of them.

"No, brother," I heard Lee say.

I turned when I heard my name. David had followed me down the hallway as did Idi, and Idi was now holding David back. I wiped the tears from my eyes again and checked my hand to make sure that the waterproof mascara I had put on was staying waterproof. So far, so good. "It's OK," I said.

Idi let go of David but was staying nearby just in case. David approached slowly, holding both of his palms out toward me. He stopped 6 inches from me and slowly and deliberately raised one hand to my face. He wiped a new tear from my cheek. "Don't cry," he whispered. He sounded even worse than he looked; his voice was tired, sad, and raspy, like he himself had been crying all day.

"I'm sorry, David. I love you, but I can't…" I took a deep breath to try and steady my voice again. "I…"

"I have broken your trust. I will regain it." He had a sad determination about him, I just didn't have the heart to tell him that might not be possible this time around.

I reached up and pulled his hand from my face. "Goodbye, David." I dropped my head again as tears started to fall even harder and I continued down the stairs.

Idi followed me down the stairs and helped me into my coat. I approached Idriis. "A package will come in about a half an hour. Refuse it, it's a bomb from the Fellowship." The vision hit on the way over, but in my nervousness, I completely forgot about it. "I'm sorry I keep stealing your brother, I know you miss him. I'll stop soon, I promise." I walked past him and out the door before he could respond.

Idi followed shortly after, right as the town car pulled back up. "Home?" he asked.

I looked at my watch, it was 10 PM. Sydney would be heading to bed soon; she had to leave early in the morning to accompany the Handels on a family vacation as the full time nanny (I envied people who could afford such things, but pitied their children). I wouldn't want to interfere with her plans by coming home with tears in my eyes. She would feel obligated to stay up with me. "No," I said as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I pulled up an address from my phonebook and rattled it off to the driver.

I was regretting my decision to not call before showing up at the large apartment complex. "Thank you, Idi. Go see your brother." I slid out of the town car and shut the door behind me then purposefully walked into the building. I waited until the car pulled away to proceed up the stairs to the second floor apartment. I stopped outside the door and listened; then TV was on but no other noises coming from the apartment. I took a deep breath and knocked.

Barefoot and in athletic shorts, Moose opened the door. "Hey Mac, what's up?" He took a closer look at my face. "You OK?"

"I'm fine. Mind if I come in?" I shifted my weight from foot to foot, anxious for the answer.

"Yea, sure. Can I get you something?" he asked as he stepped to the side to allow me in.

"No, thanks." I stepped into the apartment and looked around. It was a typical college bachelor pad. One couch, one lazy-boy (not necessarily matching), a coffee table from the '80's, one lamp in the corner, an extremely large TV and entertainment center, and a The Godfather movie poster on the wall.

He cleared a couple of cups from the coffee table and set them in the sink in the kitchen as I took a seat on the couch. "What's up? Just here to hang or am I on babysitting duty?" He grabbed a bottled water from the fridge for himself and sat next to me on the couch.

I felt bad when he asked if I was only here to be babysat. Did I really lean on him so heavily for support? Protection? "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come," I said as I stood again and straightened out my blazer.

"Hey, now, sit down," he said as he pulled me back down to the couch. "What's up?" He turned the TV off, which made a difference to me. It meant I had his undivided attention.

I slipped my heels off and tucked my feet under my legs to warm them up. "Can we just hang for a while?"

"OK," he said after studying my face. He knew there was more, but was smarter than to ask what it was. If I wanted him to know, would tell him in my own time. He turned the TV back on and watched the end of the SportsCenter update. "You look nice," he said out of the blue.

"Thanks," I answered.

"Bad date?" he asked, instantly regretting it.

I smirked. "You could say that." It was so easy to be around him. He was the best of both worlds; he knew about my little tendencies toward looking psychotic and he didn't carry violent vampire tendencies. I was just hoping I didn't get any unwanted visions about 'us'. I didn't want it to be awkward.

Apparently, he didn't feel so bad about pressing the issue if I was still answering his questions. "Anyone I know? Did Matt finally ask you out?"

I laughed. "As a matter of fact, Matt thinks we're dating."

He wiggled his eyebrows and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Oh, really?"

I laughed and leaned into him, mockingly pushing him away.

I yawned widely as the credits to He's Just Not That Into You scrolled across the TV. I looked at my watch; it was already 2 in the morning. "Oh my God, it's so late! I better let you get some sleep." I stood and handed the blanket back to Moose (I had stripped off my blazer shortly after arriving, which was chilly).

He pointed out the window as he yawned, too. "You're not going anywhere." Snow was coming down so hard that I couldn't see the balcony railing, which at max 6 feet from the window.

I stretched as I looked out the window. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get stranded here."

"Hey, fuel for the rumors. I could use the cred." He laid down on the super deep couch, stretching out like a cat before he threw the blanket over his legs. "You're welcome to anything in my room if you want something else to sleep in." I had completely forgotten I was wearing a cocktail dress. I looked down the length of the dress. "You get the bed, too."

I shook my head no adamantly. "Absolutely not. This is your place, you get the bed. I'm smaller, anyway. Couch-sized." I took the hallway back to the bedroom and pulled a t-shirt off the ground and sniffed it. It smelled like boy, but other than that it smelled fine. I unzipped my dress and unhooked my bra before I slipped the shirt over my head. Now all I needed was something on the bottom. I opened the top three drawers, hitting jackpot on the left most drawer. Boxers. I pulled the pair of blue plaid boxers on, hung up the dress on the door handle, and pulled the pin out of the base of my bun, letting my hair fall down around my shoulders. I doubted Moose had any face wash that didn't smell like aftershave, so I decided to just sleep in my makeup. I walked back into living room and sat on the couch in front of Moose. The couch was deep enough that he could lie on his back and I could still sit comfortably. "Well, you can sleep where ever you want, but I'm sleeping on the couch." I laid my head on the pillow next to Moose's, being sure to fling my hair all over his face. "Goodnight." I pulled the blanket off his legs and covered myself with it for good measure.

"Phwt," he said as he blew my hair out of his face. He smoothed my hair down my back and sat up, crawling over me so he could get to his feet. I smiled up at him triumphantly as he walked back into his bedroom. I scooched back a smidge until I was in the center of the couch and pulled the blanket up to my shoulders. Moose kept his apartment cold, most likely because he carried his own heat around with him. A second later, Moose reappeared, carrying a mass of plushness. He pulled the 'decorative' pillow (as if anything in a bachelor pad was truly decorative) out from under my head, causing my mass of hair to spray out everywhere. He lifted my head and shoved a different pillow under it. Next he pulled the blanket off of me.

"Hey!?" I said. He jumped behind me on the couch, lying down next to me. He then covered the two of us in a large plush down comforter. "Excuse me?" I said as he settled in.

"I like this pillow better," he said. He shifted behind me for a moment before saying, "lift you head." I did as I was told and lifted my head. He slipped his arm under my neck and hung it over the edge of the couch. "Perfect," he sighed. "Goodnight." Within minutes I could hear his breathing settle as he fell into sleep behind me. Well, it wasn't like he was actually touching me, other than his arm underneath my neck. We definitely were not cuddling. And his body heat felt really good in the cold apartment. The rhythmic breathing was like a heavy sedative, lulling me to sleep shortly after.


	49. Chapter 49

The sun was streaming in the window when I woke. Moose and I had both switched positions as we slept; he was now on his back and I was lying on his chest. Both of his arms were wrapped around me. I pulled my head up to look at him. If I ever thought I had a case of the bedheads, all I had to do was remind myself of this sight, right here. Moose's shoulder length ringlets had become a tangled mess, even pulling strands of my hair into the act.

He was still out cold, and I hated to admit it, but I was pretty comfortable. I threw my leg over his to relieve the pressure on my hips, yawned, and went back to sleep.

When I woke the second time, Moose was already awake. "Can I technically say I slept with you now?" I slapped him playfully beneath the covers.

"You've slept with me before," I said.

"Not like this." He carefully untangled my hair from his and pulled his mass of curls into a loose ponytail behind his head, securing it with a ponytail holder he always had on his arm. Freezing air hit my body when I pulled the covers down to get up and stretch so I quickly pulled the covers back on like you would pull a hand away from a hot stove. I curled back into the heat that was trapped under the blanket, which was a bit more than Moose could take. He cleared his throat. "I, uh." He practically jumped out from under the blanket and disappeared down the hallway. I stretched out under the covers as I heard the shower turn on.

There was a very adamant knock at the door almost 5 minutes into Moose's shower. When I didn't answer, they knocked again. "Damn," I whispered. I didn't want to get the door for two very good reasons: 1) I did not want to start any rumors. If I answer the door and it was someone he actually knew, it was guaranteed. 2) I was warm and comfortable. I knew exactly how cold it was in the apartment, and I didn't want to get off the couch until I absolutely had to. When they knocked a third time, I stood and wrapped the comforter around myself. I checked the peephole before opening the door. Matt was standing on the other side, bundled from head to toe. He looked impatient.

"Come on, man. I need some help," he said.

I sighed and opened the door. "He's in the shower," I said.

He stared at me, dumbfounded. "I knew it!" he said finally as he pushed past me into the apartment. "Lucky bastard," he said.

"Please, Matt, come in," I mumbled. I wrapped the blanket around me tighter and fell back into the couch in the same position. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh? Oh, the plow came by and buried my car. I need help digging myself out." He pulled off his gloves and his hat and unzipped his coat as he leaned against the kitchen counter. Seconds later, the water to the shower turned off.

"You wanna shower?" Moose asked when I emerged from the bathroom, wearing only a towel slung low on his hips. My libido jumped. Wow. Wow. He was more cut than I remembered. Of course, every time I had seen him without his shirt on I had bigger problems to deal with. "Hey, Matt."

"Dude…" He jerked his head in my direction. "Nice."

Moose smiled sheepishly and blushed. "What's up?"

"The plow buried my car again."

Moose nodded. "I'll be out in a second." He retreated into his bedroom and shut the door. Less than a minute later, he emerged while he was still pulling a sweater over his head. He slid his sneakers on as he pulled a beanie cap on over still wet hair. After pulling a pair of gloves on, he followed Matt out the door. "Be right back," he called over his shoulder.

With the two guys outside, I decided it was safe to jump in the shower myself. I carted the comforter into the bathroom and started the hot water. I didn't uncurl the blanket and toss it into the bedroom until the bathroom was filled with steam. I stripped off Moose's clothes and my panties and stepped under the hot water. After quickly washed my hair and face, I jumped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around myself. I rinsed my mouth with some mouthwash in lieu of a toothbrush on order to get rid of any bad breath that might be lingering. I stepped out of the bathroom as Moose walked back into his apartment. I stopped in my tracks, water dripping from my hair as Moose pulled off his beanie and icicles fell out of his hair. He pulled off his gloves and toed off his wet sneakers before starting in my direction. He peeled off his wet sweater and tossed it onto the linoleum flooring in the kitchen as he passed. I shivered when he wrapped his cold arm around my waist, not completely from the cold. "You're not with O'Hara anymore, are you?"

"No." My heart ached for our relationship; I really did still love him. Moose pressed me against him even harder and kissed me deeply. I kissed him back until my mind could overpower my libido. I pulled away, much to the dismay of my body. "Moose, I don't want to be unfair to you."

"How is this unfair?" he asked, probing my eyes.

I gently pushed myself out of his arms without dropping my towel. "David and I are over, but I still love him. I always will."

He closed the gap between us and wrapped his arm around me again. "So you're not allowed to date anymore?" He leaned down and kissed the crux of my neck so gently I could barely feel it.

"Moose…" I said. The heat radiating from his body matched the heat radiating from my core. My body wanted to push him up against the wall and lick him all over (and I mean _all_ over), but my mind was objecting. "I don't know if this is a good idea."

"Why not?" he asked as he slowly led me back toward the bedroom. His hand was working its way south, which wasn't helping my willpower.

If I was being completely truthful with myself, I needed him too much to screw it up. What if he was just a rebound? I've never really rebounded before and I had no idea how it felt. "What if this doesn't work out? What if I see…" He kissed my lips lightly to quiet me.

"What if it does work?" he asked as he leaned down to grab the comforter I had tossed aside. He wrapped the comforter around my shoulders. "Give me a week to make you happy. If it doesn't work out, no harm no foul. Things go back to normal." He quickly unbuttoned his wet pants and let them drop to the floor. He stepped out of them and kicked them into the bathroom as he lifted me, carrying me back into the living room. "Deal?"

I had nothing to lose. I nodded as he lowered me back to my feet and pulled the blanket away. He kissed me deeply again as I dropped the towel. I laid down on the couch and waited for him to follow suit. Instead, he just stared at me. "I'm cold," I said as I started to shiver, he was bogarting the comforter. He rested the comforter over his shoulders and kneeled over me, covering me in a makeshift tent. He leaned down and kissed me again and I wrapped arms around his shoulders. I wanted to feel safe with someone, feel safe in someone's arms. And with Moose, I did; unconditionally. He scooted me over and lay down next to me, pulling me into his arms and kissing me again before turning the TV on. I glanced up at him, confused. Didn't he just have to talk himself into my pants? Now he was throwing on the breaks? He tucked one his arms underneath his head and turned to watch whatever he had left it on. He started gently rubbing my side, from my hip bone to my ribcage. I was speechless.

He must have caught on. He kissed my lips gently. "No rush. When you're ready, I'm ready."

I reached down and slipped my hand underneath his boxers and rubbed the tip of his cock. His eyes rolled back into his head and mouth dropped open. I kissed a trail down his chest as I pulled his boxers down enough to lick the entire length of it. "I'm ready," I said. He moaned and flipped me onto my back. I was already completely naked and all Moose had to do to join me was to shimmy out of his boxers. He pulled them off and I wrapped my legs around his. He wrapped his arms around me and flipped me onto his lap, holding my torso so I was hovering above him.

"Are you sure?" he asked between kisses. I kissed him back roughly as an emphatic yes. He lowered me down onto him slowly, focusing his attention at kissing me. God, he was so warm. It was a pleasant shock after only having David for so long. I vanished all thoughts of David from my mind and focused on the caramel latte of a man in front of me. I rocked back and forth gently as he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly, holding me to him. He shifted our weight so he could lean back and pulled me into him.

It didn't take me long to work toward a climax. "Yes, Moose, yes…" I whispered into his ear as I spasmed in his arms. He rotated the two of us so he could lie down on the couch with me still on top of him. When my heart rate was back within acceptable limits, I sat up and straddled him with him still in me. I pressed my hands against his perfect chest to brace myself as I started rocking back and forth again, moving my hips in a figure eight.

"Ah, Mac," he murmured as he grabbed my hipbones. I leaned back a bit, putting more pressure on my spot as I moved. His grip on my hipbones tightened until I felt his hot release. "Ohhh," he moaned as he came. I had forgotten how good hot semen felt inside of me. I followed shortly after, collapsing back into his arms when I was done.

He lifted my hips off of him and set me back down on his chest. I tucked my head under his chin. "What's going on today?" he asked after several minutes of silent bliss.

"I like this," I whispered. I lifted my head to look at the time, it was only 11AM. We had the rest of this Saturday to do whatever we wanted with. "I think this is what's going on." He tucked the comforter up around my shoulders. "There's only one way this is going to work, Moose," I said seriously.

He shifted so he could look me in the eye. "And what's that?" he asked, matching my serious tone.

"You _have_ to turn up the heat in here."

He smiled at me broadly. "I'll be your heat."

I burrowed my arms between the couch and his back. "OK." He wrapped his arms around me tighter. "For now, at least." I closed my eyes and settled in. Between post-sex bliss, the comfortable warmth, and Moose's steady breathing, I was asleep in no time.

When I woke, Moose was sleeping lightly. I pushed myself into a sitting position as I curled into the comforter some more and watched him sleep. His muscles flexed periodically, almost like a dog chasing a rabbit in his sleep. Maybe that's what he was doing, too. I laughed quietly at the thought as I climbed out of the blanket and to my feet slowly as to not disturb him. I shivered my way across the living room, down the hallway, and into the bedroom. I put on my panties before riffling through his drawers, looking for anything that might come even close to fitting me. I pulled a pair of socks on, followed by the smallest pair of jeans I could find, hidden in the back of the bottom drawer. I had to roll the waist down a couple of times as a makeshift belt. I grabbed a sweatshirt from another drawer before turning the light in the closet on. I struggled to pull a black t-shirt down from the unusually high hanger rack and pulled it on over my head. I followed that with the sweatshirt, keeping the hood over my head to help trap any heat I could get. I gathered up the rest of my clothes and carted them out to the living room, lying them down on the edge of the couch by Moose's feet.

He was still asleep. I yanked the blanket off of him and wrapped it around my own shoulders. He jerked back to life. "Hey," he said, pushing himself upright, still completely naked. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stood to his full height. I glared up at him, freezing to death. "What?" he asked.

"It's cold in here."

He leaned down and kissed me before walking into the hallway. "Happy?" he said sarcastically as he fiddled with the thermostat. I heard the heat kick on as he walked back into his bedroom, returning a second later as he pulled a t-shirt over his head. "Have you seen my Tigers sweatshirt?" he asked. He noticed the hood peeking out over the blanket and smiled at me. "I guess you were cold."

He pulled the comforter from my shoulders and wrapped me in his arms. "Where did you park? I didn't see your car when I was out there earlier."

"I didn't, Emma sent Idi and a town car," I said into his chest.

He paused. "Idi, huh? O'Hara thinks there's something between you two." His voice had just a bit more than curiosity in it.

"Oh yea?" I pressed my smile into his chest, hiding it.

"Is there?"

I looked up at him, trying my hardest to look disappointed. "We haven't even been together half a day yet and you're already being a jealous boyfriend?"

"No! I'm not! I…" I had flustered him.

I smiled at him and pulled away. "I'm just kidding. I can appreciate Idi. He has a certain kind of…logic that I can get behind." He pulled one of several hair ties off of his wrist and expertly pulled my hair back into a ponytail for me. "Can you take me home?"

"Sure," he said.

His apartment was in Northern East Lansing and after a snowfall like the one that happened last night, it took over a half hour to travel the 5 miles to my place. I noticed the car idling down the street as I walked into my house. I stopped and waited as the small man got out of the older model Aurora and jogged toward me. Moose went immediately on the defensive, wrapping one arm around my waist and pulling me slightly behind him. "Sloane McInstosh?" he asked from about 20 feet away, slowing his approach as he got closer.

"Yea," I said, skeptical. This man knew where I lived but not what I looked like.

He stretched a hand out in my direction. "Jeremy Sota, we've talked on the phone." I stepped out from behind Moose and shook the hand of the small Hispanic man. He was remarkably light-skinned for a Hispanic man, his light hazel eyes rimmed in gold flecks.

"Come on in," I said, pulling my keys from my purse and letting both Moose and Jeremy into my house. "I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here?" I asked Jeremy.

He pulled a small envelope from an inside pocket of his coat and handed it to me. My name was written on the outside in Emma's perfect cursive. "Mrs. O'Hara requested I personally see you receive this. Should I go get the rest of the package from my car?"

"Uh, sure, I guess," I said as I flipped the envelope in my hand. The back was sealed with wax. He walked out of the house, closing the door behind him. I popped open the wax seal and unfolded the letter. It was an ornately decorated invitation.

The Queen of Michigan, Emma O'Hara  
and the members of her court  
request you presence at a gala  
to honor the exceptional work of her sheriffs  
and to announce the new sheriff of Area 5  
Saturday, January 16th, 2010  
2 hours after sunset  
at the Royal complex

Black tie attire

I noticed there was no RSVP information. I guess if you got the invitation, it was assumed that you would be attending the gala. I handed it to Moose, who had been reading it over my shoulder. "What happened to the old sheriff of Area 5?" he asked.

Simon Baker was the last sheriff of Area 5. "David killed him," I answered quietly. My hand shook as I wiped the sole tear from my cheek. He gathered me into his arms and let me cry.

"He's the one that tortured you, isn't he?" I nodded my head against his chest as more tears came. "I'm sorry," he whispered into my hair. He held me to him tighter when the door opened again.

"Sorry," said Jeremy, aware of the fact he was intruding. "Where should I put this?"

I didn't even look; Moose answered him. "Hang the bag in the closet and just leave the boxes inside the door." The closet door squeaked as it opened, then squeaked again as it closed.

"Bye," Jeremy said awkwardly as he closed the door behind him.

Moose slowly walked me back into the living room and set me down on the couch. "It's OK, he's gone now." My head knew that, but my body was shaking uncontrollably anyway. He pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and folded it around my shoulders before holding me tightly to him.

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

She gripped my shirt as tremors shot through her body. All I could do was hold her. If I had just thought through my question before it came out of my mouth, we wouldn't be here now.

She caught my attention when she stopped shaking all the sudden. I looked down at her, looking into her terrified eyes. She was looking right through me. Before I could call her name, she started screaming and thrashing in my arms. I froze where I was. What was I supposed to do? I pulled my arms away from her and slowly backed away. "Mac, I…" She continued to fight against some unseen foe. When she pushed herself off the couch and into corner of the coffee table, I pulled her away from anything else that was hard, but she was fighting so hard. I held her body to my own, trapping her flailing arms but let her legs kick uncontrollably. I let her whip her head back into my chest and fight against my arms for almost 10 minutes before her entire body went limp. I felt her wrist; her pulse was high but strong. I watched her chest rise and fall as she took deep, steady breaths. I gently lifted her and placed her on the couch before covering her in the blanket. I stayed close, just in case she needed me, lying her head in my lap.

I jumped when she gasped and shot upright. It was her turn to jump when I rubbed her shoulder. She turned ready to fight, but when she saw it was only me, she scurried into my lap. I automatically enveloped her with my arms. "You're OK," I repeated as I rubbed her back.

She jumped out of my arms. "I have to go," she said as she ran up the stairs.

I followed her into her bedroom. "No you don't."

She shook her head no as she lugged a suitcase out of the back of her closet. "Sookie's in trouble, I have to go."

I grabbed the suitcase from her and put it back in the closet. "The girl you met in Maryland? How so?" I didn't care who was in trouble, I didn't want her to go anywhere. It wasn't for selfish reasons (although I had a few of those, too), I didn't think that it would be a good idea for her to be travelling, especially alone, if she was prone to long thrashing, screaming visions. She should be surrounded by pillows and constantly supervised. I was smarter than to tell her this, though.

She grabbed the suitcase again and threw it onto the bed. "I'm just going to keep having that vision until I go." She pulled a handful of clothes from each of her drawers and tossed them into the suitcase, not bothering to match anything. She stripped down and changed into her own clothes before passing me on her way to the bathroom.

I followed her and leaned against door jam. She was tossing everything on her counter into a small red bag. "OK, I'll come with you."

She zipped the bag and passed me again on her way back to her suitcase. "No, Moose. I'm not dragging you into anything else."

I lifted her off the ground as she passed again and pressed her against me. "If we're together, we're together through everything. You don't have to do it alone."

She just looked nervous. "I don't know, Moose…"

I kissed her lips. "You promised me a week."

She sighed and fidgeted in my arms. "OK," she said after a minute. "But you have to do whatever I tell you, no questions asked."

I smiled at her, victorious. "Deal."


	50. Chapter 50

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

"I'll fill up the car while you pack. Be back in a minute," I said before Moose closed the door and ran into his apartment building. I drove across the street and pulled into the Speedway station. I pulled out my cell phone as I pumped the gas and checked my credit card balance. "Dammit," I mumbled to myself. I had about $200 of leeway on my card, which wasn't going to get me a ticket to Shreveport. Something fell to the ground when I pulled said credit card out of my wallet to pay for the gas. I picked the black card out of the snow bank. It was the credit card David had given me in Maryland. A credit card without a limit. I flipped the car against my hand as I thought it through. I didn't have time to move any money around to put some room on my credit card, I needed another option. If I used David's card, I didn't have to worry about a balance. There were so many reasons not to use it, though. For one, he could track whatever I bought, including a plane ticket. Then again, I already have an internal GPS that only he had the key to - the bond. More importantly, though, I didn't want to owe him anything. I didn't want to spend his money.

Too bad I didn't have much of a choice.

I paid for the gas and returned to Moose's apartment. He was waiting outside with a duffel bag. He tossed his bag in with my suitcase and climbed into the passenger side. "Where are we going again?"

"The airport."

I fidgeted as I sat in the plane, idle on the runway waiting for the plane to be de-iced before we took off. "Sit still," Moose said as he grabbed my hand. I curled my fingers between his but continued to fidget. I had no idea how much time I had to fix whatever it is that is going to happen, but I had to believe it wasn't long.

"I need to concentrate." I crossed my legs beneath me and pulled my hand out of his. I set both of my hands on my knees and closed my eyes. I tried to look into the future. I tried, but I couldn't. I was too keyed up. Beyond the one extraordinarily painful vision I had twice now, I wasn't getting anything else. I was going in blind.

The plan landed only 20 minutes after it's ETA, which was fairly good. I went straight to the rental car counter at the Shreveport airport and handed them my (well, David's) black card. "Something fast, please."

"When did you get a black card?" Moose whispered as the woman behind the counter looked into their remaining inventory.

"We have a brand new Ford Mustang or a 2009 Pontiac Skye," she said.

"The Mustang." I assumed it would have more trunk space. Not to mention 4 seats. More is better.

"Yes, Miss." She swiped my card and handed it back to me, but Moose grabbed it before I could get to it.

"Oh," he said. "I see." He was eyeing David's name under mine.

I was getting sick of Moose's new jealous streak. "You knew what you were getting in to, you can't start bitching now," I snapped at him.

"Here you go, Miss." The woman behind the counter handed me a set of keys.

"Thanks," I mumbled. I grabbed my suitcase and walked toward the car lot, Moose shuffling to follow me. Right in front was a light blue Mustang convertible. Cool. I popped open the trunk and went to lug my suitcase into the back, but Moose got there first. He lifted my suitcase into the trunk followed by his duffel bag and shut the trunk before he gathered me into his arms.

"No bitching," he said. "Promise." He kissed the tip of my nose. "I'm just worried about him following you down here. Now he knows where you are. Do you think he'll stay away?"

"No," I said. "But he doesn't need a credit card statement to know where I am at all times." I wrapped my arms around his waist and settled in for a long hug. "Eric's probably going to call him the second he sees me anyway."

He pulled me back so he could look at my face again, confusion on his. "Who's he again?"

I tossed him the keys. "You're driving, I'll explain again in the car." We had to drive to Bon Temps and I wanted to find a hotel before dark.

"I gotta see this Sookie. She must be really hot if all these people are so into her." I glared at him. "She's probably nothing compared to you, though," he said, backpedalling.

"Yea, uh huh. Well, not everyone wants her for her looks," I said as we pulled into the parking lot of a small Mom-and-Pop hotel just outside of Bon Temps.

He threw the car into park. "What else do they want her for?"

I had overplayed my hand. I promised her that I wouldn't go spreading her secret, but if Moose was going to be here, he was going to figure it out one way or another. I may as well tell him now. "She has a unique talent, like me."

His mouth dropped open. "There are more of you?" he whispered.

"No, not just like me, but kinda like me. She's telepathic." He looked at me, confused. "She reads minds."

"Oh, wow." He pulled the keys out of the ignition and pocketed them. "I see why that might be…desirable."

"Yea. And there might in lie the problem." I opened the door and stepped out of the car into the relatively warm Louisiana afternoon.

He followed me out of the car and grabbed the bags out of the trunk. "Might?"

"I have no idea where this is coming from." He followed me into the lobby of the hotel.

"Oh, hi there, dear." The Mom of this Mom-and-Pop establishment looked up from her trashy novel. Her thick southern accent was endearing. "You two need a couple of rooms?"

I smirked at Moose, who had moved to my side. "Just one is fine," he said.

She looked at me for my approval. "Just one," I repeated.

She grabbed a couple of keys from under the counter and placed them over a sign in sheet. "There's only one bed per room." She tried to be nonchalant about it, but she was eyeing me, making sure I understood that I'd have to sleep in the same bed as him. "If that's what you want, please sign in—both of you." I signed my name and handed the pen to Moose, who signed on the line below mine. "Alright, Sloane and Mus…"

"Mustafa," he finished.

"Sloane and Mustafa. The rate is $65 a night. How many nights are you staying?" She was looking Moose right in the eye.

He deferred to me. "We're not sure yet," I answered.

She eyed me. "In that case, I'll need a credit card number." I flipped the black card into her hand, warming her mood to me immediately. Nothing warms the heart like unlimited credit down here, apparently. "Thank you, dear," she said as she handed the card back to me. "Room 3. If you need anything, come on back."

"Thanks," I said as we walked out of the lobby back into the Louisiana afternoon. We walked the three doors down and opened the door. The room was better than expected; there was a flat screen TV and a king-size bed, all in modern décor. "Nice," I said.

Moose propped my suitcase up on the stand and then tackled me onto the bed, kissing my lips and neck. "Now what?" he asked.

I kissed him back and rolled him so he was on his back and I was on top of him. "We're going to the bar where Sookie works."

He rolled me back onto my back and loomed over, gently rubbing my breast outside my shirt and kissing my neck. "Right now?"

He was making it hard, that for sure. He reached down and unbuttoned my jeans, slipping his hand down them and sticking his finger in me. I gripped his shoulders. "Later," I rasped. He continued to probe me as I writhed against his fingers, practically begging him for it. I unbuttoned his pants and ran my hands up and down his shaft once before running my hands up under his shirt. I traced the lines of his 6-pack, sending tremors through his body. He pulled his finger out of me and stood at the end of the bed. He pulled his own pants and boxers off before pulling my clothes off of me. I pulled his shirt over his head as he crawled back onto the bed. He pulled my sweater off of me, leaving us both naked and ready. "We have time for a quickie," I said, practically panting for him to enter me.

"Consider it a preview." I moaned in ecstasy as he entered me roughly, pulsing into my hard and deep. I wrapped my legs around his while simultaneously spreading them open wider for him. I dug my nails into his back as pumped into me. It didn't take long for the two of us to climax, me screaming Moose's name as we did. He gripped my hair as we spasmed together. "OK, back to work," he said once we could both breathe again.

I quickly showered and dried my hair. When I emerged from the bathroom, Moose was already dressed and sitting on the bed, flipping through channels. His attention switched to me as I walked in front of him in nothing but my bra and panties. I grabbed my makeup from the counter and smoothed on a touch of foundation, following it with some blush (hey, I was in the south. I needed to fake some color). After some mascara, I pulled the clothes I had been wearing on and put on my shoes. I was ready.

"I need to talk to the bartender real quick. Will you find us a table? I'll join you after I talk to Sookie," I said as we walked toward the front door of the small, rural bar. There was a certain ambiance that was homey and warm about the place. Almost like a warm aura.

"OK," he said as he held the door open for me. Moose took a left and sat at a booth as I walked straight up to the bar and settled in.

"Hey, what can I get you?" he asked wearily, eyeing Moose as he took a booth.

"Sookie coming in tonight?" I asked.

He put the glass he was drying down and looked me in the eye. "Who's asking?"

"I'm sorry, Sam." I extended a hand over the countertop. "I'm Sloane McIntosh."

He took my hand automatically, but he was still weary. "That didn't answer my question."

I was getting frustrated with the cloak and dagger even though I understood the reason for it. Without even having to ask for it, I saw when Sookie would be coming in. I didn't have long to wait. "Nevermind, she'll be here soon. I'll take a Stoli on ice." I pulled my license out of my wallet without him asking and handed it to him. He studied it for a long time, probably trying to figure out how someone from Michigan knew Sookie. After handing my license back to me, he poured me my vodka and handed it to me. I took a sip and waited, pleasant look on my face.

He nodded toward Moose, who was currently talking to a small waitress. "Who's your friend?"

"That's Moose. Which reminds me; when's the next full moon?"

He looked over his shoulder, partly at the calendar hanging on the wall and partly down the long hallway toward his office. "Tomorrow night," he said, preoccupied.

We sat in silence for a while until I heard the door slam open. I didn't need to turn and look at who was making such a loud entrance; I knew. "Where's my sis?" said the heavy southern accent.

"Not here yet," answered Sam. I finally turned to look and the motley crew he had with him. Jason and Hoyt both walked up to the bar, both eyeing me at the same time. You could practically read their minds without Sookie's unique talent. I was new meat.

Jason sauntered up to the bar. I shot a 'stay there' look at Moose as he did. "Hey there, little lady." He turned to Sam. "Two brews and whatever the lady's drinking." He turned back down to me and offered a hand. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm…"

"Jason Stackhouse," I finished as I shook his hand. "And Hoyt Fortenbury."

Jason looked pleased as punch. "You've heard of me?"

"Not quite," I answered with a smile.

I almost laughed out loud when he looked puzzled. "Oh," he said, nodding his head. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Isn't that what you just did?" I said as Sam slid another drink in front of me. Both Hoyt and Sam worked to hide their quiet giggles.

"I guess so," he said, flustered. It was obvious that he was used to women melting at his feet. I have to say, he was cute, but I'm just not into blonds. He walked away, he and Hoyt parking it at a table close to Moose.

"How do you know everyone's name?" asked Sam. "Are you a private eye?"

"No, I'm a microbiologist. I'll explain everything soon." I was most likely going to need Sam's help to protect Sookie, so he needed to be in the loop.

"When?" he asked, running out of patience.

"Now." I pointed to the back door as Sookie walked through it completely bundled in a coat and hat. She stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw me, then held up a 'one minute' finger. She slipped into the office to deposit her bag and coat, emerging seconds later.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

_Trouble_. "Can we talk in the office?" I asked ask I pulled my drink off the counter and got to my feet. Sam nodded and followed the two of us into the back room.

"OK, explain." Sam sat behind the desk in his usual chair. I preferred to stand.

"What trouble? Show me," said Sookie.

"I don't know a whole lot yet, and I'm not getting anything useful, no matter how hard I try." I really didn't want to show Sookie, especially if she had to work a full shift afterwards. I knew she was good at faking it, but I didn't need to add to her stress load on a busy Saturday night.

"Sookie," said Sam.

I turned to Sam. "Sookie and I met in December, when she attended a wedding of a friend of mine. That's how we know each other. I know everyone else because there is some sort of link between the two of us. I see a lot of her."

"See?" he asked.

"I'm a seer."

He leaned back in his seat and watched the two of us. "So why did you come?" asked Sookie.

"The first time I had the vision, it was a warning. The second time, it was a call to action." _I'm going to talk to Eric tonight, so don't worry about it. You need to go about things as normally as possible, which is why we should be getting back out there. _She nodded, understanding what I was telling her. _Can I come over to the house tonight and try and read you?_

She nodded again. "You need directions?"

I shook my head no and pointed to my skull_. I've seen it many times before, I think I can find it. Anyone else you want me to notify for you? Bill?_

"Probably should," she responded.

"I'll find him, I have to thank him anyway."

She laid a hand on my arm. "I heard about that. How are you doing?"

"Better. My lungs are never going to be back to full capacity, but I'm alive." After a genuine smile to the two of them, I turned and walked out of the office, drink in hand and slid into the booth with Moose.

"That didn't take long," he said. "Hungry?"

"Yes," I said with a smile. The fact he was starting to be very nonchalant about this was calming me down, too. I glanced over the menu that he had handed me and quickly decided on chicken strips.

"Are you two going to eat?" Sookie asked. Moose had unknowingly picked a booth in Sookie's section.

"Yea. Sookie, this is Moose. Moose, Sookie."

"Nice to meet you," Sookie said.

"Nice to meet you, too," added Moose.

She smiled at the both of us with her broken, fake smile. "What can I get you?"

_Nervous?_ "I'll have the chicken basket and a Pepsi, please." I handed her the menu.

She gave me a significant look before glancing over her shoulder. "We have Coke. And you?" she asked Moose.

"Same for me, thanks."

She wrote down our orders and walked into the kitchen, effectively hiding from whatever she heard was coming. Seconds later, a large, bald tiger walked through the door. "What the hell is the tiger doing here?" I whispered to no one in particular.

Moose's head whipped around. "That guy?"

"Quinn," I answered quietly. I shot a very nervous look at Sam, who returned my nervous glance. "He's not supposed to be here."

"Why?"

"Long story." Jason was eyeing me from his table, probably trying to figure me out. I switched sides of the booth and curled into Moose's side. He got the message. This new position also gave me a better view of Quinn as he approached the bar. A second later, I could read Sam's lips as he said, "Sookie's not working today." Quinn spun on his heels and left.

We ate quickly; I was eager to get back to Shreveport. As soon as the sun set, we paid the bill and said goodbye to Sookie and Sam. The first stop was Bill's place. "Um. Do you want to stay in the car?" I asked Moose. I didn't know if the animosity between him and David was just male competition or a more systematic hatred between the supes of the world. I was inclined to think the later, although the competition wasn't helping the situation.

"Why? Who lives here?" He was being so good about not asking a bunch of questions that when he did, I indulged him.

"Sookie's ex. He's a vampire."

"Then I'll stay here." He turned the engine off and settled into the driver's seat as I climbed out of the passenger seat. After a second's hesitation, I knocked on the door. He answered quickly, obviously freshly out of a shower.

"Can I come in for a minute?" I asked.

"Of course. Are you and your friend just visiting?" He nodded past me toward the car.

I stepped past him into the large foyer area. This house has a large, grand staircase that made a grand statement. It felt similar to the O'Hara complex. "Not quite. Sookie's in trouble."

He probed me for every detail. Of course, he figured out my talent in the process. "What can I do?" he asked finally.

"I don't know yet." I had written down my phone number on several napkins while we were at the bar, leaving one with Sam and now handing one to Bill. "Just in case."

"Would you like mine?" he asked as I turned to leave.

"I already know it." I turned the knob and opened the door, turning back to him before I left. "Did Filipe and Victor survive?"I asked in a small voice. I had been curious for some time now, but now that it came time to ask the question, I was quite sure I didn't want to know.

"Yes," he answered. "They are still recovering."

I nodded, giving myself time to take in that information. "OK. Please don't tell them I'm here. I have no protection," I said. "Thank you, Bill." I shut the door before he could answer me. Moose fired up the engine as I climbed back into the passenger seat. "Now where to, Miss Daisy?"

"Back to Shreveport." I navigated as Moose drove, proving once again that we worked well together. About halfway through the drive, my back pocket buzzed. I pulled my phone out and looked at the caller ID. It was David. Only a matter of time, I told myself. "Hello?" I answered.

"I got a phone call today. It was American Express notifying me that the black card I gave you had recently been used to buy airline tickets to Shreveport, among other things."

I rolled my eyes as Moose glanced in my direction. "Yea, sorry, I'll pay you back when I have the money."

"That is not my concern," he said remarkably calmly. Maybe he was learning to control himself. I cut off that line of thinking before it even got started. We weren't getting back together. "Why are you in Shreveport?"

"Technically, right now I'm halfway between Bon Temps and Shreveport."

"Sloane…" Maybe not. I was wearing on his patience already.

"Sookie's in trouble. I needed to come help her somehow."

"Unprotected? Sloane, that was very stupid, Louisiana belongs to DeCastro."

"I'm not unprotected, Moose is here." I regretted that immediately. I could feel his heart break just a little. "Sorry."

"If DeCastro finds you, you will need more protection. I will send Idi and Idriis."

"You can't," I said quickly. I had ample time to think this through on the plane. "They would have to check in with Eric once they arrived to announce themselves, right?" I had seen Bill do it when I was at Filipe's.

"Yes."

"And then what? If Eric tells Filipe and Victor, then they'll either have to leave or get caught. If he doesn't and Filipe figure it out anyway, then Eric gets in trouble. Either way, Filipe will probably figure out why they are here pretty quick." There was a long silence on the line. "Moose and I can fly under the radar more efficiently than they can."

"Then I will come," he said.

I took a deep, calming breath. "Are you listening to me?" It came out a bit more angrily than I had intended. Maybe it would be good for him.

"I am, Love." He must have felt the slurry of emotion that rolled off of me when he called me love. Anger, heartbreak, sadness. I was on the verge of tears all the sudden. "I am sorry, Sloane." He paused until I wasn't so close to breaking down. "I 'fly under the radar' as you say better than other vampires."

"I don't know, David…it sounds dangerous and stupid." And like a giant pain in my ass. We sat in silence for several minutes while Moose drove down the highway. "You're coming anyway, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To protect you."

Whatever, I really wasn't in the mood to talk to him. Maybe Moose and I could wrap this up before he got here. Hopefully I would see what I needed to see tonight while at Sookie's, and then we could go home. "Bye," I said.

"Goodnight," he answered. I hung up before he did.

When Moose pulled into the parking lot of Fangtasia, I grabbed his hand before he could get out. I crawled over the shifter and into Moose's lap. "What?"

I tucked my head into his neck so his hair fell over mine. "Nothing." I just wanted him to hold me for a minute. He wrapped his arms around my back and under my knees and held me to him.

He gave me a light kiss after sitting with me for a minute. "Do you want to get hot and heavy in the back seat?"

I couldn't help myself, I started laughing. "No," I said after I kissed him back. I crawled back into the passenger seat, grabbed my purse, and climbed out of the car. He followed suit. "Are you sure you want to come?"

He circled the car and grabbed my hand. "Sure," he said. We walked to the front door, hand in hand. When we walked in the front door, Pam was the acting doorman. She was wearing a long, filmy black dress and her hair pulled back, away from her face. She looked ridiculous and ridiculously bored.

"He said you would be coming," she said to me. She turned to Moose, finally realizing that he was there. "Who is the mutt?"

"Pam, Moose. Moose, Pam."

She grunted her hello and stood side, letting the two of us through. I scanned the bar until I found Eric sitting at his favorite booth. This bar was 100 times worse than Rum Runners; there were easily 50 fangbangers milling about, most of them within a 3 foot radius of the strategically placed vampires. There was easily another 25 tourists sitting at tables, all gapping about their own daring. I pushed my way through the group of fangbangers vying for Eric's attention in Sookie's absence and slid into the booth across from him. Moose followed suit. Eric dismissed the fangbangers with an angry hiss. "O'Hara called me."

"I assumed so." Moose grabbed my hand under the table for support.

"Is this your new lover?" He acknowledged Moose without even looking at him.

"Yes," I said with a straight face, looking him straight in the eye. We sat in silence as Moose and Eric stared each other down. "Ahem." They both turned to me. "Back to why we are here."

"Yes. David tells me you have seen something about Sookie?"

I nodded yes. "I have no idea who or why, but I know what the end result is."

"And that is?" he asked.

"Very unpleasant," I said quietly. Moose squeezed my hand under the table.

"And you are here because…"

David's sour mood was starting to leech its way into my own mood. I pushed Moose's thigh as a subtle hint to get out of the booth. "To do _your_ job, to protect Sookie." I followed Moose out of the booth and out the door of the bar.

When we were clear of vampires, he turned to me, placing one hand on each shoulder. "What was that all about?"

"Sorry, David's crabby mood is starting to find its way in through the bond." I grabbed each of his hands and pulled them off my shoulder so I could lace my fingers between his. "It's giving me a short temper."

"I guess," he replied. "I'll just have to be super nice to you at night." He pulled me along toward the car.

"You'll just have to be super nice to me all the time." I slid back into the passenger seat as Moose turned the car on.

"Where to, beautiful, scrumptious, gentle lady?" he asked sarcastically, making me laugh.

"Back to the room, I guess, to wait until Sookie gets off work."

He saluted me before throwing the car into reverse and peeling out of the driveway.


	51. Chapter 51

*****So, this is where things start to veer away from Book 9. Don't worry, I'm keeping this way closer than True Blood the HBO series stays to the books, but if I followed the book completely, where would the suspense be?*****

Moose and I had curled up on the bed to watch a made-for-TV movie while we waited. I tried to get some rest in; I had no idea how long I would be at Sookie's. No matter how hard I tried though, I got this bone-chilling feeling of dread just before I could fall asleep. Each time I tried, the feeling got worse. On my last try, the feeling was so strong I bolted upright, scaring Moose in the process. "What's wrong?" he asked when his heart rate returned to almost normal.

"I don't know." I wish I did. I wish I could just fix this whole thing and go home. Seconds later, my phone buzzed in my pocket. "Hello?"

"Sloane? It's Sookie Stackhouse."

"Hi." I yawned involuntarily. "Out of work?"

"Yea. Can you meet me at my place in half an hour?"

"Sure," I said.

Her house was exactly as I remembered. The large, white house was worn in a comfortable way, making it look warm and inviting from the outside. I knocked on the door.

"Please come in," Amelia said. She showed Moose and I to the living room. "She will be right out." She sounded a bit put out, like she didn't believe in why I was here. Maybe she was just tired.

I settled in to the shabby, comfortable couch next to Moose. The entire room felt comfortable and well worn. Anyone would feel comfortable here.

"Can I offer you anything to drink?" asked Sookie as she walked into the room.

"No, thanks," Moose and I said in unison.

Sookie sat in the floral armchair across the room. "So…how does this work?"

I moved to an area on the floor close to nothing, just in case. I sat cross-legged and rubbed my hands together to warm them before motioning Sookie to join me. Amelia was leaning against the doorframe, watching. Sookie followed me to the floor, crossing her legs in front of me, mocking my position. I extended my hands for her to take, and she did. After a deep breath, I closed my eyes and relaxed. It took a few minutes of silence before Amelia couldn't take it anymore. I could hear her release a long sigh as she fidgeted from foot to foot. I opened my eyes and looked at her, cocking my eyebrow when she didn't say anything. "Come on, Sook. She's just a crock. Probably looking for money."

I smiled up at her with mock innocence. "Why don't you make yourself useful and let Eric and Pam in?"

"Nice try," she said after looking shocked for a split second and glancing at the door.

"In 10….9….8…7…6….5….4…..3….2…..1," I said as I felt them getting closer. Shortly after my countdown, Eric burst through the door, Pam in tow.

I smiled broadly at her. "Lucky guess," she said, defeated.

"Quiet, please." I took a deep breath and started concentrating again. After another five minutes of trying, I let out a long sigh myself. "I'm sorry, I'm not seeing anything useful. Or anything for that matter." I pushed myself to my feet. "I'll keep trying." I took a couple of steps before the room spun and everything went black.

It was dark and cold and smelled like dirt in this vision. I looked around, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but they never did. I yelped in pain when I tried to move, stopping in my tracks. The yelp must have been a notice to my captor that I had awakened, because I could hear a door open before a lamp was turned on, illuminating the dingy room. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all either black or dark brown and uneven. I couldn't see a door without moving and causing myself more pain. Speaking of pain, I slowly looked down to wrists in my lap, where the pain was the worst. They, along with my torso and feet, were wrapped in almost a barbed rope I had never seen before. It looked to be more organic than barbed wire; more like something you'd find hanging from a tree in Amazonia. When I looked up again, I could feel the same rope wrapped around my neck. "Are you also the Prince's kin?" asked a tall, skinny woman wearing the equivalent of a body condom who was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of me. Her teeth were unnaturally shiny, making her look like a monster, which contrasted starkly with the fact she glowed beautifully with almost an earthy, green-brown aura. When I didn't answer immediately, she pulled an extremely shiny knife from a small pocket in her back. It was covered in blood.

When I jolted back to the here and now, I was surrounded by faces, first and foremost in my vision was Eric's. I could feel Moose's warm hands smoothing my hair out of my face. "What did you see?" asked Eric.

"Who is 'the Prince'?" I asked, still shaking. I sat up slowly as Eric and Sookie exchanged significant looks.

"Who mentioned the Prince?" asked Eric.

"I didn't recognize her. She was tall, thin, had really shiny teeth." And she glowed, but I wasn't about to say that out loud. I was aware that I saw more than the average person and I was willing to bet she didn't actually glow to the average eye. I pushed myself to my feet with Moose hovering close behind. When I turned to the door, I saw David taking up space in the doorway. _Fantastic_, I thought sarcastically. I decided to not acknowledge that fact. "Take me back to the room," I said to Moose quietly. I was beyond tired; this vision seemed to take all my energy. Not only did it take my energy, but it gave me a giant headache. "I'll see you later, Sookie."

She opened the door so Moose could help me out the door. David followed shortly behind, sliding into the backseat of the Mustang without asking either of us where we were going or if it would be OK if he tagged along. I wasn't in the mood to deal with him at the moment, and letting him tag along was easier that fighting with him. It wasn't like I had to invite him into the room once we got there. I slid into the passenger seat and closed my eyes as Moose turned the car over and the engine roared to life.

We were halfway to the motel before anyone spoke. Moose was grumbling about David tagging along and obviously worried about me, David was enjoying annoying Moose, and I was staring into space. "This feels like that night after Troppo's," I said before I closed my eyes.

"What does that mean? What happened?" Moose asked nervously.

"She had a particularly frightening vision that robbed her of her energy," said David. I felt his cool hand brush against my hair. "She will be fine, she just needs to 'sleep it off', as you say." He rested his hand on my hair and rubbed his thumb against my temple. My breathing deepened as I slumped farther and farther into the leather bucket seat. I wasn't even aware that we had arrived until the passenger door opened and cool air hit me. I opened my eyes sluggishly to see Moose standing at the door, hand extended. David was behind him, absent, uncaring look on his face. I reached my hand towards Moose's, but I dropped it several inches short of reaching his. "Sloane," David said as I pushed myself back up and tried for Moose's hand again. His face was suddenly concerned, which was mirrored in his voice.

"Hm?" When I missed his hand again, Moose lifted me out of the car.

Moose turned me toward David, who was standing in front of the door to our room. He pulled my hand from around Moose's neck and pulled up my sleeve. "What happened to your wrist?"

I looked at the wrist David was talking about, but it was too dark to tell what he was talking about. "What?" Moose moved towards the weak light above the porch so we could both see better. All I could tell was that I had a darker ring around my wrist. I closed my eyes again as I laid my hand in my lap.

"I don't know," I said barely audibly. It came out as one long slurred word.

"The key is in my pocket," Moose told David. Instead of grabbing the key out of his pocket, David lifted me out of Moose's arms and held me while Moose opened the door. Moose tried to lift me out of David's arms, but he wouldn't let me go. "I guess you have to come in."

"Thank you," reverberated from David's chest. It didn't take him long to set me down on the bed and pull both of my sleeves up. He pressed lightly on one wrist, which hurt enough to make my arm twitch. I moaned in pain when he ran a finger from the base of my ear down to my clavicle. "Does that hurt?" he asked. I moaned again and nodded my head as I rolled onto my side. I was losing the battle with staying awake. I gasped as Moose laid behind me and wrapped his arm around my stomach. He pulled away immediately.

"What?" Moose asked. A warm pair of hands lifted the hem of my sweater up before gently replacing it.

"Where did she get these?" asked David as Moose wrapped his arm around me again, careful to not cause me any pain.

"I've been with her all day and I have no idea. I would have noticed the one on her neck immediately." He carefully slid his hand underneath my head and propped it up with his bicep in lieu of a pillow. If I wasn't sure Moose was marking his territory at Sookie's house, I was sure he was now. I would have loved to see the look on David's face, but I just couldn't open my eyes.

Before David could respond, I lost the battle with unconsciousness.

I woke up and my entire body was sore. I groaned and turned into the warm pair of arms that were holding me. "Hey," Moose whispered. I responded with another groan. He may have whispered, but it was still too loud. My head throbbed. I buried my head in Moose's chest to block the light from seeping in to my vision; I pulled his shirt over my eyes for dramatic effect. Getting the point, he turned off the bedside lamp. "Better?" he whispered.

"God, I feel hungover." I labored to push myself into a sitting position at the edge of the bed and rolled my head, trying to crack my neck.

"Come here," Moose said. I grumbled as I crawled to the center of the bed and sat in front of him. I knew he wasn't the reason I felt like I was recovering from a bender, but I needed to grumble.

He looked really tired. His eyes were sagging shut and had deep bags underneath them. "Not again, Moose," I said as he started pulling my sweater over my head, revealing my bra.

He finished pulling my sweater over my head and unhooked my bra. "Lay down on your stomach," he said after a quick peck. I eyed him suspiciously. He winked. "Trust me." I eyed him one last time before I laid down on my stomach and cradled my head on the back of my hands. As soon as I was comfortable (well, as comfortable as I was going to get with a major hangover), he started massaging my neck.

"Ohhhhh," I moaned as he worked the knots out of my shoulders and started working his way down my back. "You are a God," I said.

He laughed. "Nah, my sister's a massage therapist. She taught me a few moves."

I really didn't know a whole lot about his home life. "Any other siblings? Maybe a gourmet chef in the family? Any tax experts?"

He laughed again as he straightened my spine. "I have 6 younger sisters, and none of them are gourmet cooks or tax experts." Wow, 6 sisters. That even sounded horrible to me and I'm female. I couldn't imagine what being surrounded by that much estrogen would be for a guy. I moaned again as he abandoned my back and moved on to my shoulders and biceps again. He spent extra time on my neck and shoulders, coaxing all of the knots out. When I was a relaxed puddle of bliss, he asked, "what did you see last night?"

I explained the vision in detail. "I was seeing through my own eyes. That's going to happen to me."

"No it's not, because we're going to stop it," he answered as I sat up and pulled my sweater back on sans bra. "That does solve one mystery, though."

"What one?" I asked, fairly uninterested.

"Well, you had these, I guess they were rope burns on your neck, your wrists, and around your stomach. At least now I know where they came from…or will come from…had come from…"

"Don't start down that road." Trying to figure out what tense to use in this kind of situation was impossible. I gave up on that long ago. I pulled my sleeves up, checking my wrists. There was nothing there. "I did?"

"Yea. They were there for, oh, 4, 5 hours. Then they just faded." He was trying very hard to be OK with this. I was not.

"Moose…" I must have looked terrified.

"You've done that before, haven't you?"

I shook my head no. "I've felt it before, but you've never been able to _see_ it."

He paused, his face starting to mirror mine. "Oh." We stared at each other for a second. "In that case…"

"Yea." I was either stunned, almost numbed to any more sensory input, or I was actually handling this very well. I numbly slid off the bed and grabbed my cell phone, which was ringing. "Hello?"

"Hey Sloane. How's it going?"

"Hi Syd."

"You OK?" She could always see—or hear—right through me.

"Yea, I'm fine. What's up?"

"You're a shitty liar. What's going on? Should I come home?"

I crawled back onto the bed and fell comfortably into Moose's arms. "Well, you can go home if you want, but I'm not there."

"Where are you? Lab?"

"Louisiana."

"Sloane!" She yelled at me. "What the hell are you doing down there?" she whispered. One of the kids must have walked into the room because she was trying to hide her anger and fear.

"Sookie needs me."

That seemed to be all the explanation she needed. She let out a deep sigh. "I hope you brought someone with you at least, safety in numbers. By the way, where did you go off to the night before I left? You didn't come home, I checked your room before I left. You didn't get back together with David did you?"

Two questions with one answer. "Moose is here with me, and that's where I was that night."

"_Moose_ Moose?" she asked.

"How many are there?" I asked rhetorically.

I pulled the phone from my ear as she squealed. "God, finally," she said. "Are you _with_ with him?"

"We're dating if that's what you're asking."

She paused for a second, considering this new information. "I'm not sure I believe you." She may not believe me, but she sure was giddy.

"Uh huh." It really didn't bother me if she believed me or not.

"Is he there?"

"Yup."

"I want to talk to him." I handed him the phone and went into the bathroom. I started a hot shower and stripped down to nothing. I made a point of examining my neck, wrists, and torso before I even jumped in the shower. I trusted Moose that the marks were gone, but I needed to see for myself.

Nothing but alabaster skin. I took a long shower, trying to plan my next move. Being down here without being able to see anything to help Sookie seemed ridiculous. Still, I felt like I needed to stay. But I sure as hell didn't want to end up in my latest vision. In that respect, my gut (or possibly my fear) was telling me to go home now.

I had shampooed twice, conditioned, washed my face and shaved my legs and was yet to figure out a plan of action. When I emerged from the steam-filled room, Moose was out cold on the bed, my phone still in his hand. I quickly got dressed in jeans and a Michigan State sweatshirt and pulled my hair into a messy ponytail. When I wore sweatshirts, especially those that fit me, I preferred to wear the hood over my head anyway, so doing my hair was pointless. With the hood down and hanging off the back of the sweatshirt, I felt like the hood was strangling me. I quickly wrote a note to Moose on the stationary pad on the bedside table.

_Went to Merlotte's. Call me when you wake up._

I replaced my phone with the note and curled the corner of the comforter over him. I tucked my phone, my wallet, and the rental keys in my pouch before quietly closing and locking the door behind me.

It must be the lunch rush, because Merlotte's parking lot was packed. It took me a while, but I found a spot and walked into the bar. Almost all the tables and booths were filled with people I recognized, but didn't necessarily know their names. It got a little quieter as I walked up to an empty spot at the bar. Sam was the bartender again, and again he was busying his hands with busywork. When Sam smiled to me and asked me what I wanted to drink, the conversations picked back up again. "Just a Coke, please." I lifted my hood and rubbed my forehead before scratching my still wet hair.

"Long night?" he asked as he slid my Coke in front of me.

"You could say that." I took several long swigs of my Coke. It wasn't Pepsi, but at least it was caffeinated.

He raised a questioning eyebrow. "Can I have a menu?" I asked. He slid a menu in front of me silently and without taking his eyes off of me. I scanned it. "I'll have the chicken tenders again, I guess."

"Where's your friend?" asked a voice behind me. I turned to see who it was. Jason again, but this time he left his friend at a table.

I turned away from him, back to face Sam. I wasn't in the mood to deal with him. "Sleeping," I answered. I finished off my Coke and handed the empty to Sam, who got started in refilling it.

Jason inched his way between me and the older woman on the barstool next to me. "I never caught your name."

The smart ass was starting to come through. Before I could stop myself, I answered, "Really?" I took a deep breath and turned to him. I didn't come down here to alienate the locals, even if Jason was an idiotic womanizer. I extended my hand. "Sloane."

"Nice to meet you, Sloane. What are ya drinking?"

"Coke," I answered. At its mention, I took a long swig of my newly refilled Coke.

There was a heavenly moment of silence before Jason tried to start the conversation back up. "Do you go to Michigan State?" he asked as he pointed to my sweatshirt.

"Yes," I answered.

"What are you doing in Bon Temps, then? Not that we don't just love having you here," he added on smoothly as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He was using the full extent of his southern charm. If I didn't have Sookie's view of her brother in my head, it might have worked. Probably not, though.

I shrugged out of his arms. "Visiting a friend."

He took my rejection well, transitioning right into his next question quickly. "Oh yea? Who is it? I bet you I know them."

"I'm positive you do," I answered.

"Quit bothering her, Jason," said Sam. "Go on, now." Jason gave Sam a big smile before patting me on the back and retreating to his table again.

"Thanks," I said as Sam slid food in front of me.

"Where _is_ the guy you were with yesterday," asked Sam. Apparently he thought my answer was less then truthful.

"Out cold back at the motel. I think he was up all night watching me." I took several bites as Sam filled orders. When he had a free second, he started drying barware in front of me.

"Watching for what?" I just shrugged and piled more food into my mouth. I had no idea. It wasn't like if I had another vision and more welts started to form that there was anything he could do about it. Sam went back to filling more orders. He didn't stop to talk to me again until after most of the lunch rush had left, leaving just a few of the more inebriated patrons scattered around the bar. It was shortly after he refilled my Coke again and took the empty plate away that I saw just the flash of a vision. I was in the same dark, damp place tied to the same chair with the same barbed rope. The woman in the latex suit shoved the shiny dagger into my chest, pulled it out, and left the room.

I must have done something, because when I was back to the here and now, Sam was watching me with interest. I had covered the spot just below my breasts with a hand and steadied myself against the bar with the other. "You alright?" he asked. Shakily, I stood as I shook my head no. I slowly walked toward the bathroom, covering the phantom whole with one hand and tracing my other hand down the wall to steady myself. If I could just get somewhere where I could recover from this vision without alerting anyone of what just happened. I'm sure anyone would have some questions I wouldn't be able to answer. I was almost there when one of my legs couldn't hold my weight anymore and I dropped to one knee. In what felt like an eternity but was probably more like seconds, Sam was behind me, lifting me off the floor by my armpits. We were far enough down the hall that he shouldn't have drawn any attention when he wrapped my arm around his neck and his arm around my waist and helped me into his office. "What is it?" he asked as he closed the door and set me down in the uncomfortable visitor's chair.

"Vision," I said as I pulled my hand away from the spot on my chest. My hand was warm and wet and when I pulled it away, red.

"Jesus," he said as he took a step back. "How did that…"

I pulled my sweatshirt and the tank top I had put on under it up to reveal a hole that was still squirting blood. "Vision," I said again. "She stabbed me."

He rushed out of the room, making sure to close the door behind him. In a matter of seconds, he returned carrying a new package of bar rags. He ripped the bag open and gave me a handful. Shakily, I took them and pressed them to the wound. "Now what? What do I do?"

With my clean hand, I pulled my cell phone out of my pouch and handed it to him. "Call Mustafa Fallahin."

It took him a second to figure out how to use the iPhone (if you're not used to it, there is a bit of a learning curve). He found my contacts and called Moose. "Hello? Mustafa Fallahin?" He paused, waiting for confirmation that he was indeed talking to Moose. "This is Sam Merlotte from Merlotte's Bar and Grill. You need to come down here. Come in the back."

It didn't take as long as I thought it would for Moose to get here, especially since he didn't have a car. He must have shifted, because when he came bursting into Sam's office, he wasn't wearing a shirt or shoes, just a pair of jeans. "Mac!" he said. I must have looked about as bad as I felt, because he fell to his knees next to me but couldn't quite bring himself to touch me. "What happened?"

"Vision," I whispered. "Stabbed." I was quickly running out of energy. A minute more and I might not have been conscious when Moose arrived. He pulled my sweater up and pulled my hand with the rags away to look at it.

"Missed your heart," he said. He lowered his ear to just outside the wound and listened for a few seconds. "And I don't think they punctured your lungs."

"I need to go back out to the bar," said Sam, obviously overwhelmed with what is going on in his office.

Moose nodded, effectively dismissing him back to the bar. "Thanks for calling," he said as Sam flew out the door, closing it behind him. Moose lifted me off the chair and laid me down on the floor to make it easier for him to put pressure on the wound. "You need a hospital."

I shook my head no. "Explain when it disappears in a few hours."

"I'm worried about you lasting that long," he said. "You need fluids."

I was about to tell him to go get me a glass of water from the bar when Sookie walked in to stash her purse in the drawer. She stopped in her tracks to take in the sight. When she saw I was bleeding, she dropped to her knees near my head. "What happened?"

"She got stabbed in a vision," Moose said.

"In a vision?" she asked.

"Water," I said to Sookie. She jumped to her feet and ran out of the room.

"You have to go to the hospital," Moose said. I shook my head no. It was out of the question.

Sookie rushed back in with two glasses of water. Moose helped me get upright, leaning me against the wall so I could drink half of the first glass. "What else can I do?" she asked.

I pulled the keys to the Mustang out of my pouch and handed them to her. "It's a blue Mustang." She pulled on her coat before going out the back. It was starting to get dark again, and I'm sure David would be here as soon as he woke. I tried to push myself up to my feet without screaming out in pain, but Moose wouldn't let me. He pushed me back down to the floor. "Moose," I objected. "We need to get out of here before someone else comes in." He grabbed my hands and pressed them over the bloody rags before lifting me off the ground. My eyes closed involuntarily as he carried me out the back door as Sookie was pulling up.

"Where are you going?" she asked as she opened the passenger door.

"She won't let me take her to the hospital, so I guess back to the hotel room." Moose carefully lowered me into the passenger seat. It was then that I finally lost consciousness.

This definitely topped my list for the strangest place I've woken up. For some reason, I was fully dressed and in and empty bathtub. "What the…" I groaned as I pushed myself into a sitting position. I instantly gently probed where the injury had been. It was still wet and it still hurt quite a bit.

David and Moose were both in the bathroom watching me. David seemed calm, but Moose wasn't so sure. He was sitting on the edge of the tub, visibly anxious. "I'm fine, Moose. I'm feeling better. It's fading."

"I do not believe that is entirely his concern." David was perched against the countertop, arms crossed against his chest.

"Oh," I said. Oh. Tonight was the first night of the full moon. "Go, be careful," I said to Moose.

"I can handle it," he said as he rung his hands.

"I'm fine here, Moose." He still wasn't having any of it. "Remember how you were going to do everything I said?"

He finally gave in. "I'll be back before you have to leave," he said to David as he stripped off his button down shirt and kicked off his shoes. "Don't lock the door," he called over his shoulder as he walked out the front door.

I extended a hand toward David as soon as I heard the door close. "Help me up."

He completely bypassed my hand and snaked his arms underneath me so he could lift me clear of the tub. He set me down on the small countertop and backed away to a respectable distance as I started painfully stripping off my bloody sweatshirt. I got it up to around my shoulders, but couldn't pull it the rest of the way off without screaming out in pain. I guess you never realize how much you use your core muscles in everyday activities until you can't. David's cold hands pulled the sweatshirt over my head, freeing me. I tried the same thing with my tank, but fell into the same problem. Again, David helped me to free myself. I lowered myself to my feet and said, "I can take it from here." I shooed him out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Slowly, painfully, I examined the hole in my stomach via the mirror. It didn't look nearly as bad as it felt. Then again, there may be a logical reason for that. I could see the tongue marks where David had cleaned and healed the wound, leaving just a painful scab. Great. This wasn't helping us define our new relationship. This was anything but a clean break.

I unhooked and shed my bra then unbuttoned my bloody jeans. I could unbutton them, but leaning down to take them off was going to be difficult. Both my core muscles and my ribs were killing me, especially when I moved. I pushed my jeans and panties down just as far as I could, to just above my knees, before I gasped in pain. I toed my jeans and panties the rest of the way down. It wasn't until I was completely naked that I realized I had nothing to put on to replace my bloody clothes. "Shit," I murmured.

"Sloane?" David asked from just outside the closed door.

"What?" I snapped in my pain.

"Do you need help?"

I took a deep breath and calmed myself. Next, I wrapped myself loosely in a clean towel (just enough to cover myself but not tight enough to rub the blood off onto the clean towel) and opened the door. "Can you grab that shirt for me?" I pointed to the button down shirt Moose had thrown to the floor before he left. While he picked it up and set it on the countertop, I made the mistake of bending down to turn on the shower. I gasped in pain and caught myself against the opposite wall before my core muscles completely gave out and I collapsed forward.

"Allow me," David said. He lifted me back into an upright position and turned the water on for me. Once he deemed it hot enough, he turned on the shower and offered me his hand.

"Close your eyes." Only after he closed his eyes did I unwrap the towel and grab his hand for support.

I took a short shower, only spending the time to wash all of the blood off of me and quickly rinsing my hair out. When I was done, I dried myself as thoroughly as I possibly could, including my hair, which wasn't much. Water was still dripping down my back as I painfully pulled the shirt over my shoulders and buttoned it up. Unfortunately, I didn't have any clean panties to put on, but it wasn't like I was going to be able to get them on myself anyway. And Moose's shirt covered everything. Mostly.

David was again waiting just outside the door to the bathroom when I emerged. "I believe you are missing a pair of these," he said. A pair of black lace boyshorts were in his outstretched hand.

I walked very slowly past him, trying to move my core as little as possible. "I can't get them on, anyway." He kneeled down in front of me and held the boyshorts open for me to step into. I let out a long sigh. "David…" I know this is how it starts. He's going to be my helpful knight in shining armor and sooner or later, probably sooner, I would be riding him and screaming his name again. Not only was I not ready to let him in like that again (if I would ever be ready for that again), but I was with Moose now. "I'm with Mustafa."

"I am here solely to help." I wasn't sure I trusted him. "I promise." I gave in and braced my hands against his shoulders for stability as I stepped into the panties. _Ignore it, Sloane, ignore it,_ I told myself as he slowly pulled them up my body, stopping at my hips. I had to admit it to myself, I wanted him. But fortunately, I have willpower and I was going to use it.

I walked away from him as he rose to his full size. I pulled back the covers and slowly settled myself onto the bed. How was I going to lie down without using my core muscles? Again, it was David to the rescue. He pulled the covers down farther and helped me to settle in to the bed. Ever the gentleman, he covered me with the comforter and kissed my forehead before settling into the armchair. I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to sleep seeing as how I effectively just woke up, but to make it less awkward, I closed my eyes and faked it.


	52. Chapter 52

At some point throughout the night, I fell asleep. I woke up when it was still dark to what sounded like the purr of a loud gas generator outside the door. The rumble stopped just before what sounded like battering ram hit the door. I opened my eyes; David was sitting in the armchair watching me and ignoring whatever was going on outside. I threw back the covers and sat up. "Oh, I'll check it out, don't worry yourself," I said sarcastically to David. I pushed myself to my feet and ambled towards the door, yawning twice on the way. I was surprised at how much my core muscles didn't hurt anymore. When I looked though the peephole, all I could I see was an empty parking lot. When the rumble started back up again, I opened it. There was a white tiger lying on the front step. "Tiger, huh?" I said to Moose. Gracefully, he got to his feet and head butted me in the hip, urging me inside. "Come on," I said, holding the door open for him. Having a tiger lying in front of your door was not the way to lay low.

"Leave the mutt outside," David said.

I yawned before I responded. "This is his room too. If you don't like it, feel free to leave at any time." Without stopping to gauge David's reaction, I settled into the bed and patted on the empty side of the king size bed for Moose. He jumped up on the bed, causing it to creak and shake under his massive weight. Once he circled once, twice, three times, he got comfortable and settled his giant muzzle on my hip. I scratched behind his ear, causing him to start the purring back up. The ambient noise coming from Moose worked quickly to put me back to sleep.

I woke again as a cool set of lips gently graced my forehead. "Be safe today," David whispered into my ear.

"I will," I answered. "Thanks." He may annoy the hell out of me sometimes (even when we were together he could be a bit overbearing), but he genuinely cared for me and was genuinely trying to help. He put himself in danger to come down here and protect me. I appreciated that. _But we aren't getting back together_, I added for myself. _As soon as this is over, I'm going back to not seeing him anymore_.

"Always," he answered before he kissed my forehead again. I curled into the warm mass of sleeping fur next to me and fell back asleep as David closed the door behind him.

I guess I just wasn't going to get more than a couple of hours of sleep at a time tonight. I woke back up as Moose (now in human form) was crawling back into bed with me after pulling on some boxers and sleep shorts. I scooted toward him as he settled into his side of the bed. "I don't know what to make of you anymore," I said sleepily as I wrapped his arms around me.

"I haven't changed anything," he said defensively.

I smiled. "That's not what I meant. You keep changing into a tiger now, it's skewing you…aura?" I said, unsure what to call it.

"Hm?" he said after a yawn.

"Before, when I looked at you, I saw you, but I also saw the moose you, what you usually turn into. Now I'm starting to see a lot of the tiger in there, too. It's like an odd half moose half tiger chimera." I yawned, responding to his earlier yawn. "Why are you changing it up?"

"Moose are herbivores, not very scary. I feel like I can protect you better as the tiger. And you like it." He worked his hand up under the button down I was wearing so he could rest his hand on my bare back.

I returned the favor, rubbing my hand against his chest as I curled into him. I wormed my leg between his to relieve the pressure on my hips, to which he wrapped his leg around me. Once we were both comfortable and completely wrapped around each other, we fell asleep.

I jolted awake when there was a loud knock at the door. I instinctually checked the clock, it was already 11AM. I grumbled as I rolled off the bed; I was really comfortable. "I got it," Moose said. In the time it took me to roll to the other side of the bed, Moose had already hopped out of bed and was at the door. He checked the peephole before opening the door. It was the Mom of this Mom and Pop establishment. She peeked around Moose until she saw me standing at the edge of the bed then shoved a pile of towels at Moose.

"New towels. You two need anything else?" She may have said 'you two', but she was looking right at me when she said it.

"Nope, we're fine," Moose answered. Instead of gracefully bowing away and leaving us to ourselves, she refused to budge until she got an answer from me.

"We're all set, thanks," I answered, staring her down for being so rude to Moose. There was absolutely no reason to act that way toward him, he had been nothing but polite and cordial to her. After gauging my reaction, she nodded and backed away from the door, allowing Moose to close it. "God, that woman annoys me."

Moose smiled at me. "You'll get used to it. Do you want to shower first, or should I?"

I crawled back into the bed and pulled the comforter up to just below my eyes. "You." In a matter of seconds, the water turned on.

I had showered and was almost dressed before the vision hit. Sookie was in trouble. I threw a sweater on over my soaking wet hair, shoved my feet into a pair of loose sneakers, and grabbed my purse and the rental's keys. "Let's go," I yelled over my shoulder at Moose, who was already following close behind.

"Where are we going?" he asked as I slid into the driver's side and he into the passenger side.

The engine roared to life and I peeled out of the parking lot. "Sookie's."

Luckily, we didn't have to deal with any traffic lights on the short drive to Sookie's. I sped down her driveway, screeching to a halt just on front of her house. When I turned the car off and stepped out, I heard Sookie scream from the backyard. I didn't think about the fact that I was unarmed and most likely just as if not more vulnerable than Sookie would be, I just started running. I circled the outside of her house, taking the shortest route to where the vision took place. As I rounded a corner, I grabbed a shovel that was leaning against the house. I choked up on the handle like I would a baseball bat. When I rounded the corner, I could see a tall man was standing in Sookie's backyard, glowing like the woman from my visions. I could only see Sookie's arms and legs as she flailed to get leverage against her captor. Without even thinking, I swung the shovel at the man's head. Instead of hitting him with the broad side of the shovel like I had intended, the blade of the heavy shovel sliced right through her attacker's neck, decapitating him. He fell to his knees before dropping to his chest, Sookie escaping from his grip.

I just killed a man. With my own hands.

Either with the shock of it or because my lungs hadn't completely healed from getting dead flu, I dropped to my knees, gasping for air. Moose ran into the backyard, reaching Sookie first. He put one hand on either shoulder, steadying her. "Are you hurt?" After some contemplation, she shook her head no. As soon as she did, Moose practically threw her to the side and dropped to his knees at my side, taking my face in his hands. "Mac?"

I nodded, taking one of his hands from my face and lacing my fingers with his. "I'm fine." I took a gasping breath. "My lungs weren't quite," gasp, "ready for that yet."

"Are you sure?" I nodded again as I leaned heavily on him to get back to my feet. God, I felt like an old lady. I concentrated on taking deep, even breaths as I made my way to Sookie, who was staring at the body in her yard. When I followed her gaze, I noticed what had her captivated. He was disintegrating. "What the hell?" Moose mumbled behind me.

"I don't know," I said, amazed. Sookie had disappeared into her house, leaving Moose and I alone and dumfounded on her lawn. In an instant, with no warning what-so-ever, the gravity of what I had just done came crashing down on me. Shakily, I reached back and found Moose's hand without tearing my gaze away from the body. "Moose…I just killed a man." I sounded like I was on the verge of tears. Maybe I was.

His voice sounded like he was in awe. "I don't think he was a man."

I tore my gaze away so I could turn and look Moose in the eye. "I'm serious. I've got blood on my hands, now. I'm a criminal, I could go to jail. Moose…" Hysteria was quickly reaching a fever pitch in my body.

Moose wrapped his arms around me. "You saved Sookie's life. Isn't that the reason we came down here?" He stroked my hair, which was going a long way to calm me down. I still had a long way to go, though. "Besides, pretty soon there won't be any evidence."

That comment almost pushed me over the edge. I wanted to scream at him until he got the gravity of the situation, I wanted to hit and kick him until he was just as terrified as I was. As soon as I pulled my head back from his chest and started to push him away, he latched on tighter, immediately understanding my reaction. "I'm sorry, I know you're scared. I'm scared too. But you did the right thing and everything will be OK. I'll protect you from anything that comes our way."

I knew something was up when Moose spun us 180 degrees. I lifted my head and looked past him; he had put him between me and two approaching men. One I recognized from a few of Sookie's visions; they were both glowing the most beautiful blue color. God, what was his name again? "Granddaughter," the elder said with a genuine smile on his face. He touched Sookie's face before kissing each cheek. "What seems to be the problem?"

She pointed to the disintegrating body. "He tried to kill me, but Sloane killed him first." She nodded toward me in acknowledgement.

The elder man turned his attention to me. "How?"

I nodded to the heavy shovel, now lying on the ground next to the body. "I decapitated him with that shovel."

He leaned down and gracefully lifted the shovel from the ground. "Iron. Very good." His name was different, British maybe.

"So, do you want to take his body, or his dust, or something?" asked Sookie. The two men looked at her like she was psychotic.

"For what reason?" the elder asked. Niall! That was his name.

"You know, to bury him, or whatever ceremony you have." I could tell Sookie just wanted this all to disappear.

Before the two men could respond, I got another vision. I was two for two today. I could see the pair that I had seen torturing Sookie through the eyes of a young girl. God, she had to be at a rave or something. The music was loud and obnoxious heavy metal, there were strobe lights pulsing everywhere. Not to mention she was high on something, which was amplifying the music and the lights 100-fold. "Woah," I said as I waivered on my feet, obviously not used to the effects the drugs were having on me.

Moose caught my elbow before I tumbled. "Vertigo?"

"Vision," I answered quietly. "She was all drugged up." I shook the fog from my brain and looked up to Sookie. She and the two men were both watching me. "Do you know of any heavy metal clubs in the area? It's a circular black room, with black leather circular booths all around the outside and a dance floor in the center?" Sookie shook her head no while I got blank stares from the two men. As long as I was asking questions that revealed a bit too much about me, I may as well ask another one that had recently come up. I turned to Niall. "So why do you glow blue and the other ones glow green?"

He approached me slowly. He extended a bejeweled hand. "I am Niall Brigant of the Air, Prince of the Fae." Ah, finally, it makes sense. I found the target, now I just needed to know the who and the why behind the attack. "This is my son. The others of whom you speak are of the Water. Where have you seen them?"

"Oh." I guess it was a family trait, like hair color. I turned to Sookie for her approval before I said anything more about my ability. When she nodded yes, I said, "I saw her in my visions. A woman that tried to kill me, then again when she was hanging out with a guy in this bar. I've seen the guy before in other visions, but it was through other people's eyes, so I couldn't tell if he…was different or not." I turned back to Sookie. "If you were a heavy metal groupie, where would you shop for clothes?"

"Uh, I guess the Mall in Muncie, or maybe Shreveport?"

I nodded and grabbed Moose's hand. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Brigant and his son. We have costumes to buy." I tugged Moose around the house the long way to the car. Carrying on a conversation with someone who has a glowing blue aura is harder than it sounds. It's just really hard to take them seriously. "I'm driving," I said as I pulled the keys out of pocket.

Moose and I got some funny looks from the salesgirl behind the counter at the boutique-y goth store in Shreveport. While she was dressed head to toe in black, Moose and I were dressed, well, normally. "Can I help you?" she said, obviously bored with having to help the masses.

"Yea, we need new outfits," I said, saddling up to the counter where she was perched. There was a piece of paper sitting in front of her covered with doodles of stars and puppies. No kidding.

She sighed heavily before pushing herself off her stool and ambling around the countertop. She eyed me up and down, then did the same to Moose. "Is that your real hair?" she asked him.

"Yea," he replied, somewhat put off by the question.

She sighed again before starting farther into the store. She didn't even look as she picked items off a rack here, then there. She went to the back wall of the store and grabbed a shoebox, handing me the contents of her arms and dramatically and sarcastically showing me to the first dressing room. I got my first chance to look at her selection once I closed myself in the small room. I stripped down to my skivvies before I pulled on the black skirt that was barely more than decent. Next came the corset-like tank top that laced down the front (a shirt that requires either a cute bra or no bra, that's for sure), followed by knee-high lace up boots with several inches worth of platform. I checked myself out in the full length mirror. I looked silly. "Are you ready for this, Moose?"

"Only if you are," he said as I opened the door. Shortly after, he opened his door.

"Oh," I whispered as I took him in. "You look great in black." He was wearing black Dickie's, black converse shoes, and a black v-neck tee.

"So do you," he added.

The salesgirl hand us each a pile of leather and metal. "Do you want a hoop for your nose?" she asked me, still with her bored demeanor.

I had thought about changing out the diamond stud I always wore for something a bit more…hard. "If you have some."

She simply nodded lethargically. "I can ring you up when you're ready." She was obviously ready to get us out of her store so she could go back to her all important doodling. I shut myself back in the dressing room and changed back into my normal clothes, then gathered everything she had given me up and took it to the cash register.

"All of his stuff, too," I said after she rung all of my stuff up. As an afterthought, I added a bottle of dark purple nail polish to the pile for myself and a bottle of black nail polish for Moose. Moose added his stuff to the pile and shortly after, we were out the door. "Use my phone to find the closest pharmacy. We need a few more things."

He adeptly pulled up the internet, found the closest Rite Aid, and used the MapQuest function to direct us there. After maneuvering the 2.3 miles to the Rite Aid parking lot, I hoped out of the car. God, this thing was fun to drive. If I could whistle (which I can't), I would have been whistling all the way into the store. "You're in a good mood all of the sudden."

"I love that car." I grabbed his hand and laced my fingers between his as I walked down the hair color aisle. I couldn't believe they even still made temporary hair color, but they did. I grabbed a box of 'blue black' temporary hair color and went down the next aisle. In my haste to get out of my house and on the road, I had forgotten to pack a hair straightener and I need one to finish my ensemble for the night. I picked the cheapest one they had and made my way for the makeup aisle. Last but not least, I grabbed some dark red lipstick, and headed for the cash register.

"Hey, should I get some of these?" Moose asked, holding up a 48-pack of condoms.

I smirked. "No, I'm on the pill." I had been for some time now, ever since menstruating started to interfere with my ability to keep food down or get out of bed. "Forty eight, huh?"

"What? You want more than a week's worth? We can get two packs…" he said as he wrapped his arm around my back and squeezed my butt.

I slapped him lightly as I kissed him, laughing. "Let's go, Romeo." I placed my odd assortment on the countertop for the cashier.

Moose followed me into our room, hauling the bags with him. I had one more thing I had to accomplish today. I scrolled through my contact list on my phone until I came across Deb's number. "Hey, Sloane."

"Deb, what's up?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" she asked.

I paused, trying to think if I had missed an appointment with her or something. "What?" I asked when I came up blank.

"Dr. Ross came by today, she's been talking with Matt."

Uh oh. "Yea, and…"

"She was looking to talk to you." She paused. When I didn't say anything, she added, "Don't worry or anything, she looked kind of happy when she was telling me about it."

"What exactly did she tell you?"

"That Matt stopped by Moose's place Saturday morning and you were there wrapped in a blanket with an obvious case of bed head."

Oh, fantastic. I am going to kill Matt. "Guilty."

"Anyway," she said. "You should give her a call."

"I will, thanks, Deb."

"Oh, wait," she said before I could hang up. "Why did you call? Just to chat?"

Oh, right. "No, I need a favor. Could you teach for me tomorrow?"

"Sure, why can't you teach?"

"I had to leave town."

She paused, probably deciding whether or not to read any farther into that statement than she already was. "Alright, lover girl. I'll teach for you."

"Thanks. I'll let you know when I get home." I hung up before Deb could say anything else. "Crap," I said.

"What?" Moose said. He had separated our respective outfits and laid them out on the bed.

"Matt told Jeanne about us," I said as I found Jeanne's number in my contact list. "She was looking for me." I dialed the number.

"You've got Jeanne Ross," she answered.

"You were looking for me?" I asked as innocently as I could.

"Yes, I was. Where are you?"

I scrambled. She may be laid back and easy to talk to, but she was still effectively my boss. My boss who needed to stay completely in the dark. "Uh, well, right. Sorry I didn't tell you, but I was kind of in a hurry. Um, family emergency. I don't know when I'll be back."

"Oh really?" She sounded less than convinced. "Who?"

"My…cousin? Sookie. From Louisiana." I shot Moose a very panicked look. He just winked at me.

I really, really needed to learn how to lie more effectively when it counted. "You can tell me the real reason, Sloane. I understand; Ty and I do it all the time." Ty was her husband.

Now I was just confused. "What?"

"You and Moose are taking a mini honeymoon, aren't you?"

I was speechless. "Excuse me?" I said after a long pause.

"You didn't think I'd see through this?" she asked. "You and Moose both disappear at the same time just after I find out you two are dating? Not a big leap."

I decided to just let her think what she was going to think. "Sorry to disappear on you."

"Oh, don't worry about it. If anyone deserves it, it's you two. I'm just glad to see you with someone alive for once."

"Alive?" I asked.

"I'm not as obtuse as you obviously think I am. I can read between the lines."

"Between what lines?"

"You started coming in to lab later and later, you looked tired all the time…you were dating a vampire, weren't you? I'm not judging, I'm just glad to see you with someone you can really settle down with."

"Jeanne…I don't even know…where are you getting all this?"

"Am I wrong?" she asked.

I paused. "No, just…" I needed to stop this conversation right now. It was starting to get to be a bit much. "I gotta go, Jeanne. I'll let you know when I get back."

"Alright, Sloane. I'm happy for you."

"Bye." I hung up and tossed my phone onto the bed as I stared at Moose.

"What?" he asked.

I laughed once at the absurdity of that conversation. "Jeanne thinks we're on a mini honeymoon, and she couldn't care less because she's just glad I'm no longer with David."

"She knew about O'Hara?"

I shrugged. "I guess she did…"

He burst out laughing. "And you just let her think that?"

I shrugged again, this time defensively. "What was I supposed to do? I can't tell her the truth, and I am a horrible liar."

"It's cute," he said, pulling me onto the bed with him.

I grabbed the bottle of black nail polish off the bedside table and settled my back into his chest, resting his hand on my knee. "Hold still," I said. I shook the bottle as he wrapped his other arm around my waist.

"So, why are we getting all gothed out?"

"We're going to do some recon," I said as I painted his pinkie nail black. He had wide, gorgeous nails.

"Of?"

"The fae that are going to torture Sookie."

He lifted my chin to look at him. "Mac, I'm not sure that's a good idea. Why don't you tell O'Hara, and he can tell that Eric guy, and then we can just go home, you in one piece."

As much as it irked me to bring them along, maybe Moose was on to something. "OK, we can bring the vampires. Happy?"

"No." He took a deep breath, but stayed still for me to continue painting his nails. "I'll be happy when we're back home, safe and sound."

I had finished Moose's nails and started my own with the dark purple polish when there was a knock at the door. "Come in, David," I said without getting up from Moose's lap.

"Exciting day?" he said after trying his hardest to not react to how Moose and I were sitting.

"Don't remind me," I replied, not taking my eyes from my nails. I finished my second coat, closed the bottle, and waived my nails in the air to help dry them.

"I did not expect such a reaction from you. What happened?" David asked.

I inspected my nails so I wouldn't have to look him in the eye. "I killed a man, decapitated him with a shovel."

He was quiet for a long time. He didn't speak until I looked up. "Where is he now?" He settled into the armchair, still ready to hop out and kill someone, if need be.

I shrugged, dropping my eyes from him again. "He disintegrated." He was quiet for another minute, leaving the room silent. I couldn't take it anymore. I pushed myself off the bed and to my feet, grabbed my clothes and the hair color, and retreated to the bathroom.


	53. Chapter 53

When I emerged from the bathroom, I was ready to go. My hair was stick straight and black, my nails dark purple, my eyes covered in black eyeliner, and my lips a deep, dark red. I was wearing the corset-like top, which pushed my chest up, giving me ridiculous cleavage. I wasn't happy with how _there_ they were, but at least it gave me a built in purse. I could hide a .45 in there if I wanted to. I had already strapped on the thick studded leather straps on each wrist and hooked the heavy silver-colored chain around my neck. A large bat wing pendant hung from the chain, making it so heavy I had to readjust it until it wasn't pulling my spine out of alignment. After replacing my diamond stud with the hoop, I tugged at the super mini skirt as I sat down on the bed to lace my boots, making sure I wasn't flashing anyone. I didn't look up at the shifter and the vampire still sitting in the room until after I had laced my boots. I stood and cocked my hip to one side. "What?"

"My girlfriend is hot," Moose said, in awe. Defensive of something that wasn't his any longer, David's fangs shot out as he hissed at Moose.

"Shut up, both of you. I look stupid." I jutted my thumb in the direction of the bathroom. "Get dressed," I said to Moose.

Both hands up in surrender, Moose retreated to the bathroom with his new clothes. "Why are you dressed as one of those vampire followers?" asked David.

I looked down at myself; I guess I did kind of look like a fangbanger. "I was going for heavy metal goth," I answered, willfully obtuse.

"Why, Sloane?" David was losing his patience with me already. It was going to be a long night.

"I had a vision. The fae that are going to try and kidnap Sookie are going to be at a heavy metal club tonight. I couldn't get the name from the vision, but I did an online search, and I think it's this club called Hearse in Shreveport." I pulled my license, David's credit card, and a few dollars from my wallet and tucked them into my top.

"And you are going because?" He stood and approached me slowly. I stood my ground. "You remember what happened the last time you followed the subject of a vision to a bar?"

Because I have to, that's why I'm going. I wanted to yell at him, tell him that I remembered and I was already scared witless that something similar was going to happen tonight. Instead, I sighed. "I'm going because I had the vision. I'm only there to point you and Eric in the right direction so you guys can do your thing, then I'm done."

After considering my answer, he changed topic. "How do you know they are fae?"

"Because they glow." I held up my hand in a 'stop' motion. "Don't even ask, just trust me for once. You need to get changed and meet us at Hearse."

Moose looked great in a bad boy kind of way; I looked ridiculous. I continued to tug the skirt down as Moose and I walked into Fangtasia. It was still early, so most of the 9 to 5 vampire groupies weren't here yet, but there a few of the diehards scattered throughout the bar.

Once Pam recognized us, she laughed once. "We match," she said dully as she pointed to her own gothic outfit.

"Oh, shut up, I feel silly. Eric here?"

She took a menacing step toward me. "You take too many liberties with our kind, Sloane McIntosh. I suggest you start to treat us with reverence."

I rolled my eyes at her. If they wanted equality, they were going to get it. "Eric?"

"In his office," she seethed. "Wait here." I followed her as far as the bar, then took a seat to wait. Moose followed suit.

"Why are you here again? To tell me again how I must protect Sookie better?" Eric said as he approached the bar slowly. He walked confidently, like someone with a juicy secret. It made me want to scratch his eyes out.

Instead, I rolled my eyes again. What is it with Eric and Pam? So much drama. I don't know why, they just annoy the hell out of me. Especially together. "No, I'm telling you _how_ to protect her this time. You know of a club called Hearse?"

"Yes, I know of it." He replied. It was starting to look like this dislike was mutual.

"Well, the fae that are going to kidnap Sookie are going to be there tonight," I said, lowering my voice quite low. I knew he could hear me, even over the blaring music and other ambient noise present at the bar. "Coming?"

"I will be there."

"Good. Meet you there."

Next, we pulled into Hearse's parking lot. The exterior of the building is beyond non-descript; we actually circled the block a few times to make sure this was actually the building. There was no sign, no indication at all that this building was at all different than the others. The brick building was obviously at one point a warehouse, and nestled in the warehouse district, you can see how it may be confusing. It wasn't until we spotted some people dressed as ridiculously as we were walk into the building did we decide to follow.

After paying the unusually high cover charge, we walked into circular room I had seen in my vision. I glanced quickly at the booth I had seen the pair of fae in; it was empty. "They're not here yet," I said to Moose.

"Are you sure it's tonight?" he asked me over the sounds of the band that was setting up.

"Pretty sure." I don't know why, I just felt that it was tonight. I walked through the sparse, early crowd and picked a booth across the room from the one they would be in at some point.

It didn't take long for a waitress to come to the table. She had a very thick, sweet southern accent, which contrasted sharply with her black Mohawk and her several eyebrow piercings. "What can I get ya'll?"

"I'll take a screwdriver," I said.

She eyed me quickly, trying to determine if it would be worth it to card me before deciding not to and moving on to Moose. "And anything for you?"

"A large Guinness, please."

Before she could turn and leave, I saw David come through the door. It took me a minute to recognize him, but it was David, alright. "Can we add a True Blood to that? AB negative, please." She gave me a very odd look, but took the order and walked away.

David made a beeline for the booth Moose and I were in. "You look…different," I said. His hair, already black, was combed straight and hanging asymmetrically in front of his eye. He was already pale, too, making him look the part without any extra makeup. He was dressed in nothing more than a black button down shirt and tight black pants, but for some reason, he really did look the part. Maybe there was some truth to his ability to blend in. He raised his hands above the table. "Did you steal that from my house?" I asked, pointing to the familiar silver ID bracelet on his arm. I wasn't mad, I promised myself. I couldn't start fighting with David already tonight.

"I did, I apologize. It means a great deal to me." He lowered his hands back below the table.

I shrugged, trying to roll the irritation right off my shoulders. "I was going to give it back; I thought I lost it."

"I hope to give it back to you some day, when you are with me again."

I clenched my teeth, trying hard not to say anything I'd regret later, but Moose wasn't even going to try. "She's not coming back to you, O'Hara. She's with me now."

Now I wanted to hit both of them. "As much as I love the machismo," I said sarcastically, "can we not do this now? Or ever?" If we ever had to have this conversation, I'd rather not do it at a heavy metal club while waiting to ambush two fae who were probably extremely dangerous. I had enough to worry about as it was.

"Again, I apologize," said David.

Moose closed the already small distance between us, wrapping his arm around me, and kissed my cheek. "I'm sorry. No more, I promise."

We sat in silence as it got later and the club started to fill up. I didn't even notice as Eric walked in and approached our table just after the bad started playing. I snapped out of my funk and back to real life as he spoke. "Where are they?" he said. He hadn't changed to match the location at all, still wearing a light gray suit and a while button down shirt. If I hadn't been completely engrossed in my thoughts, I definitely would have seen him coming. He stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Not here yet. They'll sit at that table," I said as I pointed at the still empty booth across the room.

He slid into the booth beside David, filling the booth to capacity. "We should wait until we can separate them from the crowd."

"Whatever you want," I said as I caught the eye of the waitress and motioned for another drink. She nodded, acknowledging my order, and made her way through the crowd to the bar.

"Will they be armed?" asked Eric. Was he ever the military man.

"I have no idea. I just got a glimpse of them through the eyes of a girl that wasn't completely with it to begin with." I finished off my second screwdriver and pushed the empty glass to the edge of the table. "Just be careful. They're dangerous."

Moose grabbed my hand under the table. "OK, so how are we getting them alone?"

I squeezed his hand under the table as I shot him a look. "We?" He simply nodded. "No," I said adamantly. "We're the spies. They're the special forces," I said, nodding to David and Eric. I hoped my analogy made sense; I never really could understand how the military works.

"We may need you to separate them," Eric said quietly as he watched the two glowing fae slip into the booth I had seen them in.

My heart rate shot up several fold. "Nope, no. I'm sitting right here until it's over, then I'm going straight back to the room, packing my things, and going home."

Eric held his next comment until after the waitress dropped my third strong screwdriver in front of me, leaving with the empty. "They will be able to smell David and I coming," he said. "Even the shifter will be suspicious to them. It must be you."

I was an inch away from a temper tantrum. I glared at Eric momentarily before looking at David. He had to be on my side on this, right? I pleaded with him with my eyes, but to no avail. "We will be here to protect you."

"You did a fantastic job of it last time," I said snidely and under my breath. I regretted it instantly as I felt David's sorrow through the bond. "Sorry," I mumbled as I looked into my screwdriver.

I looked up to my last resort: Moose. Instead of being weary and afraid like I was, he was all keyed up, obviously ready for a fight that I was hoping wasn't going to happen. _God damn men_, I thought to myself as I pulled my hand free of his. I downed the remainder of my screwdriver and pushed the empty to the edge of the table again. "What do you want me to do?" I asked Eric.

"Separate them," he answered, as if the answer was obvious.

"Right, great, thanks for the help." The alcohol was not helping with brain-mouth barrier and the snide remarks. It was, however, helping with the jitters a bit. I took a deep breath and leaned my head back against the booth. I cleared my mind and tried to ask for the information I needed.

It took a bit longer than I would have liked, probably a side effect of the alcohol, but I finally got the information I needed. The woman was the key. When I opened my eyes, I had the attention of the entire table. "Ready?" I asked. I wanted to get this done and over with.

Eric nodded yes while Moose and David both gave my hand a squeeze. I pulled both of my hands free and practically pushed Moose out of the booth. First, I needed to hit the bathroom. I made my way through the crowd, past the table of fae and toward the bathroom. I eyed the female lustily as I passed (or at least what I thought was lustily—I'm not very good at faking it).

After taking my time in the bathroom, I took a deep breath and walked up to the fae table. I hoisted my leg onto raised platform of the booth and nudged her knees with my own and gazed into eyes. "Hey, sweetheart." She completely ignored me, so I reached up to her face and forced her to look at me. "Hey," I said again.

She smelled my wrist as I pulled my hand back, which seemed to get her attention. "Yes?" she said.

I winked at her. "I saw the way you looked at me. Come and play," I said. I had no idea what I was doing; I was definitely better at seducing men.

"Play?" she asked, confused.

I slid into the booth and ran my hand up her latex-covered thigh. "I'm a little drunk, and you're a little cute." I ran my finger back down the inside of her thigh for emphasis. "Never been with a girl before?" I asked.

"I have been with many women and men," she answered, finally getting my meaning.

I grabbed her hand and slid out of the booth, pulling her with me. "Come play with me, then."

Intrigued, she followed me as I pulled her into the women's bathroom. I gave David and Eric a significant look before I disappeared down the hallway. As soon as we were both in the room and I was relatively sure we were alone, I pressed myself up against her. God, she was tall. Even in my platform heels I was several inches shorter than her. I ran my hands up her stomach to her chest slowly, stalling until David or Eric came in and did whatever they were going to do.

Damn, she was strong. She locked the door and pushed me back farther into the bathroom. I had a momentary panic attack about the locked door before I realized that both David and Eric would have an easy time breaking through it. Another jolt of panic shot through me as she gripped my waist with one hand and pulled my skirt up with the other. "Slow down, speed demon," I said nervously as she worked her hand under my panties and cupped my butt.

At least she slowed down a tad, confused by my comment. "I am no demon," she said as she practically lifted me from my feet and pushed my body into hers.

I laced my hands up around her neck to better support my weight. "What?" I asked.

"I am no demon," she repeated before she forced her lips onto mine. Unable to speak, I sent out a silent _any time now_ to David. Before she let up so I could breathe, it was Eric broke the lock on the door, rushed in, and drained her. I caught myself against the wall as she slumped to the floor.

"Oh," I said as she started to disintegrate. I backed away from the body, sliding against the wall, into the corner behind the sink. "Oh," I repeated. It wasn't until I looked up at Eric that I really panicked. It was Eric, but Eric wasn't in there. His eyes were wild and unfocused, his fangs still down and bloody. He was hunting. "Eric," I said shakily as he walked slowly toward me. I was hoping hearing my voice, hearing how scared I was would bring him back to himself. No such luck. He let out a low, guttural growl as I sunk to the floor. I was willing to try anything to get away from him, but unfortunately, I had unwittingly backed myself into a corner. "Eric, no!" I said as he pulled me up from the floor and held me to him. If sheer terror wasn't going to work, maybe being forceful would. "Let me go, Eric. Let me go now!"

"You smell delicious," he said, sinking his nose into my cleavage. I struggled against his arms, but his grip was too tight. I wasn't going anywhere. If I couldn't wiggle my way out, I was going to try and kick my way out. When he was most distracted, I shot my knee up as fast as I could, connecting with Eric's private area square on. Eric dropped me and bowled over. I was free. I scrambled to my feet and towards the door, but not quick enough. He had recovered enough to grab my hand and swing me around, pulling me back into his embrace. I screamed as I heard something in my shoulder pop! He was completely unphased by my scream, lifting me up onto the sink and settling himself between my legs. Luckily, he didn't look like he was lusting after my body; if so, there was no way I could keep him from raping me. No, his gaze was locked onto my neck.

"Please don't bite me," I whimpered when I realized what he was after. I screamed as he bit down and pulled deep throatfuls of my blood, as if he was just waiting for me to beg him not to do it. In just seconds, I was starting to feel weak. I pushed against his chest with my good arm, to no avail. "Please," I whispered.

One second Eric was there, the next, he was gone, replaced with cold air. Unable to hold myself up, I slumped into the sink and leaned up against the mirror. "Sloane?" I forced my head back so I could look at Eric. He was back, and he looked horrified.

"Not smart, Eric," David said. He approached me slowly and gently tilted my head to the side. He slowly licked Eric's still bleeding fang marks clean.

"What the hell?" I heard in Moose's familiar voice. I turned my head, but not fast enough to track his movements. In a split second, Moose had pushed David away from me, replacing David's body with his own. "Mac?" He tilted my head to the side to get a better look of the fang marks. "What the hell did you do?" he asked David rhetorically. I moaned in pain when Moose tweaked my shoulder as he lifted me back up onto the edge of the sink and leaned my head against his shoulder.

"My shoulder," I said weakly. Moose supported my limp arm with his own, creating a makeshift sling.

"It was not me," David said, defending himself from Moose's wrath. I could feel Moose spin his head toward Eric. "I will deal with him," David seethed.

"I apologize, King O'Hara. It was the fae blood." I could see Eric drop to his knees, as much as it pained his pride to do so. I can tell he had never made a mistake like that before; at least not in a long, long time. "I will accept any punishment."

"You will. Get up," David said, his voice practically dripping with hate. "Wait outside. I will deal with you shortly." Eric rose to his feet and bowed deeply to both David and I before quickly leaving the room. David approached Moose and me again. "May I?" I nodded yes, leaving Moose no choice but to let him near me. Moose reluctantly and carefully handed me over to David, so to speak. David tipped my head to the side again, again checking the wound on my neck. "She tasted quite anemic when I cleaned her. Has she eaten today?"

"I don't think so, no," Moose answered.

"I'm right here," I said. I hate when people talk about me like I'm not even here. I struggled to push myself off the countertop, a move it was probably a bit too early for. David caught me as I stumbled, holding me up while simultaneously being careful to avoid my shoulder.

"Not yet," David said as he lifted me back onto the countertop. "Mustafa," he said, beckoning Moose over. "Take her back to the hotel room." He basically handed me back to Moose, as difficult as that may have been for him. "I will meet you there after I deal with Northman."

Before he could leave the room, I grabbed David's hand. "Don't punish him," I said, looking David in the eye. "He wasn't himself."

"He will get what he deserves," David said as he left the room.

"Can you walk if I help?" Moose asked me.

"I can try," I answered quietly. I forced my eyes to stay open at least until we got back to the car, a battle that was quickly becoming a losing one.

He helped me into my coat. "OK, let's go." He helped me lower my feet to the floor and wrapped his arm carefully around my waist. "Got it? Ready?" Moose asked. I simply nodded. With that, we started through the crowd now pulsing to the music and toward the door.

We were almost through the crowd when one of the bouncers stopped us. "Hey, guy, what are you doing?"

"Look drunk," Moose said to me under his breath before turning to face the bouncer, who was behind us. "I think she had too much to drink."

The bouncer squatted so he could look me in the eye. "Do you know this guy?" I nodded yes as I stumbled. "Do you want to go with him?" I nodded yes again. He scrutinized my face again, making sure I was being serious. "OK, go ahead."

Moose nodded to the guy in thanks as we started back on our journey toward the front door. As soon as we cleared the door and made it outside, Moose lifted me up to his arms. "Hang on," Moose said as he started to run.

I gasped in pain as he jarred my shoulder. "Stop running," I whispered.

"Sorry," he said as he slowed to walking.

My eyes slid shut. "I'm tired," I whispered. I was more than tired, I was in that airy space just before unconsciousness.

"You gotta stay with me for just a bit longer," he said. "I have to put you down, I gotta get the keys."

"OK," I nodded, trying to force myself to open my eyes. Then again, if I was going to support a fraction of my weight as Moose unlocked the car and opened the door, I couldn't bother to open my eyes. He set my legs down, setting my feet on the ground, and pulled my body into his. I moaned in pain as he abandoned supporting my arm in an effort to grab the keys from his pocket. "Pop my shoulder back in," I said quietly.

"I don't know if I can," he said as he opened the door and lowered me into the passenger seat.

He closed the door before I could respond, so I waited for him to crawl into the driver's side. "Just shove it in," I said.

He leaned over me so he could fasten my seatbelt. "I don't want to break your arm." I fell silent as the engine roared to life. As the pain in my arm subsided, the melodic purr of the engine pulled me into unconsciousness.

I jolted awake as pain shot through my shoulder and down my arm. "Sorry, sorry," reverberated from Moose's chest as he carried me.

"Just shove it in, Moose," I said, referring to my still painful arm.

"You have not set her arm yet?" asked a familiar Irish voice. I opened my eyes, but I couldn't see him.

"She asked, but I didn't want to break her arm," Moose said in defense of himself. I gasped in pain as he set me down on the bed and leaned my back up against the wall.

"She is not as fragile as you assume her to be," David said as he sat on the bed at my feet.

"Maybe if you thought of her as more of a person and less of a pawn, we wouldn't have to see exactly how much she can take before she breaks," Moose replied.

"Shut up," I snapped. "Pop my shoulder back in, then you two can go outside to have you pissing match." I leaned my head back against the wall. "Please." I was borderline in tears. All I wanted was the pain to go away.

Without a word, David lifted me off the bed, taking my spot against the wall and setting me in his lap. He leaned my good arm against his chest and wrapped his arm around my waist, effectively strapping me to him. "On three. One, two," I buried my head in David's shirt and let out a blood curdling scream as he snapped my shoulder back into place. "There," David said. He settled my arm between us and pulled me into him tighter.

"Jesus, Mac!" Moose said as he pulled my hair back in order to see the small fraction of my face that wasn't buried in David's chest. I pulled my arms free and wrapped them around Moose's neck, crying uncontrollably as I did. David let me go, allowing Moose to pull me onto his lap. Moose let me cry for a few minutes before asking, "God, are you sure you didn't break her arm?" once my sobs quieted.

"I did not," David said as he settled in the armchair.

"It's better now," I said as closed my eyes. After the initial pain from forcing my shoulder back into its socket, I was now surrounded by sweet relief. I rested my head against his chest, ready to fall back into unconsciousness.

"She needs to eat," David said quietly. "She was already anemic and now low on blood."

"Then go get her food," Moose replied as he shook me lightly. The door creaked open, then closed seconds later. "Open your eyes, Mac." I did as I was told, peeling my eyes open. He smiled down at me. "That's my girl," he whispered. "Have I told you how hot you are yet today?"

I smiled, he sure knew how to cheer me up. "Not enough," I replied.

"Well, please forgive me," he said with a sarcastic smile. "You are stunningly beautiful."

I smiled wider. "That's better."

When my eyes closed involuntarily, Moose shook me again. "Hey hey, I'm not done."

"With what?" I mumbled, my eyes still closed.

"Praising you." He shifted me before speaking again. "But you have to open your eyes. I want to see your pretty green eyes."

I tried, but I couldn't. I took a deep breath, then I fell asleep.


	54. Chapter 54

I wasn't awake and I wasn't myself. I knew I wasn't awake because I was in that comfortable place I knew as a dreaming vision. I knew I wasn't myself because I was watching myself sleep. "I tried, but she just passed out." It was Moose's voice. I was seeing through Moose.

He glanced at David, who was holding a bag. "We must wake her."

I couldn't hear Moose's thoughts, but I could feel his heart rate spike, a biological response to intense agitation. He really didn't like David. Now I kind of felt bad for him; because of me, he was stuck with him. "Go for it, Casanova." Moose swept his arm toward me, passed out cold on the bed. Oh, I looked pale; translucent almost. Great. I was still in my black ensemble, boots and all, and curled into a loose ball. At least I wasn't bloody anymore; David had cleaned my neck pretty thoroughly.

I could see the dislike between Moose and David was mutual. David snarled at Moose, which shot an irrational fear through me. Rationally, I knew that even if he did attack Moose, it wasn't me and Moose could handle himself. But there was a part of me that was always going to tremble in fear when David got angry.

Moose watched David as his attention shot to me. "She's afraid of something." Hm. I was willing to bet I was getting this vision not of the future or of the past, but of the present. I knew I was sleeping, and I was actually terrified at the same time that David felt I was scared. That's no coincidence.

They watched me lie there motionless for several seconds before they went back to bickering. "Well, how are you going to wake her up, genius?" Moose asked.

"What have you tried?" David asked, trying to stay calm and not tear Moose's head off.

"I made her talk to me and I shook her." Moose sat on the bed near my knees, subconsciously rubbing the back of my thigh. I could feel something other than his heart rate rise as he touched me. I smiled internally; sometimes a girl just likes to be objectified for her body.

David shooed Moose from his spot on the bed, sitting down in the exact same spot. "I may be able to force her to wake." David placed one hand on either side of me, supporting his weight on either side of me. He leaned down until his mouth was inches from my ear. I could feel him trying to pull me back awake. After a few seconds of whispering, I mumbled and rolled onto my back as the vision started to fade. I had lost it.

I forced my eyes open. David was still leaning over me. "Sloane, you need to eat. You need sustenance to make more blood."

I yawned. "I'm just tired."

Before I could turn over, he pulled me into a sitting position. "Drink half of this." He forced a protein shake into my hand.

I grabbed it and took a sip. A tad thick, but other than that it wasn't bad. Strawberry flavored. I took another swig before I handed it back to him so I could push myself back against the wall. "How the hell did you do that?" Moose asked.

"I used the bond," David replied.

I took several more swigs before I held up the bottle so I could check fluid levels. Almost half. "Unless I'm dying, never do that again." I took the last few swigs and handed him the exactly half empty bottle. After unlacing my boots and throwing them across the room, I crawled under the covers and stripped off all the black clothes, throwing them out from under the covers. "Now can I sleep?" I asked as I curled under the covers.

"Yes," David replied.

My underwire was poking into my side. After I unhooked my bra and threw it out from under the covers, I yawned. "That was rhetorical. Turn out the lights." I closed my eyes before David had even moved.

"I have…business with Northman. I will see you tomorrow night," David whispered into my ear.

"Mm hm," I mumbled. "Go easy on him."

Moose slid into the bed and pressed himself up against my back after the door closed. Damn, he was in the mood. Deliciously in the mood. "How're you feeling?" he asked as he ran his thumb between the skin on my hip and the fabric of my panties.

"Weak and tired," I said. And a touch horny, getting hornier by the second.

He rubbed his hand up my stomach to my chest. "Too tired for a massage?"

"Mmmmm, no."

I went to roll onto my stomach, but he caught me and rolled be onto my back. "Relax," he said as he straddled my hips and gently cupped my clavicles. He rubbed his thumbs into the soft spot below my clavicle bones and wrapped his hands over my shoulders to gently massage my neck. When he deemed my neck thoroughly calmed, he worked his way down, stopping at my nipples. I grabbed Moose's thighs and arched my back as he drove me crazy.

I could feel my pulse pounding in my head and through my veins as he continued to massage my breasts, both with his hands and his mouth. "Ugh!" I groaned as my phone vibrated against the bedside table. If it wasn't the middle of the night, I would have easily ignored my phone, but it _was_ the middle of the night. What if it was an emergency? Without looking at the caller ID, I answered it. "Hello?" My voice came across as breathy, which was probably a dead giveaway as to what Moose and I were up to.

"Give Mustafa the phone." It was David's voice. I should have looked at the caller ID after all.

I shoved the phone toward Moose as I rolled my eyes. He pulled his mouth and one of his hands away from me. "What do you want, O'Hara?" I pulled his free hand down the center of my stomach, over my bellybutton, and under my panties as he listened to whatever David was telling him. "She's my girlfriend, I get to touch her." I rolled my eyes at the both of them this time as I felt David's utter rage. "I won't let it go too far," he said, his hand hovering just above where I wanted him to probe. He wasn't paying me the attention I deserved. I worked my hand into his boxers and teased the tip of his already hard penis. "Gotta go," he said, his voice breaking as his eyes rolled back into his head. He turned off my phone and tossed it back onto its spot on the bedside table before backing off the edge of the bed. "He says I'm getting you too worked up," he said as he dropped his boxers to the floor. He shimmied my panties off of me and tossed them across the room before climbing back over me. "So try and relax."

"I think you should try and work me up as much as you can," I said as I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him down to me. The adrenaline and the hormones circulating through my blood made me feel like I could run a marathon. I was not fragile.

"Not a good idea if you're feeling weak."

I pulled his head down so I could whisper in his ear. "Come on, make him sorry he called. Claim me." He wrapped one arm around my back and caressed my face with the other.

"OK," he said, definitely up to the challenge. He straddled me again, resuming his previous massage. I closed my eyes to better focus on the pleasure he was giving me. "Don't pass out on me," he whispered into my ear as he kissed a trail down my neck.

"How could I possibly…" I whispered in ecstasy. The anticipation of that one euphoric moment when he pumped into me for the first time was better than anything that came after it, even the orgasm.

He had worked me back up to the same place I had been before; my pulse was pounding in my head, every inch of my skin was over sensitized to Moose's fingers and more importantly, his mouth. I was panting uncontrollably, on the verge of hyperventilating. When my phone started to ring again, I knocked it off the table and under the bed.

"Tell me when," he said between licks.

I waited until my phone started to ring again. "Now," I panted. He kneeled on the bed and pulled my torso up to him, resting my ass and lower back on his thighs. I screamed in pleasure as he held my legs open with his biceps and thrust into me. I moaned with every thrust, digging my nails into his forearms harder and harder with each one. He let out a primal grunt as we came in unison and he fell back onto his haunches. "That was the best massage I've ever gotten," I said sleepily. Now that I was blissfully happy and those sex hormones had done their duty, my fatigue had come back in full force. I tried to lift my arm to wipe my hair from my face, but I just couldn't gather the strength or will to do it.

"Glad you liked it," he said.

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

She was out cold before I had finished my sentence. I cleared her hair from her face and covered her with the blanket before I fished her phone out from under the bed. Two missed calls, three text messages. I hated to be the jealous boyfriend that Mac thought me to be, but I was just too curious about those text messages. At least this way, if anything was urgent, I could wake her up. Or I could try to wake her up. I opened her inbox; all three text messages were from…guess who…David O'Hara.

_Calm down_, was the first one.

_Point made, now stop_, came in two minutes later.

Lastly and most concerning, was this text message: _I have more information. I am coming over_.

I put the phone on back on the bedside table and crawled into bed with Mac. "Hey, sweetheart," I said as I shook her lightly. "Hey, O'Hara's coming back over, babe." She didn't even budge. Oh well, after what she had been through today, she deserved some sleep. I kissed her lips lightly before I lay down next to her. "Goodnight, then."

She mumbled something inaudible as she rolled towards me, resting her head on my shoulder and her hand on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes, smile on my face.

I told myself I wasn't going to fall asleep. With Mac's intense visions happening at all times of the day and night, she needed 24 hour supervision. Not to mention O'Hara said he was going to be making an appearance at some point tonight. But, despite my best efforts, I fell into a comfortable sleep.

When O'Hara slammed the door open, I was quickly roused out of that comfortable sleep. "Dammit, O'Hara," I whispered angrily. "She just fell asleep."

"With as exhausted as she felt after your little stunt, I doubt much of anything would wake her," he said, equally as angrily. "Invite Northman in."

"No," I asserted as much as I could while whispering.

"Fine," he said. "Then come outside. He has information you need."

I motioned with my free arm to Mac who still out cold on my shoulder. "I'm a little busy."

"Then invite Northman in."

I really didn't want him in the same room as her. I wasn't sure how Mac would respond in the unlikely event that she woke up. "I don't want him anywhere near her."

"You have your options." God, he is obnoxious. How did Mac ever tolerate this?

"Alright, outside, but you have to leave first." It occurred to me that I was still ass naked. He nodded as left the room, closing the door quietly this time. I tried one more time to wake Mac. "Hey, sweetie…Mac…" Again, no luck. I rolled her off my shoulder and slowly scooched off the bed, careful to not shake the bed too much in the process. I pulled my sleep shorts and a t-shirt on before pulling on my tennis shoes. I took one last glance at Mac before I stepped outside.

"OK, what's so important that you had to pull me out of bed?" I asked. It was colder than I would have guessed outside; a small shiver ran down my spine. I wasn't about to go back inside and grab a coat, though.

"I have information. Sookie is a relative of some very powerful people."

"Yea, the Air Prince. Go on," I said, leaning back against siding of the small motel.

Eric and David both looked shocked to know that I knew that. "There is dissention in the fae world. Those that oppose Niall wish to close off the two worlds, fearing that the human world is slowly destroying their own. Niall refuses, stating the advances the human world has given them. The leader of the dissention has learned of Niall's affection for Sookie and plan to use her as a bargaining chip," Northman explained. "And now they seem to know about Sloane."

"Bottom line it for me." It's great that Northman was in a sharing mood, but I was having a hard time seeing what this meant for Mac and me. Even if they knew about her, Mac was no bargaining chip.

"The faction after Sookie runs deep, with almost endless assets. This will by no means be over until the faction as a whole can be taken down." Even through his tough vampire exterior, Eric seemed worried.

"So you're telling me what? To watch Mac's back?" I asked. "But they're not after her."

"Be prepared. Niall expects their full offensive at any moment, now. They will be desperate to get their hands on Sookie, and would not hesitate to exact revenge on Sloane for her hand in the killings."

My heart was pounding in my chest. There's no way I could protect Mac from an army of assassins. I would rather die trying than see her hurt again, though. My whole body shuddered as I thought of the possibilities that await Mac. "I'll keep an eye out, thanks." I bowed slightly to Northman, ignoring O'Hara completely as I turned for the door. I tried to walk slowly, but I was too anxious to get back to Mac. I practically ran back into the motel room, not stopping until I saw Mac, still fast asleep in the position that I had left her. She was breathing slowly but steadily, seemingly happy. When I turned to shut the door, O'Hara was standing in my way.

I must have looked worried. "She will be fine. She has lived through worse."

"You don't sound too convincing." I edged past him and closed the door. "Are you going to stay all night?" For the first time I think ever, I didn't sound malicious or angry when I asked, which caught him just as off guard as it caught me.

"I had planned on it, yes." He pulled off his jacket and hung it over the edge of the armchair before settling in the armchair himself.

"Mind if I get some sleep?" I was exhausted and I knew I needed it.

"I will wake you before I leave," he said as he nodded once.

I stripped off the tennis shoes and the t-shirt before climbing into bed with Mac. Goosebumps freckled my skin as the warmth Mac and I had trapped under the covers contrasted starkly with the chill from outside. As soon as I had lain down, Mac curled back into my side, shivering lightly from cold air I had introduced to the bed. "Thanks."

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

For the first time in what felt like a long time, I woke fully rested. I may have been rested, but I was still feeling weak. "Good morning, sweetheart," Moose said. He had already showered and dressed and was sitting the bed watching ESPN on mute.

"Good morning," I said as I stretched out under the blanket. It didn't occur to me until I moved and didn't feel any clothes move with me that I might still be naked. "You look rested," I said. "Rested and concerned. What's up?" I wonder if he knew I could read his face like a book. After dealing with David's well hidden mood swings, Moose was easy.

"Northman and O'Hara stopped by last night while you were asleep," he said after he turned off the TV.

"You didn't let them in, did you?" I didn't know if I could handle being so…vulnerable in front of a man I barely knew and who just attacked me. I mean, I had been out cold and completely naked all night. Not to mention the room probably smelled like sex. A lot of sex.

"Northman, no."

"But David, yes?" I asked, afraid I knew the answer.

"He let himself in." Moose slid down in the bed, propping himself up on his elbow. "They had some information for us."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You needed to sleep," he said. "But listen, Northman thinks that the people who are after Sookie might be after you now, too."

"What? Why?" I asked, my voice now small.

"Hey, hey," he said, gathering me into his arms. Was I shaking or was he? "No one's going to get you while I'm here." He started rubbing my back slowly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, you're terrified." Of course I was terrified! Someone—or some people—were after me. The same people who would have caused Sookie so much pain; that would have caused me so much pain.

"But why?" I asked again.

"We've done a pretty good job of pissing them off," rumbled through his chest.

I pushed myself away from him so I could look him dead in the eye. "Moose, you have to leave right now. Go home." I sat up, not the least bit concerned that the blanket had fallen away and I was now completely exposed. "You have to go home now." I searched the messy room for some reasonably clean clothes, finding a promising pair of jeans and the corner.

"What?" Moose asked.

I pulled on my last pair of clean panties out of my suitcase, followed by a v neck tee in buried in there, too. I got dressed quickly. "I'll never forgive myself if something happens to you. You have to go home, where it's safe." It wasn't particularly cold enough for a full winter coat, but without any clean sweatshirts, I was going to have to deal with the extra insulation. "Come on, I'll drive you to the airport." I shoved all of the discarded male clothes into Moose's duffel bag and zipped it up, practically throwing it at him.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, setting his suitcase back where it had been. "I get the week, remember? That's three more days." He held up three fingers to solidify his point.

"Moose, please," I said, my wit at its last end. I was about to break, and I was really trying not to. "What ever happened to doing everything I told you?" Tears were welling up in my eyes. One escaped, falling down my cheek. Once one escapes, there's no chance in hell that you can hold any more back. Moose went to gather me into his arms again as another tear fell, but I pushed him away. "Please, Moose. I can't…" A heavy sob escaped my lips, breaking my sentence in half. "I can't lose another one." I paused again, letting another sob escape. "I can't have any more blood on my hands." Losing AJ so many years ago was still more than I could handle some nights. He might have been driving, but if I only stalled him for just a minute, or warned him somehow…he might still be alive. His death haunted me still. I forced myself to shut down any and all emotion, taking a deep breath to bury it elsewhere. I clenched my hands, hoping it would help hold back the small breakdown that was coming.

Moose took one of my balled up hands and smoothed it out before burying it in his own. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said as he pulled me down onto the edge of the bed with him. "But there is no way in hell that I'm going to leave you to face this on your own." That was apparently the end of the discussion for him. He stood and grabbed the half empty protein drink from the bedside table. "You want to finish this off or get some real food? I could go for a Denny's Grand Slam."

I ignored his question. "Dammit, Mustafa." Using his full name had the desired effect; he put down the drink and looked at me. "I'm not kidding. If anything happens to you…" I didn't know how to finish that sentence. Is there something worse than dying?

"I feel the same," he replied.


	55. Chapter 55

I called Sookie as Moose paid the bill (he insisted he pay since Denny's had been his craving). "Hello?" she answered. Her voice sounded like I felt; one edge, terrified. It's like knowing Armageddon is coming soon, but not knowing exactly when or being able to stop it.

"Hey, it's Sloane. Are you at home?" I don't know why, I just felt like we stood a better chance together.

"Yea, I was about to make lunch. Would you like to join us?"

Hm, I wonder who 'us' was. Maybe Eric had called in the cavalry. "Moose and I just ate, but if I could just borrow your washing machine? We're about out of clean clothes."

"Sure, come on over."

"See you soon," I added before I hung up the phone.

Moose and I got out of the car; he carted the plastic bag of dirty laundry up to the front door behind me. Not seconds after I knocked, the door opened an inch. Eric did call in the cavalry. I smiled widely at the sliver of a face behind the door. "Hi, Alcide."

When he deemed Moose and me not dangerous, he opened the door wider. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" he asked.

"Nope, she's just annoying like that," Amelia said as she sauntered up behind Alcide. "They're OK, I guess."

"Thanks, Amelia," I said sarcastically. Alcide opened the door wide enough to let the both of us in, closing it quickly after we were both inside. I pointed Moose in the direction of the washer and dryer before turning toward Alcide and extending a hand. "I'm Sloane McInstosh," I pointed my finger toward where Moose had been. "That's Mustafa Fallahin, or Moose."

He took my hand and shook it. "I guess you know who I am."

"Yes I do," I said. "Who else is here?"

Amelia smirked. "What, you can't see anymore, Miss Cleo?"

I had had enough. "What makes me any different than Sookie? You don't give her shit, but me, I'm fair game. Why?" I plopped into the worn, comfortable couch. I didn't know if I could take much more of her shit without losing it completely; homicidal rage definitely within my capabilities.

She shrugged, seemingly contemplating the answer. "I guess because so many people fake being physic that it's hard to take the real thing seriously. No one fakes being telepathic."

I rolled my eyes and turned the TV off before settling into the couch, crossing my legs beneath me. "Great. Well, I need to concentrate." I smiled sarcastically at Amelia and genuinely at Alcide as they left the room when Sookie called them to lunch. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"Sook, there's a psychic on your couch," I heard Amelia say from the kitchen as several chairs scraped against the hard floor. I took another deep breath and blocked out the extra ambient noise.

Next thing I knew, the TV was on and people were talking all around me. "Welcome back. Anything interesting?" Moose asked.

I pulled my legs out from under me; they had cramped from being in the same position for too long. "Nothing, actually." I stretched my back out as that pit formed in the depths of my stomach. "Uh oh," I said.

I caught Sookie's attention. "Uh oh what?"

"I don't know, I just have a really bad feeling." I stood and started pacing the living room, Sookie, Alcide, and Moose watching me carefully.

"I'm going to go check with Dawson," Alcide said, jumping to his feet and making a beeline for the front door.

As soon as the door shut, I turned to Sookie. "Who's out there?"

She paused for a second, sensing her surroundings. "All I can hear are the three of us in here and Alcide and Tray outside," she said, shaking her head. I opened the blinds when I heard a low growl coming from the front yard; both of the wolves in the front lawn were on full alert, hair on the back of their necks standing straight up.

"You sure?" I asked. I craned my neck so I could look in the same direction as the two wolves, only seeing the shadows of the woods that surround Sookie's yard.

Moose pulled me from the window. "That doesn't sound good," he said as he looked out the window at the two wolves. "Stay away from windows, I'm going to help."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward me before he could make it out the door. "No," I asserted.

He completely ignored me and pulled off his sweater, revealing the white t-shirt he had been wearing underneath. "A three pronged attack is way more effective than a two pronged one. It should be easy."

"No," I said again as he toed off his shoes. "If I have to stay away from windows, then you at least have to stay inside."

He was just about to start seriously arguing with me when an awful, painful yelping started coming from the front yard. "NO!" Sookie screamed as she bolted from the front door.

"Sookie, no!" I yelled, trying to grab her. Just as I followed her to the door, trying to grab her and stop her, Moose followed me with the same intentions. Sookie bolted across the sunlit porch and down the bleached stairs toward the terrible sound. As soon as she crossed the threshold of her porch and stepped foot onto the grass outside her house, she collapsed without a sound. "Sookie!" I yelled again as I dropped to my knees next to her. I pulled her onto her back just before everything went black.

I was lying on a bed of leafs and twigs, for some reason. Instead of the warm sun on my face as it would be if I were still in Sookie's yard, it was breezy and cool (for winter in the south that is). When I took a deep breath, it smelled like cool, wet dirt and algae.

I flinched almost imperceptibly when a deep voice came from right above me. "Who is the male?"

"He followed them out of the house. He may be of some value to the false prince," said another voice from quite a distance behind me.

"And the two wolves?" asked the voice above me.

"Incapacitated in the forest that surrounds her home," explained the far away voice. Oh, no. What exactly does incapacitated mean to him? Unconscious? Hurt? Dead?

"You have done well. I will make sure he knows of your work," said the close voice as a velvety pair of hands lifted off of my back. I opened my eyes just a crack, just enough to get a rough outline of what was in front of me. There was only one body in front of me, right in front of me. Beyond his head, I could see sunlight was streaming through a canopy of treetops. Behind him was a small pond. From the looks of the angle of the light that hit that pond, I wouldn't be able to count on any vampire assistance for at least a couple of hours. If I lasted that long.

This may be my last opportunity to change the circumstances. I opened my eyes fully as I brought my knee up to the closest fae's gut with as much force as I could muster, following it with shoving the palm of my right hand into his nose, breaking it. He held one hand to his face as he groped the air for any purchase he could use as I crawled to a safe distance. Once I was out of his arm reach and before the source of the other voice could react, I jumped to my feet and took off into the trees.

I had no idea what I was doing. I bobbed and weaved between trees, trying to stay as low as possible. In a matter of a minute, I was wheezing, but I couldn't stop running. I was running, but I wasn't seemingly getting anywhere. In a particularly pessimistic moment, I convinced myself that I had been transported to a world that was made of nothing but forest, with nowhere to run.

I stopped running for a minute, surveying my options. It was definitely afternoon, so I looked directly up in the sky. The sun was off to my right, and since the sun sets in the west, I must be heading south. Not knowing where I was, I randomly decided to keep heading south. I took a few more deep breaths before looking back down in the direction I was going to run. That's when I saw him.

The man behind the far away voice was standing 20 yards in front of me. I screamed and turned to run, but not fast enough. I dropped to my hands as pain ripped through my side. I couldn't stop running now; I forced myself back to my feet and started to stumble away. I looked down as I covered the throbbing pain with my hand. The tail of an arrow was coming out of my side.

"The more you struggle, the faster it works," he said. I glanced behind me; he was calmly following me, bow strapped around his torso. He gracefully walked over a fallen log I had tripped over.

"What works?" I gasped. It was getting harder and harder to walk, let alone run. I braced myself against everything I passed, leaving bloody handprints on a line of tree trunks.

"The poison." His voice came from mere feet behind me. "You would be best served by giving in now. And you should not touch that wound."

"Why?" I said as I dropped to my knees and started to crawl.

"As the poison replicates in your blood, it will become more and more toxic. It will eventually burn skin." He walked in front of me, making me stop in my tracks. "Give in now, my Master may elect to spare your life."

I slowly crawled up to a tree and leaned my back against it. It was 60 degrees and dropping, and I was wearing nothing but jeans and a t-shirt, but I was sweating. "What does it matter if I give in?" I asked through my clenched teeth. "I can't run from you."

He dropped to his haunches so he could look me in the eye. "I would prefer if you not fight me."

I couldn't help but laugh lightly, if only to keep myself from screaming in pain. "I won't fight."

He extended a hand in my direction. "Give me your non-bloody hand." I followed directions, extending my non-bloody hand in his direction. In the blink of an eye, I was no longer surrounded by trees, but facing the same pond I had run from before.

"Mac?" Moose said. I turned my head toward the sound; Moose was standing up against a tree, his hands tied behind him around that tree.

"Yea, Moose," I said through clenched teeth.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

He obviously couldn't see the piece of wood sticking out of my side. "Not quite," I said.

The fae that shot me was done with our little conversation. "Stand," he said.

I wasn't going to get anywhere by disobeying at this point. All I could do was hope that nothing horrible would happen to either Moose or Sookie and that someone would help or something would happen before I die. I extended the same hand I had just given toward him again. "Help me up." He nodded to the fae whose nose I had broken before taking my hand and hoisting me up. The other fae gave the tree and myself a wide berth as he circled the tree. Once he was behind me, he grabbed each of my wrists and yanked me back against the tree. I moaned in pain as the sharp movement jarred my side and the arrow sticking out of it. "Be careful, my shoulder dislocates," I said under my breath through my clenched teeth as he bound my hands on the other side of the skinny tree. When he was done, he took his revenge shot, punching me hard in the jaw. Metallic blood filtered into my mouth and I started to feel slightly nauseous. I spit it out, only to have it replaced with more blood. I took deep breaths to fight that queasy, lightheaded feeling, but it wasn't getting me anywhere.

All of the sudden, out of thin air, several more of the fae were standing at the threshold of the pond. It was the one in front of them all that spoke first. "What a pleasant surprise." He took several steps toward the fae who shot me and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. "What do you have for me, Cihan?"

Cihan bowed. "The two you asked for," he said as he motioned to me and Sookie, who was still unconscious on my right, "and this one," he said as he pointed to Moose on my left.

The leader approached Moose first. "Why bother to capture this one?" he asked as he examined Moose from head to toe.

"He followed the two women from the house. He may be of value to the false prince." Once he nodded in agreement, Cihan moved aside, letting the leader examine me. "This is the one who has killed Murry as well as Neave and Lochlan."

The leader took a small handkerchief from his back pocket and used it to nudge the arrow. I moaned in pain again. "I thought I told you to wait, that I would be the one to exact her punishment," he said angrily.

Cihan bowed again, this time deeper. "I am sorry, Master, but she fought us, injuring Eslan in the process. I tracked her after she ran; I merely shot her so she would be more agreeable."

Moose protested against his restraints as soon as he heard the word 'shot'. "Mac!"

"Silence!" the leader yelled. Moose quieted, but didn't stop struggling against the rope that tied his arms. Once the leader was satisfied that Moose was going to behave, he turned his attention back to me. "Did it work?" he asked as he looked me straight in the eye. He was looking right at me, but I didn't think he was talking to me. "Are you more 'agreeable'?" he asked when I didn't answer. Maybe he was talking to me.

"Yes," I said quietly. I gritted my teeth as he used his handkerchief to grab my chin and turn my head to the side.

"You bare the mark of a vampire." He let go of my head, letting it fall back to its natural position against the tree trunk.

"You're quick," I said sarcastically. He sneered at me, which should have been my queue to shut the hell up and play nice. Instead, I sneered right back at him through clenched teeth. He didn't like that one bit. He used his handkerchief to grab the tail of the arrow near my skin. I screamed and almost dropped to my knees as he twisted the arrow ninety degrees, then snapped the shaft, leaving only the arrowhead imbedded in my side.

He snickered as he considered the headless wooden shaft still in his hand. "This is acceptable." Cihan bowed and stepped back, allowing the leader to approach Sookie. "This is the one the weak prince admires so?"

Cihan nodded once. "Yes, Sookie Stackhouse, telepath."

He nudged her unconscious body with the non-bloody end of arrow. When she didn't respond, he turned to Cihan. "Wake her."

Cihan bowed again. "Yes Master." He started to chant quietly as he pressed his palm against her forehead. In a matter of no time, her eyes fluttered open. Cihan stepped back as soon as she was awake; before she even had enough time to take in her surroundings, the leader stepped forward and grabbed her face.

"You are my key," he said.

She shook her head violently until he let go of her. "Don't you touch me."

_Stop, he won't hesitate_, I thought at her as I slowly slid down the trunk of the tree. As soon as she heard me, she whipped her head in my direction.

"Sloane?" she asked. Terror covered her face.

I tried smile at her, but I had a feeling that it came out as more of a painful grimace. _Don't worry, you're in much better shape than you otherwise would have been. You'll be fine._ I needed to put her at ease. If she didn't come out of this no worse for wear, then I would have suffered for nothing.

"Are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I said with the same grimacing smile on my face.

"You should not be fine," said the leader as he brandished the bloody end of the broken arrow in my face. "The poison should be causing you extreme pain."

Good, I needed to keep his attention on me. No sense in both Sookie and I suffering if we didn't both have to. "It's not so bad. I have a high pain tolerance." It was a bold faced lie, but one that was going to keep any attention on me.

He whipped the bloody, splintered end of arrow against my cheek, which rocketed my head to the side. It took everything I had to not let him see how much it hurt. I clamped my mouth shut so I couldn't scream and closed my eyes, making sure that any tears that might have made an appearance wouldn't be seen. I took a deep, calming breath as a trickle of heat fell down my cheek. As soon as I was sure I wasn't going to break down, I opened my eyes and righted my head, just to be struck across the cheek again. "Admit to me you are in pain and I will be satisfied."

I shook my head no as I squeezed my eyes shut. I could feel what Cihan had been taking about; the skin of my cheek blazed like an acid burn. "Mac, stop being proud," Moose pleaded. "It's OK if it hurts."

I took a deep, steadying breath, keeping my eyes shut. "I'm fine," I said shakily. I knew more pain was ahead, and I didn't want to see it coming. I clenched my teeth shut, but it wasn't quite enough for what he had in mind this time. I moaned in pain as he shoved the splintered end of the arrow into the wound and moved it around. I tried as hard as I could, but I couldn't stop a singular tear from falling down my cheek. He continued to probe, flicking and moving the arrowhead as he pleased.

"Sloane, just tell him it hurts!" Sookie yelled at me. I shook my head no again as my legs failed me and I sunk to the base of the tree. The leader sunk with me, not letting up with the probing.

I lasted as long as I could before I let out a gasping sob. "OK, OK," I said between sobs. "I'm in pain." Glorious relief came as he pulled the bloody shaft away from my body and left me sobbing. _Sorry Sook,_ I shot at her apologetically. _I took as much as I could. I'm afraid you're next._

The leader smelled the shattered end of the arrow. "Perfect," he said as he pulled a small device from his pocket. He flipped it open, revealing a cell phone-like contraption. He approached Sookie as he pressed several buttons. "I have what you want, false prince," he said maliciously. After a short pause, he snickered almost gleefully. Sookie screamed as he pressed the bloody shaft against Sookie's neck, leaving a burnt mark in its place. "Give me what I want or I will kill her. You have two hours." He hung up before Niall had a chance to respond.

I was having a hard time controlling my visions. Pictures and video flipped in and out of my brain faster than I could process them. It didn't matter what any of those visions were to begin with, the only one that mattered to me at this point was the last one.

At least Sookie and Moose survived.


	56. Chapter 56

It had been at least an hour since anyone last said anything. I stayed silent while first my toes, then my ankles, then my shins, and finally my legs went numb, panicking only internally. The numbness had only started once Braendon had kicked me in the stomach, which must have jarred the arrowhead just enough to put pressure on my spine. I tried to move my legs at all, even just a small twitch of a toe, but I couldn't. I couldn't move anything below my waist.

Not being able to feel my legs might be a good thing, though. The rest of my body felt like it was on fire from the inside out. It was all I could do not to scream out in pain. God bless the small miracles, I suppose.

I was snapped out of my all encompassing pain when there was a sudden movement in front of me. Braendon had snapped out of his quiet conversation with Cihan, pulling a dagger from the small of his back and brandishing it at Sookie. "Your prince has had enough time. He has not acted, and now you die." That dagger looked familiar. Really familiar.

"No!" she screamed amid frantic sobs. "Please!" Scattered across her skin were burnt marks, where Braendon had pressed my toxic blood against her.

I had to think fast, before Braendon killed Sookie. I lied through my teeth. "You don't get what you want if you kill her," I said quietly.

He turned his head toward me, but that was all. He still held the knife mere inches from Sookie's throat. "I believe I will."

He pressed the dagger against her throat, pulling just a small trickle of blood down Sookie's neck. She cried harder as the blood trickled. "You can believe whatever you want. I know for a fact you won't. I've seen it," I countered.

He pulled the blade away, now pointing it at me. "Explain."

"No, Mac," Moose whispered at me through the fat lip Braendon had given him.

I shook Moose's comment off and answered Braendon's question. "I've seen that future, the one after you kill Sook." I paused, giving myself time to make something up. "Niall gets soo angry at you." I smiled, for one delirious moment envisioning the made-up torture Braendon endures in my story. "He and his friends pull you limb from limb." For dramatic effect, I nodded to a bare spot in the foliage. "Right there."

He looked to where I had nodded. When he turned back to me, he was furious. "Liar!" he yelled. He pointed the dagger back at Sookie's throat, drawing more blood this time.

Inwardly, I panicked. Outwardly, I shrugged, as if his final decision didn't bother me a bit. "Aren't you curious as to how that mortal girl outsmarted three of your assassins?" I had distracted him again. He didn't turn toward me, but I could see the wheels turning; he was thinking it through. "She didn't. I did." Now he turned toward me, brandishing knife at me. "I saw Murry capture Sookie in her backyard. Twice. But I got there before he could do anything. I decapitated him with a shovel. It sliced through his neck like a hot knife through butter." Sadness and pure rage covered his face, his glowing aura changed from mossy green to a more violent deep brown. I shut up, as getting him too angry at me wasn't going to solve anything anyway.

"What else did you see?" he asked. He kneeled at my side and pressed the knife into my own neck. "Tell me!"

"I saw the other two torturing Sookie with the dagger you're holding." I shifted, trying to put some distance between the blade and my skin. "I stopped that from happening, too. Caught up to them in a heavy metal bar." As much as I shifted, Braendon just kept moving the blade closer and closer. I couldn't stop him from drawing blood. I could feel it slide down my skin and pooling over my clavicle.

"I killed the guy!" Moose yelled. _Shit_, I thought to myself. Both Braendon and I turned to face Moose. I was sure there was pure horror on my face. "With lemons," he finished weakly.

Braendon lost it. Rage covered his face, leaving the cool, calm, and collected kidnapper behind and leaving only a homicidal maniac. He plunged the already bloody knife into Moose's shoulder. "No!" I whimpered as Moose yelled out in pain. Braendon pulled the knife out, flinging blood everywhere. "Stop!" I yelled before he had a chance to plunge the knife back into Moose's body. "Killing him now gets you nothing."

He paused, considering my comment. Moonlight glinted off newly bloody blade of the dagger. It was fully dark. God, where were they?

As if David knew I had just thought about him, he sent calming, reassuring thoughts. That was great, but it wasn't going to save Moose's life.

"What happens if I kill him?" Braendon asked me, arm already poised to make the final bloody blow.

"If I may, my Lord," Cihan said, finally moving from his observation post against a far tree to approach the group. "Wait until after Niall agrees to close the door. Then you may do whatever you want to any of them." He bowed deeply as Braendon turned from Moose to consider his comment. "But may I suggest something more painful? Perhaps letting the poison that has now entered his bloodstream to take effect?"

Braendon pulled his arm down and let it hang loosely at his side. "Yes," he murmured to himself.

I was having a hard time staying conscious and time was playing tricks on me. It could have just as easily been 10 minutes or 2 hours since I talked Braendon out of killing Sookie and Moose. The poison was apparently stopping my blood from clotting, meaning that everything continued to bleed: my lip, my cheek, my neck, and most importantly, my side. It was leaving trails of burning trailing down my waist until the blood hit my hip, where it was blissfully numb. My head dipped without my permission, my eyes blinking open and shut again and again. When my eyes closed for the last time, the vision started.

Sookie was looking at Moose and me. I appeared to be unconscious; Moose was sitting on the ground, writhing in pain. Sookie yelped as Braendon poked her in the stomach with the newly cleaned dagger, just hard enough to slice through her shirt but not hard enough to draw blood. I could feel the sharp prick of the dagger to the lift of her bellybutton, but what was worse was her fear. She was sure at any moment he was going to bury the blade in her and it'd be over.

"I suggest you leave her be," said a cool, southern voice. I could feel her relief as she whipped her head toward the sound. Niall and Claudine descended on Braendon as the two vampires, Bill and David, disappeared. The vision faded as Braendon fell to the ground, already disintegrating.

I smiled to myself. _Here they come_, I thought to Sookie. I forced my head back and my eyes open just before Braendon prodded Sookie with the dagger. She still yelped, but not with fear this time. This time she yelped with surprise.

"I suggest you leave her be." And Bill was right on time. Niall and Claudine descended on Braendon again, but it was not what I chose to watch. I searched the woods for Cihan, finally noticing him almost melt into the trees as he ran through the woods.

"Look at me, Sloane," David pleaded.

I struggled to look him straight in the eye. "One's getting away," I said as he slit the rope that bound my hands.

"Let the fae handle their own, I am here solely to rescue you."

"He's the one that shot me," I said as I struggled to pull my hands around the base of the tree. My shoulders had been in such an uncomfortable position for so long, they hurt to move. I nodded my head in the direction that he went for emphasis.

David stood and drew his favorite sword from his back. "I will be back shortly. Try not to move."

Not a problem there. I focused my attention on Moose, who was being freed at that moment. "God, Mac, how are you not screaming?"

I pulled up the side of my shirt to see if I had a shot in hell in pulling the arrowhead out of my side, but I only succeeded in making myself queasy. "It doesn't hurt as much if you don't fight it." I took a deep breath, trying to quell any more queasiness before it started, and used the hem of my shirt to wipe some of the blood away. Deep blue lines that resembled arteries stemmed from the still bleeding wound and radiated outward, fading as they went. Well, that can't be good. I looked up to see who might have seen that. Sookie was off in her own little world, Bill following her, and Moose was not only on the wrong side of me, but thoroughly absorbed in his own pain. My little secret.

I just got my shirt back down before David reappeared, shirt torn and bloody, but no visible cut on him. I envied those that healed fast. He sheathed his sword and dropped to his haunches next to me again. "Now," he said before he turned my head to get a better look at my cheek.

"Don't," I said before he could like it clean. I could see the hurt in his eyes when he pulled back. I used my one non-bloody hand to pull his hand away from my face. "Poison. My blood is poison." He pulled away as he looked me over. No better way to make me feel like a leper.

"Mac," Moose said as he crawled on his knees toward me. He moved toward my wounded side, getting his first glance at the hole in my side. "Looks pretty clean from here," he said. His face looked optimistic up until the point he pulled my shirt up to get a better look. Then he saw the same blue tendrils I had seen. "What the hell is that?" he said, careful to use the shirt to wipe away more blood. I looked away, careful to look at anything what wasn't bleeding. I focused on Sookie's eyes.

"It's the poison," I said as I stared at Sookie.

Sookie grabbed Bill's hand, not able to tear her eyes away from me. "She needs Dr. Ludwig," she said.

"What happened?" asked David, completely ignoring Sookie and Bill. "What is this poison?"

I needed to concentrate on Sookie, I could feel myself drifting into oblivion. Seemingly understanding that fact, she answered for me. "When I woke up, Braendon was carrying half an arrow. It had her blood on it. When he touched it to my skin, it felt like liquid fire." She pulled the neck of her shirt over, showing where he had burnt her. "I can only imagine…"

"The arrowhead's still in there, looks pretty close to the spine," Moose said as he examined it more closely. "Do you have any numbness? Or any…unexplained pain?" he asked, trying to find the best way to not sound like an asshole. I may have known what he meant, but asking someone who has been shot if they're in any pain is the epitome of stupid questions.

"Numbness," I answered, focusing on Sookie still.

"Where?" Moose asked.

"My entire lower body," I answered.

I closed my eyes. Sookie's panic was starting to freak me out, and I couldn't focus on anything else without vomiting or passing out. "OK," Moose said. I knew that voice. That was the worried voice. That was the doctor in him coming out; he didn't want to worry his patient, so he tried to remain calm, but he was not so sure.

"I will give her blood," David said. I almost vomited despite myself when I heard the crunch of torn flesh.

"You cannot," Bill said in his smooth southern drawl. "We have come in contact with supernatural poisons such as these before. They cannot be healed by our blood."

"What do you propose, Compton? We leave her here to die?" In his desperation, David was losing his temper. David was dangerous when he lost his temper.

"Of course not," Bill responded. I squeezed David's hand, urging him to calm down. "We are not far from Fangtasia. I will call Dr. Ludwig in the car, she will meet us there."

David gently lifted me off the ground. I let unconsciousness take me.

I was jolted back to consciousness when David set me on a cold leather couch on my side. I opened my eyes, just to be face to face with the smallest woman I had ever seen. My head was resting on the seat of the couch, and yet I was nearly on eye level with her while she was standing straight up. Dr. Ludwig, I assumed. She pulled the eyelids of my already-open eyes up farther, then let them go. I wasn't sure what she was looking for. Next, she stood on her tip toes to look over my wound. "Hm," she said as she traced the blue tentacles down my side toward my belly button. I moaned in pain as she traced the outside of the hole and licked her finger, tasting my blood. Oh, ech. "How long has it been since you've been exposed?" she asked.

"I don't know," I answered. "A few hours?"

She turned and barked orders at Eric. "I need a bottle of vodka and a large glass," she said as she looked through a small pouch she had brought with her. She opened a small canister and covered her finger with a thick layer of clear goo. "This may sting," she said to me. I held my breath as she wiped the goop over the stripes on my cheek. Yup, it stung. She pressed a piece of gauze against my cheek before she wiped a touch of the goo on my lip. "Don't eat that." I smiled at her. Obviously.

Stinging was replaced with a fuzzy painlessness as the goop worked its wonders. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the momentary reprieve from some of the pain. Of course, it didn't last long. I opened my eyes when I heard the clicking of a wooden spoon against a glass. Dr. Ludwig was mixing a dollop of the goo with the clear liquid I assumed to be the vodka.

"Insolent children always get what they deserve," Pam said from behind me. "I have no doubt your big mouth got you into this trouble, woman."

Oh, Joy. Pam. I could feel David's anger shoot through the roof. I reached out and grabbed his hand before he could launch himself at Pam. "Calm down, David."

"That 'insolent child' just saved your life, Pam," said Eric as he circled around the couch to get a better look at me. "And I suspect that her injuries are directly related to why my Sookie is unscathed."

Pam could tell by Eric's voice she was in deep shit. "Yes, Master."

"The first batch is ready. Who's first?" asked Dr. Ludwig.

"Moose," I said. Speaking of, where was he? I scanned the room as much as I could without jarring anything. I finally spotted him when I looked the one place I had been purposefully neglecting: down my body. He was sitting at the other end of the couch, my feet in his lap. He was stroking my shins carefully, something I couldn't feel at all.

"No, I can wait. You need to go first." The pained look on his face gave it away; the poison was in full swing. He was sweating and pale at the same time, light blue tentacles working their way up his neck. They weren't nearly as bad as mine, but still visible. I took special care to not look at the bleeding hole in his shoulder. And, like every other time you're told not to look at something, what's the first thing you do? That's right, you look at it. My eyes rolled back in my head as I struggled to stay here.

I focused on Dr. Ludwig who was approaching my side, obviously picking me to go first. "This is going to hurt, so hold her still," she said to David. "This potion will take some time to take its full effect; until then, it would be pointless to give her any blood. I suspect she won't be ready until tomorrow around noon, so she may want to spend the day in a hospital." She turned toward Moose. "You too."

"A hospital is not an option," Eric said.

This didn't seem like as much of a shock to David as it did to Dr. Ludwig. "And why is that?"

"Hospitals need too much information. Filipe's people cannot know they are here," he answered. "Speaking of, try not to make too much noise. Sandy and Victor are at the bar, waiting for me. I cannot keep them out of my office if they feel the need to investigate any unusual activities."

I nodded once as fear shot through me. Victor was here. I momentarily flashed back to when he held me by the neck in the limo. The malicious anger in his eyes. "Thanks," I finally mumbled. He dipped his head to David first, then to me, and left the room. I hoped he took Pam with him.

"I'll take care of them," Sookie said. I wasn't even aware she was here. "It's the least I can do."

Dr. Ludwig was the one to answer. "He should be fine, but she will need someone with medical training to monitor her. She needs a doctor."

"I have medical training," Moose managed to say. "We can't go to a hospital in Louisiana."

Dr. Ludwig considered this for a moment. When she decided it was her best option, she agreed. "It will have to do. Ready?" she asked me.

I squeezed David's hand. "Hold me down," I told him. "And make sure I don't scream."

He lifted my body so he could sit on the couch, crossed my arms in front of me, and held me to him. "Forgive me," he whispered into my hair before he clamped his hand over my mouth. "Ready," he said once he had a good grip on me.

I didn't think one person could be in so much pain and still be conscious. David's hand muffled my ear-splitting scream as Dr. Ludwig poured the concoction into the hole left by the arrow. David clamped my body to him as I struggled against the pain. I screamed until my throat felt raw and the pain in my side dulled to a more manageable aching throb, when I started to just cry. David held me and stroked my hair as I silently sobbed. "Let go. I've got you."

Whether I wanted to or not, I did. I let go, allowing the pain to fall away as I closed my eyes.

*****Well, I was going to kill Sloane off and finish this series, but so many of you pleaded with me not to, how could I? So, you guys wanted it, it's your job to keep it. I'm out of ideas. Send me a message with an idea for a major plot point, and I'll run with the most creative one.*****


	57. Chapter 57

I was not in nearly as much pain as I thought I would be when I woke up. I opened my eyes to a comfortably decorated room. We must be in Sookie's house. "My Love," David said as he walked into my view. He sounded almost relieved.

"David," I said, about to tear into him again for calling me his.

"I apologize, I am just so glad you are awake." He dropped to his haunches so he could look me in the eye. He was grinning from ear to ear. "Although what I am about to do would have been easier if you were still unconscious. You will not like this."

I tightened my gaze on him. "What are you going to do to me?"

"I am going to heal you."

"No, David," I said as I tried to push myself into a sitting position. It's harder to do than you'd think when you can't use your legs. "Not while I'm awake. Not ever, preferably."

He lifted me into a sitting position and sat down on the bed. His grin got bigger. "Not like that. Like this," he said as he gently cupped my face with his hands and turned my head so the stripes down my cheek were facing him. A new trickle of blood fell down my cheek after he pulled the gauze away. How am I still bleeding? Slowly, he leaned in, seemingly savoring ever second before he licked the fresh blood away.

"That was…weird," I said as I attempted to pull away. He didn't let go, though. "OK, that's enough," I said, trying to pull away again.

"You're still bleeding," he murmured into my ear as he moved to get a better angle at my neck. He pulled the gauze away from the small nick in my neck, and again, it started to bleed. It appeared nothing was clotting. He first licked the new trickle of blood away, then he continued to lick where the blood was coming from. When it was obvious the wound wasn't going to bleed anymore to the both of us, he stopped licking and just started to kiss me. I gripped his arm, neither pushing him away nor pulling him toward me as he started at my earlobe and worked his way down my neck to the very start of my cleavage. I had forgotten how very good he was at this. Even a dead woman's heart would flutter. Really dead, not just the fanged dead.

"Stop," I finally made myself say. He wasn't listening to me anymore. Or if he was, he was just flat out ignoring me. He didn't even pause to consider what I was telling him as he pulled two butterfly bandages away from my lip. A blind man could see where this was going. "David, no," I said one more time. Before I could call in some reinforcements (someone else has to be in this house, right?), he tilted my head a kissed me hard. Oh, wow. There is something to be said for over 100 years of practice.

I couldn't control myself anymore when he laced his fingers in my hair. I kissed him back once, twice before he stopped kissing me to suck on my lower lip. It wasn't until he did that that I could stop and think. I braced my hand against his shoulders and pushed with all my might. This seemed to get his attention; he stopped sucking and laid a few light kisses on my lips. "That was not entirely the reaction I assumed I'd get," David said.

I wanted to slap him and I wanted to jump him. My mind couldn't decide how it wanted to react. Jumping him would be borderline impossible in my current condition, not to mention a really bad idea. Moose, for one, would be really mad at me. Slapping him, while possible and probably incredibly satisfying, was an even more idiotic idea. In the split second after he said something, I went with defensive. "What the fuck were you expecting?" I asked as I pushed at him. I could ways just jump Moose later.

"Less of a positive response," he said with a slightly smug look. "More kicking a screaming."

"I don't know if you've forgotten," I said as I pulled away from him, seething anger dripping from my voice. "But I'm paralyzed. I can't kick you." That little bit of anger I had let into my heart multiplied, and at this point, I was borderline fuming.

He was ignoring my anger, which he must have been able to feel. He laced his hands in my hair and said, "You kissed me back."

I took a deep, calming breath as I pulled David's hands out of my hair. "I don't want to hurt you," I said quietly. His face fell slightly, and my heart hurt for him. "How are Alcide and Tray?" I asked, changing the topic.

David stood, assuming a more distant stance. "The two Weres? They will be fine." He was nothing but business now.

"And Moose?"

"His arm will be in a sling for a few weeks, but other than that, he will also be fine. As usual, you bore the brunt of the abuse."

I took a sigh of relief. "Good."

"Mac!" Moose cried from the doorway. His hair was soaking wet and he was in nothing but his jeans; he must have just gotten out of the shower. He was wearing a blue sling on his left shoulder, which was also covered in gauze. He ran toward me, practically tackling me onto the bed. "Thank God, you're awake!" He kissed my forehead, then my cheek, then my lips. "I was so worried about you," he said as he gathered me into his arms (well, his arm).

"I must go, it is almost daylight," David said before he bowed out of the room gracefully.

I laid my head against Moose's good shoulder. "Why were you worried?" I mean, other than the hole in my side…

He kissed my temple one last time before he answered. "Your blood pressure dropped after she pulled the arrowhead out of your side; you started to bleed out. And since I guess our blood won't clot until the poison is completely out of our system, that was a huge concern." His voice was almost sad as he finished his explanation.

"Looks to me like she did a fine job," I said as I rubbed the tip of my nose against Moose's jaw line. His skin was smooth and smelled like he had just shaved. I love the smell of his shaving cream. I had a momentary feeling of guilt about what I had just (almost) done with David. Not only did I owe Moose more respect than that, David did.

"I wasn't sure you'd make it," he mumbled into my hair. I intertwined my fingers with the fingers on his slinged arm and settled my head into his neck. I could feel his strong heartbeat reverberating throughout his chest, which when combined with his steady breathing and his natural body heat, worked quickly to lull me to sleep.

I was pretty sure the ensuing dream was a vision. It was just too banal to be anything else. I was at Merlotte's Bar, sitting in a booth, drink in hand (cheap whiskey). Across the corner, David and Bill were enjoying a True Blood each.

"Thank you again for allowing me to stay with you today. I did not want to be far from Sloane while she was in such a condition," David said as he nursed his bottle.

"I understand." Bill finished off the last of his True Blood. "How is she doing?"

I could see the back of David's head nod. "As well as can be expected. I checked on her before coming out tonight; she was awake and had stopped bleeding. I will have to wait until she is asleep before I can heal her, though."

"Oh?" Bill asked. "Why is that?"

"She is squeamish. Just the mere sight of blood makes her sick," David said. "Needles, too," he finished with a smile in his voice.

Bill looked confused. "I assume you took her blood during the act of lovemaking upon occasion?" David simply nodded. "Excuse me if I am prying, but I cannot fathom why she would allow such a thing if she is truly squeamish."

Again, David's voice was dripping with a smile. "She is easily distracted."

After a short pause, Bill changed the subject. "When will you leave?"

"Tonight," he answered quickly. "The jet will pick us up in Jackson."

"Why Mississippi? Shreveport has a small airport," Bill asked.

"I am good friends with the king of Mississippi. He has assured us that DeCastro will never know we were here."

The person I was seeing though looked up just in time to see Bill nod. "A good plan," he said.

"I trust Sloane and I also have your discretion?"

"Of course, King O'Hara."

"Please," David said. "Call me David."

Bill nodded. "Of course, David." After another short pause, Bill asked what was probably first and foremost on his mind. "My cooperation is by no means subject to your agreement, but I would much appreciate if you allowed me to interview your court for my database? There are many of our kind in Michigan that have been less than cooperative."

"Of course. Come visit whenever you'd like."

"Hey, sweetheart," Moose said as I opened my eyes. I couldn't help but smile.

"Hi there." I noticed as Moose pulled his hand off of my knee that I could feel that. "Hey!"

"What? What?" he asked frantically, freezing in place.

"I felt that! Your hand on my knee, I felt that!" I was so excited, maybe I wouldn't have to have David heal me if I wanted to walk again.

Moose kissed my forehead before he pulled the end of the blanket up to expose my toes. "Can you feel this?" he asked as he grabbed the tops of my feet. I nodded enthusiastically. "Both of them?"

"Uh huh!"

"Can you wiggle your toes?" he asked. I watched as my toes followed my commands, wiggling back and forth. "God, you heal so fast for a human," he said, in awe.

Sookie took the chance to make an entrance. She was wearing jeans and a simple yellow t-shirt and her hair pulled up into a simple loose ponytail, but she looked better than she had since we got here. Even the small wounds on her neck didn't diminish the undeniable glow of her skin or her bright smile. "Time for lunch," she said gaily as she rounded the doorframe into the room. "Sloane, you're up!" Emotionally, she was 10 pounds lighter.

"I am," I responded.

"Are you hungry?" she asked before turning to Moose. "Do you think she should eat?"

"If she's hungry," Moose responded with a shrug.

Sookie turned her attention back to me. "Sure, if you're offering." I answered. "What's for lunch?"

"Just sandwiches," she said, her voice falling a touch. She sounded as if offering us sandwiches was some huge southern faux-pas. "I haven't had a chance to get to the store."

"Sounds good to me," I said.

"What would you like to drink? I have Coke, lemonade, Ginger Ale…"

I stopped her in her tracks. "Coke, please."

Sookie turned to look at Moose, silently asking him the same question. "Lemonade for me, please," he answered.

Sookie fluttered out of the room, on a mission to feed her guests. "Help me stand," I said as I extended an arm toward Moose while simultaneously forcing my stiff legs over the edge of the bed.

Moose laughed lightly. "No standing for you, not yet at least."

I waved my extended arm at him, urging him to help me up. "I need to get out of this room, stretch a bit."

"You can do that without standing," he said as he pushed my arm back down into my lap.

I rolled my eyes at him. "What am I going to do, army crawl? You can't carry me one arm down."

"I don't have to," he said as he walked out of the room. He stopped at the doorway and turned back to me. "Stay there," he said seriously as he pointed his finger in my direction.

Almost a minute passed before he came back. "I know, I'm amazed, too. She's a fighter, though," Moose said as he entered the room. Alcide followed him into the room.

"Where to?" Alcide asked in his sweet southern accent.

I saw where this was going. I borderline pouted. "I don't want to be carried, I want to walk," I said to both of them and neither of them at the same time.

"Stubborn, too," Moose added as he leaned against the doorframe.

I stared back at Alcide and Moose as they both eyed me. "You're not going to win this one. I want to at least try."

Alcide looked back at Moose, who just shrugged. "That's probably true, we aren't going to win," Moose said.

Alcide looked down at me like an annoyed father. "Alright." Without another word, he lifted me off the bed, one arm wrapped gently around my back and the other arm hooked under my knees. He carried me to the center of the room before stopping and looking down at me. "If it hurts or something, you let me know." He didn't lower my feet to the floor until I nodded in understanding.

He let my feet just graze the floor, supporting the majority of my bodyweight before slowly and carefully giving me more and more control. The sensation was odd, after not even being able to feel my legs for what felt like ever, finally using them for something. I took it slow, not even attempting to take a step until I was 110% sure I was stable. Once Alcide had given me all the control he was going to, supporting me only by a hand under each elbow, I took my first experimental step. Even though I was as stable as I thought I was going to get and Alcide was lending me a bunch of his stability, I still felt wobbly. I came to a complete stop, regaining my composure before I attempted another step. "Look at you," Moose said, obviously pleased.

"Look at me," I repeated between steps.

I didn't get cocky until I got to the hallway. With Alcide still behind me, I started to walk a bit faster, stringing several steps together a time. I was three steps into a stroll before my knee buckled. "Woah, now," Alcide said as he caught me before I fell to the ground. "Enough of that." As if I were a bag of groceries, he whipped me back up into his arms and carried me into the kitchen, setting me down in a chair at the kitchen table. Tray was already sitting at the small table, and after he sat me in a chair, Alcide took one himself. Moose took the chair next to me as Sookie set a Coke and a glass with ice in front of me and a glass of iced lemonade in front of Moose.

"What do you want to drink?" Sookie asked Alcide.

"Water's fine, thank you."

Sookie placed a glass of ice water in front of Alcide before doling out plates of sandwiches and potato chips to everyone. I sucked my food down as fast as I could, not realizing how hungry I was until I actually took my first bite.

I turned to Alcide once we had finished eating. "Up for another walk?"

"Can you not just relax and recoup?" he asked.

Moose laughed. "That's not really her personality."

I didn't want to make him feel like he had to; he was nice enough to humor me the first time. But on the other hand, I was going stir crazy. As odd as it sounded, I just wanted to go outside. I knew I had spent an inordinate amount of time outside lately, but I felt too cooped up in here. "Please? I just want to get a bit of fresh air."

"Sure," he said, pushing himself away from the table. He grabbed his glass and his plate, rinsing them both off in the sink before coming back for me. "Ready?" he asked before he helped me to my feet. After I nodded, he lifted me to my feet and took his position behind me again, supporting me on either side. After 4 or 5 steps through the kitchen and out the back door, I was confronted with a set of stairs.

"Uh oh," I said, trying to figure out the best way to tackle them.

He lifted me off the ground and whisked me down the stairs before setting me back down to resume my walk. "So tell me about yourself," he said as we made a slow circuit around the house. The ground was cool and I wasn't wearing any shoes, but it felt good. It was like the shock of jumping into a cold pool, it just felt good.

I giggled as I tried to concentrate. I had always thought that was one of the odder questions you can ask someone. What do you say to that? "Well, my name is Sloane McIntosh, I'm 23 years old, a Sagittarius," I started.

"You're 23? I thought you were younger," he said sincerely. "I thought Moose was robbing the cradle."

I laughed again. "He is a bit older than me, so I guess he is robbing the cradle, but yup, I'm 23." I paused for an odd silence. "What else do you want to know?" I said, filling the silence.

"What do you do?"

"I'm actually halfway through a PhD in microbiology." I stopped to steady myself and take in the relatively warm winter air. "I work with molecular detection techniques for certain microbes."

There was charged silence behind me as I started walking again. "Smart girl," he said finally as we approached the front of the house.

"No kidding. Did she tell you she's a kid genius?" Moose said as he snuck up behind us, obviously boasting about his girlfriend.

I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks, causing me to blush. "No, she didn't," Alcide answered.

Moose didn't even stop to breathe. "Yea! Graduated high school at 16. Graduated college with a double major before she could legally drink!"

"Yea, yea," I said as we approached the stairs, embarrassed. Not only was high school an incredibly awkward, painful time for me, I was more than just a child genius. I stopped Alcide before he could lift me into the air. "I want to try the stairs," I said.

"You've definitely got the drive," Alcide said under his breath like a proud papa.

I took a deep, calming breath. I could do this. I steadied myself before struggling to lift my leg high enough to mount the stair, then pushed myself up as much as I could. I didn't make it. My balance faltered before I could plant both feet on the first step and I fell backwards. Alcide caught me again before I could hit the ground. He lifted me into his arms and carried me into house, setting me down on the couch. "Thanks for humoring me," I told him as he set me down.

"Not a problem."

I had managed to shower and get dressed before the sun set. Moose had since given up on the sling, claiming he was more comfortable without it shortly after Alcide and Tray had left. I could still tell his shoulder was bothering him; he favored his left arm in just about everything he did. He also insisted that he French braid my hair, even though I could tell the act that was somewhat painful.

Moose was halfway through my hair when there was a knock at the door. I knew who it was before Sookie answered it, I could feel him coming. "How are you feeling?" he said as he walked into the room like he owned the place.

I assumed he was talking to me. "Fine, I guess." I was still mad at him for his stunt last night. I tilted my head down so Moose could get to my hair better and I wouldn't have to look at David.

"How is she?" he asked quietly.

"Stopped bleeding around twelve thirty." Moose answered quickly without even a hiccup in the rhythm of his hands had in my hair.

"Excellent." He did feel incredibly pleased. For some reason, that just irked me. "I have errands to run. Please be packed and ready to go by eleven."

"Where are we going?" I asked. I hated orders. I just hated everything about him right now. I think he could tell.

"Home," he answered before leaving.

David had already checked us out of the motel and had delivered all of our luggage to us at Sookie's house, so all Moose had to do once he finished my hair was throw everything back into its proper suitcase and zip them up. While he was doing that, Sookie took the chance to talk to me alone.

"Was that the plan?" she asked me quietly.

I had no idea what she was talking about. "What?" I asked after a moment of contemplation.

"Were we supposed to get taken?"

I thought carefully about how to answer that question. "Was that my ideal option? No, of course not. But I didn't need to be psychic to tell that we were outmatched. They just had too many resources. All I could do was try to put it off as long as possible and make sure that the conditions were better than those that I had seen for you."

She gently grabbed my wrist, which was lying in my lap. "What was going to happen to me? Did I die?" I could feel her trying to probe my mind, trying to find out for herself what happened.

"I'd rather not go into detail," I said first, letting her probe as much as she wanted. "As to if you died, not physically. But your…faith, your spirit did. I've been broken like that," I said, stopping mid sentence. I took a short breath before finishing it. "I don't wish it on anyone."

She paused, both in speaking and probing, seemingly taking what I had just said to heart. I jumped in my seat when she lunged toward me, wrapping me in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I don't know how to make this up to you."

I returned the hug. "No need. I think this actually makes us even." I let go as she pulled away, giving me a puzzled look. "You saved my life in Maryland."

She shook her head adamantly. "No, I didn't do anything in Maryland."

I grabbed her hand and looked her in the eyes. "I would have died without you. You risked your freedom by purposely flaunting yourself in front of DeCastro. Then when I needed you, you came and made sure I didn't bleed out on the street." I gave her a quick smile. I don't think it had occurred to her that it could have just as easily been her and Eric in the limo, not David, Idi and me. I kept my mouth shut on that; I didn't need to add that to her list of things that keep her up at night. "So we're even."

She took a minute to consider this before nodding once. "OK." She pulled her hand away before standing and straightening her clothes. "Can I get you anything?"

I crooked my finger, silently asking her to come closer. When she was within whispering range, I cupped my hands around my mouth and whispered into her ear. "Can you get me out of here before David and Moose start their machismo pissing match back up?" I leaned back, giving her a wink and a giggle. "How do you deal with it?"

She instantly loosened up and plopped back onto the couch. "It is a constant struggle, isn't it?"

"I imagine it's worse for you, both of your 'men' being of the fanged persuasion."

She threw her hands up in the air. "You have no idea! I just laid some ground rules and stuck to them."

"Yea," I said, looking down at my hands. "Sticking to them seems to be my Achilles heel."

"OK, we're all ready," Moose said as he bounded into the room while massaging his shoulder.

"Yea, that shoulder's not bothering you at all," I said with a sarcastic glare.

He shot me a wide, cat-that-ate-the-canary grin as there was a knock at the door. "Are you expecting anyone?" Moose asked Sookie. When she shook her head no, Moose motioned for both of us to stay where we were. "I'll get it, then."

When he returned, he was followed by three fairies. Niall entered first, followed then by the twins Claude and Claudine. "Granddaughter," he said with a smile as Sookie stood to hug him. He planted a light kiss in her hair before Sookie moved on to hugging Claudine, and finally giving Claude a short perfunctory hug. "I am glad to see you are safe and happy."

"We are, thank you," Sookie responded as she sat back down.

Niall turned his attention toward me, as did Claude and Claudine. With Claudine's 100 watt smile beaming at me, I felt instantaneously happy and at ease. Niall extended a hand toward me. I wasn't quite sure what to do. It looked like he wanted me to stand, but I couldn't, not without more help. I took his hand, but didn't make any move to stand. "My dear, I have some information you might find enlightening. May we please talk somewhere more private?" He pulled my hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of my hand.

He continued to hold my hand, which bothered me only slightly. He was being very touchy feely for a man I didn't really know. "We could definitely talk in private, but it's going to have to be right here," I said. "I'm not very mobile at the moment."

He looked me over before sitting in the armchair to my side. He nodded quickly to Claude and Claudine, who turned on their heels and left the room. I glanced at Moose, slowly stepped out of the room. "Granddaughter, would you excuse us?"

Sookie nodded and left the room, leaving only Niall and I in the living room. "So, what's up?" I asked as I subtly pulled my hand back and placed it in my lap.

"The first time I met you, I was sure that you were one of ours." I nodded once. OK. I'm not sure what that meant, but I was going to go with it. I'd ask any questions at the end. "I have done some investigation, and it seems you are not only of the air, but also of the water."

"Um," I said as I tried to comprehend what he was trying to tell me. When several seconds passed and I still had no idea, I repeated myself. "Um."

I must have just looked confused. "I couldn't find anyone who would comment about mating with a human from the water camp, since it is—was taboo among their camp to even leave Fae," he said, filling in the blanks a bit. "But I remember when I was a younger man, during the end of my father's life, he preferred to take human lovers."

If I was lost before, I was even more so now. I couldn't even manage to form the word 'um' anymore. I just sat there, staring at him. I had no idea even where to start. What questions to ask. It felt like a full minute before I could ask, "What are you even talking about?"

"I am unsure of the translation. Perhaps niece is appropriate?" he said.

I took a minute to comprehend this. "Are you saying I'm your niece?"

"I believe so, yes." He took my hand and brought it back to his face, only this time he didn't kiss my hand. He rubbed the back of my hand across his cheek. "Mm, yes. I can smell our kinship." He pulled a small card from his pocket and settled into my already outstretched hand. "Should you need anything," he said before standing. He waited for me to stand with him before remembering I can't. He bowed lightly so he could kiss my hair like he had Sookie's before gathering Claude and Claudine. After a round of goodbyes, the three glowing fairies took their leave. Probably a good thing, considering I could feel David getting closer.

*****All right, you guys talked me into it. I got some great ideas from all of you, and I'll be using bits and pieces of some of them for part 5. Thanks for all of your support!*****


	58. Chapter 58

All three vampires' eyes widened and went wild as they walked into the room. At vampire speed, Eric speed across the room and swooped Sookie into his arms, burrowing his nose into her hair. I could see and feel David's struggle to keep his hands off me.

"Ahem, Eric," Sookie said as she pushed against him lightly. "Not now." She was blushing heavily. She snaked her hand down his arm and interlaced her fingers with his.

"We must go," David said. "Bill, thank you for your hospitality." He bowed to Bill, who responded in turn. "Eric," he said coolly. Once he was done with the poorest excuse for a goodbye I've heard in a long time, he approached me. "Are you ready to go?"

"I guess so," I said. I glanced around David's body toward Eric and Sookie in the corner. Sookie was looking from David to Eric curiously. I bet she didn't know what was going on between them. "Thank you, Sookie, for your hospitality and your advice." She smiled and raised a dismissive hand in the air. "Come and visit us in the frozen north whenever you want. And tell Sam thanks again for me." I turned to Bill, who was still as far away from the conversation as he could be while still being in the room. "And again Bill, thank you."

"You are most welcome," he replied.

I almost skipped Eric, but I just couldn't be that much of a bitch. "And Eric." I paused, not quite sure what to say. "Thanks for making sure Victor didn't find us."

I looked back up to David before Eric could answer. "I'm ready," I said, offering him my hands. Instead of taking them and helping me to my feet, he lifted me off the couch.

I waited until he had carried me out of the house and down the stairs until I said anything. "Put me down, I want to walk."

He slowed to a crawl so he could look down at me. "You can feel your legs? You can move them?"

"Yea, kind of." I patted him on the chest. "Put me down, I'll show you." He lowered my legs to the ground slowly. "Don't let go, I'm still a little shaky," I said as I concentrated on not tripping over the uneven ground.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said as he held both of my hands for support. We had made it across the lawn and to the blue Mustang before David said anything. "I remember teaching Emma to walk much like this," he said as he lifted me into the passenger seat. "That was long ago, though."

Moose slid into the back seat. "I pulled the suitcases out here, but couldn't lift them into the trunk with my shoulder."

"I will get them," David said as he gently closed the passenger side door.

"You're squished back there, I should be in the back." I said to Moose, he leaned between the two front seats to kiss me.

"I'm OK back here," he said quickly. "But if you'd like to join me…" He pulled his eyebrows up, an almost obscene gesture.

I laughed. "Always trying to get in my pants," I said in a kidding voice. I craned my neck to get another kiss from him. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

"For what?" he asked.

"Getting you into this mess, the hole in your shoulder, making you put up with David…" I could have gone on.

"All worth it." He said quickly before I could finish my list.

"Really? Wasn't your life easier before you met me?"

"Tons," he answered. "But easy's overrated."

.

It was a long, silent car ride to Jackson, Mississippi. We were pulling into the airport when a sudden realization had me panicking. "Filipe and Victor are going to find out we were here! He's going to kill Eric!"

David kept annoyingly calm. "Is this from a vision?"

"No," I said as I shook my head. "I was just thinking. The airline has my name as landing in Shreveport, the car rental, the motel…"

"All taken care of," he said as he pulled up to a small jet on a heavily patched runway. He turned off the engine and got out of the car. After circling the car and opening the passenger side door, he knelt in front of me instead of automatically lifting me out of the car like I had anticipated. "Would you prefer Idi to carry you?" he asked seriously.

"You made Idi fly all the way down here so he could carry me into a plane?" I asked, half relieved and half annoyed. I was relieved that I had some protection from David's temper, but Idi deserved a life too. I felt bad for pulling him away from his brother and his life again.

"I did not," he said. "He volunteered."

That made me feel a bit better. "Then I prefer Idi." I could feel him hurt, and it hurt me, too. But I was going to start my ground rules instantly. I made sure Moose wasn't within earshot, then I grabbed his hand before he stood. "Look, we need to talk, set some rules." He didn't say anything, so I continued. "Later?"

He nodded as he pulled his hand free and walked away. He called Idi over, and without looking at me, he instructed Idi what to do before approaching another car. In a split second, Idi was in front of me. "How are you, Miss Sloane?" he asked.

"I've been better," I answered truthfully.

"Do you need assistance?" he asked politely. "King O'Hara informs me that you can walk, however it is difficult."

"That about sums it up," I said as I extended my hands toward him. "Will you please just carry me? It hurts too much to walk right now."

"Of course, Miss Sloane." He leaned down and lifted me off the seat. Instead of carrying me toward the tall set of stairs that led into the plane, he followed David's path toward the black town car parked at the end of the runway.

"Where are we going?" I asked Idi.

"King Edgington of Mississippi wishes to meet you." The car door opened as we approached. David, followed by a smaller, older man exited the car and met us on the runway.

"So this is the woman who has stolen David's elusive heart," the older man said.

Idi set me on my feet but stayed close, just in case. "Russell, this is Sloane McIntosh. Sloane, this is King Russell Edgington of Mississippi."

I was prepared to bow as much as I could manage without falling over, but Russell stopped me. "What a pleasure it is, Ms. McInstosh," he said as he grabbed my hand and kissed the back. What a touchy-feely vampire.

"A pleasure to meet you, too," I responded politely. "Please call me Sloane. Or Mac," I added as an afterthought.

"How delightful, a nickname!"

I tried to smile with him, but I was sure it came out as less than sincere. I was tired, making standing more of a chore than usual. The Advil that I had taken at Sookie's had also worn off, making standing here not only difficult, but painful as well. I wanted to sit down.

David caught on to my mood when I covered the bandaged hole in my side with my hand, silently trying to ease the pain. "Russell, it has been fantastic to see you, but I must get Sloane back home. Will you come visit?"

"Surely," he responded. "It was nice to meet you, Mac," he said with a wink.

"You too, King Edgington," I said as Idi swept me back into his arms.

.

I had settled into a not-quite-sleeping, not-quite-awake daydream as we took off. Moose was already passed out in a reclined seat before Idi had even carried me into the plane, so Idi had placed me across the aisle from him. I guess it was just a natural instinct to put me (and him) as far away from a shifter as possible. I didn't complain, though. I may as well let Moose sleep. He was going to have to learn at some point that I can't be babysat 24 hours a day, but that was a lesson for another time.

I jumped when David startled me out of my daydream. "Will you be attending the ball this Saturday?" he asked me.

"I thought I had to," I said quietly as I continued to stare out the window onto the blackness.

"It would be…prudent for you to attend." He paused, considering his next statement. "But I will not force you to do anything you do not want to."

"Why would it be prudent?" I asked.

"Your presence will solidify your station in the kingdom. Also, it would be good for those loyal to us to know you, to get used to seeing us together."

Oh, here we go. I was hoping to hold off until we landed to have this little chat, but he was going to push it forward. "Maybe they shouldn't get used to seeing us together," I said quietly.

"Why not?" he asked, thoroughly intrigued.

I finally tore my gaze away from the black sky outside and looked him in the eye. "I don't know if it's a good idea for me to be near you anymore. At least not right now."

I could feel his heart break. It was hard for me to hold back the tears, as well. "I will not hurt you again, if that is your concern."

Right, I'd heard that before. Never the less, I was going to ignore it. Just because I had Idi as a body guard didn't mean that I needed to use him. I moved on to the real reason. "I just need some time to forget," I said quietly as I returned my glare to the sky. It was easier to break his heart when I wasn't looking him in the eye.

"I do not understand," he said.

I took a deep breath, trying to give myself time to make my explanation as coherent as possible. "Every time I look at you, a little jolt of panic and fear runs through me. All I can remember are your eyes when you're mad at me, the pain, emotional and physical, that you've caused. And, most importantly, I remember what it's like when you break the implicit trust I'd given you. And I can't do that anymore. It hurts too much to remember." I took a deep breath as I wiped the tear from my cheek. "Just give me some time."

He nodded. "I will attempt to honor your wishes. But I still wish you would come Saturday, if only to create the illusion."

"We'll see how I'm feeling," I said as I wiped another tear away. I turned to Idi, who had been reading a newspaper in another language for the entire conversation. "Will you get me a blanket, please?"

"Yes, Miss Sloane," he said as he put the newspaper down on the table. He pulled a blanket and a pillow down from an overhead compartment, handing me the pillow and spreading the blanket over me. I reclined the chair and tucked the pillow up against the wall.

.

I was almost asleep when the vampires started to talk. "If I may, my King," Idi said.

"You always may, Idi. This is the land of free speech."

"Perhaps you should ask the Queen to talk to her. Women are more comfortable around women," Idi said.

"Emma sometimes scares Sloane. I would prefer she not," David answered.

"It is important she come on Saturday."

"I know this," David said, getting a bit more temperamental.

"Someone needs to impress upon her why she must come. If she understands it is for her own safety, I am sure that she will make the right decision. She is a smart girl."

David paused before he answered. "I do not want to scare her."

Idi paused as well. "Perhaps not scare her, but more caution on her part would not be a bad thing. Perhaps if she knows…"

"She does not need to know. She is mine to protect, and I will protect her." David was done with the conversation, something Idi seemed to understand.

.

I was rudely awakened by a pair of very cold hands. "My apologies," Emma said as pulled my shirt up to look at my bandaging. "I did not mean to wake you." I had been transported to my own bed as I slept.

"It's OK," I said as she pulled the bandage away. I looked down at to survey the damage; however the only thing that was left was a fading scar.

She balled the bandage up and tossed it into the garbage can in my bathroom. "You seem to be healing well," she said as she walked back toward my bed slowly. She circled the bed and sat down on the empty side of the bed, leaning her back against the headboard.

I held up my hand in a 'stop' motion before she could even get started. "Don't worry, you can tell David I'll be coming to the party," I said as I pushed myself up into a position that mirrored hers.

"Good," she said, relieved. "He requested I impress upon you that you will be his date, and that the shifter is not invited."

I was silent for a full minute. "Why can't Moose come?" I finally asked.

"We will present a more unified front without him," she replied succinctly.

That made absolutely no sense to me, but Emma was not the one to argue about it with. David was calling the shots on this one, so I'd have to ask him. "Will you tell me the truth?" I asked her.

"Depends on the topic," she responded coolly.

"About why I'm in such trouble," I answered, equally as coolly.

She looked me in the eye. "David specifically forbade me to mention anything about that topic."

Damn. "But will you anyway?" I asked, ever hopeful.

"Why must you know?" she asked, exasperated.

"It's my life, Emma," I sad angrily. I couldn't believe that they were seriously keeping me in the dark. "If there's something I need to be watching for, I need to know about it."

She quickly thought about her options. "I suppose it may be advantageous if you were aware," she said, almost to herself. "But you cannot tell David I told you. Lie if you must." I nodded eagerly, accepting her conditions. "Simon's betrayal has shaken David and me. David especially fears we are leaving you too open for exploitation."

I didn't quite get what she was talking about. "So? I did just fine without vampire protection for 22 years." I paused, unable to keep my mind from flashing back to Simon and the warehouse. "Things like…that, they were bound—are bound—to happen."

"That may be true," she said. "But David and I have managed to thrust you into the limelight, so to speak."

I was seriously trying to put two and two together, but it was like Emma was reading me only every 3rd chapter of a book. Nothing made sense. "So, in order to protect me from the limelight, you're throwing a party to thrust me into the limelight?" I asked, skeptical.

She was getting sick of answering questions. "Trust that we know how to best protect you from our kind." With that, she gracefully scooted off the bed and walked to the door. "I will send my day man over with more information tomorrow," she said before closing the door behind her. And finally I was all alone.

.

I loved the normalcy with which my morning started. I lingered in bed, finally pulling myself out of bed and shuffling downstairs around noon. Sydney was sitting in her usual spot reading a book, her tarot cards sitting in a haphazard pile in front of her. She peaked over her book as soon as she heard me coming. "Hey, I thought you were never going to get up," she said as she tucked a bookmark into her book and put it down.

"Yea, yea," I said as I poured myself a tall glass of Pepsi and settled into my usual spot. "How was your trip?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "Just fine. The real question is how was yours?"

I shrugged as I took a sip. "Alright," I said. "Jeanne called me on Tuesday or Wednesday, that was interesting."

She raised her eyebrows. "What did she have to say? Did she know where you were?"

I shook my head as I smile covered my face. "She thinks Moose and I were on some romantic trip."

She laughed out loud. "Where did you come up with that?"

"I didn't!" I said. "She came up with that on her own. Apparently she and Ty do it all the time."

She continued to giggle to herself. "Well, I guess that's as good a lie as any." When she had stopped laughing, she gave me a serious look. "But back to the real reason you were there. Is everything OK?" she asked.

"Yea," I said. "Everything's back to normal."

"Do I want to know the details?"

I shook my head no. "Probably not."

"The real question," she said as she stood to take her empty plate to the kitchen, "is would you tell me if I did want to know?"

"Of course," I said, my eyebrows furrowed. "What makes you think I wouldn't?"

She shrugged as she rinsed her plate in the sink. "I don't know. You didn't tell me you were going, or why you were there…"

"I didn't tell anyone where I was going," I explained, "and I wasn't even sure why I was there until the last second."

"Promise?" she asked as she sat back down in her usual chair.

"Promise."

***** Get ready, because the Epilogue of part 4 is coming next. I'm just about done with it, and you are going to love it! Sloane exacts some revenge on David and almost makes a really stupid mistake. BUT, I'm not going to release it until you tell me something you love about this story. A favorite character, favorite plot point; whatever it is that keeps you coming back for more. So let's hear it!*****


	59. Chapter 59Part 4 Epilogue

****You asked for it, and here it is! It's a long one! Part 5 to start at some point in the future.****

**EPILOGUE:**

I had to say, I looked good. The emerald green dress Emma had lent me looked like it came straight out of the '40's and matched my eyes to a tee. It was A-line silk dress with a drop waist and a boat neck. The back draped to a low V before trailing into a short train. In honor of the dress, Sydney had spent the better part of an hour giving me perfect finger rolls before pinning the curls up at the base of my neck. I finished off the look with the shade of bright red lipstick that Sydney had gotten me for Halloween and thick eyeliner and mascara. Emma's day man, Jeremy had also left a pair of matching peep-toe pumps and a pair of gold dangle earrings, which finished off the outfit. I was fastening the earrings when there was a light knock on the door.

"Hey, hot mama," Sydney said as she cracked the door open. "Idi's here, and he's looking pretty adorable himself."

I couldn't imagine anything that Idi would be wearing that could make that boulder of a man look anything near adorable. "Alright, thanks," I said as I smoothed myself out. "Sure you don't want to come?" I asked again, hoping the answer would change.

"Not even a little bit," she said I followed her down the stairs. "You kids have fun," she said with a wink. I almost envied her, dressed in her sweatpants and her hair comfortably in a messy ponytail. I wanted to stay home and watch old movies, too.

"You look very nice, Miss Sloane," Idi said. I don't think adorable was the word I would have chosen to describe him tonight; perhaps dapper or elegant. He was wearing a traditional tuxedo, wool overcoat, and what looked like a white silk scarf. His usually unrulely waist-length dreadlocks were pulled into a neat ponytail that trailed down his back.

"As do you, Idi," I said as I pulled a few necessities out of my purse. Emma hadn't included a clutch with her ensemble and I didn't have anything that matched the dress, so I was left purseless. "Will you hold on to these for me?" I asked him as I handed him my house key, my phone, and my wallet.

"Yes, Miss Sloane," he said as he took my things and tucked them into his interior coat pocket. "Are you ready to go?"

"I guess so." I opened the door and stepped out without a coat on. I didn't have anything that was worthy of the outfit, so I had decided (after a long internal debate) to just freeze during the short trip. Before I could get off the front porch, Idi had wrapped his coat around my shoulders.

"Be careful, Miss Sloane, the walk is icy." He placed a helpful hand on my lower back as I slowly and carefully made my way toward the idling car. I slid into the leather passenger seat and took a deep breath. _Here we go_.

.

I was bombarded as I walked through the front door of the O'Hara complex. Jazz music was coming from another room as several bodyguards dressed head to toe in black descended. I backed up into Idi's chest, overwhelmed. "Fall back," Idi said as he placed a protective hand on my shoulder. "This is the King's bonded."

The bodyguards fell away, leaving Idi to take my coat. David snuck up behind me as Idi transferred my things from the overcoat pockets to his pants pockets. "You look radiant," he said loudly as he wrapped his arms around my stomach. I was about to turn around and smack him. I had set some ground rules, and he was doing all he could to ignore them completely. "Please humor me and play along. I will explain shortly," he whispered into my ear. He let me go before interlacing his fingers between mine. "Thank you, Idi. That will be all." Idi bowed to both David and me before taking his leave. "Come with me," David said as he pulled me along up a flight of stairs. I followed him silently, biding my time until I could privately tear into him. He opened a door at the top of the stairs, holding it open for me first. It was an opulently decorated office, done in leather and wood.

I opened my mouth as soon as he closed the door. "What the hell are you doing? If I had known the only reason you wanted me to come to this gala is because you wanted to play house with me, I would have told you to shove it," I yelled at him, even poking him in the chest at the end of my rant. I thought about what I was doing just a tad too late. When I looked at the rage building in David's eyes, I backed away until I bumped into the desk. My breath caught in my throat as fear paralyzed me.

He turned away before he spoke so I couldn't see his rage. "I assure you, that was not my intention." When he had calmed down, he turned back to me and came within inches of me so he could pull a picture frame off the desk. He looked at the picture frame for several seconds before he talked again. "In truth, Emma and I had started planning this party while you and I were still together. We knew even then it would be important to solidify your place in our kingdom."

I sighed in frustration. "You and Emma keep talking about my place with you guys, but you never stopped to ask what I want. I don't want this attention. I just want to live my life."

I could take solace in the fact that I was frustrating him just as much as he was frustrating me. "Emma and I are attempting to keep you safe so you can live your life," he said quietly, trying not to yell. He paused while he gathered himself again, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and pointer finger. "Please just trust in the fact that Emma and I are doing what needs to be done to protect you from our world. All I am asking you to do is act as a bonded should for the night."

My anger flared again. "And how is that? Devoted follower? Arm candy? Fuck buddy?"

His eyes lit up. "I am particularly fond of the last option."

My anger boiled over. Without thinking, I took a swing at David. He caught my wrist before I could connect with his jaw and wrapped me in his arms, neutralizing my attack. He was squeezing me just a bit too tight in his anger. "God, dammit, David! Never before have I wanted to stake someone quite as much as I want to shove a large piece of wood through your chest right now!"

"You can yell at me all you want," he said, not letting me go but loosening his grip just a bit. "But if you are going to threaten to stake me, do so quietly." He shook me lightly to better get my attention. "Death threats are not looked upon kindly here."

"Let me go so I can pummel you," I whispered as I struggled against his arms.

"If I allow you to hit me, would you do as I say for one night?"

I was about to start kicking and screaming bloody murder. "Let me go and find out." Much to my surprise, he lowered me to my feet and let both of my wrists go. I turned on my heels to face him again and slapped him in the face. "You are such a…" I said, unable to finish the sentence. When I couldn't think of a word to tuck in to that sentence, I socked him in the gut for good measure.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked.

I faked like I was going to hit him in the face again, but instead I focused all my strength in kneeing him in the balls. I could feel how furious he was after I did. As he was doubled over, I backed away. "I do now," I said as I moved toward the door. I knew it was a stupid move, but it felt so good. Very satisfying.

I kept an eye on David as I probed the wall behind me for the door knob. Before I had found it, the door swung open and nailed me in the back. I swung toward the door, pulled the door open, and promptly ran into Emma on my way out. She caught me before I could run down the stairs. "You have finally brought my brother to his knees."

"I should go," I said as I tried to turn and walk down the stairs.

"No," David said as he recovered, both from the pain from his fury. Emma pulled me into the room and shut the door behind me again. "I suppose I deserved that," David said as he rose to his full height. "Now to honor your side of the agreement." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the door to the top of the stairs. "Smile," he whispered in my ear.

I plastered a wide, fake smile on my face. "For the record, I never agreed to anything," I said through my teeth.

"All rise for King David O'Hara and his bonded, Sloane McIntosh," came over a loud speaker behind a set of double doors.

As the double doors opened, David locked my arm through his and whispered in my ear. "I do not need you to agree, I can simply make you comply." David swept me out to the dance floor amidst a flurry of applause. "You will accompany me to the dance floor for one dance."

"All rise for Queen Emma O'Hara and her husband, Lee Wong," announced the DJ over the loudspeaker. I could see Emma and Lee walk out onto the dance floor as David took me into his arms.

I was surprised how many people were here. There were dozens of tables surrounding the dance floor, all of them seating 8 vampires. I thought at most this would be a relatively small gathering of no more than 20. There were only a handful of sheriffs, and even if they all bring a date and allow their second to bring a date, that still wasn't any more than 30 dead people. There had to be over 200 vampires here. I was suddenly feeling like a steak among starving people.

Once Emma and Lee had taken their place on the dance floor, a large band started playing a slow waltz. David immediately started leading me around the room. He was doing a much better job of ignoring all the gaping eyes that were on us. "Everyone's staring," I whispered almost below an audible sound.

"They must be stunned by the beauty," David whispered back as he held me close.

"No, they're staring at me, not Emma."

David laughed. "I realize that. Do you not realize how lovely you are tonight?"

I was flattered, but only mildly so. I rolled my eyes at him. "Cut the bullshit," I whispered even lower. I was going to try my hardest to act as a bonded should. I had no idea what that meant, but I was pretty sure swearing at David wasn't part of it. "Why are they staring?"

"I suspect the reason is twofold for many of them." He kissed my neck as he dipped me. "One, many of them have not seen me in many, many years. Many of them suspect you are the reason I am suddenly being social. This makes them wonder if I might take back my throne from Emma. And two, I suspect there is some envy on their part."

I watched the eyes of the closest vampires as David spun me. Most of their fangs were down, which was slightly disturbing for me. "Will you?" I asked as he snaked his arm down my back lower and lower. I was trying very hard to ignore the liberties he was taking with me tonight. "Take your throne back, I mean?"

"Not unless it is necessary." He and I took a bow at the end of the song amid more applause and took our seats. Well, seat was not quite an accurate description. Maybe we took our thrones would be more appropriate. Four identical purple velvet and mahogany thrones were set up on a small platform side by side. David and Emma took the two center ones; me on David's left and Lee on Emma's right. With a flourishing bow, the DJ handed David the microphone. I was surprised when he took it and stood. David had never been one for the attention. That had usually been Emma. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the annual Sheriff's Appreciation Gala." More applause broke out. David waited for it to quiet before he spoke again. He addressed the front few tables, I assumed them to the sheriffs in question. "Emma and I truly appreciate all the work you have done for us; I hope you take this celebration as a token of that appreciation." David paused quickly as several of the vampires in the front row nodded to him. "Also, I would like to introduce the newest sheriff, Sarah Brown." A small blonde woman in a dressy black pants suit stood and acknowledged the crowd. "She will be taking the post of Simon Baker after his untimely demise." That's one way to put it. A second of pure dread pulsed through my body in the form of adrenaline as I remembered what he had done to me. David seemed to sense this; he sat back down in his chair and grabbed my hand as he sent calming, reassuring thoughts through the bond. "We welcome you, Sarah." David paused to study my face before continuing. "Also, I would like to take some time to dispel some rumors that I am sure are circulating. Those of you who have lived in Michigan for many years may take my…reemergence to the social spotlight as a sign that I might retake my throne." David let go of my hand and caressed the side of my face, making me blush. This was hardly appropriate for anywhere, let alone in front of a room full of vampires when David and I aren't even together. "I have no plans to do so unless the safety of my Kingdom or my assets requires it." When he was done, he let go of my face and stood again. "Please, enjoy your time here. I look forward to catching up with many of you." He turned off the microphone and handed it back to the DJ, who immediately went back to his booth and started playing some music.

"Now what?" I asked him quietly.

"We sit, mingle. Do not worry, someone will be with you at all times." He took my hand and kissed the back of my palm. "Relax."

I knew I wasn't going to be able to relax, not with this many vampires in one room. There was too much opportunity for something to go wrong. All I could do was try and look relaxed. "Excuse me, my King," said an older vampire. He salt and pepper hair had a way of softening his pale complexion, making him look almost pleasant. His soft, golden brown eyes smiled when he did.

"Ah, Roberto. It has been too long," David said as he interlaced his fingers with mine.

"Indeed, my King. I did not know you had such a beautiful bonded." He gently grabbed my free hand and kissed it as he bowed at my feet. "Between her and your sister, you do like to surround yourself with beautiful Irish women."

"Both a blessing and a curse," David said jokingly. "Irish women are stubborn and feisty. The two of them together are quite a handful."

I tried to make my response look jokingly flabbergasted. "My dear, are you a handful like he claims?" asked Roberto, trying to bring me into the conversation.

I smiled genuinely at him. "Guilty on all counts," I said.

He laughed genuinely. "I must dance with this woman, if it is alright with the two of you," he said, glancing back and forth from David to me.

"I suppose I can trust you with her, old friend," David said before he kissed my hand and my forehead.

Surprisingly, Roberto looked to me for my consent. That made him an OK vampire in my book. "I'd love to," I said as I stood and took his hands. He guided me out to the dance floor and took a very fatherly stance, holding me in strictly PG areas as we danced. "How long have you known David?" I asked.

"Oh, too many years to count," he said, seriously considering it. "Since long before Emma's coronation." I could feel David's eyes on my every move as we twirled around the almost empty dance floor. "I remember Emma wore this very dress," he said, taking a long look down my body. "It is hard to tell who looks more beautiful in it."

I blushed again. "Thanks," I said as I looked away.

"But my story is not interesting. What is interesting is how you managed to catch the heart of Michigan's most sought after bachelor. Please, do tell."

I couldn't speak for a moment. "Michigan's most sought after bachelor?" I asked finally.

He laughed lightly. "Oh, he hasn't told you?" He lowered his voice, as if he were telling me something in confidence. "It is rumored that before he was king, the Queen of another state offered him her entire kingdom in return for his company for one night."

I gaped, but not with disgust, only surprise and curiosity. "What did he do?" I whispered back.

He laughed out loud. "Why, he declined, of course!" Roberto spun me around so I could see the thrones. "Even now, on the night he announces his bonded, they flock toward him, hoping to get a piece of his affection." It was true; the thrones, David's in particular, were surrounded by men and women, all vying for his attention. David was only partially paying attention to a woman who had taken my throne, not-so-subtly placing herself at his side. I wasn't even really with David, so if he wanted to be with her, I would have no reason to be upset. Still, I couldn't help but think, _that bitch_.

"I had no idea," I said, in awe. How _did_ I catch his heart, as Roberto had said?

"So please, do tell me your secret."

I shrugged, still watching the masses of people surrounding David. "I don't know. I walked into his bar."

Roberto dropped his arms and bowed to me as the song ended, a gesture I awkwardly returned. "Well, Ms. McIntosh..."

"Please, call me Sloane."

"Well, Sloane," he said again. "It had been lovely to meet you, but I do believe your bonded needs you." He nodded to the swarm of people, all getting more and more impatient with David's inattention. "I suggest you claim him before they eat him alive." He winked at me before turning to walk away. How the hell was I going to do that?

I walked toward the thrones as I thought about my options. I could walk up there and have a screaming fit, scaring them all away. I doubted that a relatively small human could do much to scare away a mob of vampires, though. I could pretend to faint, which would give David a reason to rush to my aid (and away from the mob), but then I might give off the air that I am fragile, and that wouldn't be doing my any favors, either. In the end, I was left with the one option I was really hoping to avoid.

I walked proudly up to the crowd. After fighting my way through the masses, I sat down on David's lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. I specifically put my back to the woman who had taken my throne, effectively shutting her out of any conversation they may have been having. Surprise flickered across David's face before he regained his cool and wrapped his arms around me comfortably. I reached up and kissed him deeply, which he automatically returned. Now I remembered why I had fallen in love with him. Damn. He felt good, he smelt good…I was having a hard time talking myself out of taking him upstairs and letting him have me. _Moose_, I kept thinking to myself. _Remember Moose. And my ground rules_.

I pulled back and looked up into his eyes, trying to make that gaze as lusty as I could. "Excuse us," I said to the crowd as I stood and pulled David to his feet. I marched across the dance floor and out the double doors, David trailing close behind me. As soon as the doors shut behind us, David whisked me into his arms and carried me up the stairs and into a room. "Concentrate, David," I said as he gently threw me up against the wall and started an assault of my body. Holy shit. How could I ask him to concentrate when I was having a hard time doing it myself? He held my hands against the wall above my head with one hand while pulling the full length skirt up with the other. "David," I said again as he inched my thong down my body. When my thong fell to my feet, he let go of my hands and practically ripped his tuxedo jacket and bowtie off. I took the opportunity to brace my hands against him as a little barrier as he unbuttoned his shirt. "This is a really bad idea, David."

"If you want me to stop," he said as he pulled his shirt out of his pants and tossed it aside. "Tell me to stop."

I couldn't speak as he stood shirtless in front of me, waiting for my answer. When he didn't get an answer, he pulled the shoulders of the dress forward, allowing the dress to drop to a silk pool at my feet. I was now in nothing but earrings and heels.

I could finally talk when David's fangs came down. "I'm with Moose right now," I said, partially to remind him, but mostly to remind me.

"Then tell me to stop," he said into my stomach as he dropped to his knees and kissed a trail south. There was nothing more I wanted right now than him to not stop. At least, that was what my libido wanted. I couldn't quite tell what my head wanted. It was screaming a myriad of things at me. _Moose_ and _ground rules_ were among the top of the list, but also in there were _please go lower_ and _bury my hands in his hair_.

I followed my last thought, digging my hands into his nicely combed hair and messing it all up. "Give me one good reason to let you have me," I said.

He picked me up and tossed me onto the bed that I hadn't even noticed was in the room. "I can give you several," he said as he unbuckled his belt. "Because you know I can make you a happy, satisfied woman; because I know how much you want it; because the truth is always the best lie in selling an illusion; and most of all, because I love you."

He didn't wait for an answer; he just crawled on top of me and kissed the inside of my thigh. I supported myself up on my elbows as David's tongue probed into me. _Oh Jesus Christ_, I thought as I gripped the comforter beneath me.

"Stop," I said breathlessly. He immediately stopped licking and loomed over me as I pushed myself into a sitting position. "This is not a good idea. Moose…"

"Do you love him?" he asked me before I could finish my sentence.

I pushed myself off the bed and started getting dressed. "I don't know about love," I said as I pulled up my thong. "But definitely there's a lot of like there."

"Do you love me?" he asked, pulling his pants back up.

I sighed. "You know I do." I pulled the dress back up and smoothed out any wrinkles.

"I do not see how this is difficult," he said as he buttoned his shirt back up. "I love you, you love me. We should be together."

I fixed the few strands of hair that had fallen out of place. "We've talked about this."

David pulled his tuxedo jacket back on without the bowtie. "Leave your hair messy," he said. He pulled the few strands I had fixed back out. "You pulled me up here. Now sell it."

I looked at him, questions in my eyes. "What?"

"Those women," he said as I nodded below us to the ballroom, "will be expecting a show. Give them one."

I sneered at him jokingly. "You asked for it." I walked over to the door and slammed my back into it, rocking it on its hinges. "Yes, David!" I yelled. "More, David, more!" I loudly moaned incoherent thoughts for another five minutes before I decided I was done with this game. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I slammed my back into the door again. "Oh, David," I moaned at the end of my show.

He swept me off my feet and rubbed me all over him. After another minute, he opened the door for me and followed me out. As soon as we appeared at the top of the stairs, the few women milling about outside the ballroom tried to look like they were doing something. I followed David down the stairs with a smirk on my face.

The party seemed to be in full swing when we got back; no one seemed to miss us. No one except Emma. She and Lee approached as soon as she spotted us from across the room. She had a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin on her face I'd like to slap off. "Sloane, dearest, it has been too long. Come, let's catch up," she said as she linked her arm in mine and pulled me away from David.

We strolled slowly around the ballroom as vampires danced and mingled all around me. "I am glad you are finally coming around," she said as we passed around the back of the ballroom.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I felt marginally better around Emma while I was surrounded by a couple hundred witnesses. Even though they would back Emma over me in a heartbeat (or the absence of one).

"I saw your display. Very convincing. A bit two convincing, if you ask me."

I rolled my eyes. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't," I mumbled under my breath. "Don't read too far into it," I warned. "It doesn't mean anything."

"We shall see," she said as we approached the double doors, as well as David and Lee, again. "Are you hungry, my dear?"

I actually had to think about it. I didn't feel hungry, but I couldn't remember eating anything today. "I guess so," I answered.

"Good, because our meal has arrived, as well." With her free hand, she grabbed David's forearm. "Brother, will you help me introduce the meal?" He nodded and planted a kiss on my cheek before heading toward the thrones again. "Lee, if you would show Sloane to the kitchen? And find Idi, please."

"Of course, _jagiya_." He offered me his arm, and I took it.

I didn't speak until we were through a side door. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"You may ask," he replied, giving himself an out.

"Will you teach me how to fight?" I asked as we entered an industrial kitchen, covered in stainless steel and white tile.

"For what reason?" he asked. "If there is fighting to be done, you should leave it to David, Idi, and I."

"OK," I said sarcastically. "If someone wants to kill me at noon, I'll just call a time out until the sun sets." I settled up to the countertop and dug into the only plate of food seemingly in the entire kitchen, not looking at Lee while I did.

"You have a point," he finally conceded. "I will think about it." He walked out of the room, allowing me to eat in silence.

I pushed myself up to sit on the countertop and wait for the vampire's dinner to be over once I had finished my own. A tall blonde vampire bombshell sauntered into the kitchen as I was waiting. It was the woman who had taken my throne next to David as Roberto and I danced. If looks could kill…

"King O'Hara deserves a woman, not a child," she said as she leaned against the far countertop.

"Maybe that's why he's with me and not you," I said innocently as I swung my feet below me. I was fully aware that my mouth was going to get my killed some day. Still, I couldn't help myself. Being a smartass was an addiction I couldn't kick.

Two waves of anger flashed across her face. The first, anger at my disrespect, the second I assumed was anger at the fact there was nothing she could do about it. Maybe David was right; having me out in the open would save my life. "He deserves a woman who would make a proper mate for him; someone who would not dare disrespect him; someone who would represent him well as his queen."

"Look," I said as I hopped down from the countertop. "I'm going to tell you how it is because frankly, you're making a fool out of yourself. First of all, David doesn't want someone who will 'represent him well'. He has what he needs in Emma, and she's glad to take on that responsibility. Secondly, he doesn't want some yes-man, either." I walked past her stunned body towards Idi, who would be busting through the kitchen door at any second. "A little disrespect is good for his ego."

At that second, Idi walked through the door carrying my phone. "A call for you, Miss Sloane."

I grabbed my phone as I thanked Idi. "Hello?" I said as Idi chased the woman out of the kitchen.

"Hey, sweetheart," said Moose. "Where are you? I stopped by your house, but Syd said you were out at some vampire function?"

"Yea, that party that I was summoned to."

"He made you go?" Moose sounded beyond pissed.

I sighed. "It's important I go; for my safety, I guess."

"Hm," he said, disbelieving. I guess it was going around. "I've got another question, but I don't want you to think I'm being the nosy, jealous boyfriend again."

I sighed again. I had a feeling I knew what the question was going to be. "Just ask it," I said impatiently.

"Why did Idi answer your phone?"

Yup, I did know what the question was going to be. "Because he's holding my phone for me. Ball gowns don't have pockets."

"Oh." He sounded satisfied. "So, what are you up to after you get out of that shindig? Wanna meet up?"

Yes and no. Wanting desperately to see him was only going to make what I had to do harder. "Sure," I said.

"What's wrong?" he asked, obviously detecting the hesitation in my voice. "I can come get you now if you want to bust outta there…"

"That's not it," I said. Although I did want to get out of here, that wasn't what was causing me to hesitate. "We just need to talk."

My heart broke for him as he stopped to consider what I had just said. "That's not quite what I wanted to hear," he said after a long pause.

"It's not what I wanted to say, either."

"Are you and O'Hara shacking back up or something?"

God, his voice tore through me. He sounded so sad. "That's not it at all. Just…we need to talk," I said again. "But I have to go. I'll call you when I can get away."

"Yea," he said before he hung up. "Bye."

I put my phone down and buried my head in my hands. I leaned up against the cupboards and slunk down until I was sitting on the floor. "Miss Sloane?" Idi asked, obviously worried. "Are you not well?"

"I'm fine, Idi." I said. I had managed to not start crying yet, and my main goal was to make it through this party without starting.

"Is there something or someone I can get for you?" he asked quietly.

I wrapped one arm around my knees and patted the area next to me. "Come sit with me?" I asked. Idi was the only person I even remotely wanted to be around right now. He complied, folding his massive body onto the floor next to me. "Do you think I did the right thing? Trying out a relationship with Moose?"

"Moose is the shifter who accompanied you to Louisiana, correct?" I nodded. "Why do you think it was wrong of you?"

I shook my head, trying to hold the tears at bay. "I knew I wasn't ready for a relationship, especially not with someone I actually care about. But the thought of being with someone…" I paused, gathering my thoughts. "And Moose has always been so sweet, so there for me when I needed him. It was just too easy to lean on him just a little bit more. I guess I didn't think about how much it would hurt him when it inevitably had to end. Or me, for that matter." I looked at him only to be confronted with a confused, terrified look. "I'm sorry, you're don't need to listen to my problems."

"I will do anything you ask of me," he said. "But perhaps you should talk to someone more qualified to give advice on this topic. I can get the Queen for you…"

I shook my head no. "Just sit here with me, please. Just for a minute." I needed a moment to compose myself before having to paste that smile back on my face and put on the charade.

"Yes, Miss Sloane."

.

We sat in silence for five or ten minutes before anyone came looking. David was the first to find us sitting on the floor in the corner of the kitchen. "Sloane, my love. What is wrong?"

I snapped out of my contemplative mood and back into the here and now. "Nothing," I said as I pushed myself back to my feet.

He grabbed me as I passed him and looked me in the eye. "I am here if you need to talk," he said as he wiped the beginning of a tear from my eye.

I nodded before starting back towards the ballroom. I really just wanted to get this done and over with. Instead of accompanying me to the party, David fell back and talked quietly with Idi. So I walked alone though the crowd of vampires and retook my throne.

I sat relatively alone for the remainder of the party. Idi brought me periodic cocktails, which helped me to pass the time. It also meant that once it was time to leave, I was halfway to hammered. When three o'clock in the morning rolled around, I was struggling not to pass out in my chair.

"Time to go home," David said as he lifted me off the chair and into his arms. "Idi, please grab her coat and bring the car around."

"Yes, Sir."

In the wink of an eye, Idi was gone and David was carrying me through the double doors and out to the grand foyer. "I hope you don't mind, but Idi told me about your earlier conversation."

I shrugged. "I don't care. You'd find out sooner or later anyway."

He sat down in an opulently plush chair, settling me in his lap as we waited for Idi. "I find myself relieved that I am not the cause of your pain, but frustrated that there is nothing I can do to ease it."

I wasn't quite sure what to say to that. "Sorry," I mumbled after an awkward pause.

"You have nothing to apologize for."

Idi bounded back in the door, shaking fresh snow from his hair. "She did not bring a coat, Sir. Should I get one of yours or one of the Queens?"

"One of mine will be fine." He waited for Idi to fetch the coat, then helped me into it. Once he carried me to the car and set me in the passenger seat, he kissed me forehead. "I know you requested space. When you are ready, I will be here." Without waiting for the answer I wasn't going to give, he closed the passenger door.

"Can I have my phone?" I asked Idi as we pulled away from the house amidst the flurries. He pulled the phone out of his coat pocket and handed it to me. I hesitated a moment before dialing Moose's number.

"Yea," he answered sleepily.

"Hey, sorry, I'm just getting out. Still want to talk tonight?" I held off a massive yawn until after I had finished my question.

He let out a massive sigh following a yawn of his own. "I guess we should. Where do you want to meet?"

"Idi's driving me to my place now, once I can get my car I can come to you."

"Nah, that's OK. I'll meet you at your place. No need to make you drive." I could hear him shuffling something in the background as he talked. "I'll see you there."

"Yea," I answered as I hung up the phone.

.

Moose had already arrived when Idi and I pulled in. His car was idling on the street outside of my house. As soon as Idi cut the engine, Moose emerged from his car and jogged up the town car. "You OK?" he asked as I walked to the door.

"Just tired." I walked in the door and was quickly followed by Moose and Idi. I couldn't figure out what Idi was doing hanging around until I looked down. I pulled David's coat off and traded it for my things. "Thanks, Idi." With a bow, Idi left.

"Wow," Moose said as he looked me over. "You look great."

"Thanks," I said as I pulled out the bobby pins in my hair, releasing the curls and some of the tension. I plopped onto the couch with a deep sigh. "I wish this could just work," I said as I buried my head in my hands again.

Moose sat next to me, mirroring my position closely. "I take it you think it's not?"

"Moose…" I sighed and flopped back into the couch, slouching into an unlady-like position. "Not now, at least."

He paused before leaning back. "OK," he said a bit too cheerily. "I promised everything would go back to normal if it didn't work out."

I felt a bit like I was going to burst into tears. "Thanks for understanding."


	60. Chapter 60Part 5

*****Alright, part 5. I'm going to try something new with this section: I'm going to kind of wing it. I've got a general plan, but not nearly the plot lines I had for the last few sections. We'll see how this goes. If there's something you'd like to see, let me know and I MIGHT be able to work it in. **

**I'm going to be out of town for the next week, so updating might be sporadic, at best. Hang with me, it will be back to normal once the 14****th**** rolls around.*****

**Part 5:**

Finally, I had won an argument with a vampire. It had taken about a month, but I had worn Lee down and he finally agreed to teach me to defend myself. We started practicing at Rum Runners after closing time until the weather warmed and we could practice in my backyard. Once April rolled around, Lee had decided that I was his new pet project, and not only was he going to teach me to defend myself (something I had practically mastered by that point), he was also going to teach me to fight.

"Have you thought about a weapon of choice?" he asked as we stood in my driveway, peering into the trunk of a large SUV full of weapons.

"Not really." I glanced over my options. I recognized several of the options; daggers, swords, axes. That still left a majority leaving me guessing. "Do I really need one?" I had never been one for violence, let alone with a weapon.

"If you were a vampire or even a shifter, I would say no. But you are not either of those."

He dipped low an apologetic bow as I glared at him. "I don't know. Which one do you think I'd like?"

He pulled a set of stars from the bottom of the trunk. "Emma prefers throwing stars."

I shook my head. "Nothing I have to throw. I can't hit the broad side of a barn."

He lifted one of the several swords out of the trunk. "How about a Bushido Katana? It is lightweight and manageable." He handed me the sword. "This one is too big for you; should you choose it, I will have one made for you."

"Subtle," I said sarcastically. It was lightweight and manageable like he said and I wouldn't have to throw it. I still didn't like the idea of a weapon, but if I had to use one, I think this is the one I would like. "This is OK. Whose is it?"

"David's. He prefers using dual Viking Damascus swords over the Katana, though." He grabbed two more swords out of the trunk before shutting the back hatch. His swords were similar to one in my hand, only thicker and longer. "Let's get started." I followed him through the gate and into the soggy backyard. It had been raining for almost a week straight, making the grass muddy and wet. "Idi will be meeting us here; I want you to get experience against someone other than myself. But first, I will teach you to use that weapon." He slammed the blades of both of his swords into the soggy grass and approached me as I held my own sword awkwardly. "Attack me."

I lifted the katana so it was parallel to the ground at gut level. "With this?" I asked. I wasn't even sure I could swing it without hurting myself, let alone Lee.

"Yes," he said.

"Uhh," I said, stalling. I opened my stance and bent my knees like he had taught me, but that was where my training ended. I had only been taught how to defend myself, not how to attack. I was flying on a whim.

"Attack!" he yelled, and I did. I raised the sword above my head and brought it down between his shoulder and his neck. Of course, I didn't succeed. Lee dodged my attack and parried, knocking me on my ass. "You must adjust your stance when you attack." He extended a hand to help me up. "Bring one foot forward," I followed instructions, putting my right foot in front of me. "And hold your weapon up like this." He pulled my hands up until the katana was at a 45-degree angle from parallel with the ground. "How does it feel?" he asked. "Would you change anything, if you could?"

I considered this. "Um, I think it's too big. But I don't know. How should it feel?"

"Comfortable. It should feel like an extension of your arms."

I swung it around very, very carefully. "It's getting there."

He nodded, taking it away from me. "Your blade will be shorter and the tsuka, the grip, will be thinner."

"That might help," I said as he changed how I gripped the sword.

"Good," he said as he grabbed his own swords. "Now, try again." This time, instead of me taking the defensive stance and Lee taking the attack stance, we had switched.

"I'm going to be very mad at you if you cut my hair," I said to lighten the mood. In reality, I was slightly terrified by the vampire yielding swords in front of me.

For the first time in a long time, he smiled. "Duly noted." Without further ado, I attacked, swinging my sword for him again and again as he blocked my blow. "Good," he said periodically. Every once in a while he stopped me to fix something in my attack or to teach me something new.

I was exhausted and sore when Sydney opened the back door. "Oh my God, is that a knife in your hands, Sloane?" she asked.

"It's a sword," I responded, not taking my eyes off Lee. He had used a distraction to level me before, I wasn't going to give him a chance.

"What exactly is going on back here?" asked another voice. That was enough to pull my attention from Lee. It was Jeanne. I had just enough time to recognize the horrified and surprised expression on her face before Lee kicked my legs out from under me and I landed square on my back.

"What are you doing here, Jeanne?" I asked as I slowly pulled myself into a sitting position.

Lee offered me a hand again as she responded, but I waved him away. I could use a brief break. "Tonight's Kyle's party. You've been so scattered lately, I thought I'd stop by on my way to make sure you're coming. What are you doing?" she asked again.

"We were sparring." I said, finally accepting Lee's hand. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot. Is it Friday already?"

"Yes, it is Friday already." She watched both Lee and I intently as I slowly walked up the deck stairs. "You were sparring with swords?"

"Yea, Lee's teaching me how to use one." I tried to brush off as much of the mud as I could, but it didn't even make a dent in how dirty I was. I pulled off my muddy shoes and rolled up my muddy pant legs before walking into the house, even then trying to stay off the carpet to keep my mess to a minimum. Sydney and Jeanne followed behind me, Lee following quite a distance behind them. I shut myself in the laundry room and stripped off all my muddy clothes, tossing them in the washer before wrapping myself in a large towel. Sydney has taken her usual spot at the kitchen table, but Jeanne was stunned, standing in the middle of my kitchen. "I'm going to go grab a shower real quick, then I'll meet you guys there," I said to Jeanne as I pulled out a bottled water for me and a True Blood for Lee. "Oh, forgive my manners," I said as I turned back to Jeanne and Lee. "Jeanne, this is Lee Wong. Lee, this is my advisor, Jeanne Ross."

Jeanne mumbled a polite "nice to meet you" as Lee bowed.

"See you at Harem," I yelled down the stairs as I jogged up to my bathroom.

I took the fastest shower on record, taking the most time to get the mud out of my hair. Once I was out, I slapped on some makeup and pulled on some jeans and a tight sequin tank top. I grabbed a pair of black stilettos out of my closet and ran back down the stairs. "Will you braid my hair?" I asked Syd as I sat in my spot. Without a word, she started on my hair, pulling harder and making it tighter than usual.

"You and I are going to have a chat about this sword thing, Sloane."

"Yes, mom," I said mockingly as she fastened the bottom of the braid with a hair tie.

"I'm serious," she said as she turned me toward her in my seat. "I was just fine with Lee teaching you how to defend yourself, but swords? Those are dangerous."

I glared at Lee as he did nothing to help me. It was, after all, his decision to give me a weapon. "Lee thinks it's good for me to at least learn." There, blame now solely on his shoulders.

Sydney gave him a deep glare and I just smirked at him. "Will you tell Idi raincheck for me?" I asked Lee. He nodded as he finished his drink and washed out the empty. "Thanks."

"Tomorrow," Lee said just before disappearing out the door. And just like that, he was gone.

"Do you want to come out?" I asked Sydney. "Please?"

"Sure," she said finally while pulling her hair out of the loose ponytail. "Just let me change." I followed her upstairs and sat on her bed while I waited for her to pick something to wear. "Is Moose going to be there?" she asked after pulling an outfit out of her closet and setting on the bed beside me.

"I think he said he was going."

She stripped down to her skivvies before putting on the new outfit. "Are you going to dance with him?"

I had actually wondered that myself. I'm not sure what Jeanne was thinking; usually lab parties, especially those celebrating someone passing their prelims, we held at Pizza House or Harrison Road House—dinner places. Harem, where tonight's party is being held, is solely in the night club department. I ended up just shrugging. "If he asks."

She touched up her lipstick before walking back downstairs. "Who else is going to be there?" I listed off a majority of my labmates, all of whom are male. "Are any of them single?"

"Karthik." She wrinkled her nose and shook her head no. "Jon." She shrugged. "Moose."

"Hun, he's not single."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Matt's single, I think. This week."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really? Hm…" She fluffed her hair subconsciously. "Would you mind?"

"Be my guest," I said as we both put on coats and walked out the door.

.

Harem was not what you'd think of when you think of your average night club. In a majority of the club, couches and large pillows are strewed around the floor for sitting. The walls are painted black, but only visible in the rare places where heavy Indian tapestries draped from the ceiling aren't covering them up. A dance floor was tucked into the corner of the room, surrounded by rod iron with a small DJ stand several feet above the masses. Despite the different ambiance, the same loud club music was playing, which gave it a comfortable feel.

I spotted Matt right off the bat. At just about 6 feet tall, he was head and shoulders above everyone else in the bar. Next to him was the man of the hour, Kyle. Come to think of it, he was single, too. Man, I work with a bunch of bachelors. "Hey, congrats!" I said as I walked up to Kyle and give him a big hug.

"Thanks." He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled my close so I could hear. "Can I buy you a drink?"

I smacked his arm gently. "Of course not! It's your party! Can _I_ buy _you_ a drink?"

He raised his practically full beer. "Not right now, maybe later." I winked as I patted him on the shoulder and moved on to someone else. Sydney, needing no introduction, was already mingling with the masses.

Moose snuck up behind me. "Jeanne's worried about you. Something about swords?" he basically yelled into my ear. "I didn't hear all of it."

"Yea, she came by tonight when Lee and I were sparring." Moose had known about Lee trying to teach me to fight; he had even been one of my early sparring partners.

"Swords?" he asked as he ushered me toward the bar.

"He wants me to learn a weapon." I stepped up to the bar, forced to stand on the kick bar in order to be more than just a head above the bar. Moose stood behind me, allowing me to let go of my death grip of the bar top and lean against him. "Stoli and cranberry juice, please."

"Put it on my tab," said Moose behind me when she brought me my drink. I turned around, but before I could tell him no, he shushed me. "No point in both of us opening a tab. You're my girlfriend anyway, remember? I'm supposed to buy you drinks." Explaining a break up right after a supposed romantic getaway was difficult, so Moose and I had decided not to tell anyone that we weren't together, which meant we talked and acted like we were dating. That included nicknames. Moose had taken to calling me Princess, a nickname I didn't quite appreciate. I actually didn't have to tell Sydney we'd broken up, she figured it out all on her own.

"Fine," I said as I gave him a short peck on the lips. He pulled me over to one of the shorter couches and sat down on it, pulling me down with him and tucking me under his arm.

It didn't take long before Jeanne decided it was her duty to come and have a word with me. "Sloane, exactly what were you doing at your house this evening?"

"Exactly what it looked like," I practically yelled over the music.

"Really? Because it looked like you were fighting a vampire." She did not sound or look pleased.

"That's exactly what I was doing. He's been kind enough to teach me how to defend myself for free." She was speechless. Good thing I had at least an hour while I was getting ready to think of a good excuse. "Look, maybe if I had been able to defend myself better, I wouldn't have been kidnapped or shot." Mentioning what had happened that fall in my office made Jeanne cringe.

"OK, but a vampire? There are humans that I'm sure would be more your speed."

"Lee's a friend," I said defensively.

She seemed to understand this was going to be a losing argument for her. "OK. Just be careful." I nodded in agreement before she stood to mingle with my labmates. I sucked down my drink just about as fast as I could.

"You want another?" Moose asked.

I handed him my glass. "Please." He stood, taking my glass with him to the bar.

.

Citing old age, Jeanne left early; around eleven. The party was by no means over, however. Moose and I danced several times, as did Sydney and Matt. It seemed like immediately after Jeanne left, Sydney and Matt came looking for me. "Hey, can I have your keys? Matt and I are going to go to our place, but neither of us have a car."

I pulled the singular key from my front pocket and handed it to her. "Leave the front door unlocked."

She gave me a peck on the cheek. "Thanks!"

"You up for spending the night?" I asked in Moose's ear as we danced. Not only would Matt most likely need a ride home in the morning anyway, it was good for appearances and I needed a ride home now.

"Always," he responded.

About a half an hour after Sydney and Matt left, Emma arrived. "Oh, shit," I said into Moose's ear. He immediately turned to look at whatever it was that I was seeing.

"I'm going to the bathroom," he said, making a beeline in the opposite direction. _Great, thanks_, I thought.

"Lee mentioned you would be here." She grabbed my hand and pulled me back to the center of the dance floor and started dancing with me.

"Yea, I'm here for a party. Why are you here?"

She had the gall to look hurt. "I cannot just miss you, dear?" I raised an unbelieving eyebrow in response. "I do miss you, however David requested I check on you. He is having a hard time staying away like you asked."

I had been feeling that lately. His struggle left me anxious and fidgety. "What? Isn't Lee reporting on me?"

"No, he is not."

That seriously surprised me. I was speechless. Luckily, a very drunk Kyle stumbled up to break the silence. I caught him before he fell into Emma, holding him steady with my arm around his waist. "Who's your friend, Sexy?"

I rolled my eyes at Emma. "Kyle, this is a friend of mine, Emma. Emma, this is Kyle. It's his party."

"Having sex with you guys would be like having sex with twins!" he said. I couldn't help but laugh at his good natured (I hoped) comment.

"OK. Who's driving you home?" I asked slowly.

He whipped his head around, losing his balance in the process and falling into both Emma and me at the same time. "Karthik," he said as he pointed at him across the bar.

"OK, let's go get him." I solely turned him toward where Karthik was chatting with a few other labmates and tried to pull Kyle along.

"Allow me," Emma said, hoisting the larger Kyle up.

We made it across the bar thanks to Emma, who basically carried Kyle through the crowd. "I think he needs to go home," I said to Karthik once I could pull him aside.

Karthik took one look at him. "Probably a good idea." He took Kyle from Emma and dragged him out of the bar. I was willing to bet it was only a matter of time until he threw up, and I didn't want to be there to see it.

"Please come see my brother. He misses you intensely." With that, Emma kissed me on the cheek and left.

It was like Moose was standing in the wings, waiting for Emma to disappear. He probably was. As soon as Emma left, he materialized at my side. "What did she want?"

"What do you think?" I said after a yawn.

"Wanna get out of here?" he asked, responding to my yawn.

"Yea."

.

I started stripping down as soon as I was in the door. My shoes were off and deposited in the foyer, I left my shirt hanging from the couch. "Leave your coat here," I whispered to Moose as I pointed to the top of the stairs. He followed directions, even leaving his belt hanging across the handrail. Once I made it to the top of the stairs (a struggle with how sore I was getting), I listened intently outside Sydney's door. When I didn't hear anything I wouldn't want to walk in on, I cracked the door open just a touch. Sydney and Matt were both buck naked under the sheet and out cold, sprawled across the bed in a haphazard way. I sighed a sigh of relief. I stripped off my pants after I shut my own bedroom door.

"Were they asleep?" Moose asked. I nodded as I toed my jeans off and unsnapped my bra. Even though Moose and I weren't dating anymore, I was still comfortable being practically naked in front of him.

"Give me your shirt," I whispered. He stripped his shirt off and tossed it to me before taking his own pants off. Once I had pulled his shirt on, I painfully crawled into bed and he followed me.

"Are you OK?" he whispered as he took the empty side of the bed. "You're moving like an old lady."

I took a deep breath of relief when I finally stretched all the way out. "Thanks," I said sarcastically. "I'm just sore from sparring."

"You want a massage?" he asked purely as a concerned friend and nothing more. He was doing so good at making everything as it was. Deep inside, I wondered what toll it was taking on him. I by no means wanted to hurt him in any way.

"No, I just want to pass out."

Moose leaned over me and turned out the bedside lamp. "Night Princess," he said mockingly.

"If you keep calling me Princess, I'm going to start calling you Dung Beetle."

"That has a nice ring to it." It occurred to me I was getting more and more violent as I seriously considered kicking him.

.

My face was buried in Moose's chest when I woke up the next morning. I was wrapped around him just as much as he was wrapped around me. Moose, who had probably been awake for some time now, was wrapping my hair around his finger as he stared into space. "Good morning, Princess."

I glared at him. "Good morning, Dung Beetle."

I found out how sore I was as soon as I tried to move. "Ugggh," I groaned as I laid my head back down on Moose's chest. My ribs and stomach hurt from the change in my center of gravity, my legs from dancing, my arms from holding a sword out in front of me.

Moose wrapped his arms around my back and held me to him. "Let's stay in bed all day."

"OK." I was all for not moving for the rest of the day. "Will you get me some Advil first, though? I don't think I can move."

He rolled me onto my back and jumped to his feet. He automatically pulled his hair back into a ponytail as he walked out of the door and jogged down the stairs. It occurred to me that I should really start keeping a bottle of Advil at my bedside.

When Moose returned, he was carrying the bottle of Advil tucked under one arm, a tall glass of Pepsi in one hand, and a plate in his other hand. "Matt made omelets." He set the bottle of Advil and the Pepsi on my bedside table before setting into the bed and putting a plate piled high with omelets between the two of us and handing me a fork.

My first order of business was Advil. I struggled to push myself into a sitting position before popping four Advil in my mouth and chasing it with most of my Pepsi. Only then did I bother to try a bite of Matt's omelet. It wasn't actually that bad, which surprised me. I finished about a third of the plate, leaving the rest for Moose before lying back down. "You sure it's just soreness? You're looking a little run down."

"What am I? Pathetic little Sloane? I'm fine, just sore," I snapped. Moose looked genuinely shocked. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to yell at you."

He set the plate on the floor beside his side of the bed before pulling me back into his arms and settling back into the bed. "It's OK."

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Mac was looking ragged. She had been going too hard, too fast for too long. I wanted to tell her to take tonight's practice with Lee off, but I was afraid of the reaction I was going to get from her. Instead, I just rubbed her back until she fell back asleep. Ten minutes after her breathing deepened and slowed, Matt peeked his head in the door. "Can you drive me home?"

I pointed to my pants, which I had left draped over a chair in the corner of Mac's room. "Just take my keys, I'll get home later somehow," I whispered, trying not to wake Mac.

"You sure, man?"

"Yea," I answered. I motioned to Mac, who was asleep curled up next to me. "I'm good here."

"Alright, man," he said with a wink. "I got you. I'll leave your apartment key here." He pulled the keys out of the pants pocket and unhooked the sole car key, leaving the rest of my keychain with me. "Give me a call if you need a ride."

"Will do," I whispered.

.

As soon as Matt left, I forced myself out of Mac's bed. If we were still together, I would gladly lay around in bed all day with a sexy, intelligent, scantily clad woman even if she was going to spend that time sleeping, but we weren't. I pulled my pants up and started collecting my other clothes. My belt was still hanging over the handrail. I went searching in Mac's closet for some kind of shirt I could wear if she was going to sleep in mine. At the very back corner, tucked on the very top shelf, was a small assortment of men's clothes. On top of the pile was a cashmere sweater, which I pulled on. I had a feeling I knew exactly who this belonged to. When I walked back down the stairs, fully dressed this time, Sydney was sitting on the couch. "Sloane OK?" she asked.

I shrugged. "She says she's just sore." I plopped down on the opposite side of the couch.

"Is she coming down?"

I shook my head no. "She's asleep."

"You are sticking around today, I assume?" She shut her laptop and set it on the coffee table as she reached for the remote.

"Yea, if you don't mind."

It was her turn to shrug. "Fine with me."


	61. Chapter 61

****I'm back! Vacation was great, but I'm glad to be home.****

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I woke with a start around 1 in the afternoon. "Crap," I said as I jolted myself out of bed and into the bathroom. I had slept way too late; I had work to do in lab before I could train with Lee and Idi tonight. I washed my face and brushed my teeth before throwing my hair into a ponytail and emerging into my room. I pulled on the same jeans from last night, topping the outfit with a white tank top and a sweatshirt. After slipping my feet into a pair of well-worn moccasins, I bolted down the stairs. "Going to lab," I yelled around the corner to Sydney, who I assumed was watching the TV I could hear from the top of the stairs.

"Hey hey," I heard Moose yell from the living room. "I'm coming."

I stopped in my tracks. "You're still here?" I asked as he joined me in the foyer. "Is Matt still here?"

"No," he said as he forced his feet in his shoes.

I pulled the door open before Moose had pulled on his coat. His car was missing. "Where's your car?"

"Matt took it home hours ago." He pulled the door shut behind him as he followed me to my car.

"Am I driving you home or are you coming to lab?" I pulled my keys out of my purse and unlocked my car.

"Coming with you." He slid into the passenger seat as I slid into the driver's side and turned on the car.

.

Moose had only lasted a few hours at lab with me. I had apparently been tossing and turning all night, making it difficult for him to get any sleep. He even said I started 'whimpering and shaking' around 4 in the morning. So once 5 PM rolled around, he called Matt for a ride home, citing exhaustion. Before he left, Moose planted a light kiss on my cheek. "Take it easy tonight."

That left me all alone in the lab for another couple of hours, until just before sunset. I don't know why, but there was something different about lab after Moose left. Something eerily silent. I turned on my iTunes on my computer and cranked the volume all the way up. That was better.

I had finished up a tad early, so I grabbed my purse and headed for my car. Once I was finally within range (the range being relatively short for my car), I pressed the unlock button on the key fob. My body flew backwards as my car exploded, finally coming to a complete stop as I slammed into a large truck behind me. I felt a sharp pain in side as my head ricocheted against the glass window, breaking it. I slumped to the ground, still leaning against the truck behind me as glittering glass fell like snowflakes around my head.

"Oh my God, are you OK?" A slightly ditzy girl ran up to me. Freshman, I assumed. With as many years on a college campus as I had under my belt, I could just pick them out. There was something a little different about them. Maybe it was the air of naiveté they carried with them that set them apart.

I didn't answer, I watched my car burn as she dialed 911. "Yea, hello? There's a car on fire in the parking lot outside the Chemistry building." Pause. "Yea, on campus. And there's a girl hurt. Please hurry."

I was starting to get very, very tired. I barely even registered when another person, a male this time, ran up to the scene. "Is she OK?" he asked the girl next to me. He caught me as I toppled to the side, laying me gently on the ground. Once I could hear sirens in the distance, my eyes closed without my permission.

.

I could hear Dr. Lupe's soothing voice in the distance. "Sloane, honey, wake up. There are no needles here."

I forced my eyes open. I was lying on my back surrounded people. First and foremost in my vision was Dr. Lupe; behind him a flurry of activity, all in the form of nurses.

"Good, good." He flashed a light in my eye twice. "Tell me what hurts." Well, to begin with, everything hurt. But my side, my arm, and my head hurt the most. I felt like I opened my mouth and told him that, but I couldn't hear it. He snuck his finger into my hand. "Can you squeeze my finger?" I complied, squeezing as hard as I could. "That's good."

"My head," I finally managed to say, my voice hard and rough. "My arm, and my side."

"OK, very good. This side?" he asked as he probed my left side. I shook my head no. "Tell me when." He started at my right hipbone, working his way up my side. I flinched when he got to my ribcage. "Oh, there it is. Now which arm?"

"Same," I said.

He shouted instructions to the room. "I want a CT scan and X-rays of her ribcage and right ulna and radius. Better just make that her entire right side."

"Yes, Doctor," said one of the nearest nurses.

"OK, honey. I can't give you any painkillers until we know whether or not you have a concussion. Just hang in there." He squeezed my shoulder before leaving. I closed my eyes again as the older nurse wheeled me away.

.

Someone was shaking me. "Wake up," said a woman. I opened my eyes to a much calmer environment this time. Only one nurse, the same elderly woman that wheeled me away earlier was leaning over me. "What's your name?"

I coughed before I could answer, the pain in my head worse than before I had fallen asleep, but my arm and side feeling much, much better. "Sloane McIntosh."

"Good. Current president?" She grabbed my left wrist to take my pulse.

"Obama."

"Two for two. And, let's see…" she groped for another question, testing to make sure I wasn't showing advanced concussion symptoms. "Where do you go to school?"

"MSU."

"Very good; 100%. I'll go grab Dr. Lupe. And there are police here to talk to you, if you're feeling up to it." I nodded and she turned to leave.

Two officers followed Dr. Lupe in the door. "Ms. McIntosh, we'd like to ask you a few questions," asked the shorter, closer cop. I squinted, but I still couldn't read his name badge, even though he was only a couple of yards from me.

"Can you tell us what happened?" asked the other cop.

Dr. Lupe helped me get into a sitting position. It wasn't until I tried to do it myself that I noticed the giant cast on my arm. "I pressed the unlock button on my key fob, and my car exploded."

"Anything else?" he asked.

I shrugged painfully. "I passed out and woke up here."

"Is there anyone who might want you killed?"

_Tons_, I thought to myself. After considering for a while, I shook my head no. "I can't think of _anything_."

Both of the cops considered me for a second before nodding. "OK, thank you, Ms. McIntosh. Get some rest," said the shorter cop. "We'll be in touch."

As soon as the two cops left, Dr. Lupe turned to me. "There's a waiting room full of vampires waiting to see you. Your roommate's here, too."

I tried not to laugh once I felt how much jarring my side hurt. "That's what I amount to? A room full of vampires and 1 roommate?" I help up one finger to strengthen my point.

"You have people who love you," he said. "You should be thankful for that."

I felt guilty. "I am." For probably the first time since I moved out, I was kind of wishing that my parents were here. "Will you send Sydney in, please? My roommate."

"Sure," he said as he patted my knee. He left the room, quietly clicking the door shut as he left.

"Jesus, Pony!" Sydney said as she climbed into the bed with me. I cringed as she nudged my side. "The police showed up at home, saying someone blew up your car!" Mascara lines streaked down her cheeks, as if she had been crying heavily.

I scooched over, allowing her more space on the bed. "Sorry."

"I'm just glad you're going to be OK."

"What's the damage?" I asked. I hadn't thought to ask exactly what happened to me until she mentioned my health.

"You have a concussion, a few broken ribs, and you rebroke your arm." I had noticed it was the same arm that I had broken years ago. "They had to put in another few pins."

I nodded. Better than the alternative, I suppose. "My car?"

"Unrecognizable."

Damn. I liked that car. I mean, it wasn't anything special, but it was fuel efficient and comfortable. It even had heated seats. "Will you call my parents?"

"Yea." She hopped off the bed. "What do you want me to tell them?"

"I guess start with the fact I'm OK. Then tell them what happened." She nodded before exiting the room.

My next visitor was Emma. She was wearing a white lab coat with her hair up in a smart bun. She snuck in as if she belonged there, just another doctor checking on a patient. Boy, did she ever look the part. "I am glad to see you are alive."

"Me too," I answered.

She checked my chart. "You will be fine."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. She completely ignored my comment. "Who all is here?" I asked, curious as to what 'a room full of vampires' amounted to.

"David, obviously; Lee, Idi, and Idriis."

"Idriis, huh?" I didn't think he would come on his own accord. "Why is he here?"

"Because Idi is here." We both sat in silence for about a minute. "David would like to see you."

And the real reason she was here came out. That didn't take long. "I'm sure he would," I said. When Emma gave me her version of the puppy dog eyes, I sighed. "Send him in, I guess." Now was as good a time as any to test me reaction to him.

She grinned from ear to ear before zooming out of the room. Milliseconds later, I wasn't on the bed anymore. I was in David's arms. He landed kisses all over my forehead, cheeks, and nose. "_A thaisce."_

"Hi David." I tried not to gasp or say anything when he jarred my broken ribs. I didn't notice until he sat down in the armchair, setting me in his lap that I wasn't wearing the usual hospital gown. I was wearing plaid pajama shorts and a matching top. I think it might have been the same set I had woken up wearing last time I was in the hospital.

David didn't say anything else; he just held me to him loosely and smoothed my hair for several minutes. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I waited for the fear to hit; for David to do something small that would trigger some memory in me. When that didn't happen, I relaxed slightly. He had given me enough time for the worst of my memories to fade to distant stories. I leaned my head against his shoulder and laid my left hand against his chest lightly. His mood jumped into the stratosphere as I did, so much so my own heart started beating harder. "You're making my heart race," I whispered.

He kissed my temple as he calmed himself and therefore my own heart rate. Once we were both back to normal, he didn't say anything for what felt like another twenty minutes. I had fallen into a comfortable silence, almost falling asleep when David spoke again. It was so unexpected, I jumped. "Have you seen anything that may help me find who did this?"

Since when was David all business, all the time? "I haven't seen anything in weeks," I answered in a low, monotone voice. I hadn't noticed in my catatonic state how cold I was getting now that I was no longer under the blanket. I didn't even try to move. "I'm cold," I said, selfishly letting David handle my problems for me right now.

David gently laid me back in the hospital bed before covering me up. He kissed my plaster-covered hand, then the tip of my nose before heading for the door. "David?" I said timidly. He turned toward me and raised an eyebrow, hand resting on the door handle. "Will you stay with me tonight?" I didn't want to be alone. I wanted someone I could trust to protect me. My feminist side was really, really angry with me right now.

His eyes lit up. "Anything for you." He sat in the same lazy boy he had held me in minutes before as I rolled onto my good side, away from him.

I laid my cast-covered hand on the bed behind me. "Will you hold my hand while I sleep?" I wanted to be able to feel him with me.

There was a second of rustling behind me before David gently wrapped his arm around me, careful not to hurt anything. I could feel his clothed chest brush against my back as got comfortable on the bed.

"If you hear someone coming, you gotta get down real quick. People still think Moose and I are together." When he didn't answer, I finally gave in and closed my eyes. I felt like I was going to get a better night's sleep tonight than I had in a while.

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

There was a frantic knock at my door. I did a quick internal debate before deciding to get out of bed and see what was up. I was willing to bet it was just Matt, requiring something wholly unimportant from me, but I got up anyway. I lumbered through my chilly apartment, quickly trying to remember if I had forgotten I left a window open.

Matt was almost vibrating when I opened the door. "Do you not answer your fucking phone?" he asked in an accusatory tone.

"I was asleep," I said as he pushed his way into my apartment. I picked my phone up off the kitchen counter as I passed, checking my messages. I had 8 missed calls. "What's so urgent that it couldn't wait until the morning?"

He shook his head, obviously struggling to hold back strong emotion. "You should have stayed with her," he said quietly as he stared at the ground. He jangled the keys in his coat pocket as a distraction to himself. He looked up, fixing his gaze right in my eyes. "Jeanne gave me a call because someone blew up a car with a lab 337 sticker in the window." Lab 337 was my lab. Our lab. "Mac and you are the only ones who aren't answering their phones."

I gripped my phone even tighter as my heart skipped a beat. It was her car. "Where is she? Did someone check the lab?"

"Lab was locked up tight."

"Her office?" It couldn't be her. Not with all she's already been through.

"Melissa said she hadn't been there all day."

My knees were starting to feel weak. That was the first time I had left her alone in the lab or her office since fall, since the attack. I scrolled quickly through my phone, looking for the one number I thought I'd never call.

Four rings. Five rings. "_You have reached David O'Hara. Leave a message."_

"Hand me that phonebook," I said to Matt as I waved my hand at the book sitting just below a notepad. He complied, watching in silence as I looked up the number for Rum Runners.

A perky sounding woman answered the phone. "Rum Runners."

"I'd like to speak to David or Emma, please."

"Oh, they're not here. Some sort of family emergency? They said they were going to the hospital. Isn't that funny? Vampires with a family emergency?" She giggled.

Her light mood was a bit more than I could handle right now. I took a deep breath. "Can you tell me which hospital?" I asked. There were two hospitals in the area; Sparrow, which was centrally located in one building in downtown Lansing, and Ingham Regional Medical Center, which was spread throughout the greater Lansing area.

"Hm. They walked, so probably Sparrow." Sparrow was located only a few blocks from Rum Runners.

I hung up the phone without thanking her or saying goodbye. "She's at Sparrow," I said as I flew past the stunned Matt to pull on some clothes. I grabbed the two closest things to me, threw them on, shoved my feet in my shoes, and ran out the door without a coat.

.

I asked the woman at the front desk Mac's room number. "318, but you'll need to sign in first."

I ignored her and sprinted up the stairs, Matt struggling to follow close behind. I knew I was in the right place when I passed Emma and Lee, who were catatonic in the waiting area. Frantically, I searched room numbers until I found hers and bust in.

"Mustafa," David said from the armchair. I couldn't even find it in me to care that he was here, despite the fact that Mac had asked him to stay away. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Tears welled up as I took her in. _I did this_, I thought to myself. _I left her. I could have stopped it_.

She was curled up on her side, either sleeping peacefully or unconscious. The only thing I could see of her beyond the blanket was he face and her arm. Her face was covered in a slew of small cuts raining from her forehead down to her cheekbones. The upper part of her arm was covered in bruises and cuts similar to the ones on her face, but her lower arm was covered in a large white cast. Protruding from the cast down her hand was the end of what I assumed was a long gash. I sank to my knees by her bed. "How is she?" I asked David.

"It will take time, but she will heal." He was simply sitting, watching what unfolded.

"Mac," I breathed as I traced a line lighter than air from her temple to her chin. "What happened? What's wrong with her?"

"I should call Jeanne, let her know." Matt ducked out of the room gracefully as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

"Someone rigged her car to explode. Luckily, she was not in it when it did." O'Hara stood and circled bed, standing behind me in order to look at her. "She has a concussion, several broken ribs, and a broken arm." I listened to her wheeze lightly as she struggled to breathe without jarring her ribs.

Relatively mild. I tried to hold back the tears of joy. "Has she woken up yet?"

"Yes," he said. "Briefly."

I stood and walked in a small circle to compose myself. "I should have been there," I said out loud. I may not like what David is or what he's done, but I considered his a brother of sorts when it came to protecting Mac. He was the only one I could confess to.

"To what end?" He didn't move, he just watched me pace.

"I don't know," I said. I subconsciously scratched at the base of my ponytail, something I did when I was nervous or stressed. "I could have protected her."

"Moose?" Mac whispered from the bed. She hadn't moved, but her eyes opened just a slit.

I rushed to the side of her bed and leaned down so she could see my face. More tears welled up in my eyes. "Hi Princess," I said with a giant grin on my face.

She smiled and peeled her eyes open just a bit more. "Hi Dung Beetle."

I laughed giddily. "How are you feeling?"

She took a deep gasping breath. "I'm OK, but you look like hell."

"I was just worried about you," I answered before smoothing her unwieldy hair away from her face. When she closed her eyes, I left a light kiss on her temple before backing away.

"She has asked me to stay and watch over her tonight," David said quietly, not to be overheard by anyone outside of this room. "You should rest, I am trusting you to stay with her when I cannot."

I flopped into the lazy boy in the corner. "Do you mind if I take the chair?" I asked, aware of the fact there was only 1 chair in the room.

A momentary sly grin crossed his face. "Please do," he said as he climbed onto the bed behind Mac. He gently wrapped an arm around Mac, entwining his fingers with hers as he propped himself up on his elbow.

"Didn't she want you to keep away from her?" I asked. I wasn't trying to be malicious, but the question sure came out that way.

"She agreed to see me, then asked me to stay." He sounded as if he were walking on air. He was beyond elated.

"On the bed with her?" I asked. I doubted that very much.

"She asked I hold her hand. This is the most comfortable way for me to do that."

I rolled my eyes. He was full of shit, but it wasn't my battle to fight. At least, not until Mac asked me to fight it for her. Then I would happily throw him out of her bed and out of her life. "Well, people think…"

"I am aware of your charade," he snapped at me. "I will uphold it."

"We should switch, then. I should be on the bed with her, and you should be in the chair." I knew he wasn't going to go for it, but asking was sure to irk him.

"No," he simply said. I smiled to myself before closing my eyes.


	62. Chapter 62

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Moose and Jeanne were standing at the end of my bed, obviously at some sort of stand-off when I woke up. I squinted my eyes as the sun streamed in through the open window. I didn't have nearly the headache I thought I'd have, but my eyes were still sensitive to the light. "Will someone close the blinds?" I asked, breaking up the awkward silence.

"Sure, sweetheart," Moose said as he left Jeanne with one last glare.

While Moose was otherwise occupied, Jeanne took her opportunity to talk to me. "What's going on here, Sloane?"

Momentary panic shot through me until I realized I didn't have to keep a secret from her. She probably knew more than I did at this point. "I've been asleep, you tell me," I answered.

She circled the bed, lowering herself into the lazy boy in the corner before she responded. "It seems like every time there's a crisis, you're in the center of it." She was far too observant for her own good. "And it seems like it's only been this year."

She stared holes into my head, willing me to answer her. Instead, I just shrugged.

"Is there something going on that I don't know about? Because if this is going to endanger other people in my lab, mainly Moose, I need to know about it." She leaned forward, her gaze boring deeper holes into my head.

Moose had materialized behind me. "She's not endangering me," he said. That was the end of that conversation.

Jeanne diverted her gaze to Moose for just a few seconds before concentrating on me again. "I need to know, Sloane." I didn't answer her. I just stared back. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. I could get defensive and deny, deny, deny, but in the end, I had a feeling that there was no way I was going to get through another 3 or 4 year without her figuring it out. I could neither confirm nor deny, but that's always just as good as a confirmation. At least that way, she had to use her own imagination. I was willing to bet she wasn't even going to get close as to what the real reason is behind all the…accidents. Or I could tell her. That, at least at this point, was my least favorite option. There were too many unknowns in it. Then again, I might not have much of a choice at the end of this conversation. She was, after all, my boss. "Does the vampire that you dated have anything to do with this?"

I lost it. He most likely did, but I hate when people draw conclusions like that. I pulled the blankets off of me and shot to my feet, my anger steadying me as I screamed at Jeanne. "I was just blown up—meaning someone's trying to kill ME---and I'm getting the third degree from you?" I backed down, grabbing a folded pair of slightly bloody jeans from the counter near the window as I took a deep breath. "I don't know who wants me dead or why, Jeanne. As to if David's involved? Who knows. For all I know, you're the reason someone's trying to kill me." I shut myself in the bathroom without giving Jeanne time to respond.

Now that I was awake, I could hear Moose and Jeanne bickering in my room as I used the facilities and changed into my jeans.

"It's obvious you know what's going on here," Jeanne said. "I might be able to help, if you just tell me." She was trying a new amiable approach now.

"You're right, I do know more than you. But Mac's not lying. Neither of us know what's going on, and I would appreciate it if you didn't bother her about it right now. She's obviously go more important things to worry about than you and lab."

I buttoned my jeans and sat down on the toilet seat so I could listen to their conversation.

"If you guys don't tell me, I will be forced to kick both of you out of my lab." Jeanne had moved on from being amiable to being a hard ass.

There was a bunch of rustling and jangling before Moose spoke. "I won't betray Mac's trust. If you want to know, you should ask her. But I gotta warn you, she doesn't take threats well." A door opened then closed again, which was followed by the creaking of what I assumed was the bed frame.

I pulled my keys out of my pocket and pulled the old lab keys off of their ring. The lab didn't upgrade to the electronic system until after I had started in the lab, which meant I still had a set of now-defunct keys that would no longer open the lab. Sure, the keys didn't actually work anymore, but they carried with them a strong symbolism. I composed myself in the mirror and opened the door. Without any words, I handed her the old keys, grabbed my coat from the hook next to the door, and closed the door behind me as I left, Jeanne still in my room.

I struggled to pull my coat over my shoulders one handed as I walked up to Moose, who was pacing the floor. "You shouldn't have done that, it was stupid of you." When I handed Jeanne her keys, she had been looking at another set of keys. Moose's keys.

Moose fell in step with me and helped me into my coat as I slowly made my way for the nurse's station. "It's not right, her threatening you. Especially since it's not like you're doing all this on purpose." I shoved my arms into the sleeves. The only reason I was able to do so was because the bulky plaster cast had been replaced at some point with a slimmer cast that looked more like a brace than a true cast.

"Regardless," I said before the nurse behind the counter looked up from her computer screen to me.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'd like to pay my bill and get out of here, please."

"Name?" she asked.

"Sloane McIntosh."

She typed furiously on her computer. "Dr. Lupe hasn't released you yet. If you would just go back to your room, we'll let you know when you can go," she said with a smile. If I hadn't been pissed off, in pain, and afraid for my life, I might have appreciated her pleasant demeanor. But right now, I didn't.

"Sure," I said. Of course, I had no intention of staying. I turned 180 degrees and walked straight through the waiting area, toward the stairs. Moose followed close behind.

As soon as I made it to Moose's car, I pulled out my cell phone. I scrolled through the numbers programmed into my phone, finally coming to a listing for Patrick Lupe. I dialed the number listed under 'mobile'. "Lupe," he answered on the second ring.

"I'm sorry, but I had to get out of there."

"Sloane?"

"Yea," I answered. "It's not safe for me to be around people right now."

He took a minute to take a deep breath. "I'm assuming at least Mustafa is there with you?" I let my silence speak for itself. "Well, I was going to release you soon, anyway. You can start taking painkillers in a couple of hours."

"Thanks," I said.

"Stay safe. Call me if you need me."

"Will do." I hung up the phone as Moose circled the block for the second time.

"Where am I going?" he asked.

I thought about that for a moment. I didn't think it would be safe for me to either go home or to Moose's. Those were both places I would usually be. I couldn't go to lab because I had just quit, for one, and also because I would also be expected to be there. There's only one place I would never, ever go on a Sunday in April. My parent's house.

.

I knocked on my parent's door. Both of their cars were in the open garage, so I knew they were home. "Sloane?" my mom asked as she opened the door. "We were just coming to visit you in the hospital again." She stood aside, letting both Moose and I in the house.

"They let me out," I said as I passed her on my way into the foyer. Moose followed close behind, helping me out of my coat before taking his own off. "Can we stay here for a little bit?"

"Of course," she said, taking both my and Moose's coat from Moose and hanging them both in the foyer closet. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" she asked slyly.

"Mom, this is Mustafa. Mustafa, mom."

They said their hellos as I passed through the living room to the staircase, then up to my childhood room. Moose hurried to stay with me, finally catching up as I opened the door to my bedroom. It was exactly as it had been when I left. The queen-sized bed sat in the middle of the room, covered in a plain white comforter and pillows. The hardwood floor had the same pale purple and gray area rug on the floor, which matched the dark eggplant colored walls. Pictures from high school still covered the dresser. I picked one up in particular. AJ and I were standing on the track field, both in our track uniforms smiling as AJ held up his first place medal. "This room has teenage angst written all over it," Moose said as he plopped himself onto my bed.

I put the picture down. "Thanks, I think?" I sat on the bed next to him, curling my legs under me. "I'm not going to be able to talk you in to staying away, am I?"

"Not a chance," he answered. He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "Do your parents know?"

"About what?" I asked.

"About being…special?"

I shook my head no. "I told them once when I was younger, but they didn't believe me. They just think I'm lucky."

"Have you tried to tell them again?"

I shook my head no again. "Why?"

He shrugged. There was no point in telling them now. I grabbed the remote off the bedside table and turned on the small TV.

.

It didn't take long before my dad came up to see us. "Can I come in, Tinker?" He had always called me Tinker as a child. I didn't know why.

"Sure," I answered, pulling my head off my pillow and peaking my head over Moose's chest.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better," he said as he sat at the end of the bed. "Is this your new man?" he asked.

"Yea," I said. I introduced the two. "He works in my lab."

"What happened to the last guy? He seemed nice."

I visibly flinched. David _could_ be a nice guy, sometimes. "David and I are just friends."

My dad paused. "I'm glad you're OK. Are you staying for dinner?" I shrugged. I guess. Moose and I didn't have anything else to do. "Your mom's making spaghetti."

"OK," I said, finally giving in. My dad patted my throw-covered feet and left the room.

.

After the second episode of House Hunters, I started to yawn. At first, I tried to hide it, taking deep breaths to disguise them. By the third deep sigh, I couldn't hide it anymore. I opened my mouth for a deep yawn. The nurses had insisted on waking up me up every hour on the hour to ask me stupid questions, which meant I didn't really get any sleep. I pulled my blanket up to my shoulders and closed my eyes. _Just for a second_, I told myself. _Just to rest my eyes_.

.

I shot into a sitting position as I woke from a dreaming vision. I hadn't intended on sleeping, and I definitely hadn't intended on waking with a start from a vision. "Hey," Moose said behind me, still reclined on a stack of pillows on the bed, remote resting on his thigh. "You alright?"

I looked down to take inventory, still disoriented from my dream. "Yea," I whispered when I determined that I was still in one piece. I had woken suddenly from my dream when a well-armed woman burst into a classroom and shot me—or whoever I was seeing through—twice in the chest with a very large gun. No bullet holes in me, though. "How long have I been asleep?"

"A few hours," he said. "Dinner's almost ready."

I nodded as I pulled my sweatshirt off and my tank top up to expose the wrapping that was still around my ribcage. "Help me take this off," I said as I tried to simultaneously hold my tank up and find the beginning or the end of the bandages.

He leaned across me and pulled some tape away, which started the bandages unraveling. I could smell the mellow, earthy scent that surrounded him as he leaned in to me to unwind it completely. "That's quite the bruise," he said when he finished pulling the bandage away. I stood and looked in the full-length mirror that stood in the corner of my room. That _was_ quite the bruise. Deep eggplants, navys, and olives spread from just under my armpit to my belly button. I took a deep, experimental breath. The bandages had been restricting my breathing, strangling me from within, but now that they were gone, I could breathe. Sure, my ribs hurt like a bitch when I did, but I'd much rather be in pain the suffocating. "Does it hurt to breathe? You want some Advil or something?"

Moose must have seen a slight grimace when I took my full breath. I had promised myself I wouldn't do anymore painkillers the last time I did and went all loopy. But it was just Advil. "I guess I'll have one," I said as I walked into my bathroom. I had suffered from intense migraines as a child, which meant there were bottles of Advil tucked everywhere in my parent's house. I opened the medicine cabinet in the spacious bathroom that I used to share with no one to find a bottle. I checked the expiration date before I took any. It was a brand new bottle.

I swallowed one without any water just as my mom called up the stairs. "DINNER!" I pulled down the tank top and retrieved my sweater from the bed before Moose followed me down the stairs and into the kitchen. My mom was already serving giant plates heaping with spaghetti and setting them on the island. "How much do you want, Mustafa?" my mom asked as she worked on piling enough food on the plate to feed 4 or 5 people.

"That's good, thank you." He took the plate from her and grabbed a fork and knife from the countertop. My mom handed me a plate with enough food to feed a small army, and I led Mustafa to the living room. I sat in my usual spot, balancing the plate of food on the arm of the couch before digging in.

Moose hopped up and grabbed my purse for me as my cell phone rang. After digging my phone from the depths of my purse, I checked the caller ID. It was Sydney.

"Hey, hun," I answered.

"Hey, where are you?"

"Dinner at my parent's place." Somewhat the truth. I had a momentary panic attack when I realized that while I was hidden away at my parent's place, Sydney was a sitting duck at home. At least I knew she was safe as of right now.

"Are you coming home any time soon? You have a visitor."

Maybe she wasn't so safe. Moose raised his eyebrows as panic flashed across my face. "Who is it?"

"Jeanne. She wants to talk to you."

I took a quick calming breath as my heartbeat returned to normal. "About what?"

"She didn't say."

I sighed. "Be home soon." I tossed my phone back into the depths of my purse. "Will you drive me home?" I asked Moose.

"Sure," he responded.

I stood slowly. "Thanks for dinner, mom. Love you."

"We love you too, Pumpkin. Stay safe."

.

Jeanne's old Honda was sitting in my driveway when Moose pulled up. I was always surprised at the car she drove; I would have expected a brand new Prius or something a bit more environmentally friendly than the beat up, old Accord she refused to let die. When I stepped out of the passenger side, David stepped out of the shadows. "Hi, what are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I am here for you," he said as he fell into step next to me on the opposite side of me as Moose. I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I opened my front door.

"Come in, David," I murmured as I dropped my purse on the floor just inside the door. I hadn't forgotten he wasn't allowed in my house yet. Of that I was very, very aware.

Jeanne was sitting in my usual spot across from Sydney at the kitchen table. _Here we go_, I thought. I slowly lowered myself into a seat at the table, Moose and David moving to flank me. "What's up, Jeanne?" I asked as I rubbed the space between my eyebrows. I was starting to get a migraine that even Advil couldn't cure.

She set two sets of keys on the table. "I can't kick you out of my lab, you two know that." She pushed the keys toward Moose and I as she curiously eyed David over my left shoulder. "If your secret's that important to you, I guess I'll just have to respect your wishes and wait until you trust me enough to tell me."

"It's not that I don't trust you," I said as I purposefully ignored the keys on the table. "It's just that I'm not ready for you to think I'm a freak." I stood and slowly worked my way through the kitchen and pouring myself a Pepsi. I needed time to gather myself. I walked around the small island after pouring my drink. _Uh oh_. I stopped in my tracks and slid my drink back onto the island as I felt my mind slipping into vision mode. "But I think you're going to find out soon, anyway," I said as I gripped the countertop. "Like, now."

Just like that, my mind clicked into vision mode. I was both in my kitchen and in the most opulently decorated bedroom I've ever seen. The walls were covered in gold leaf, the bed frame made of matching gold. The oversized armoire was faced with mirrors, allowing me to see myself. Or, more accurately, the person I was seeing through. The woman who was staring back at me had fake auburn hair, her blonde roots showing through an outgrown die job. Her eyes were an unnaturally bright green and sad, almost hallow. Bite marks covered her chest and neck. What caught the most of my attention, however, was what she was wearing. Black leather cuffs were around her wrists and ankles and a dog's choke chain attached to an honest-to-God leash was around her neck. That's all. No clothes, no shoes, no jewelry. As I scanned down my—or her—body, I noticed more bite marks around her hips and inner thighs.

"What do you see?" David asked.

"What the hell is going on," Jeanne demanded. When no one answered her in what she deemed an appropriate amount of time, she asked again.

"Quiet, Jeanne. I'm concentrating." I tried to take in more of my surroundings to possibly determine whose bedroom I was in using the mirror covered armoire. Nothing in the room told me where I was. "I'm in a bedroom. Gold wallpaper, gold bed, mirrored armoire. I'm sitting at the end of the bed."

I gasped as my heart rate shot into the stratosphere. Filipe walked into the room, the most malicious look on his face. He approached my medium as he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a string of long still healing scars on his torso. "Filipe," I whispered as I gripped the countertop even tighter. My medium just sat there, waiting for what she knew was going to be the worst few hours of her life.

Filipe pulled the armoire open, revealing a large collection of whips, paddles, and other torture aids. My breathing got faster and faster as I started to hyperventilate. Cold fingers interlaced themselves with mine, pulling my hand from its death grip on the countertop. Filipe pulled a small collection from the armoire before closing it again. "If I cannot have the real thing just yet, I will have the next best," he seethed as he wrapped the leash around his hand and yanked my medium to her knees on the floor. I gagged and dropped to all fours; I could feel the choke collar dig in to my medium's neck, cutting off both of our breathing.

Cold hands immediately pulled me off the floor just the set me back down on it, leaning me against the cabinets. "You are safe. Tell me what you see," David said in his soothing Irish brogue.

I couldn't talk while Filipe pulled my medium across the floor, keeping the choke collar taut against her—and my—neck. Just like her, I couldn't breathe. Out of pure instinct, I groped at my neck, trying to free myself from a dog collar that wasn't there. Just when I thought I was going to pass out from lack of oxygen, Filipe pulled my medium to her feet and grabbed her wrist. I gasped for breath as Filipe hooked the leather straps wrapped around her ankles and wrists to hooks in the ceiling and the floor, facing my medium toward a full length mirror. She and I both watched in terror as Filipe considered the weapons in his hand.

Luckily for me, the vision faded as Filipe swung a large wooden paddle toward my medium's backside. The echo of an ear shattering smack reverberated through my ears as Filipe connected with her tailbone. She and I both screamed.

David was kneeling on the floor in front of me as my eyes focused on the here and now. Behind him, Moose was holding back Jeanne as she struggled against him. "Let me go! Sloane, are you OK? Sloane, what happened? Why were you screaming?" Jeanne yelled.

"He tortures them," I whispered so low that only David could hear. I was rubbing a phantom sore spot on my neck with shaky fingers. "He tortures them because they look like me."

"Who?" he asked above Jeanne's screaming. He pulled away just long enough to grab my Pepsi from the counter, handing it to me as he folded himself next to me on the floor.

"Filipe," I said quietly as I stared down into my Pepsi, taking just a small sip to soothe my throat.

.

It had taken me a bit longer to recover from this particular vision. I doubted that this was the first woman Filipe had tortured in lieu of me, meaning that there was a growing group of women out there whose suffering was my fault. I spent the better part of an hour composing myself, compartmentalizing my guilt, my fear. When I could finally function enough to speak, I pulled a still rattled Jeanne aside and asked David to call Emma, Lee, and Idi.

"So now you know," I said to Jeanne in the foyer, watching her face carefully for any flicker of emotion that might pass through.

"I don't even know what I know." Confusion figured prominently in her facial features. Her brow was tight, he lips turned down. "What do I know?"

I took a deep breath and stared into my Pepsi. "I'm a seer. I can see the past, present, and future." I looked up into her face again when she didn't say a word. "There's more than vampires and the two-natured that go bump in the night. I guess I'm part of that group."

Jeanne just stared at me blankly as David approached. "They're on their way," he said quietly. He circled Jeanne until he was standing at my side. We both stared at Jeanne, silently asking her to say something (at least I was). She didn't appear to be handling it well.

"Jeanne, I know you want to freak out right now, but you have to do it elsewhere. I promise you that you aren't going to want to be here in a matter of 5 minutes or so." More importantly, I didn't want her to be here. Sitting in a room full of vampires can be kind of a shock the first time. She definitely was not equipped to handle that just yet.

Jeanne blinked, that was the only response I was going to get. I looked up at David. "Can you…" I started, not really knowing how to finish that sentence. I wasn't sure what I wanted him to do, I just wanted Jeanne to leave before Emma, Lee, and Idi got here. "I don't know, just get her out of here or something before they get here."

David dropped his head between Jeanne and me until he met her gaze. I didn't know it was possible, but her face went even blanker. "Sloane is fine; asleep. You went home to give her time to rest."

She nodded once, turned on her heels, and left. "Is she OK to drive like that?" I asked as the door closed.

"She will be fine." He gently lowered me so I was sitting on the staircase and settled in next to me. "How are you feeling?"

I just shook my head as my shoulders dropped. I felt like I was going to start sobbing at any moment. I couldn't do that, though. No one was going to stop treating me like fragile, breakable little Sloane until I manned up (or womanned up) and handled something. _I wouldn't be given anything I can't handle_, I told myself. _I can do this_. I took a deep breath and forced myself to pull it together. "I'm OK," I said as I pushed myself to my feet.

Before I could walk away, David gently grabbed my hips and pulled me back down next to him. "No, you are not."

I didn't have anything to say to that. I couldn't lie to David, he knew how I felt better than I did.

Sydney came bounding down the same stairs David and I were sitting on. "Here," she said as she thrust her favorite stack of tarot cards into my hands. I took them from her as she climbed over the two of us, but didn't start shuffling them. What should I focus on? My first vision? My second vision? Both of them? Who blew me up? "What are you waiting for? Shuffle." She stood, hip cocked in front of us, waiting for some sort of action on my part.

"I'm thinking," I said quietly as I stared past her at toward the door. David and I continued to sit there, motionless while Sydney fidgeted uncomfortably in front of us. Without warning, my hands started to shuffle as my mind wandered over the past day and a half.

I jumped from my contemplative state when there was a knock on the door. I absent mindedly handed Sydney the pile of cards as I stood and opened the door. It was the rest of the extended O'Hara family.

.

We congregated in the living room, Idi, Idriis, and Lee standing to make room for Emma, David, Sydney, Moose and I to sit. I stared into nowhere as I explained to them what I'd seen in the past day. "I can't see how they're related. The shooting's in one of the classrooms on campus, Filipe's torture I have to believe was in Vegas. And I don't know how either of them relates to my car, if they even do at all."

"Who is shot?" Emma asked.

I shrugged. "One of my students. I was looking right at me as I felt it."

"You must have been the target," Lee offered.

I shook my head no. "Then why not shoot me? They could have easily killed me without even opening the door. Instead, they burst through the door and halfway through the room before opening fire."

"Did you see the shooter?" Moose asked.

Finally, a question I could answer. "Yea, a woman, actually. Middle aged, maybe a little older, graying black hair. I didn't recognize her."

There was silence as the group thought about it. "I can't make any sense of it," Sydney said as she threw her hands in the air. She had been silently staring at her tarot layout for almost 15 minutes. "Something's wrong here." She picked up two of the cards from her cross and tossed them on the table. "These two mean retribution or vengeance." She picked up another two. "This set means greed. This pair's obvious," she said as she tossed the three and the nine of swords on the table.

"What does that mean?" Emma asked.

"Pain," I said. "Lots of pain."

"But it's all jumbled," Sydney continued. "These cards were in both the immediate future and distant past." She pushed the pain cards out of the way. She pushed the vengeance set out into its own pile. "These two are supposed to be together, not separated in the external influences and best outcome." She picked all of her cards up, putting them back in their cardboard case. "Vengeance as a best outcome? I just don't get it."

There was more silence before David spoke. "Are you sure Filipe is still in Vegas?"

I shook my head no. "I can't be sure, all I could see was the room. But you don't find rooms that…ostentatious just anywhere. I think it's his room."

"Did you recognize this girl?" Lee asked.

I dropped my head as I shook it no. "But someone went through a lot of trouble to make her look just like me."

After some silent communication (or just years of being around each other), Lee, Emma, Idi, and Idriis all stood to leave. I stood with them, being the gracious hostess and showing them to the door. "How are you feeling? Do you have any pain?" Emma asked before she left.

I shrugged. "I'm OK," I said as I started to close the door.

She pressed her hand up against the door, holding it open. In her other hand, she extended a small bottle. "I can see your pain in David's eyes."

I took the small bottle from her and looked at the label. Percocet. I tried to hand them back to her. "No thanks, I can't afford to be loopy."

Instead of taking them, she wrapped my hand around the small bottle. "Just in case." She closed the door behind her as she left.

I set the bottle down on the foyer table and turned for the living room, just to run right in to Moose's chest. I gasped in pain as the brace on my wrist smacked into my ribs. "Sorry, sorry." He held me to the side as he grabbed his coat. "I'm gunna go to my place and crash for a while. I'll be back when the sun rises again."

I rolled my eyes at him as I clenched my teeth. "Take tomorrow off babysitting me."

He gave me a gentle hug, careful to not hurt me before kissing my hair. "Not a chance," he said as he walked out the door. As soon as the door shut, I sunk onto the stairs and bowled over. That really, really hurt my ribs.

"Take one," David said. The Percocet Emma had left me was in his outstretched hand.

"I'm fine," I said through clenched teeth.

"So stubborn," he said as he lifted me off the stairs and started up them. I looked up into his eyes. They were deep and hallow and filled with pain.

"Can you feel it?" I asked. I had never really taken the time to understand how this whole bonded thing works.

"Only when you are in extreme pain, like now. Otherwise you seem to subconsciously block me."

I flinched when he put me down on my bed. "Sorry," I gasped. I struggled to unroll myself and sit up straight against the headboard

"You unwrapped the bandages around your ribs," he said as he lifted my tank. Mercifully, he didn't touch the horrible bruise or the jarred ribs beneath it. "Please take the painkillers."

I shook my head as I took deep, steadying breath, trying to control the pain. "They make me loopy and then I can't focus."

He smiled. "I remember."

I almost had the pain under control. Just a few more seconds… "No thanks."

"Please," he said, no more smile on his face. He was truly begging. "The only thing worse than feeling your suffering is watching you suffer."

I opened my hand toward him. "Only because I don't want to hurt you."

He dropped a pill in my hand and raced into the bathroom, returning in an instant with a glass of water. Reluctantly, I swallowed it.


	63. Chapter 63

I could hear Idi's voice when I woke. "The bomb was crude and installed incorrectly. Instead of tying the explosives in with the ignition, they tied it in with the locks. It looks as if this is an amateur job." I cracked my eyes open to see Idi, dressed in all black, conferring with David.

"Do the police have any leads?" David asked.

"None. They believe Miss Sloane is being less than truthful, though." David pulled his worried eyes away from the nothing he was staring at and gave Idi a significant look. "Do not worry, My King. I convinced them of Miss Sloane's innocence."

David dropped his eyes back to the nothingness he was staring at before. "Good. Look into the current location of DeCastro; I want to make sure he is as far away from my Sloane as possible. If he is in Michigan without my permission, find him and kill him."

"Yes, Sir."

In an overly human gesture, David patted Idi on the shoulder. "Thank you." With only a nod, Idi turned to leave.

Now was as good a time as any for me to wake up. I took a deep, pain-free sigh and rolled onto my back. "Where are my pants?" I asked as I pulled the comforter up.

"I took them off of you to make you more comfortable." David smiled down at me as he sat near the end of the bed.

"And why am I wearing someone else's shirt?" I pulled the shirt taut on my body so I could read it. MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS, NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, 1979 was printed on the front of the green shirt in white letters.

"I put it on you after I rewrapped your ribs." He crawled up my body carefully until we were nose to nose. "It took all I had not to wake you up and take you."

I glared at him. "Do I have to uninvite you again?"

He had the balls to look hurt. "I was just doing what was necessary to make you comfortable. My concerns were solely with your health and safety. I had no impure intentions."

I rolled my eyes. "Uh huh. Don't push it, Mister." _ I don't know how I feel about you and I alone in my house again_, I added to myself.

He stole a kiss before jumping off the bed. "My apologies." He refilled my water from the bathroom tap and set it down on my nightstand. "What shall we do with the rest of our night?" he asked.

I shrugged. I had bigger problems than my nightly plans at the moment. Tomorrow was Monday, which meant that I should try and get a good night's rest so I can be alert for lab, if I was even still invited in. If I was, I needed to get a whole bunch of gels finished because I teach all day Tuesday, and that meant a long day.

Shit, I have to teach Tuesday. I needed to grade two weeks' worth of homework so I could give it back to my students before their midterm. "I have papers to grade." I pushed myself out of bed and grabbed my backpack from my desk chair. I dragged it two steps across the floor before David materialized at my side and grabbed it for me, easily lofting it onto his shoulder. "Thanks," I said as he set down the backpack between us on the bed. Maybe it was going to be a long night.

.

"Be safe," David said as he smoothed himself out. He kissed my head before quietly shutting the door behind him. Less than a half an hour later, the sun peaked through my window. I cleared the last of the papers off of my lap and shut myself in the bathroom.

After a long, hot shower, I slowly got dressed and clipped my hair up on the top of my head. I looked a mess, but it was the best I could do. I tried to cover as many of the cuts and scrapes on my face with some concealer, but that was definitely an uphill battle. Once I was someone presentable (I was only going to lab, after all), I packed up my bag, struggled to throw it over my one shoulder, and worked my way downstairs. I got all the way out of the house before I remembered my car was a smoldering heap somewhere in the police impound.

"Need a ride?" Sydney asked me from the top of the stairs.

"Thanks." I waited for her to gather her things and meet me at the door.

"What are you going to do about a car now?" she asked as she manually unlocked her junker.

"I don't know," I said. I definitely couldn't afford to buy another car. I could barely afford the car I had, and it was partially my parent's car.

"Maybe David will buy you something," she said as she slid into the driver's seat.

"He better not," I added. I am not and will never be a kept woman.

Without another word, she dropped me off outside the lab. "Call me when you need a ride home," she said as I closed the door. I leaned down and gave her a thumbs-up before walking into my building.

A chorus of 'are you OK' and 'what happened' followed me as I walked into the lab. I promised myself I was only going to tell the story one time, so I waited until everyone was ready before I told my story. They listened, for the most part intrigued as to who could be behind it. People's thoughts ranged anywhere from the mob, to terrorist groups, to the KKK. "I don't know," I said. "Maybe it was just a mistake. I think they just got the wrong car. I can't imagine why any of those groups would come after me."

"You never know why the mob wants you until they have you," Karthik said as he peeled off a pair of latex gloves.

I just looked at him, a reaction I've gotten very used to giving to some of the guys in lab. It's like sometimes they forget there's a woman in the room any they say things that no person would consider saying in polite company.

"Well, we'll let you get to work," Matt said after staring at Karthik with a similar look on his face. "Where's Moose?" Matt asked as the three other guys presently working in the lab ambled back to work.

I shrugged. "Asleep, I hope. I don't think he's slept for two days." I finally figured out the reason for the brace-like cast when I pulled on a pair of latex gloves. The brace fit nicely in the glove. Matt helped me open some of the more tightly closed reagent jars and I got to work.

.

I was almost done with the prep when Jeanne made a rare appearance in the lab. "This is the lab you'll spend most of your time in. We have another one, but it's for the dirtier prep work," she said to a man who was following her around almost religiously. He was average height, with short sandy blonde hair and gray eyes. A strong eyebrow ridge and abnormally high eyebrows gave him a look that he was almost constantly interested in what you were saying. He was dressed sharply in khakis and a light blue button down, which he left casually untucked. Jeanne was in the process of introducing everyone when she stopped short. "And over in the corner is Sloane." I waved my cast-covered hand. "Sloane, I wasn't expecting to see you today. Come see me when you're done." I nodded. Shit.

Without another word, Jeanne left, leaving her new protégé in the lab. He introduced himself and made small talk with everyone. I noticed he was working his way in my direction. Saving me for last, I guess. "Hi. Sloane, was it?"

"Yup," I said as I nodded. He thrust a hand toward me, so I ungloved and awkwardly shook it with my left hand. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Freddy Stylien."

"Nice to meet you," I said as I pulled a new glove on my left hand and got back to work.

"What are you doing?" he asked, pointing to the prep on the counter in front of me.

"Prepping a gel." I assumed that if he was in this lab, he could assume from there and get pretty close.

I was not in the mood for small talk, and it stymied him. "Hey, I'm new to the area. Do you think you could show me around East Lansing?" I smirked at him. "I wouldn't want to be seen in a seedy bar, after all. I'll buy you a beer."

Sometimes, I think fate has a severely dry sense of humor. "Hey," Moose said as he pushed his hands into my front pockets and gently pulled my back into his chest.

"Hey," I said as I craned my next to give him a kiss. "Freddy, this is Moose." After washing the surprised look of his face, Freddy silently apologized to Moose. "It looks like we get a new lab mate," I told Moose.

Moose pulled a hand from my pocket and shook Freddy's. "Nice to meet you, man. Welcome to the bachelor club."

Freddy raised an eyebrow. "Why do you call if the bachelor club?"

"Because it's nothing but men in this lab." I lightly elbowed Moose in the ribs. "Ouf. And Sloane, of course." Moose pulled his other hand out of my pocket, which allowed me to finish what I was doing. I dragged the stepstool over in front of where I was working, quickly getting into position to start loading my gel. Even though it simply consisted of depositing a small amount of liquid into a gelatin form, it was the most time consuming part of my day. Extreme precision was used to deposit an amount of radioactive liquid smaller than a single drop in a groove smaller than my pinky fingernail made of a fragile gel. Usually, in order to get enough leverage to both hold steady and see what I'm doing, I kneel on a stepstool while leaning on my elbows and hover over the workbench, using my wrists as my sole pivot point. I got into position, making sure my hair and my shirt weren't drooping too low (I didn't want to contaminate my sample or give the lab a show). But, because of my cast, I couldn't use my wrist as my sole pivot point. I tried to compromise and do it one handed, but it just wasn't working. "Want me to do that?" Moose asked, coolly leaning against the countertop with his hands in his pockets. I noticed Freddy was still watching as well, but not necessarily what I was doing. At least, not what my hands were doing.

"Please," I said as I dismounted. "I can't move my wrist."

Moose pulled a set of gloves on. "What happened?" Freddy asked as I pulled my own gloves off.

"Car accident," I said. True enough. Moose gave me a questioning look. Fine, I'll tell the truth. "If you would count my car accidently blowing up as a car accident."

"Oh, I heard about that," Freddy said. He sounded impressed, almost.

I gave Moose another kiss. "Jeanne wants to see me. I'll be back in an hour or so, then want to go get lunch?"

"Sure," he said. He was already engrossed in finishing my work for me.

"Do you mind if I tag along?" Freddy asked, already doing a good job of it. He was following me as I weaved through the lab and out the door.

"Sure," I said. I don't think I really had a choice.

Jeanne's office was not in our lab building. She had an office in Giltner, just like me, instead her office was much larger, on the top floor, and had a fantastic view of the river. Since I was carless for the foreseeable future, I had no choice but to walk. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day outside, so I didn't mind it so much. "So, what do you do in the lab? Dishes, help other people out, that kind of stuff?" he asked.

"No, I do my own work."

He looked impressed again. I suppose with his brow line, it was probably pretty close to a default look for him. "You have your own project as an undergrad? I'm impressed."

I forget how young I look sometimes. For that matter, I forget how young I _am_ sometimes. We were probably the same age, but I had been in the lab for years and he was just getting started. "If I were an undergrad, it would be."

"You're a grad student? How old are you?"

"Twenty three," I said.

"How long have you been in the lab?" he asked next.

I had to tally it up. I had worked in the lab as an undergrad for a semester, then for the three years since. "Three and a half years."

Before he could ask another question, I got a really bad feeling. I looked up from the sidewalk where I had been focusing my attention, both so I wouldn't trip and to avert my eyes from the sunlight. I glanced around, surveying my surroundings until I noticed something very unusual, even for a college campus. There was an older woman quickly peeling clothes off on the side of the road. Her gaze was fixed nastily on me. Freddy had continued to babble on, continuing to walk even though I had stopped walking. I reached out and grabbed Freddy's arm. "Turn and run," I said in a low voice. I caught his attention; he started surveying his surroundings as well. I started to back up as the older woman, now in just her bra and underwear, crouched to the ground. "RUN!" I yelled. I turned on my heels and ran back toward the lab. Freddy wasn't far behind me when I heard snarling yips getting closer and closer. We bolted across the street, narrowly missing being run over by a car.

I glanced back, hoping that the Were that was chasing us wasn't so lucky. Instead, the large gray wolf bounded up and over the car, landing on the hood and leaping over the next lane all together. I practically ripped the door into the building off of its hinges as I ran into the building. Luckily for me, it was during business hours and I didn't need my ID to get into the building, because that delay would almost certainly have meant she'd catch us. "Keep running!" I yelled at Freddy as I looked back at the Were on the other side of the glass door. She wasn't slowing. I turned and followed Freddy up the stairs, out of the heavily populated lobby as I heard a loud shatter. She hurled herself through the glass door.

I think she lost sight of us in the melee she caused. I struggled to keep up with Freddy as we bolted up the two flights of stairs, down the hallway, and into the lab. Once I slammed the door shut, gasping for breath, I triggered the electronic security system and sunk to the floor, leaning against the solid steel door. "Mac!" Moose yelled once he had a chance to process the scene. "What's the hell?"

I yelped when the question was answered for me. The door rocked on its hinges as the Were (I assumed) threw its body into it. When the door didn't open, she started to snarl.

I grabbed Moose's arm as he helped me off the floor, pulling me aside so he could look out the small window. "Call the police," Moose said. He pulled me into his embrace as Freddy called 911.

.

I did not want to spend my time today sitting in a police station. But, unfortunately, that's where I was. I could see Moose figet uncomfortably as Freddy and I sat at the detective's desk. A plaque that read 'Detective Hensen' sat prominently on the desk. "You seem to be snake bit, Ms. McIntosh."

"It does seem that way, doesn't it?" I answered.

"So tell me what happened." He leaned back in his seat. I started my story, but he looked less than interested as he took notes on a spiral pad. "You outran a Werewolf?" he asked as he interrupted my story, suddenly skeptical.

I shrugged. "I had some help from a car and a glass door." When he seemed to take my answer for the truth, I continued my story. "Did you catch her?" I asked when I finished.

"No, she escaped." He labored to push himself out of his chair, glancing down at me over his port stomach. "Ms. McIntosh, Mr. Stylien, I'll keep you posted." He handed me a card before showing us to the door.

"I hope I haven't scared you away." I said to Freddy as he, Moose and I left the police station. I struggled to get into the backseat of Moose's two door one handed, allowing Freddy to have the front seat.

"This isn't the norm, is it?" he asked.

"No," Moose and I said in unison.

.

Jeanne was waiting for us when we got back to the lab. Luckily for me, she seemed to notice how worn I was, and let me go with just a short hug and a few words of encouragement. Obviously, Moose agreed to drive me home, but only after finishing my gel for me.

When we pulled into the driveway, I was exhausted and sore and in a horrible mood, but I couldn't just sit back and relax just yet. There was an unknown car sitting in the driveway and a note taped to my door. I sighed, throwing a small mental temper tantrum as I marched past the car toward my still empty house.

Moose opened the door as I pulled the padded envelope taped to my door down. I reached in, pulling out the first thing I felt. It was another envelope. Inside was a stack of paper. I read the outer most piece before rifling through it.

_I heard about your incident. Please accept this as payment for services rendered.  
Eric Northman_

Behind the note was a title to a 2010 Ford Mustang GT convertible, color powder blue. The same car that was sitting in my driveway. Behind the title was an insurance card, followed by the manuals for the car and Sirius Satellite radio, and then the window sticker with the specs on it. That car cost more than I make in a year. "What is it?" Moose asked as he held the door open for me.

I tipped the padded envelope upside down, dropping a set of keys in his hand. "A car."

Moose practically ripped the packet of papers out of my hand. "Holy shit, this thing's fully loaded."

"Yea, well, I'm not keeping it." I couldn't keep it. Of course not. I wanted to, but I couldn't.

"Why not?" Moose asked, purely disappointed.

I tried thinking of legitimate reasons or than feminine pride, but the only one that didn't sound completely stupid to me was lame. "I'm going to have to pay taxes on it, and I can't afford that."

Moose saw through that. "Come on, tell your feminist side to shut up and take the car! You deserve it."

"The police are already curious. I can't be driving a car bought for me by a vampire!"

"Maybe that's exactly what you need!" He pulled me inside, shutting the door behind him. "Think about it, if there are vampires involved, their mind is automatically going to go to the Fellowship. That gives them a motive."

He had a point. "OK, I'll drive it until I can afford one of my own. Then I'm giving it back. It's like a rental."

He smirked at me. "He drives a Corvette, right?" I shrugged. I guess, I didn't know. "If he's a Corvette man, he's not going to be caught dead in a Mustang."

I grabbed the packet back from him and tossed it on the foyer table, tabling the discussion as well. "Staying here I assume?" I didn't intend it, but it came out a bit snappy.

"Yea," Moose said, aware of how that came out.

"Sorry," I said as I started up the stairs. "I just need some me time for a while, I think. I'm going to take a bath."

"OK, I'm going to raid your kitchen."

_Whatever_, I thought to myself. Once I was in my room, I grabbed the water that David had left on my bedside table, pouring the old water into the bathroom sink and refilling it. I had recently bought a bottle of Advil for my bathroom, and I smiled to myself as I opened the new bottle and swallowed three pills, washing it down with the entire glass of water. I started the bath before struggling to unwrap the ace bandage David had put on me as the tub filled. When the tub was filled and the mirrors were steamed, I poured some of my pain relief eucalyptus spearmint bath salts into the water and settled in.

If they weren't so comfortable, I would stop taking baths. I was about 15 minutes into my soak when a vision hit. It was a continuation of the vision I had last night. The woman was rumpled on the floor, bloody and broken. She cried not in fear but in pain as Filipe sat in the corner, watching her. "Please," she begged barely above a whisper. I could feel how raw her throat was, probably a combination of screaming in pain and being strangled. I couldn't believe what she was thinking; she was attempting to crawl _closer_ to him. She whimpered when she tried to move, unable to make any progress.

Filipe pressed an intercom button on the phone next to him. "Yes, my King," said a very familiar voice. Victor's voice.

"Bring it in." Uh oh, that can't be good. Victor appeared almost instantly with nothing but an honest-to-God goblet in his hands. She was decidedly happy about Victor's arrival, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why. Victor handed the goblet to Filipe then turned to leave, purposefully kicking her legs in return. I yelped as it sent pain throughout my body, as well. "Sit up," he said, fondling the mysterious goblet as he watched her.

She struggled to find the strength to push herself off the floor, but in the end, she failed. "I can't," she whispered as she collapsed back onto the ground. "Please help me," she begged again.

He loomed over her for a split second before grabbing on to her upper arm. She yelped weakly when he yanked her into a sitting position, leaning her against the frame of the bed. He shoved the goblet into her hands before walking for the door. "You have 15 minutes," he said before he left the room. Once he was gone, she greedily drank every sip of the liquid in the glass. It was dark, thick, and suspiciously metallic.

I came back to the here already in the process of taking deep, calming breaths to quell the nausea. After a minute of deep breathing I was back to normal. It was time to get out of the tub.

I pulled on my most comfortable sweats and made my way back downstairs. As soon as I opened my bedroom door, I could smell something delicious cooking in the kitchen. "Syd?" I called down the stairs. "You home already?" It was getting late, but lately Sydney hadn't been coming home until well after midnight on Monday and Wednesday nights.

"It's only me," Moose said from the kitchen as he pushed something around in a skillet with a spatula. "Hungry?"

I had to see this. I leaned over the skillet, taking in the smells as well. Angel hair pasta, shrimp, and sugar snap peas were simmering in a white wine sauce. "You can cook, too?" How had I been pseudo-dating him for so long and I didn't know he could cook?

He laughed. "Not quite," he said as he grabbed a bag from the countertop. It was one of those frozen dinners. "I can follow directions, though. By the way, you had no food in your entire house."

I had planned on going grocery shopping after lab on Saturday. Obviously, that didn't happen. "Had?" I said as I opened the fridge. It was now full, including several two liters of Pepsi. God bless him. "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing. I'm probably going to eat most of it, anyway."

I gave him a look that clearly said he wasn't going to get away with that answer, but he didn't budge. Instead, he just doled out two plates of pasta, handing me one and taking one for himself. I practically inhaled it.


	64. Chapter 64

I was lying on the couch when David arrived. Uncharacteristically, he knocked. I was too comfortable to get up, so I relied on David's superhuman hearing. "Come in," I yelled.

As soon as Moose saw it was David, he bowed out. "I'll see you tomorrow morning," he said as he pulled his sweater back over his head. Just to piss David off, he kissed my hair. "I'll pick you up in the morning, just call me when you get up."

"OK," _Not gunna happen_. I was getting very bored with being constantly babysat, all I wanted was a day to myself. OK, a day to myself and a couple hundred students.

As soon as Moose closed the door, I looked up at David who was standing just behind the couch. "I have good news and bad news."

"Whose car is in the drive?" he asked, seemingly ignoring my statement.

I was not having the kind of day that would allow me to take that in stride. "Fine, I won't tell you." I crossed my arms in front of me like a child having a fit. "And it's nobody's car."

"You are in quite a sour mood today," he said, finally catching on.

I yelled at him. "Well, almost being mauled to death by a wolf then spending the rest of the day in the police station is bound to make anyone cranky." I turned ever farther away from him, curling into myself. I didn't finish my thought until I could calm down a little bit. "It's definitely not what I had in mind for the day."

He circled the couch and crouched low enough to look me in the face. "I trust you are not hurt?" I shook my head no. "I am sorry I was not sensitive to your problems, but I am glad you were not harmed. Do you have any other news to tell me?"

Well, crap. His sincere apology took most of the wind out of my sails. "It was a woman. That's the good news."

"I do not understand," he said as he lifted my head, replacing my pillow with his lap. He started rubbing my hair which actually felt really good. That was taking even more wind out of my sails.

"The shooter from my vision was a woman, the Were that attacked me today was a woman. I mean, there can't be that many packs out there that would send their women to kill me, right?"

"That is correct," he said. "Any other news?"

"No, that's it."

"Then will you tell me whose car is in your drive?"

I lifted my head to let him up. "There's a padded envelope on the foyer table." David grabbed the envelope from the table and was back before my neck could get tired.

"That was generous of him," David said as he ruffled through the papers. "If the car is yours, why do you claim it belongs to no one?"

"I can't accept that," I said.

"You must."

"And why is that?" I asked. I have never done well with being told what to do.

"Because if you don't take it, then I will have to find another way to punish Northman for what he did."

I pulled my head off his lap and looked him right in the eye. "Excuse me?"

"I could not let him get off without a punishment. I could have taken his fangs for feeding on you, but you asked me to be lenient. So instead, his punishment is you." He immediately knew that his comment had come out wrong. "His punishment is to care for you, protect you when I cannot." Better, but still not good. He must have seen it in my eyes. "Would you rather I take his fangs?"

"No, how would he eat?"

"They would grow back in a few months." I must have looked disgusted. "It is our way," he said as he reached out to touch my face.

I dodged him before laying back down, this time curling up on the opposite side of the couch.

.

I should have set my alarm for just a touch earlier. As it was, I only had 45 minutes to get ready and get to campus. First thing I did (after swallowing several Advil), was call Moose. Straight to voicemail. I hung up without leaving a message and went on with my morning routine. I wasn't going to push my luck.

I was only running 5 minutes late as I walked out the door, keys to the Mustang in hand. I was really hoping that it was an automatic; I had never learned to drive a manual. I was surprised to see Sydney's car wasn't in the driveway. Usually after late nights like last night, the Handels gave her the next morning off. I shrugged it off and had quite possibly the best drive into work ever. I had to admit, I _loved_ that car.

The students of my first three recitation sections had been more curious as to what happened to me than how they did on the homework or how they were going to fare on the test. By the third recitation, I just told the story before any even asked. Better to just get it out of the way then move on. As the day wore on, I started to focus more and more of my attention on making sure I was keeping a mental eye out for anything suspicious. I hadn't forgotten my gun-toting vision. I finally could relax once lunchtime rolled around. I stepped out of the classroom I had been cooped up in all morning and took a deep breath. The clouds were rolling in and the winds were picking up; it looked like we were in for another April shower. With those showers, however, comes cooler weather, which left me wishing that I had brought a coat of some sort. I walked briskly across the deserted footbridge over the Red Cedar tucked behind the library admist a low canopy of trees. It freaked me out every time I used it, but it was by far the fastest route to the food court at the International Center. All the sudden, a sharp pain budded in the back of my head before blackness encroached.

.

I couldn't have been out that long. The same Were woman I saw undressing on the side of the street yesterday was leaning over me, tying my wrists to the arms of a metal chair. "Why are you doing this?" I asked groggily as I tested my legs. My ankles were also tied to the legs of the chair.

She pulled a picture out of her back pocket and shoved it into my face. She was standing in a sunny field with two men, one about her age and one much younger. Her husband and son, maybe? "You don't even recognize them do you?" She laughed sadistically. "You killed them! My husband and my son died because of you!"

I recognized them now. They're the ones who had been hired to kidnap me. They're the ones that beat me with a bat. "I didn't kill anyone."

She tucked the picture in her back pocket again then disappeared from my view. Metal started scraping against cement as she dragged the chair against the bridge. I started to scream as I realized what she was planning on doing. "Drowning's supposed to be a really painful way to die," she said as she lofted me onto the railing, perching me in her view. "Bitch." I screamed as she pushed me over the edge.

The impact with the water knocked any air out of my lungs. I could only get half a gasp of air in my lungs before the weighted chair started to sink, me attached. I closed my eyes and got ready to die as the subtle echo of raindrops hitting the bridge above filled my consciousness. I was out of luck. This was it.

I let the air out of my lungs as they started to burn. I was halfway through filling my lungs back up with water when I felt a hand on my shoulder. My eyes shot open as a foreign pair of lips pressed themselves against mine, forcing precious air into my lungs. A man about my age was frantically trying to tear at the rope that bound my hands, ankles, and torso to the chair. I nodded when he held up one finger before swimming back to the surface. Echoing voices reverberated from the surface above me.

The air he had given me was running out. Blackness was taking over.

.

There was pain, lots of pain. Awareness came back to my foggy mind slowly as I determined the source of my pain. Pulsing shocks echoed through my ribs as someone pumped my chest.

The pain stopped as I started coughing up water. Hands rolled me on to my side as I continued to purge my lungs of water. "Call an ambulance," said a voice immediately behind me. When I could finally get enough air in my lungs, I started to sob. "It's OK, she can't hurt you anymore," said the same deep voice. Sopping wet and shivering next to me was the same man who had forced air into my lungs. His brown hair was clipped short in a military haircut. His shirt read, 'AIR FORCE ROTC', as did his running shorts. But none of those things let me know for sure that I was finally safe. It was his deep chocolate eyes that oozed kindness that made me feel safe. He lifted me into a sitting position and held me awkwardly as I collapsed into him, continuing to sob into his already sopping wet shirt. "You're safe, Miss," he said again. "The police will be here soon."

My mind barely recognized as sirens approached. A cool breeze had accompanied the light rain that was now falling, and when combined with my already wet clothes, I started to shiver furiously. "Thank you," I said when I could finally manage something other than sobbing, coughing, and shaking.

"You're welcome, Miss," he said properly. He waited with me until the police arrived.

.

"My name is Detective Zeleke. Can you tell me what happened?" the plain clothes campus police officer asked suspiciously. His skin was darker than espresso and impeccably clear, which contrasted nicely with his cleanly pressed khakis and white button down shirt. Several pens and a notepad were tucked in his shirt pocket, hiding behind a badge that hung out of the same pocket. The whites of his eyes matched the yellow of his teeth, giving him a European feel. They had parked me in the back of an ambulance even though I had insisted I was really OK. They had also given me several blankets, which I wrapped around my shoulders and legs to keep me warm.

"I was walking to the International Center when someone knocked me unconscious. When I came to, a woman was tying me to a chair. Then she dumped me over the railing. Next thing, I was on the riverbank. He saved me." It's obvious who I was talking about.

"Did she say anything before she did?" he asked after copying everything I had said into his notebook.

"Yea," I said. No point in lying. "I asked why she was doing this, and she said the thought I killed her son and her husband. She showed me a picture, but I didn't recognize them." OK, maybe just a little white one.

"Anything else?"

I had a eureka moment. "Oh, yea, she said 'we', like she has an accomplice." I raised my cast-covered wrist. "Maybe the person who blew up my car." Or the person I had seen come into my classroom and start shooting.

He nodded as he copied all that down into his notepad. "Miss McIntosh, would you mind coming to the station? I'd like you to take a look at a lineup."

I raised my eyebrows. "You caught her?"

He nodded at my savior, who was wrapped in blankets sitting on the curb with two other similarly dressed recruits. "Mr. Shaw over there detained a woman who was fleeing the scene, but we'd like your confirmation that it is in fact the same woman who assaulted you."

"Sure," I said.

.

After some searching, they had found a pair of extra small scrubs tucked in the back of a closet, which they gave me. I stripped off all of my wet clothes, even to my underwear, and tossed them into a plastic bag before showering the Red Cedar River scum off my body. There was a reason they told the incoming freshman not to swim in that river every year. Just the thought of what could be in there made me shudder. When I felt marginally cleaner, I emerged from the women's locker room in nothing but the scrubs. Barefoot, I carefully waddled across the linoleum floor. I plopped into the seat across from Detective Zeleke's desk, exhausted. Now that the initial adrenaline wore off, I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Drowning is hard work.

"We're ready for you, Ms. McIntosh." I yawned as I pushed myself back to my feet. It occurred to me that this was the second time in two days I had been to the police station, both for different attacks. If the detectives were asking questions before, they must be extremely skeptical now.

Detective Zeleke ushered me into a small room filled with several people, including Detective Hensen from yesterday. He pushed through the people so I could look through the one way glass. "Number 4," I said quickly. I would never forget that face.

"Are you sure?" asked a small well dressed Were woman in the corner.

"Absolutely. That's her."

She must be the defense lawyer. She looked instantly uncomfortable as she fidgeted from foot to foot. "Open and shut case," said Detective Zeleke. "Thank you, Ms. McIntosh. One of our officers will drive you back to your car."

I nodded as I headed back out of the room.

.

I didn't have a parking sticker for the Mustang yet, so I was forced to park my car in the visitor's ramp across the street from the lab. Instead of heading to my car, I headed into lab after the uniformed officer dropped me off. I kept a pair of old beat up sneakers in a drawer in the lab for use when I wanted to wear flip flops around campus. There were no open toes shoes allowed in lab.

Lab was empty, so I grabbed the sneakers and went into the student lounge to put them on. I leaned back on the couch and closed my eyes for just a second. I just needed to rest my eyes for a minute before I attempted to drive home.

.

"Hey, Mac." Moose was shaking my shoulder. "Hey," he said again as I opened my eyes. "Sorry I didn't answer this morning, I didn't have power all night so my phone died. It was almost noon when I finally woke up on my own. When I went to your class, you weren't there. Where were you? And whose clothes are you wearing?"

I took a second to process his questions, still groggy from waking up. "I, um, I guess I was at the police station, which is where I got the clothes." He gave me a questioning look. "Can you drive me home?" I still was feeling too tired to drive safely.

"Sure," he said as I handed him the keys to the Mustang. "Why were you at the police station? Did they have more questions about the attack yesterday?"

I shook my head no as I pressed the down button on the elevator. "Someone tried to drown me in the Red Cedar today." He slipped his raincoat off and wrapped it around my shoulders before we stepped outside into a heavy rain. "But now I know who's behind all this now." That was redundant. I need sleep.

He wrapped and arm around my shoulders to help shield me from the rain. "Well that's good, I guess."

I managed to stay awake for the short drive back to my place. "Sorry, you can take the car back to lab if you want," I said, just realizing I stranded him without a car.

"No, I can get a ride from Matt later." He raced to the safety of the porch and waited for me to join him. "So who's behind it?"

"The women of the pack that was hired to kidnap me before." I was purposefully keeping that in the abstract in my mind. "They think I killed their husbands and sons."

"So it is vengeance," he said as I opened the door.

I yawned and pushed the door open. "I guess so."

Sydney was in the kitchen cooking when we walked in. "You guys hungry?"

I shook my head no. "I'm just exhausted. I'm going to take a nap."

"OK, hun." I didn't miss the worried look Sydney gave Moose before he followed me up the steps. I ignored them for the most part, going upstairs without another word. I managed to peel Moose's now wet raincoat off of me and let it fall to the ground before collapsing onto my bed, shoes and all.

.

I didn't wake up for another 17 hours. When I did, it was light outside again and there was a note on my bed stand.

_Dearest,  
Mustafa filled us in on the new information. I will look into it. Trust this situation will be taken care of before you wake in the morning. Do not let your guard down, however. Northman contacted me last night; DeCastro required his immediate presence in Las Vegas, but would not tell him for what purpose. Until we know, please be careful.  
Emma is worried about your lungs after swallowing so much river water. She requests that if you feel ill, you go to Patrick immediately.  
Yours,  
David_

I felt fine. My throat was a little tickly, but I would think that would be normal. I didn't want to think too closely about what the other part of his note was all about. For the immediate future, I was safe.

I took my time showering and getting dressed before heading down the stairs. Sydney was in the kitchen reading a book, even though she should have been at the Handel's place working. "What are you doing here?" I asked, stopping in my tracks when I saw her.

"Mrs. Handel said I could have the day off." She bent her book backwards and left it on the table as she stood to engulf me in a hug. She was trying very hard not to burst into tears.

"It's OK," I said as I rubbed her back. "It's over."

I didn't know that she was losing the battle until she spoke, voice shaky with tears. "How do you know? And how long until the next crisis? You can't keep dodging these bullets, and I can't live without you."

I pulled David's note out of my back pocket and handed it to her. Mascara streamed over her flushed cheeks, her eyes red and glossy. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before shakily opening the note. "See? All better."

She almost crumpled the note and threw it back at me, thinking better of it at the last second. "Now that rat-bastard from Nevada's after you again?"

That is not at all what the note said. "No, Hun, he's in Nevada still."

"Yea, but he's planning something." She sunk into her chair again and dropped her head. I had known her long enough to know that she was about to erupt in uncontrollable tears.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the couch, where I pulled her into me. "Shhh," I said as one sob escaped her lips. "He would be an idiot to try anything again. And even if he is that stupid, he's not going to kill me." I pulled her head up so I could look her in the eye. "Could you imagine him putting up with me even for a few days? He'd ship me back home within the week." I made sure I had a huge smile on my face to cheer her up, but I wasn't so sure. It was incredibly stupid to try to take me in the first place; I wasn't convinced he wasn't going to try again. And he didn't seem the type to just send me back home. He seems more the if-I-can't-have-her,-no-one-can type. I wasn't going to let Sydney see it, but it scared the hell out of me.

She tucked her head into my shoulder and we just sat there in silence for several minutes. There was a knock at the door, but we both ignored it. Not a half a minute later, Moose walked in the door. "Oh, sorry," he said as he noticed us on the couch. "I'll, uh, I'll wait over there." Having sisters must have given him a bit of insight into the female brain. He seemed to realize that no, not everything is immediately fixable. He knew when to butt out and wait for things to get better on their own.

"No, it's OK," Sydney said as she wiped the last of her tears from her cheeks. "You promise it's over?" she asked me. "You really, really promise?"

I held my three middle fingers up in a salute. "Scout's honor."

"That doesn't mean anything if you were never a boy scout," she said, a smile cracking on her lips.

I gave her one more tight hug before letting her up from the couch. "David says it should be fine, and I trust him. And I haven't seen anything that dispute's that."

"OK," she said after considering my face, looking for signs of deceit. "Then I'm going to work." She walked past Moose toward the base of the stairs, squeezing his arm as she passed.

When Sydney was out of earshot, Moose pulled me into a hug. "You worried?" he whispered into my hair.

"Yea," I said into his chest. I wrapped my arms around his torso and held him close. He felt so good, so safe. For just a split second, I forgot everything that was going on. I was happy.

"Me too," he said after he kissed my hair. I looked up at him, my lips inches from his as he matched my gaze. It was wrong, but I wanted to kiss him so badly. I weaved my hands up his chest and around his neck. He seemed to read my mind, slowly leaning down and laying a light kiss on my lips just to test the water. When I responded, he got bolder. His hands roamed lower as his lips opened mine. I moaned when he lifted me off the ground by my ass and carried to the couch, setting me down so I was straddling him.

I entwined my hands in his hair. "Do you need to go to lab?" I asked him as he kissed a trail down my neck. I bucked into him and moaned as he fondled my breast outside my shirt. He felt so good against my jeans.

I continued to rub against him, driving the both of us crazy. "Not right this second," he breathed into my collarbone.

"Me either." He back away from me long enough to tear his shirt off. I was suddenly sidetracked, staring as I rubbed patterns into his perfect, firm pecks. He took the opportunity to pull my shirt off me and after glancing at the giant fading bruise I had on my side, he focused his attention at ogling my chest.

"Oh my God," Sydney said, obviously walking in to something she clearly wasn't expecting. She closed her eyes and spun on her heels. "OK, bye." She practically ran from the house, slamming the door on her way out.

That clearly had not dampened the mood for either of us. Moose kissed me deeply again, immediately engrossed in my body again as I unbuttoned his jeans. We kissed again until he lifted me off his lap, still straddling him and carried me into the kitchen. I continued to kiss him as he shimmied out of his jeans. "Wait a second," I said as he pulled my jeans off me. He finished the job, flinging my pants to the floor before looking up to my eyes. "I can't do this to you."

"What?" he asked breathlessly as he unhooked my bra. He crouched and took my breast in his mouth, which momentarily made me forget what I was about to say.

"Stop," I finally managed. He pulled away slightly, but didn't stop holding me. "My…I…We…" I couldn't quite figure out how I wanted to say what I wanted to say. He kissed me cheek, my nose, my lips. "It's not right for me to use you, even though I really, really want to." I _needed_ to.

"I want to," he said as his arm subconsciously worked its way up my body. God, I just wanted him to pull my body into his. I wanted him as close to me as possible. He must have seen it in my eyes. "You seriously want me to stop?"

_No_. "Yes," I said as I glanced down between us. I hopped off the countertop and picked my pants up off the floor before shaking them out and pulling them back up. Moose had thrown my bra across the kitchen and into the foyer, so I fetched it and put it on as Moose pulled up his pants. I needed to calm down. I needed to get my libido in check somehow. Moose wasn't going to make that easy, though. He sat down on the steps and pulled me down into his lap.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked me as he pulled me into him, resting my head against his neck. He sounded scared, confused, and frustrated. "I can try and give you whatever you need, but I just need to know what that is."

I couldn't answer the question. I didn't know what I wanted from him, which may have been part of the problem. He seemed to take my silence as secrecy. He lifted me off his lap and set me down next to him before he pushed himself off the stairs. His frustration was getting the better of him. "Moose," I said, not knowing how to finish the sentence. He whipped around, facing me. His eyes were not Moose's eyes. They were dark, cold, and distant, not warm and inviting like usual.

He threw his arms in the air in frustration. "What?" he yelled at me. "What the hell do you want from me?"

His eyes softened immediately when tears started to fall from my eyes. My vision blurred as I stood and navigated my way up the stairs. "Mac, I'm sorry," he called up after me. I could hear his footfalls as he followed me up the stairs.

I shied away from him before he could touch me. "Don't." I closed myself in my room and sank to the floor as I leaned against the door. There was no way to stop it now; I started sobbing silently as I held my knees to my chest. The compression hurt my ribs, but I welcomed it. It was a welcome relief to focus on something other than my fear and pain.

"Mac, I'm so sorry. Will you please let me in?" He was standing outside the door, his voice rougher than it had been. I didn't answer him, afraid that if I opened my mouth my sobs would no longer be silent. I wasn't going to let him see or hear me cry. "I shouldn't have yelled at you, Sweetheart, I'm sorry. It's just…I want to be here for you because you need someone, but I'm just not sure what to do. I need you to tell me what you need from me, but you won't, and I just can't watch you struggle in silence anymore. It kills me because you don't deserve it." He let out a frustrated sigh; I continued to sob silently. "See? I need you to tell me now. Do you want me to stay or leave?" Again, I didn't answer him. I could hear him sink to the floor, leaning against the door like me. "I guess I'll just sit here. When you're ready to talk, I'll be here."

My crying had calmed markedly when his phone rang almost a half an hour later. His voice sounded exhausted and weary as he answered. "Yea, hey, Neem." There was a short pause. I believe Neem was his oldest younger sister, only a year younger than him. "No, I just did something really stupid." Another short pause. "I yelled at Mac; she won't talk to me now." I could hear him rub against the door as he fidgeted. "No, of course she didn't do anything wrong. I'm not even mad at _her_…" He paused again, taking the time to let out a deep breath. "What's up? Why did you call?" He listened for quite a long time. "Well is it serious?" The door rocked as he stopped leaning against it. "Yea, I'll be there as soon as I can."

He was standing again; his voice came from above me. "My youngest sister's in the hospital, but I can't go be with her until I know you're OK."

I crawled to my dresser, pulled out a sweatshirt, threw it on, and wiped the tears from my face before opening the door and breezing past Moose. "I'm OK," I said, my head down so he couldn't see how red my eyes inevitably were. I rushed down the stairs, but before I could shove my feet into some flip flops and grab my purse, Moose caught up with me.

He twirled me around and looked into my eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "Forgive me?"

I was dangerously close to breaking down. It doesn't take much to start the water works when you just managed to turn them off. I dropped my eyes so I wouldn't have to look at him as I nodded. "Go," I said as I pulled myself out of his embrace and grabbed my purse. He didn't say another word as he watched me walk out of my own house and climb into my car.


	65. Chapter 65

*****The next few chapters are going to be short, but that means I can get them out in pretty rapid succession. Enjoy!*****

I was driving without a destination in mind. I couldn't face lab right now; the questions, the stares. I couldn't go home, either. I would go crazy if I just sat at home, waiting for something to happen. I finally stopped when I saw the mall. I grabbed my purse out of the backseat and headed inside, finally settling into a seat at the food court. I sat, watching an odd assortment of people pass me by for what felt like hours until my phone rang. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hi, Sloane, it's Sookie." She sounded worried.

"Hi Sookie," I said. My voice came out somewhat flat.

"Have you…seen anything lately? Anything that might be important?"

I shrugged. It took me a split second to remember I was on the phone and Sookie couldn't see that. "Not really. I mean, not to you or anything. Why?"

"John Quinn came to see me today," she said quickly. It was obvious she had more to say, so I just stayed quiet. "He said Eric sent him from Las Vegas to tell me to be careful and to warn you. Eric didn't say why. Do you know?"

I looked up to the skylight, finally noticing how dark it was getting. The sun would probably be fully set in a matter of an hour. "Not for sure," I said as I grabbed my purse and stood. I must have been sitting for much longer than I originally thought; my back and thighs were sore from sitting in such an uncomfortable chair. I stretched out my back before working my way toward the exit. "David said Filipe might be up to something, but he doesn't know what. I've seen a few things, but none of it really makes sense."

"Like what have you seen?" she asked.

"Hold on." I was aware that an older couple was following me out of the mall. Sadism isn't really something you talk about when it's possible someone might overhear you. I waited until I settled into my car to continue. "The first thing I saw was him beating a naked woman half to death. The weird thing is that she's not scared of him, she's just kind of…grimly determined. In the second one I got, he's watching her while she's lying on the floor, beaten and bloody, but she's not trying to get away. She's actually trying to get closer to him. Victor gives her a goblet of…" I paused, trying to find some other word to use. "…stuff to heal her."

She paused, taking this in. "So what does it mean?"

I shrugged again before remembering to use my words. "I don't really know. I mean, other than the fact he's a sick bastard, but I already knew that."

"OK," she said. "Keep an eye out, and keep me posted, OK?"

"Yea," I answered. "Bye."

.

Panic. Pure, unadulterated panic. Sydney's car was in the drive when I got home just as the sun set, but when I opened the door, I didn't see what I was expecting. The foyer table had been pulled away from the wall and was sitting haphazardly in the middle of the floor. After setting it to rights, I worked my way through the rest of the house. The armchair in the living room was lying on its back, as were two of the chairs around the kitchen table. The papers that were neatly stacked on the coffee table before I left were strewn across the floor. I stopped breathing when I noticed Sydney's purse. It was on the floor, its contents everywhere. One of her oldest decks of tarot cards lay on the counter, bent and torn. After a quick scan, I noticed something was missing from its usual contents: her phone.

I rushed to my purse, which I had dropped just inside the door. I dug my phone out and dialed her number. It didn't even ring, it just went straight to voicemail. Tears were falling again as my heart pounded. "Dammit!" I scrolled through my contacts and dialed David's number. Again, straight to voicemail. Maybe he wasn't awake yet. I hesitated to dial the last number, my last glimmer of hope. I had promised him that I wouldn't keep dragging him into this type of thing, but I needed him again. I dialed Moose's cell. Thank God, it was ringing.

My heart stopped when a voice came over the other line. It wasn't Moose's voice. "Why Sloane, _mi querida_. Just the woman I'm looking for," Filipe said in his annoyingly smug accent.

"Where are Sydney and Mustafa?" I asked, trying to keep my voice strong.

"Oh, they are here. You will be glad to know I finally learned your talent. I must say, you can be a convincing liar."

I ignored the second part of his comment, focusing on Sydney and Moose. "Let my friends go," I said.

"_Mi mariposa_, you know better than that. I will require something in return."

I was afraid of that. "I'm not giving you anything until I know that they're OK."

I waited as there was shuffling. "Sloane?" Sydney asked.

"I am so sorry, hun. Are you OK?"

"Yea, we're fine. Don't do…" There was a loud smack followed quickly by a yelp on the other line.

"Now we negotiate. What will you give me in return for your dear friends?"

I needed time. Or, more appropriately, David needed time to wake up. "What makes you think I'd give you anything?"

"Do your friends mean nothing to you? In that case, I may as well have them for dinner. Or maybe I will keep the blonde for dessert."

"No!" I yelled. "What do you want?"

"_Mi amor_, I only want you."

"OK," I agreed. My heart sunk. I took a deep breath. "Where do I meet you?"

"Radisson Hotel, room 519. Come alone." I hung up the phone and rushed into the kitchen. I needed to leave David a note so when he woke up, he could find me faster. I grabbed a pen and flipped one of Sydney's tarot cards over.

_Help. Radisson Hotel, Rm 519_

I cleared all the tarot cards except my note off the island countertop, shoved my phone in my back pocket, and rushed out the door.

.

I wasn't even entirely sure I shifted the car into park before I hopped out and ran into the lobby and toward the elevator bank. The valet yelled after me; I was apparently parked illegally, but I didn't care. I continued to press the up button until the doors opened. Once I was in the elevator, I took a minute to breathe. I was terrified of what was ahead for me, but determined to save Sydney and Moose. This was my burden to bare, not theirs.

I grimly made my way down the hallway until I arrived outside door 519. The door opened before I could knock. "_Mi mariposa_," Filipe said. "So glad you made it."

Sydney and Moose were both tied to chairs sitting at the end of a king sized bed. Moose was gagged, but otherwise untouched. Sydney wasn't so lucky. She had what was sure to become a huge shiner on her eye. "We made a deal. I'm here, they get to go," I said as I inched my way around the room toward them.

"So I did." Filipe nodded toward Victor, who quickly released both Sydney and Moose. "Should you try to mount a rescue, I will kill her then come for both of you," Filipe said to the two of them. Moose was fuming while Sydney was crying.

"Don't do this," Sydney said as she ran toward me, pulling my into a deep hug.

"It's OK," I said, soothing her. "Don't try anything stupid, OK? Promise me." She nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too, Pony."

I let her go before I started crying too and moved on to Moose. "You, too. Nothing stupid, OK?"

He pulled me into his arms. "I'll try."

I reached up and kissed his neck, putting my lips close enough to his ear to deliver a private message that only he could hear. "Take care of her." He nodded as Victor forced both of them out of the room and slammed the door.

I was alone with Filipe, which terrified me. He strolled towards me with a pleased, victorious look on his face. I backed away until I felt David wake, when I doubled over with his pain. "Ah, I take it that the coward king is awake?"

It felt like barbed wire was wrapped around and in my entire body. "What did you do to him?"

"That is not important." He lifted me upright and roughly set me on the edge of the bed.

I wrapped my right arm, the casted arm, around my torso. "It's important to me."

He gripped me by the throat. "From now on, the only things you should be concerned with are those things that are important to me." I gurgled until he let me go, thrusting me back onto the bed in the process. "You will learn."

I scooched away from him until I climbed off the other side of the bed. "Whatever you think you are going to get from me, you're not."

He circled the bed in a blink of an eye, all the sudden standing way too close to me for comfort. "I beg to differ," he said. He placed a strong hand on the small of my back and pressed himself into me. I leaned back as far as I could, twisting my body so I could get away from him as much as I could. "I do not need your cooperation to get what I want, at least not for my immediate needs."

I yelped as he ripped the neck of my sweatshirt, exposing my neck and most of the chest. "What the hell do you want from me?" I asked as he buried his face in my neck. "If you want to kill me, just get it over with."

I stumbled backwards when he let go of me as he laughed. "No, no. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so in front of your friends. I have other activities in mind for you."

I got a mental glimpse of what he had in mind. I was in the same opulent, golden room I had seen earlier, looking at myself in the mirrored armoire. I was pale and looked like I hadn't eaten in days as I lay haphazardly on the end of the bed. The bones of my cheeks and chest protruded from skin that hung loosely over them. My hair trailed across the bed in a ratty mess. I was in a red barely-there dress that looked as if I had been dressed in it for days, the neckline low enough to show several sets of unhealed fang marks. The most haunting part of the vision, however, was my eyes. They were deep and hallow, surrounded by bags so deep and dark they looked as if they might almost be matching black eyes. Only the fact that they weren't swollen told me otherwise. When Filipe burst in the door, I didn't even move. I couldn't. I closed my eyes as he picked me up and threw me on to my back. The bed creaked and compressed as he crawled over me and lifted my skirt.

I wanted the vision to stop. I knew what he wanted from me; I didn't need to see any more. "You don't want me, you just want my body," I said as I struggled to crawl away from him. I was working my way toward the room door, hoping that if I could just open it and scream, someone would come to help me.

"It is true that I want your body, but that is not all. You will be my new fortune teller." He stalked toward me, slowly watching my every move.

"I won't tell you anything."

He was about to impress upon me how I will tell him everything when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Filipe said.

I looked up, expecting to see Victor back from escorting Sydney and Moose out. That wasn't it. My heart skipped a beat.


	66. Chapter 66

Eric Northman looked down at me. Surprise fluttered across his face for a split second before recovering. "I am ready, my King."

Filipe was as happy as a drunk on St. Patty's day. "Good. We will be there in a moment." Eric bowed deeply before turning on his heels and leaving, not even giving me another glance. So much for being there to protect me.

Filipe picked me up off the floor by my upper arm and threw me into the bathroom and shut the door. "Change into the dress," he said as he shut me in there.

Hanging from the shower rail was a white garment bag. I opened it up to find a full length wedding gown. It was strapless, with a fitted bodice and a God-awful skirt made tulle. Behind it was a black and red robe. While not stylish, it was better than the dress. "It's not really my style," I said after locking myself in the room.

"I prefer not to see my bride before our wedding day, but I will change you forcefully should I need to."

I stammered. What the hell was he thinking? "I'm not marrying you." I started rooting through drawers, trying to find anything I could use against him as a weapon. Unless vampires were allergic to ginger shampoo, I had absolutely no options.

"You will."

"It's not even legal in Michigan, you idiot."

"We are not technically marrying in Michigan. I will file the paperwork in Louisiana." Louisiana, along with Vermont and Massachusetts, was one of the only states that allowed marriages between vampires and humans.

"That's illegal." I needed more time. There must be some way for me to get out of this.

"I do not much care. Now change."

I tucked David's pain as far away as I could. I pulled what was left of my sweatshirt off before thinking to look at the size of the dress. It was a size two, which in regular clothes would be a little big, but when it came to wedding dresses, was probably way too small. "I don't know if it will fit."

"NOW!" he yelled.

I stripped off my jeans and bra before unhooking the dress from its hanger. The back was corset style, which would help in the fitting department, but meant I couldn't get into it alone. I pulled it up enough to cover myself. "I can't tie the back by myself."

He sighed. Good, I was getting on his nerves. "I will send in help."

A minute later, there was a knock on the door. Hesitantly, I unlocked and opened it just a crack. Eric was standing on the other side, amused eyebrow raised. I opened the door fully and let him inside before shutting and locking it again. I opened my mouth to speak, but he held a finger up to his lips. I nodded. Don't say anything stupid; message received. "You need to lace up my back, but me careful. I have broken ribs."

He carefully laced the ribbon up before tightening it at all. "Please tell me if it is too tight." He laced it tightly, which didn't bother me until he got to my ribs. I gasped and clutched at my side when he jerked just a little too hard. Without a word, he loosened it, keeping that amount of tension in mind as he finished lacing me up. "You look lovely," he said.

I rolled my eyes. I looked like a ballerina's wet dream. "I look ridiculous." I turned to face him, forcing him to look me in the eye. I didn't feel that I needed to say anything; he knew what I wanted. I wanted help. I wanted to get out of here. I absolutely did _not_ want to marry Filipe.

"Trust me?" he mouthed. I shook my head no. I had trusted him up until the moment he bit me. Now I wasn't quite sure. "Smart girl," he said. He leaned in, pretending to give me a kiss on the cheek. "I will find a way to protect you," he breathed into my ear.

"Is she ready yet? I grow impatient." I jumped when I heard Filipe's voice on the other side of the door.

"Yes," Eric answered without opening the door. "Would you like to see her now or shall I walk her down the aisle?"

"Walk her down the aisle. I will be waiting."

Eric peeked his head out the door to make sure that Filipe had gone. When he deemed it safe, he opened the door for me. The room was empty. "What's the plan?" I whispered.

"You get married," he answered, face straight and contemplating.

I backed away from him as I shook my head no. "I don't want to. No. I'm not going to."

"You will," he said as he reached out to get me. All the training Lee had given me kicked in, finally. I cringed as I blocked his arm with my broken one. Muscle memory took over from there. I stomped on his foot before bringing my knee up to his groin, finishing with an elbow to the face. In a split second, he was on the floor while I stood staring down at him. Now what?

He recovered quickly, standing to his full height in front of me. He wiped a small trickle of blood away from his cheek and licked it from his finger. Ew. I started backing away from him again. "Stop or I'll do that again."

"I do not think you could get the drop on me again, as they say." I swung to punch him, but before I knew it, my back was strapped to his chest, my feet dangling a foot above the ground. He held a hand over my mouth, stopping me from screaming bloody murder. "I will not let him hurt you, but you must buy me time to formulate a plan," he whispered into my hair. I nodded. I could do that for now, I guess. I had no choice but to trust him. I was smarter than to get my hopes up, though. If I saw an exit, I was taking it. "Perhaps for appearances sake, you should fight me as I drag you in to your doom." I could see the smile spread across his face in the mirror. I kicked a bare foot back, connecting with his shin. "Good."

I screamed as much as I could as I flailed in Eric's arms. He carried me into another hotel room just a few doors down, but this wasn't set up as any regular hotel room. There was no bed, no dresser, only a small table with a few items on it: a piece of paper, a pen, a goblet, and an elegantly decorated knife. When I saw the knife, I started fighting harder. "She is quite feisty, my King," Eric said as he dropped me to my knees at Filipe's feet.

As soon as I hit the ground I started crawling. I didn't make it far, however, until my head snapped back. Filipe had a hold of my hair. "Let go of me, you fucking dickweed!" I yelled. I grabbed at his wrist as I kicked toward him. Now I was fighting for real. He snapped my head back and lifted me off the ground, bringing me nose to nose with him. "I suggest you cooperate, _mi mariposa_." The hell I would. I spit in his face. "Shall I bring your dear friend, the blonde one, back? She could take your place."

I stopped fighting immediately as my eyes went wide. I shook my head no. "Excellent choice. You shall pay for your insolence later." He didn't let go of my hair, but he did turn my head so I was facing Eric. "Continue," he said to Eric.

Eric thrust the sheet of paper in my direction. "This is your marriage license. It outlines your responsibilities to him. Read it, and if you agree, sign it." I didn't read it, I just signed it. I'd rather know as little as possible at this point.

"Stay," Filipe said to me. When I didn't fight, he let go of my hair so he could use both of his hands to sign the contract.

Once the paperwork was signed to his liking, he produced the knife and the goblet, handing both to Filipe. "Each of you will spill blood into this chalice. Once you both have sipped each other's blood, you are wed."

My knees went weak. "I don't do blood, Filipe." I placed a steadying hand on the table. He ignored me, and I watched in terror and disgust as he slit his wrist with the knife. Thick, curdled blood flowed from the wound into the cup. My stomach turned. "I need to sit down," I said weakly as I lowered myself to the floor. I brought my knees up to my head, sinking my head below them into layers of taffeta and taking deep breaths to overcome the lightheaded nausea that was taking me over. I couldn't faint now. I needed to fight.

"Stand," Filipe ordered. I shook my head no. He didn't like the word no. He grabbed my wrist, and after yanking me to my feet, he slit my own wrist. That was more than I could handle. I fainted.

.

Cold water was dripping on my face. Fearfully, I opened my eyes. Filipe was leaning over me as I lay on a bed, squeezing the contents of a wet washcloth onto my face. "I did not figure you to be a wallflower, My Sloane," he said.

It wasn't until I tried to push him away that I realized I was almost naked. "What the fuck?" I said as I pulled the comforter over myself. Filipe had stripped the ugly dress off of me, leaving me in the panties I was wearing under it. I struggled to scooch off the other side of the bed while light headed and while holding the comforter around me.

He smirked. "My dearest, we are married now. There is no need to be shy about your body." At vampire speed, he moved across the bed and stood in front of me. He ripped the blanket from my grasp, tossing it across the room as if it weighed no more than a t-shirt. Before I could turn and run, he back handed me and I fell to the ground. "You are not to disrespect me for any reason." I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled toward the door, but again, he caught me before I could make any progress. He grabbed my broken arm and swung me around, bending me over the bed. I screamed as he produced a small whip. He struck me once across the butt and I screamed, then screamed again when he hit me for a second time. The third time, I didn't scream anymore. I whimpered as he hit me a total of ten times and I could feel blood trickling down the back of my legs. When he was done and I was sobbing, he lifted me gently into his arms and set me on my side on the bed. "Now, I have work to do, darling, I should be back soon." He pulled a suit jacket from the back of a chair and walked out of the room.

Once the pain subsided enough for me to pseudo function, I crawled off the bed, landing in a thud on the floor. I opened the bedside table, nothing. I crawled across the floor to the suitcase stand and toppled it to the ground, spilling things everywhere. I rooted through the contents, throwing things across the room once I deemed them useless. There was nothing in there but shirts, tightie-whities, socks, and belts. I crawled around the suitcase to another bag sitting in the corner, no longer crying in pain but in frustration. I opened the small duffel bag and spilled its contents on the floor was well. At first, I didn't understand what I was seeing. Lots of leather and metal. It wasn't until I found the dog collar I had seen before in my vision that I understood. This was his personal bag of goodies. A lamp came tumbling to the ground when I threw the empty duffel bag at across the room. Now not only was I in pain and frustrated, I was terrified.

I continued to crawl across the room until I got to the closets. Nothing but suits in there. I tried making it back into the bathroom; at least I could lock myself in there, but I couldn't get that far. The pain that started on my tailbone and radiated both up my torso and down my legs combined with David's pain than manifested itself all over my body to be more than I could bare. I collapsed onto my side as I stretched my hand out, just barely being able to grasp the corner of the comforter Filipe had thrown. I pulled the comforter over myself and curled up on the floor.

.

My pain had started to subside slightly when Filipe came back in, but David's had not. If anything, it was getting stronger to the point that left me curled up in a ball on the floor not because I wanted to but because I had to.

He took one look at the disaster zone that was now his room. "_Mi mariposa_," he said. "What exactly where you looking for?"

"Something to kill you with," I said.

"Did you find anything useful?" he asked as he squatted next to me. I shook my head no. "Of course not." He tore the blanket off me before lifting me off the floor. I pushed against him as a feeble attempt to fight him; he had no trouble ignoring my attempts. I yelped when he dropped me on my back on the bed and climbed over me.

"No," I said as he straddled me and unbuttoned his shirt. "Get off me!" I threw a punch when his arms were otherwise occupied with taking off his shirt. He recovered, dodging my attempt, then pinning my hands above my head.

I struggled against him. He consolidated my hands, pinning them both with one of his hands so he could fondle me with the other. I screamed as he touched my breast. "Quiet!" he yelled above me. I started shaking my head violently when he gagged me, trying to shake his hand off.

He didn't like that one bit. He jerked my head to the side, and without disguising any of the pain, tore into the flesh at my neck. I groaned weakly as he pulled deep throatfuls. I was getting weaker by the second.

He knew exactly when to quit. I was too weak to fight him but aware enough to know everything he was doing to me. When he was satisfied that I wasn't going to try anything, he stood and started to unbuckle his pants. Just like my vision told me I should, I closed my eyes.


	67. Chapter 67

****I was going to release this tomorrow, but couldn't keep you waiting. Keep those awesome reviews coming!****

I peeled my eyes open to the sound of a battle cry. Filipe was standing at the foot of the bed, shocked look on his face. A bloody stake protruded from his chest. I took all of this information in in the time it took him to blink. Once Filipe folded to the floor, I could see Eric standing behind him. _Thank God,_ I thought to myself. Eric lifted Filipe's flaking body from the floor and carried him into the bathroom.

I was losing time. Eric was back faster than I could process. "O'Hara will have my fangs for this," Eric said as he spread the comforter over my almost naked body.

Filipe had obviously stopped feeding, but I still felt like I was getting weaker and weaker. "I won't let him," I whispered as my eyes struggled to close on me again.

"You are still bleeding." He hesitated before leaning down and licking the wound clean, effectively stopping the bleeding. "Can you move?" I rolled onto my side. That was about the extent of my abilities at the moment.

"Where's David?" I whispered.

"I do not know," he said as he speed dialed the phone. "Please send up some iron pills and a protein drink," he said into the receiver. "Yes, room 519." As soon as he hung up the receiver, he went straight to fixing the room. He piled all of Filipe's clothes back in the suitcase, righted the lamp, and put all his toys back in the duffel bag, and shut the bathroom door. Just like that, this horrible room looked so normal. He stripped off his black loafers and black t-shirt and lay on the other side if the bed in nothing but a pair of snug jeans. Oh, wow. He's pretty gorgeous. Really gorgeous. I couldn't stop looking at his 8 pack abs (when I could keep my eyes open).

"Open your eyes," he said. I wasn't even aware I had closed them, but at some point, I had. I pried them open when there was a knock at the door and I felt Eric jump off the bed.

"I have the items you requested," said the middle aged receptionist dressed in a cheap suit. He peeked his head around Eric and looked at me. "Miss," he said as a greeting. "Would you like me to call the doctor?"

I shook my head no.

Eric popped the top on the protein drink and set it on the nightstand. "I forget how small she is sometimes. It's so easy to take too much." He gave a fangy smile, which caused the receptionist to shudder.

The mousy man recovered and nodded before bowing to Eric. "Don't hesitate to call down if you need anything else."

"Yes," Eric said as he shut the door. He locked it from the inside before lifting me into a sitting position and handing me the chalky drink. "Drink this."

I chugged it down. My eyes closed again as Eric laid me back down, and this time I wasn't able to open them again.

.

"David's hurt, I think," I said when I opened my eyes. I was feeling stronger every second, but not nearly my usual.

Eric jolted out of down time. "I will find him." He was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard, hands propped behind his head.

He handed me an iron pill and grabbed me a glass of water almost instantaneously. "How?"

"You will guide me to him."

I handed the pill back to him. "I'd rather lick a penny." I took the water and chugged it down.

"You are anemic."

"I'm always anemic."

He could tell I was _me_ again. He reached behind him, producing a pile of clothes that consisted of my jeans and bra. Damn, I was literally always losing my shirt. I spend more time in other people's clothes…why do I even buy any of my own? Eric stood to leave the room so I could get dressed in piece. "No," I said before he could pull the twisted door handle. "Can you just stay in here? Just…close your eyes or something." I had only wanted some quality me time all week and once I was finally going to get it, I didn't want it anymore. I couldn't stand to be alone.

He sighed, but closed his eyes. "You can be more infuriating and absurd than Sookie."

"You better hope I don't tell her that." I hooked my bra then laid on my back and quickly pulled up my jeans, wincing as the waistband brushed against the marks on my backside. "OK, you can look."

He opened his eyes then quickly diverted them. I still wasn't wearing a shirt. "I could not find your top."

I glanced around the room. Damn. I really didn't want to be that close to anything of Filipe's, but I didn't think I had a choice. "Just hand me one of his."

He tossed me one of the several white button downs and I pulled it on. "We should go," he said. "Victor Madden was the only of DeCastro's entourage I could not find quickly; I do not want to give him a chance to surprise us."

Victor. Last I saw, he was forcing Sydney and Moose out the door. "My phone," I said as I slowly pushed myself to my feet. I wasn't as stable as I'd like to be, so I sat back down on the bed. "Where's my phone? And my keys?"

"Where did you leave them?" he asked. He was so eager to get out of this hotel that he was almost buzzing.

"My phone was in my back pocket. My keys were in my sweatshirt pouch."

Eric zoomed into the bathroom, careful to shut the door behind him, the reemerged with both. "We should go."

I took my phone and shoved it in my back pocket, leaving him with my keys. "OK," I said as I outstretched my hand. "Help me up." He took my hand, steadying me once I was on my feet. "I left my car out front." I instantly caught myself. "I mean your car."

It was obvious to both of us I wasn't stable enough to walk too far a distance on my own. Eric laced an arm around my waist and pulled me out the door.

.

"Relax and focus on David. You can track him just like he can track you." We were sitting in the Mustang, engine purring idly as we sat stopped at a red light. "Are you focusing?" I finished my text message assuring both Sydney and Moose that I was OK before shoving my phone back in my pocket.

I wanted to slap him. "You're making it hard," I said, my eyes now closed. I took a deep cleansing breath and tried again. I could still feel his pain, so I used that to hone in on him.

"Keep going," I said as I pointed forward. I subconsciously wrapped my arm around my middle again as I could start to feel more and more of his pain. I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter as he spun the tires, shooting us forward at what I was sure were Indy 500 speeds. "Slow down, you're making me nervous."

I could hear him grit his teeth as he pulled his foot off the gas. I opened my eyes when I thought it might be safe, but we were still careening down a busy street 20 miles per hour faster than anyone else. We were heading east, away from Downtown Lansing and toward East Lansing. "Are we getting closer?"

David's pain was getting worse, but I didn't really know what that meant. Was he really just in more pain? Or was I just focusing on it more? Or were we actually getting closer? "I think so."

The farther east Eric drove, the worse I felt, until I was curled in a ball and borderline hyperventilating to control it. "Stop," I whispered. Eric slammed on the brakes in the middle of Grand River Avenue, causing a slew of cars to do the same behind us. "Turn right here," I said, as I directed him on to campus. As soon as we crossed over the Red Cedar River, I knew. "Park right there," I said, pointing to the small circular drive outside of East Holmes Hall, one of several dormitories on campus built in the 60's. I thrust myself out of the car and toward the building, but instead of going in it, I circled around it toward the Sanford Natural Area between it and the river. A fence delineated the difference between developed and natural area. I couldn't remember where the opening of the fence was. I glanced down each side of the fence, looking for breaks, but it was dark and I couldn't see one. "We need to get over."

Eric lifted me into his arms and easily jumped the fence in just one bound before putting me back on my feet. As soon as I was free, I started to run…well, stumble…toward where I felt David. The pain was so bad that I couldn't stand up straight, instead I ran crouched over myself, grasping anything and everything in my path for support. I weaved through trees and fallen logs until I made it to the riverbank, where I dropped to my hands and knees. "He's in there," I said as I pointed a shaky finger toward the river. "Under the bridge."

"Stay here," he said as he pulled his shirt over his head and toed his shoes off. "I will get him." He tossed his shirt to the side before diving into the river. There was no light except the periodic headlights of a car that passed several yards above us, and in the grimy water, he was gone instantly. I waited, tortured by David's pain, for what felt like hours for him to return. I wasn't expecting him to surface more like a dolphin, shooting out of the surface of the water as he awkwardly carried a large box. He set it down next to me. The wooden box was covered in silver chain, which was padlocked shut. Eric tore the cheaper padlock from the chain, but left me to unravel it. "There were four more," he said just before diving back into the water. Clumsily, I pulled the broken chains away and searched the box for some type of opening latch. I didn't see one. The entire thing was nailed shut.

All I could do was wait. I curled into a ball and take deep breath to type and stem the pain, but it wasn't helping. My heart ached for David; if I was in this much pain, I didn't even want to think about the pain that he must be in. "They're nailed shut," I said when Eric reemerged, pulling two more large boxes from the water. I crawled toward them as he ripped the padlocks free again so I could unwrap them.

"This one first," he said, pointing to the box farthest from me. "It is the lightest; it should be your Queen."

"She isn't my queen," I said as a reflex as I unwrapped the silver chains. Before I was to a safe distance, Eric bulldozed his way into the box, sending spent nails everywhere.

I looked in the box as Eric did the same to the only other free box. It was Emma's; she was lying in there, sopping wet and translucently pale with more silver chain wrapped around her torso. The worst part was her eyes. Wide open and full of pain. "Unwrap me quickly," she said through gritted teeth.

I struggled to help her into a sitting position so I could pull the chains free. She was trying very hard for my sake not to scream out in pain. It didn't help, though. Tears still started to fall from my eyes. "Filipe's dead," I said once I managed to completely unwrap her. I could see areas where there was no buffer between the silver and her skin where the silver had scorched into her skin.

"Good." She stood gracefully and moved farther up the bank. I crawled toward the trapped box and cleared the silver away before moving to the other open casket. Inside was Idriis. "Do your ribs still bother you?" Emma asked as I unwrapped a silent, furious Idriis.

"No," I said. Eric pulled the two remaining coffins from the water. "Not my ribs." We followed the same procedure, Eric and now Idriis doing the heavy lifting which left me to touch the silver. "This one first," I said. I could just tell David was in there. Eric popped the lock and I quickly brushed the silver chains away.

David was in worse shape than his sister, that's for sure. Silver was wrapped around his torso, just like Emma, but he had more. Several long silver rods protruded from his bare chest and stomach. This must be Filipe's sick form of revenge. Maybe he even tortured David knowing that it would also torture me. To him, David was just another pawn in his quest to control me. David's eyes were closed, and for a split second, I feared the worst. I brushed his wet hair from his forehead. "My love," he breathed as a painful smile crossed his face.

"I'm here," I answered. "I'm going to get you out." I turned to Eric, who was the only vampire who seemed not to be busy. Emma was busy painfully freeing Lee, and Idriis was doing the same with his brother. "Lift him up," I said. Eric supported him by his neck and pulled him into a sitting position.

I whimpered in pain as I pulled the silver from his burnt skin. Luckily for me, David was too weak to respond much. I don't know if I would be able to do it if I had to look at the pain in his face when I did. It was like pulling off a band aid; it felt horrible while I did it, but better once it was off. But it was just the tip of the iceberg. I was still crouched in pain, holding my arm to my stomach for support.

Eric lifted him free of the box and laid him on his back in the damp sand. "I will get blood," he said before completely disappearing faster than my eyes could track. I couldn't have even told you if he went left, right, or up.

"You have to pull them out or he will get blood poisoning," Emma said as she stood behind me.

I crawled over to David. This was going to hurt a lot. I leaned over him and kissed his forehead. "I'm sorry," I said. I reached down and without looking I yanked one of the rods out. David groaned; I tried as hard as I could not to let out a blood curdling scream. I was not at all successful. I collapsed onto my side, still in a ball, resting my head against David's bare shoulder. Weakly, I reached down, and one by one, pulled the rods out until there weren't any left, letting out more screams as I did. "Is he OK?" I asked Emma after rolling off of David's shoulder and onto my back in the damp sand. The pain was starting to subside, maybe just a little too fast.

Emma kneeled at his other side and intertwined her fingers with his. "He needs blood, now."

That was my cue. I leaned over him again, placing one hand on either side of his face. "David, can you hear me?" He nodded almost imperceptibly. "Don't take too much, OK? But if you do, don't turn me. Understand?" He nodded again. "OK, and be gentle," I said as I lowered my neck so it hovered just about David's mouth. Without any delay, he bit.

I had come full circle; I was right back to feeling weak. David seemed almost instantly stronger, sitting up slowly, but on his own. David awkwardly rolled me into his lap when he retracted his fangs. "Sister, Brother, you are well?" he said.

"We are," Emma said as she sat next to him, Lee standing behind her.

"And you, Idriis, Idi? Trusted friends?"

"Present," Idriis said.

"And my love," he said as he looked down at me. He gently brushed my hair from my face as he held me.

I may be weak, but I could still grab his hand. "Hi."

"How are you?" He caressed my face with his other hand.

"I've had better days."

He smiled. "I want you to tell me about it, but first, I must get you out of the cold." He tried to lift me, but he wasn't strong enough for that yet.

"King O'Hara," Eric said. He startled me; I had no idea he had been standing right behind me. Eric bowed low before handing him an already opened TrueBlood. "My strongest apologies."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Eric." David downed the entire thing in just a few gulps then handed the empty to Idi, who was nursing his own TrueBlood.

"We shall see," Eric said as he lifted me out of David's lap.

Emma helped David to his feet and she and Lee helped him toward the car, one supporting each side. I could hear Idriis's and Idi's crunching footsteps follow not far behind. "Explain," David said to Eric.

"She and Filipe were married before he was killed. She is now the legal heir of his kingdom."


	68. Chapter 68

Eric sat me in David's lap in the front seat of the Mustang for the short drive from campus to David's condo. It wasn't all that cold outside and someone had turned the heat on in the Mustang on full blast, but I was still freezing. David was wet and borderline frozen, and without his own body heat, he was stealing most of mine. "I d-d-don't want-t t-to inher-rit anyth-thing."

David was rubbing his hands up and down my arms, but it wasn't nearly enough. "Has he filed with the council yet?"

"He petitioned to have her made his ward yesterday, but I have not filed the marriage contract with the State of Louisiana yet," Eric answered.

Eric was driving almost grandma slow in an effort to calm me down. "Drive fast-ter, I'm-m freez-zing-g."

"You are an insufferable woman," he said under his breath.

"Careful, Northman," Emma said. She was sitting on Lee's lap in the back of the car between Idi and Idriis. "My dearest brother is not the only one in the car who cares deeply for that 'insufferable woman'." She patted me on the arm in a show of support.

"I apologize," Eric said again.

David pulled me into his body even tighter after finishing his fourth TrueBlood. "I trust you're not planning on filing the contract?"

"No," Eric said as he pulled up out front of David's building. "But she is still technically the reigning Queen of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Nevada. As much as it pains me to say it, she is my Queen."

I giggled between bursts of shivers. "Maybe-be I lik-ke th-this."

David pulled me out of the car. "I c-can w-w-walk," I said as he struggled to carry me. He looked relieved; he set me down on my feet, keeping an arm around my waist. I wasn't sure who was helping who into the building.

"The fact remains. She is the last barrier between Victor Madden and DeCastro's kingdom," Eric said as David unlocked his door. His place looked much like what I came home to just a few hours earlier: a complete mess. Papers were everywhere; broken glass from toppled picture frames covered the entrance hall. I tread lightly, not trusting my thin flip flops to protect my feet. _I already had glass in my feet once_, I thought to myself. Surprisingly, the twang in my heart I expected to feel didn't come.

David lifted me off my feet, carrying me across the field of glass and setting me down on the other side. The vampires had started a super fast, super low conversation, obviously in an effort to keep me out of the loop, so I didn't even try to listen. I curled into the armchair in the corner and pulled my phone out of my pocket. David wrapped a blanket around my body, tucking it completely around me as I dialed Sydney's number. "Hi. See, everything's fine."

"Pony!" I could hear something crash to floor in the background. "Oops, ow," she said to herself. "Where are you?"

"David's. When did you last see Victor?" All of the vampires stopped talking and turned towards me, silently waiting.

"I don't know, he 'escorted' us out of the hotel and then I woke up on the porch." She sounded far less than happy.

"OK, don't know when I'll be home."

"Wait, wait," she said before I could hang up. "So, what happened?"

"I'll tell you all about it later. I have to call Moose, let him know I'm OK."

"Oh, he's here, trying to pry the phone from my hands." That would be something only Sydney would forget to tell me.

"Can I talk to him, please?"

"Mac," Moose said. "Where are you? Are you OK?"

"I'm OK, I'm at David's. Do you know where Victor is?"

"No, I have the same story as Syd."

I yawned as my stomach growled. "OK, thanks."

"Mac?"

"Yea…"

"I'm really sorry about this morning."

I looked down, away from the vampires that were undoubtedly listening in on this conversation. I wasn't sure why that hurt quite so much. I quickly wiped a stray tear away. "I know. Gotta go." I hung up before he could say another word.

When I was fairly sure I wasn't going to start crying, I looked up. "So I'm Queen?" Eric and David both nodded yes. "And what I say goes, no matter what it is?" They both nodded yes again, David raising a suspicious eyebrow. "What do I…own…run…again?" I wasn't sure exactly what I did at this point.

Eric answered me. "Nevada, Louisiana, and Arkansas." Louisiana and Arkansas made sense, they were right next to each other, but Navada was way out in the middle of nowhere. That made no sense at all. Must be a logistical nightmare.

"Idi, Idriis, will you please get Sloane something to eat?" David asked. The two nodded and quickly disappeared out the door.

Once they were gone, I asked the obvious question. "Well, this seems stupid to me on so many levels. How often does it happen where a vampire dies and leaves their power to a human?"

"Rarely," Emma said. "But it has happened before."

I fidgeted in my chair. The whip marks had been the least of my worries before, but now that David's pain had subsided and I wasn't afraid for my life, they were coming back to haunt me. "What happens to the humans?" I asked. I was fairly sure that I knew that gruesome answer.

Eric looked to David for permission to answer that question. "They do not last long." I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to expound on that obvious statement. Vampires didn't do well with taking orders from humans, I could only imagine what happened to the human was less than pleasant. "When there is no clear ascension to the throne, infighting starts among the higher ranking vampires. Most often, the human is killed by the second, who then ascends to the throne."

"Which in this case would be…?" I asked, also knowing this answer. I needed to hear it.

"Victor Madden," Eric said.

I fidgeted again, moving from hip to hip to try and manage the pain. "If you take out Victor?"

"Whoever kills you ascends to the throne. It becomes an 'open season' of sorts."

The pain was starting to really bother me. I stood and wrapped the blanket David had laid over me around my shoulders. "Great. Emma, can I see you in the bedroom?" She nodded and fell in step behind me. Before I closed the bedroom door, I turned back and looked David in the eye. "No eavesdropping, for any of you."

I closed the door and dropped the blanket. "What is it?" Emma asked.

I peeled off Filipe's shirt, and after shaking all of Filipe's creepiness off me, I pulled on one of the sweaters Emma had gotten for me. "I need something for pain that won't make me groggy and loopy."

"What kind of pain do you have?" she asked as she sat on the bed.

I shrugged. "My usual kind."

"Is this about your ribs? If you are still having pain in your ribs, I would like to order an X-ray."

I rolled me eyes. "You are obsessed with my ribs. No, it's not my ribs."

"I need to know what is causing you pain before I can prescribe anything." I turned and pulled down my jeans just enough to show most of his whip marks. She dropped to her knees to get a better look. "I assume these are from Filipe?" I nodded. When she stood, I painfully pulled my jeans and panties back up. "The only medication I can prescribe that I know for a fact will not cause drowsiness is vampire blood. Let David heal you."

I shook my head no. "No thanks, I'm not drinking any of that. Not to mention David's already weak; he shouldn't be donating any just to spare me some pain."

"He shouldn't, but he will, gladly." She sat on the bed. "And you would not be required to drink it. He could apply it topically."

I painfully lowered myself on the bed next to her. "Can't you just do it? I don't want David to know."

She smiled at me as she took my hand. "I am flattered, truly. I have thought of you as a sister for some time now, as well. But David has expressly forbid anyone else in the Kingdom from healing you, fearing you might inadvertently be forced into another bonding. I do not want to disobey that order without his permission."

"Any other options, then? How about Motrin 800?" I really needed some relief.

She sighed. "I could ask Patrick to prescribe some, I suppose, but there is no guarantee that it will not make you drowsy."

We sat in silence for a while. "You really think I should let David heal it?"

"I do."

"Is that your medical opinion, or are you just being a good sister?" I looked her in the eyes. Of all the vampires I knew, she was the worst at lying. You could just see it in her eyes.

"I do not understand why it cannot be both at the same time." She seemed sincere, but she didn't answer my question. I raised an eyebrow as I waited for my answer. She fidgeted. "David's blood will not just mask the pain but heal the problem. It will also prevent any scarring."

There was my answer. "Fine," I said. "I'll ask if he will. He's going to skin Eric alive, though." I pushed myself off the bed, Emma following.

"He might," she said as she walked out the door.

David, Lee, and Eric were standing in the middle of the kitchen, mid pow-wow. All three of them had their arms crossed as the discussed something in low tones. "David, can I see you?"

David nodded and gave his sister a questioning look as they passed each other. "Yes?" he asked as I shut the door.

Now it was my turn to fidget. "This is hard for me to ask, especially after what you've been through tonight."

"What is it you would like?"

"Um…" I wasn't exactly sure how to ask. "Do you think you could spare some…uh…stuff to heal me?" I looked at him, but he didn't seem to understand. "I mean, you don't have to, it's not going to kill me or anything, but it just really, really hurts and I don't want to take any of the Percecet because it makes me so loopy…." I was rambling now.

He held a finger to my mouth. "What is it you would like me to heal?"

My heart rate jumped into the stratosphere. I was not looking forward to his reaction. "Don't be mad, OK?" He nodded, so I turned and showed him the bloody marks.

I closed my eyes shut tightly as he looked at me. "Lie on your stomach," he said finally. I didn't know I was holding my breath, but I didn't let it out until he spoke. He didn't sound too mad.

I stripped off my jeans and lay on his bed, burying my head. I jumped as I felt his cold hands start to heal me. "You're still really cold."

"I apologize. Would you like me to warm my hands?"

"No," I said. "It feels kind of good, to me at least. Doesn't it bother you?"

"I have larger problems at the moment than my comfort."

"You should take a hot shower and change into some dry clothes."

"Perhaps I will. Care to join me?" he asked as he helped me back up to my feet. His eyes glinted as he smirked at me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I call first dibs on the shower." I needed to get the Filipe off of me. I was already mostly naked, so I just stripped off the sweater and my bra as I crossed the short distance to the bathroom. I turned to close the door behind me, but David was following so close behind that I bumped right into his wet chest.

He wrapped his wet arms around me before I could back away. "I was so worried about you."

"When?" I didn't reciprocate; I just pressed both of my hands lightly against his abs.

"Today. Tonight."

I pushed away from him so I could look him in the eye. "Someone pounded metal rods into you and you were worried about me?"

"Yes," he answered. I gave him one last questioning look before I turned away from him and started the water. I wasn't bothered by having him in the room with me. I didn't want to be alone anyway and with what he had gone through because of me, I was pretty sure I'd give him just about anything he wanted at the moment. The guilt was really starting to creep up, taking over the consciousness where my fear and pain had been. If it wasn't one thing, it's another.

I sat on the countertop and waited for the water to heat up. "You smell like wet dog." Actually, he smelled like grimy river water, but I wasn't going to tell him that. Wet dog was close enough.

His eyes shone as he gave me a sly grin. "After dating Mustafa, I thought you would like that sort of thing."

I couldn't help but laugh with him. "You're horrible," I mumbled with a grin as I stepped under the hot water. It felt so good; I stood under the water, just letting it stream over me for some time before I even opened my eyes.

I was soaping my hair for the second time when David asked, "How long are you going to be?"

"Very," I answered. I was scrubbing until I didn't feel Filipe all over me. Who knows how long that'd take.

"Your dinner is here. May I join you?" He made those two comments as if asking to join me in the shower carried as much weight as telling me dinner has arrived.

But I did feel bad. I was taking up all his hot water and his time. It wasn't fair for me to expect him to stand there in wet clothes, waiting for me to finish my shower. "I guess." At lightning speed, he had stripped naked and jumped in with me. "Sorry, I just need to get him off me."

"I understand." He gently pushed me farther under the stream and rinsed his own hair out.

"And I'm sorry for getting you into this mess."

He kissed my hair as he leaned into me to grab his shampoo. "No need to apologize."

When I lathered up to wash my skin for the fifth time, David reached around me and pulled the bar of soap from my hands. "You are not going have any skin left if you continue to scrub," he said. He turned me so I was facing him. He hungrily looked down at my body, his fangs popping down for a split second before he recovered and pulled them back up. "Is there something wrong?"

"I just need to get him off me." I grabbed the soap back from him. "One more time."

He grabbed it back from me patiently. "Is there something you need to talk about?" he asked me, concerned look in his eyes.

"No," I said as I reached for the soap.

I could feel how hard he was as he put himself between me and the soap. Usually my libido would be screaming at me by now, but I just couldn't take the thought of _anyone_ in me right now. I squeezed my eyes shut to try and banish that thought from my mind. "Eat first. There will be more hot water when you are done, and if you still feel unclean, you are more than welcome to use it."

I nodded as my stomach growled, eyes still shut. I could handle that. "Fine, what's for dinner?" I answered once I could open my eyes without risking a breakdown. He looked at me as if I asked him to describe the color mauve. "Nevermind," I said as I exited the shower. David grabbed the only towel on the rack and wrapped it around me before grabbing another from the linen closet for himself.

Dinner was two bags of fast food. It looked more like Idi and Idriis bought the amount of food that they as humans could eat, not someone half their size. I noticed they were no longer here. I didn't blame them though. It was just David, Eric, and I in the condo now. I assumed the rest of the vampires had gone home to shower, change, and recoup. Even Eric had stripped his now wet shirt off and piled his wet hair into a pony tail. He looked very uncomfortable in his wet jeans. "Holy crap," I said as I opened the bag. Chicken McNuggets, a Big Mac, three orders of fries and a Pepsi the size of my thigh. I started with the McNuggets, finishing those and starting in on one order of fries. I wiped my hands on the clean jeans I had thrown on in lieu of a napkin…there are just some things that vampires still forget. I finished half the order of fries before grabbing the Pepsi and moving to the couch, where I curled up with the blanket David had toted back out here.

"Have you contacted your bonded, Sookie, yet?" David asked Eric. I had gotten comfortable on the couch, and at this point I was just watching the conversation like a tennis match.

"I have, only to tell her that everything is fine."

I turned my attention back to David, who nodded. "And Pam?"

"I was just about to," Eric answered. He pulled his phone from his pocket and walked into the office.

I jerked awake when I noticed myself falling asleep. "It is four in the morning. Sleep," David said as patted my feet.

"I don't want to," I said after a deep yawn.

"Why not?" he asked.

"What if I have a vision? Or a nightmare? I can't handle that right now."

He picked me up and settled under me, laying me between his legs and against his chest. "I will be right here."

I pressed my cheek into his chest. "What if I wake up, and when I open my eyes, I'm right back in that hotel, and Filipe's still on top of me…"I whispered. I stopped as a tear ran down my cheek. I wiped it away quickly before it could fall onto David's shirt.

"I'll be the one that is there when you open your eyes." He started rubbing my back and breathing, both of which were my own personal sedatives.

"David?" I asked groggily.

"Yes, love?"

"Do you want your credit card back?"

"No; what is mine is yours. Feel free to use it as you see fit. Why do you ask?"

I shrugged as a large yawn escaped. My eyes closed involuntarily. "Thank you," I mumbled. "For everything."


	69. Chapter 69

****In honor of the somewhat childish chapter number, I wanted to fit some fantastic sex in this chapter. Alas, I just couldn't make it fit. Oh well.****

David was still holding me when I woke up. His arms were wrapped limply around me as we laid under the comforter in his king sized bed. I curled farther in to his bare chest for a second as I stretched out. He was true to his word; he was the one that was there when I woke up.

I laid in bed for a few more minutes before I forced myself to roll out and get dressed. When I finally made it into the kitchen, there was a 20 ounce Pepsi sitting on a note on the countertop.

_Sloane,_

_You are safe for the moment. I will be at your house at sunset to protect you tonight and every night until Victor is dead. Emma, Lee, and I will deal with your royal responsibilities until you can decide what you would like to do with them. _

_I am glad you are talking to me again; I missed you too much to bear. I wish you would allow me back into your bed and your heart, but I see you are not ready for that yet. When you are, I will be here._

_I love you_

_David_

I smiled and tucked the note into my back pocket. My keys and phone were both sitting on the table, so I shoved my phone into the other pocket, opened the Pepsi and walked out the door. I made sure to lock the door before I left, too. David would not be happy with me if left it unlocked the day after he was taken from his home in his sleep.

My first order of business once I was in my car was to figure out how to put the top down. That lovely river water smell had taken the entire night and most of the morning to really work its way into my car, and now it was almost unbearable. I stood, leaning against my car as I shuffled through the owner's manual. "You need some help?"

I jumped as the young man in mechanic's overalls approached. He immediately put me on edge. I was quickly learning not to trust strangers. "No, thanks."

He pointed across the street to a small garage. "I saw you from my garage. If you're having car trouble, maybe I can help."

I shook my head and backed away slightly as he got closer. "No, just trying to figure out how to put the top down."

"Oh, there's a switch on the review mirror," he said as he leaned into the car and pushed the button for me. The top started to lower mechanically, quickly folding neatly into the back of the cab.

"Thanks," I said.

"Not a problem. New car?" he asked. He let me into the driver's seat, but leaned against the car so I couldn't drive away.

"Yea," I answered as I turned the ignition.

"Nice ride." He thrust a hand in my direction. "My name's Dhane."

I pointed at the patch on his onesie. "I know."

He finally got the hint. I wanted to get the hell out of there. "Well," he said as he pulled his hand back. "If you have any more problems, you know where to find me."

"Thanks again," I said as I shifted into drive. I practically peeled out of the parking lot before he was completely clear. I must have looked psychotic, but I didn't much care. Better safe than sorry.

.

Sydney's car was still in the drive when I drove up. When I walked in, Sydney was asleep on the couch. "Hey, hun," I said as I shook her awake. "Hey, wake up." I had to practically slap her to wake her up.

"Ah! What?" she said before she opened her eyes. "Sloane!" she said once she processed what she was seeing.

She threw her arms around me in a hug. "Hi. Shouldn't you be at the Handels'? It's past noon."

"What? No, it's my day off."

I pulled out of the hug. "OK, then go back to sleep."

"No," she said as she sat up. She stretched out her back. "What happened?"

I sat down next to her. Time for me to censor like crazy. "It's so ridiculous, you won't believe me." She just waited for me to explain. "Filipe made me marry him."

"What the hell?" she asked.

"I know, right?" I stood to get myself a Pepsi, giving myself an opportunity to lie through my teeth with Sydney seeing it. "He tried to get Eric to marry us. Eric did to buy some time, but then Eric staked him."

Sydney looked stricken. "Did he kiss you?"

"What? No." I put the 2-liter of Pepsi back in the fridge.

"Did he…touch you?"

I grimaced into my cup. "He tried."

She saw how that was a touchy subject, even though I tried to hide it. "OK. Well, I'm glad you're OK. Why didn't you come home last night?"

I guess I could tell her about that part. She wasn't prone to get overly concerned about David. "The O'Hara's didn't fare as well as I did. David needed me; they all did."

"I needed you. Moose needed you."

"I know, I'm sorry." She didn't seem to take my apology seriously. "Really, I am. I feel so guilty for dragging you into this."

She was just as frustrated with this as I was, but she was going to take it out on me. "What am I going to do, Sloane?" She was the only person I knew that could go from zero to pissed without any warning. "I can't be working with kids if this is going to keep happening. What if I had been with Alex and Carter yesterday?"

"I know, I'm sorry."

She shook her head and threw her hands into the air. "I don't know that you are," she yelled.

I just looked at her, shocked. How could she possibly think I wanted to be almost raped last night? How could she think that I wanted any of that? I sacrificed myself for her.

"I have errands to run," she said quietly. She grabbed her purse, and without another word, she was out the door.

I stood, stunned. She was right, though. She didn't deserve this; none of them did. I needed to call Jeanne.

"You've got Jeanne Ross."

"Jeanne, can you come to my place?"

"I've got a meeting in an hour and a grant proposal due tomorrow, Sloane, what's this about?"

I sighed. "I need some time off."

She didn't speak for a long time. "How much were you thinking?"

I hadn't thought that far in advance. "A month? Two? I don't know. I just need to get out of East Lansing for a while."

"OK, Sloane. You're ahead of schedule on your research anyway."

"Thanks," I said as I bounded up the stairs. "And don't tell anyone why I left, OK?"

"OK, Sloane. When are you leaving?"

"Today," I answered as I pulled out my suitcase. I pulled several weeks worth of clothes from my drawers and threw it in.

"Aren't you supposed to proctor finals next week?"

"I'll get someone to cover…again."

I could just see her in my mind's eye pacing the floor. "What's going on with you lately, Sloane? You used to be so together, almost too together."

I shrugged as I packed a dress (who knows, right?). "Well, I guess the pendulum swings."

"OK. Keep in touch. Where are you going?"

"Don't know yet."

.

I was standing at the kitchen counter, pen and paper in hand. I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't want to make her feel like she drove me out of the house, which was going to be difficult since she basically did. If I told her this was for her own safety, I'd just piss her off more. She and I both hated other people making decisions for us. When the cab honked its horn, I just jotted something down quick.

_I love you too much to put you in danger, so I left. Take care of my house while I'm gone._

Without even signing it, I grabbed my luggage and left the house. I left the key to my car on the note in case she needed to move it, but I doubted she would. It wasn't particularly in the way, and as long as I came back before it snowed again in the fall, there'd be no reason to move it.

"Where to?" the cabby asked me.

"Stadium District," I said, giving him directions to David's place. I clutched the note he'd written me in my hand. I felt horrible for leaving; it was going to break his heart. I needed him to understand, which is why I took the time to come out here and leave a note. "I'll be right back, keep the meter running."

When I let myself into the condo, everything was as it had been. I check on him in his room. He was still out cold, his arms out awkwardly flayed around the empty space where I had been. I unwound the scarf from my neck and tucked it in his hand before leaving a note on his countertop, too.

_David,_

_It's important to me that you understand I'm not running from you. Last night really put things in perspective for me; I can't keep putting the ones I love in danger, you included. I just need some time to get things right in my head. It's getting to be too much._

_I don't know where I'm going, but I'll call you when I get there. Please don't follow me. Not just yet, at least._

_I love you too. Thanks again._

_Sloane_

The cab was still idling just where it had been when I emerged. "OK, airport, please," I said as I crawled back into the backseat.

"You got it," the cabby said as we pulled out of the parking lot.

.

I stared at the departures board as I thumbed my passport in my pocket. "Can I help you?" asked the woman at the desk. She was waiting patiently for me to decide on something.

I stepped up to the desk. "Yea, I'd like to get out of here."

She stared at me for a second. "Where do you want to go?"

I shrugged. "Somewhere far away," I said as I set my passport on the countertop.

She gave me an inquisitive look before typing away on her computer. "How's London? I have a flight that leaves in half an hour to LaGuardia, then a 2 hour layover until a flight to London Heathrow airport, which should give you just enough time to get through customs."

"That's good," I said. I topped my passport with the black card David had given me.

She took my card and typed away. "I only have first class left on the New York to London flight."

"That's fine." She printed my ticket before taking my luggage from me.

"Have a nice flight," she said as I walked away.

.

I didn't call Moose until I was in New York. I had specifically turned my phone off as soon as I left the house to make it harder for someone to try and talk me out of this. When I turned my phone back on, I had several missed calls. Most of them were from Sydney, but a few were from Moose.

"Hey," I said as he picked up.

"Sydney is freaking out. She said you left?" He sounded a bit frantic himself.

"So I did. Can you proctor the final for me? It's Tuesday at ten."

"You really left?" he asked. He sounded like he didn't believe I would do something like that.

An announcement came over the loudspeaker broadcasting the boarding of my flight, so I covered my ear. "I did."

"Where did you go?"

"I'm not going to tell you," I said. That didn't sound right. "I mean, I'm not telling anyone. I don't want anyone to try and follow me or try and talk me out of it."

He sighed. "Mac, if this is because of what I said…"

"It's not," I asserted before he could finish his sentence. "I just…I need some time."

"When are you coming back?" he asked.

"Don't know."

"Please don't go, Sloane." He was begging, his heart in his throat.

A tear fell down my cheek. I didn't want to hurt him, which was precisely why I left. "Too late. Look, my flight is boarding. Once I get there, I'm turning off my phone for good. Look after Syd for me, please." Before he could answer, I hung up.

.

I had not planned this far ahead. I stood outside Heathrow airport late in the afternoon with my luggage behind me. "You need a ride?" a cabby asked.

His accent caught me off guard. "Uh, yea, sure."

He popped the trunk and raced out of the car to help me load it in. "Where to?"

"I don't know. Where do you think I should go?"

He craned his neck so he could look at me. "I don't know, I just drive. You tell me where I drive to. Got it?"

I grinned. I liked his approach to life. "Downtown's good."

"That's more like it," he said as he pulled away from the curb.

He dropped me off on a nondescript street corner in downtown London outside of an art supply store. Seems as good a hobby as any to take up. I walked inside, luggage and all, and browsed the store. After collecting a sketch pad and a set of pastels, I checked out and head down the street. It was a new feeling for me to be living purely from one moment to the next, but I was enjoying it. I sat down on a park bench and tried out my new hobby.

.

I had spent several hours trying to get the branches on the tree in front of me right on the page. I was finally getting close when I heard a voice. "Excuse me." I looked up towards the voice. A tall man with a curly halo of blond hair was standing in front of me, hands thrust in the front pockets of his jeans. His ratty t-shirt hung well on his broad shoulders, even through his shy stance. Beautiful blue eyes gazed down at me. I just looked at him and cocked an eyebrow. "Mind if I sit?"

"Go for it," I said as I went back to sketching.

"You're American," he said as he lowered himself onto the other side of the bench.

"I know." I erased the very tip of the branch and started that part all over again as he watched me in perplexed silence.

He looked over my shoulder subtly. "How long have you been drawing?" He was just trying to start a conversation, but I really wasn't in that much of a mood to chat at the moment.

"A couple of hours."

"No," he said as he laughed to himself. He had a striking white smile that could probably light up a room. It made him instantly likable. "I mean, like, throughout your life. How long did it take you to learn how to do that?"

"A couple of hours," I answered again.

"Wow." He sat next to me in silence as I continued to draw. It took me another hour or so, but I finally got the branch right. Satisfied, I closed the sketch book. "Can I buy you dinner?" I looked up at him quizzically. "You look like you could use the company."

"Do I?" I asked as I shoved the sketch book in my backpack. He nodded. "You don't even know me. What if I'm a serial killer?"

"Are you?"

I threw my backpack over my back and picked up my purse. "Feels like it sometimes."

"I'd like to hear the story behind that answer." He grabbed my luggage and pulled it behind him. _Go for it, Sloane,_ my head told me. I was getting kind of hungry, even though it was more my lunch time than dinner time, and I wasn't getting and bad psychic vibes off him. As far as I could tell, I was safe enough. I mean, he was just human.

I followed him mindlessly as I watched the sun set into a small bar called Glasglow's. "What brings you to London?" he asked in that lovely accent. Everything he said sounded so formal, even though he was wearing just a ratty old t-shirt and some jeans.

"An airplane."

He laughed again. "Everything's so literal with you."

I smiled. He was starting to break down my smart ass exterior. "It's only because I don't have an answer."

He thanked the waitress as she brought him another beer. "Nothing brought you here?"

"Nope," I said. "It was the first international flight out."

He looked surprised. "You just hopped on a plane, no destination in mind?"

"Yup." He was really easy to talk to.

"Lucky for me that you chose London."

I shrugged. "I didn't really choose it. I guess it chose me." I finished off the last of my ale and pushed my glass to the side of the table. The waitress silently asked if I wanted another, but I declined.

"I'm sorry, I don't even know your name," he said as he paid the bill and pulled his coat on.

"Sloane," I answered. I pulled my coat on as well and loaded myself back up with luggage.

"I'm Jack." He thrust a hand in my direction, and I took it. "Where are you staying? I'll drop you off." He pulled a set of keys from his pocket as we left the bar and unlocked a car just up the block.

I shrugged. "I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Any suggestions?"

"As it just so happens," he said, sly grin on his face. "I happen to run a small bed and breakfast that I thoroughly recommend."

I smirked up at him. "I take it you have vacancy?"

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't."

I nodded. "So this is how you get clients, huh?" I asked as he loaded my luggage in his car. "You just troll around the park, looking for doodling tourists who happen to have their luggage with them?"

He laughed as he got into the driver's seat, which, by the way, was on the opposite side of the car. Weird. "No, you're the first."

.

Jack had helped me settle in to my room at his bed and breakfast like a true gentleman. He carried my suitcase up the winding staircase and lofted it onto the luggage rack for me before silently bowing out and leaving me to myself. When he said he had vacancy, he wasn't kidding. I was the only one here. Once I was alone, I sat on the bed and pulled my sketch book back out. I had outlined the drawing with a regular graphite pencil, but hadn't worked on any shading or anything, let alone adding any color. I started adding some shading with the pencil I had been using.

I was still working when Jack decided to shut the place down for the night. He peeked his head in the door after knocking. "Do you need anything?"

"I should be good," I answered as I blew the extra graphite from the page.

He walked in to take a look at the sketch. "You have seriously only been drawing for one day?"

"Yea." I rubbed my latest strokes to blend them then blew on the page once again.

"I'll be in my room, should you need me," he said. I just nodded, and he left the room, closing the door behind me.

It was just about one thirty in the morning local time when I felt David wake. He was not quite happy, but satisfied for about a minute until I assumed he found my note and his mood dropped. I debated whether or not I should ask Jack if I could use his phone for a long distance call. I was already in my pajamas (and just a little less than decent) and I didn't want to get dressed again. Then again, it was bound to show up on his bill.

I knocked on his door. "Come in," he said.

I cracked the door open, careful to shield my bare legs with the door. "Can I use your phone to make an international phone call?" He was propped up on his bed, his head tucked into a book. What really caught my eye was the fact he was shirtless. My libido jumped for a split second before visions of Filipe looming over me flashed through my head. I closed my eyes for a second and tried to shake that sinking feeling.

He nodded before going back to the book his nose was buried in. "Phone's in the kitchen." He didn't seem to notice my mini breakdown. Good.

"Thanks." I closed the door and tip toed down the hall, down the stairs, and through the kitchen. When I found the cordless phone, I dialed his number from heart.

"O'Hara," he said as he sighed. God, he sounded so depressed.

"I'm sorry, David."

"Sloane," he said, his mood suddenly different. "Where are you, exactly?"

"London."

I could hear the grim smile in his voice. "I love London."

"It seems nice so far," I answered. That was not the comment I was expecting from him. "Are you mad at me?"

"Of course not," he said. "How could I be mad at you when I did the same thing to my sister years ago?" He had a point. "I should apologize for that again," he mumbled to himself. "Where are you staying?"

"A nice little bed and breakfast." I rattled off the address before he could even ask for it. "I'll pay you back for this, too."

"No need," he answered.

"But I want to."

"Whatever will make you happy. Can you be contacted at this number?"

I shrugged. "I guess so, if it's important. But DO NOT tell Syd."

"I love you, Sloane."

"Love you too, David."

"Have a pleasant night," he added.

"You too." I hung up the phone and snuck back up the stairs. I took what felt like the first full, deep breath I'd taken in days. My heart was instantly lighter.


	70. Chapter 70

I had run almost four thousand miles, but I couldn't run from the nightmares. It had been three days, and I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep since I had gotten here. As it was, I was lounging lazily on the couch staring at the blank TV screen. I could hear Jack fooling around in the kitchen, but I was just too lazy to turn and see what he was doing. A knock at the door roused my out of my contemplative state.  
Jack opened the door. "Can I help you?"

It was an older couple. "The sign says you have vacancy? We're staying at the motel up the street, but we'd like to upgrade," the woman said in a thick Minnesotan accent. I couldn't help but snicker.

"No, I'm sorry, I forgot to take the sign down."

What? I thought I was the only one here. "Oh, ok," the woman said. "Thanks for your time."

"I do know of a very nice hotel just two blocks up, though. You might try them."

"Thank you, thank you." The woman thrust her hand out towards Jack, and he shook it.

He shut the door and sunk onto the couch next to me with a satisfied sigh. "Nicest Americans I've ever met." I glanced at him, eyebrows raised. "Except you, of course."

"Uh huh. Well, they're Minnesotans. Basically Canadians." He laughed lightly. "You're all full, huh? No vacancy?"

He shrugged. "You scream in your sleep; the whole house can hear it. Ready for lunch?" He had agreed to make me lunch instead of breakfast every day since I'm not so much of a morning person.

I shook my head no. "Sorry, I didn't even know I was doing that. You want me to go somewhere else? I don't want you to feel like you're losing customers because of me."

"Don't be ridiculous, you're welcome here as long as you'd like." He yawned and stretched his arms up and laid them on the back of the couch. "What do you want to do today?" He had taken it upon himself to be my own personal tour guide. I didn't mind; I liked him enough and it was nice to get to see some of the lesser known attractions that the locals like to keep to themselves.

"I'm too tired to really do much; I haven't been sleeping. Well, you know that." I laid my head back against the top of the couch just below his arm.

"I was hoping you'd say that." We sat in silence for some time. He didn't speak again until my eyes were starting to close. "What did you do to your arm?"

"I broke it," I answered as I allowed my eyes to close.

"So literal," he said with a smile in his voice. "How?"

"I was a bit too close when someone blew up my car."

"That's unfortunate." I really appreciated the fact he didn't say anything that was alarmist, he just took it in stride. "That does explain a lot of things, though."

I laughed. "Oh, yea. I'm all sorts of messed up." I tucked my legs underneath me and leaned back into the couch. In a matter of what felt like seconds, I was asleep.

.

My neck was craned in an almost uncomfortable position when I woke up leaning against Jack's side. I pushed myself back into a sitting position. "Sorry," I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes.

"Hm?" he said, not waking up himself until I pushed myself up. Once he was fully awake, he checked his watch. "Five hours." We must have been asleep for five hours. He looked at me. "No screaming from you for a full five hours of sleep? We must have a record."

"Take your word for it," I said as I curled back into the couch, leaning against the arm of the couch this time.

Jack grabbed my ankles and lifted me feet from the floor, setting them on the couch. "Would you like a blanket?" he asked me.

I closed my eyes and curled my legs toward me. "No thanks." I yawned as I tucked my arms underneath my head, making a better pillow.

"Pillow?" he asked.

"No thanks," I mumbled. In no time, I was back asleep.

.

"Sloane, where are you going?" Jack had one hand on either arm, holding me at arm's length. His hands were deceptively strong. For a split second, I imagined his hands elsewhere. Just because I couldn't just have a simple daydream alone, my mind flashed to Filipe's hands. To the pain they caused me. He dipped his head so he could look me in the eye.

"What?" I mumbled. I was really, really confused right now. I was having a hard time recovering from whatever it was that was putting my mind in a fog.

He studied my face. "Are you awake now?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Yea, of course. I'm standing here, talking to you, aren't I?"

"You were sleepwalking and going on about not being safe." He set me down in one of the chairs around the massive kitchen table.

I shook my head. I couldn't have been sleepwalking. I don't remember dreaming. For that matter, I don't remember sleeping. "I've never been a sleepwalker."

"You surely are now," he said as he grabbed a glass and filled it with water. "Where exactly were you planning on going?" He handed me the water and nodded toward the back door, which was only a few yards away. "There's nothing back there, there's no exit; it's just a small outdoor patio. And it's raining."

I took a sip of the water. I didn't really want it, but he had gone through the trouble of getting it for me. "Why would I go back there? I didn't even know it was back there."

He nodded vigorously. "That's why I asked you where exactly you were going."

I dropped my head into my hands as a sinking suspicion developed in my head. The nightmares, the sleepwalking…my visions were trying to tell me something. "Well, it was nice while it lasted," I said as I sat up straight. I took another few gulps of the water.

"What was?" he said as he pulled out the seat next to me.

"While you thought I was sane."

"I knew you were insane the first second I saw you sketching in your book, feet propped up on your luggage," he said as he started to sit. At the last second, he stood again. "I almost forgot. A package came for you." He jogged into the front hall and grabbed a long box, sliding it in front of me on the table. "It's heavy."

I checked the return address. It was the O'Hara complex. I sighed as Jack produced a knife for me to open the box with. "David, David, David." I mean, I assumed it was from him. Who else would it be from?

"Who's David?" Jack asked as he patiently waited for me to open the box. "Ex having trouble letting go?"

"It's complicated," I answered as I pulled a black plastic case from the box. It was long, about the length of my leg, and extremely slender. I popped the two closures on the case open and carefully opened the case. I opened the note.

_This was finished for you the night you left.  
Lee_

"I spoke too soon, it's not from David." I pulled up the last layer of foam and exposed a beautiful, shining katana.

"Who in this world would mail you a sword?" he said. I had finally managed to creep him out.

"My ex's brother in law, Lee." I picked it up and felt it. It was light and manageable, just like Lee said it would be. The grip was covered in the softest leather and sized perfectly for my hand.

"Maybe I underestimated you Americans. You are complex and just generally screwy."

"You mean psychotic," I said as I took a few swings with the sword.

"You said it, not me," he said as I tucked the sword back into the case and closed it. "You didn't answer my question, though."

"What was that?"

"Why do you need a sword?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure you didn't ask me that."

"I didn't? I meant to." He was wringing his hands beneath the table.

I shrugged. "Well, to answer your question, you never know." I didn't really have a good answer. Obviously, Lee thought it might come in handy, or he wouldn't have gone through the trouble (and probably the customs nightmare) to express ship a sword overseas. "He had it made for me; he probably just wanted me to have it ASAP."

He shook his head. "I don't get you."

"As a woman, I'm fairly sure you're not supposed to." I stood and brushed myself out. "I'm going to take a shower."

.

I tried not to fall asleep. Jack deserved a good night's sleep for once, and he wasn't going to get one with me screaming bloody murder one room away. I was in my pajamas; the old shrunken, ratty t-shirt and a pair of cotton boy short panties. It was a little chilly as I paced back and forth in front of my bed, but I welcomed it. The chill was helping me to stay awake. When the clock struck 1 AM, I looked Lee's cell number up in my computer and used the kitchen phone to dial the number. "Good evening, Sloane," he said in his cold accent.

"Hi. I got your package today. Thanks."

"You are most welcome. How does it fit?" He asked as if he mailed me a pair of jeans.

I smiled at that thought. It made me think of the time he went pajama shopping for me and a giggle escaped. "Well, my right hand's in a cast, so it was kind of awkward, but it's a lot better than David's," I said after I recovered.

"I am glad to hear that. Emma says you should be able to have the cast removed within the week."

Well, that's great, but I'm here and the only doctors I'd trust to do something like that are several hours away by plane. "OK."

"You should come home. She can remove it for you."

I rolled my eyes for no one's benefit. "I'm not coming home just so Emma can take off a cast. I guess I'll just see a doctor here," I said, lying through my teeth.

"That is not the only reason you should return home," he answered.

I raised my eyebrows and I raided the fridge for something caffeinated. "Oh yea? Lay it on me, big man."

"We cannot protect you. If you come home, we can finish this." His voice seethed with anger, revealing the most emotion I had ever heard from him.

"Woah, now," I said, responding to the anger. The sleep deprivation was making me feel almost loopy, like I was drunk. "Calm down, there, Tiger. You're welcome to finish this whenever you want. Whatever 'this' is."

"Have you been drinking?" he asked, picking up on my tone.

"Nope," I answered. "Just tired."

"Are you not well?"

"I'm fine," I said as I popped the top on a Coke. "It is 1:30 in the morning here, you know. I stayed up just to talk to you."

"I am aware of the time."

We sat on the line in silence for a few uncomfortable moments. "Well, thanks again."

"You are welcome," he answered.

"Goodnight, Lee."

"Goodnight."

I downed the Coke in a few large gulps before opening another, taking it a bit slower on that one. When my eyes started to close without my permission, I pushed myself into a standing position and started my pacing all over again.

**JACK'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I woke up fully rested. I smiled to myself for a split second before frowning. Why was I fully rested? I hopped out of bed and threw my old Oxford t-shirt on. I shoved my feet into a pair of old moccasins and opened the door to my room. Sloane's door was also open. I peaked my head inside, hoping to see her asleep peacefully, but no such luck. The bed was untouched; it didn't look like she had slept in it all that night. I had to talk myself out of being afraid for her. If her bed wasn't touched, she probably didn't sleep at all, right? Meaning that she couldn't have wondered off in her sleep, right? She probably was just downstairs sketching.

A sharp twang of fear shot through me as I remembered her package. I let a sleepwalker loose in a house with a deadly weapon. "Sloane?" I said as I rushed down the stairs. I searched frantically for her, rushing through the sitting room. She wasn't asleep on the couch; my panic hit a fever pitch. "Sloane?" I asked again as I ran into the kitchen. I took a deep calming breath when I saw her, asleep and shaking lightly on the hard kitchen floor. "My God in Heaven," I said as I kneeled next to her. She was wearing nothing but a ratty, torn t-shirt and a pair of panties. I pulled the hem of her shirt over her bellybutton and down over her thighs as far as I could. I felt the skin just above her knee; she was downright cold. I reached out to wake her, but pulled back at the last second. She was sleeping. How could I wake her?

I lofted her off the floor and laid her on the couch. She reminded me of my little sister, Lizzie; like a tiny tornado of determination and strength. She was too strong and proud to tell anyone--tell me--what drove her away from her home and caused her such horrible nightmares every night. I pulled an afghan from the back of a lounger in the sitting room and covered her with it.

"Shhh," I cooed as she started to whimper. When I rested my hand on the top of her head, she calmed slightly.

"No," she murmured as a tear fell down her cheek. "Don't touch me." I pulled my hand away from her hair before I realized she wasn't talking to me. She was talking to whoever hurt her. "No!" she screamed. I jumped back, startled, before putting my hand back and rubbing her forehead.

"Shhh," I cooed again. "It's alright, no one's hurting you."

She thrashed in her sleep as she started to sob. "Please, no…"

I tried to hold her down so she wouldn't hurt herself. Just as quickly as it started, her body went limp and her face smoothed into a peaceful sleep again. I took a deep breath and pulled my hand away before standing again. I needed coffee.

I leaned over the counter and dropped to my elbows as I waited for the strong American coffee to brew. I never drank the stuff until I started the bed and breakfast; now I know why Americans love their coffee so much. I dropped my head into my hands. If I were smart, I'd tell Sloane she had to find somewhere else to stay the try to forget all about her. But that wasn't in me. It was like some sick compulsion; I had to try and fix her even though I knew full well she was quite possibly unfixable. "Give it up, Jack," I said to myself. "She doesn't want you to be her Lancelot."

I whirled on my heels as I heard Sloane's voice. "You can't have me, I won't do it," she said. Her eyes were closed and she swayed on her feet, telling me that she was sleepwalking again. The most concerning part was the sword. She was holding it with both hands pointed right at my gut.

"Woah, Sloane," I said as I put my hands up. "It's OK, put the sword down."

She took a wobbly step toward me. "You tried to kill me, you rat…" Before she could finish her thought, her arms dropped to her side and the sword clanged to the floor. When her head dipped, I knew she was done sleepwalking. I wrapped one arm around her waist, taking most of her weight, and guided her back to the couch.

I wasn't letting her out of my sight this time. I knew better. I grabbed the remote as I set her on the couch, lifting her feet onto the cushion and covering them again with the afghan. I pulled her head onto my shoulder and lofted my own feet onto the coffee table as turned on the tele.

.

I whipped my head toward the door when I heard it creak open. "Jackie, you here?"

"I'm in here," I said quietly, responding to my best friend's voice.

Ricky galloped into sitting room. "My man!" he said. I shushed him as I looked to make sure he didn't wake Sloane. "Who's the girl?" he whispered.

"She's staying here," I answered. I instantly knew that was the wrong answer.

"Sleeping with the clientele, eh, Jackie boy?"

I rolled my eyes. "No." I rubbed her arm subconsciously as she sighed and curled into me in her sleep. That was poorly timed on her part; Ricky gave me a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin and a wink. "I'm not sleeping with her."

"Uh huh," he said. "I just stopped by to see if you wanted to come out with the guys tonight, but I see you're busy with your new friend."

"Where?" I asked. Maybe a fun night out would be good for her.

"King Arthur's," he said. King Arthur's was a get-drunk-and-take-someone-home type of dance club. _And I'll be taking Sloane home_, I thought to myself before I could stop it.

"I'm coming," I answered. "What time?"

"Depends, are you bringing your friend?" he said, nodding to Sloane.

"If she wants to come." I was going to try my hardest to get her to come, though. She needed it, and personally, I didn't trust her to be alone, in my house or anywhere.

"Wake her up, let's ask."

"No," I said a bit too quickly. "She's finally getting some sleep, I'm not waking her up."

Ricky waggled his eyebrows at me. "Keeping her up all night? My man!" he said again. He stood to give me a quiet high five. "We'll be by at 11," he said as he walked out of the room. "Leave a tie on the doorknob if you're not decent."

"We'll meet you there," I said, correcting him. I had more plans.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

All I could hear was the thump-thump of a steady heartbeat. I moaned as I opened my eyes, almost hung over from my long night. I was pressed against a tight, warm chest that rose and fell with regularity. "Good evening," Jack said. It was his chest I was pressed against.

I groaned again. "What happened?" Last I knew I was pacing the kitchen floor, struggling to keep my eyes open.

"When I woke up this morning, I found you asleep on the kitchen floor. You scared me; I thought you walked into traffic while you slept."

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I sat up. "Sorry," I said. I noticed we were both still in our pajamas even though it was getting quite late. That also meant I was still pantless.

"That's not even the worst of it." He closed his book and took the small rimmed glasses from his face. "You almost gutted me with that damned sword."

I couldn't cover the shocked look on my face. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, I must have been…"

He covered my hand with his. "I know, all is forgiven. But I hope you'll understand when I lock that sword away?"

I nodded vigorously. "Yea, sure, of course."

"Good, now to more urgent business. We have plans tonight." He looked almost giddy. I narrowed my eyes.

"What?"

"First, I'm taking you out to dinner, then you're coming out with my friends and I. You're going to get blitzed, then maybe you won't have those nightmares for at least one night."

I didn't know what to think; I grabbed the sketchbook which was halfway full at this point and flipped to a clean page. "Drinking heavily is a really bad idea for me. I mean, really bad."

He rolled his eyes as I started to sketch him. "Drinking heavily is a bad idea for everyone, but sometimes you just have to do it."

"No, I mean…" I fidgeted in my seat. I wasn't ready for him to know about me just yet. "I'm different from most people, really bad things can happen when I get drunk."

He disregarded my assertions. "We'll see about that. Go get ready for dinner," he said as he stood himself.

I don't do orders. I put an indignant stare on my face as I crossed my arms. "I'm ready."

"You're not wearing pants." I glared at him as he looked down at me. "I'm so sorry, I should have said please."

"Yes, you should have." I scolded him like a little child.

He blushed. "Will you please let me buy you dinner?"

That was more like it. I couldn't help but smile at the sheepish, pensive smile. He was as nervous as if he just asked me out on a date. "That sounds nice," I answered, a bit giddy myself. What? He might have been a bit older than me, but he was cute in an undergrad-dating-her-professor kind of way. Especially when he was wearing the glasses. Who knew I was into that sort of thing.

"Good," he said, letting out the remainder of a deep breath. "Um, did you bring anything…nice?"

He wasn't very good at this. It was almost adorable. "As in, to wear?" He nodded. "Yes, I did." I was grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't help but egg him on. "Does that mean you'd like me to get dressed up?" He nodded again. "For you?" One last time, he nodded, his blush escalating to a deep crimson. I started to giggle.

"Oh, stop that," he said as he turned his back to me. "Give me a break, I haven't done this in a while."

"Done what?" I asked as I followed him up the stairs. I wasn't the only one who wasn't dressed for a night out.

"Asked anyone out on a date."

I pinched his bicep in a playful way. "So this is a date?"

"No, I mean…" I laughed as he stammered for what he thought was a good answer. He turned, placing his hands on my hips. Now it was my turn to blush. "Yes, this is a date."

I took a shower and dressed in the only dress I had brought with me; deep emerald green to match my eyes, tight all the way to the knees, and square necked. It was made of well structured satin and seamed like the leather of a high end car interior. I blew dry my hair, leaving it cascading down my back in soft curls. Once I finished my makeup, I pulled on my silver suede sling backs and walked out of my room. I felt good because I knew I looked good.

I stopped short when I walked down the stairs. Jack was sitting on the couch, nose in the same book it had been when I woke earlier. I was momentarily speechless. He had combed his curly hair back from its usual unruly condition and he was wearing a sharp black suit. My favorite, though, were the glasses. I don't know what it was; there was just something I couldn't resist about them.

He seemed to feel my eyes on his back and turned to look at me. His mouth dropped open. "Ahem," he said after regathering himself. "You look great," he stammered.

"You too," I said. He went to pull the glasses off, but I stopped him. "Leave them on," I asked him.

He nodded with a smile, then stood and offered his arm to me. "Ready?" I nodded with a smile on my face. _Was I?_ I asked myself.


	71. Chapter 71

****This may be one of my favorite chapters to date. You'll see…****

Jack had outdone himself. He had treated me to a four course meal at a fantastic restaurant. The conversation was easy and light, until dessert came. Cheesecake: my own personal weakness. I ordered the strawberry cheesecake and he the chocolate so I could get a guilt-free taste of that, too. I moaned in ecstasy when I tasted that first bite. "Oh my God," I said as my eyes rolled back.

He was looking slightly uncomfortable as he fidgeted in his chair. I knew whatever he was going to say next was going to be interesting when he started to blush. "So I've noticed something."

"I've noticed lots of things. But please, do tell," I said as I took another bite of cheesecake, following it with another ecstatic moan.

He waited for me to swallow, watching me like bachelor at a stripper bar. He was enjoying watching me eat as much as I was enjoying eating. "You sleep well when I…am near you. No sleepwalking, no screaming."

I shrugged as I stole a bite of his cheesecake, playing up my own enjoyment this time for its pure entertainment value. I could enjoy the way it made him grip his napkin above the table. "God, yes," I moaned as I turned the fork over and licked it sensually. "Really?" I asked as I smirked up at him.

"What are we going to do about that sleepwalking, anyway?" His voice faltered as I dipped my pinkie into the real whipped cream and sucked it off. "I can't have you up and walking about all night."

I raised an eyebrow seductively. "You could tie me to the bedposts…"

"Lord Jesus," he murmured under his breath. "That was…" he stammered as I held my serious gaze. "…not what I had in mind at all."

And here was the good part. "Oh, what did you have in mind?" I asked after I sucked the whipped cream from the last strawberry before biting into it.

"We could sleep in the same bed," he said quickly. I raised an inquisitive eyebrow. I sincerely had not seen that coming. "Not as…lovers, of course. It would be easier for me to keep an eye on you, should you choose to wander off again. Lord knows you're crafty when you're asleep." He had a point. I had managed to somehow get into a locked case and wield a katana.

I smiled genuinely at him. "We can give it a try."

He looked relieved. He was probably afraid I'd call him a pervert and storm out. "Good."

I took one more bite of my cheesecake, just to see how much it would take to push him over the edge. I stuck my tongue out and sexily licked the cheesecake from my fork as I kept my eyes smoldering and focused on him. He swallowed roughly and took a long swig of his red wine, finishing off his first glass (I was well through my third). I stuck my finger in his chocolate cheesecake and offered it to him. "You should try some, it is to die for."

"No, thanks," he said roughly. I shrugged and licked the thick mousse from my own finger, lingering just a bit longer than usual. He pushed himself up hastily from his chair. "Excuse me," he said before quickly rushing toward the bathroom.

I smiled to myself. _Mission accomplished_, I thought. When he returned, I was leaning back in my chair, legs crossed chastely, finishing off my third glass of wine. "We should get back, we are overdressed for King Arthur's."

He offered me his hand, so I took it. I wasn't usually a wine drinker, and as much as it pained me to say it, I didn't handle it as well as hard liquors. I was already feeling a bit tipsy. Like a gentleman, he escorted me to the door. I looked outside; it was raining again. _Crap_, I thought to myself. Before I could turn to ask him, he was shrugging his jacket off and wrapped it around my shoulders. "I'll go get the car. Wait here."

I smiled up at him as he deposited me at a small bench near the front door. Within minutes, he rushed back into the restaurant, soaking wet. "Come on, now," he said as he offered me his hand again. He held me steady as I struggled to keep my footing on the slippery London sidewalks and helped me into the car before sliding into the driver's seat himself.

.

I had changed into jeans and a low cut tank top for our night out; Jack changed into jeans, keeping the light blue button down he had been wearing under his suit on. I deepened my eye shadow, giving myself smoky eyes and went one shade lighter on the lip gloss before Jack practically pulled me out of my bathroom and back onto the street. It was still raining, but he held me close to him under an umbrella for the short walk up the block. "I think you call them night clubs in America."

"Um, yea," I said. His train of thought caught me off guard and I struggled to keep up.

"I hope you are alright with that." He guided me into a non-descript building with a large neon sign over the door. It read King Arthur's Court. I guess we were here.

I took one look inside. "Oh, come on," I goaded. "I'm from a college town."

He paid the cover for both of us and took my coat. "You know, I really don't know that much about you. Where are you from?"

"East Lansing, Michigan. It's the state that looks like a glove." I held up my hand, a perfect model for the state, and pointed my finger dead center in my palm. "Here."

"Ah," he said as he nodded once. I noticed several vampires in the bar, several of whose heads were instantly on a swivel when I entered. _Great,_ I thought to myself. _More vampires_.

Jack guided us through the packed dance floor to a small sitting area at the back of the club. "Vampire owned, I assume?" I asked.

He looked down at me, puzzled. "Yea, how did you know?"

I shrugged as he pulled me toward a table of 3 other men. "There sure are a lot of them in here."

He passed off my comment. "Sloane, this is Ricky, Rob, and Kyle."

I nodded to each one of them; they wouldn't be able to hear a word I said over the music, even from across the table. Jack motioned toward a side of the table, and I scooted in before him. "Beers?" he asked.

"Beers!" they all yelled in unison. I looked up at him, but he just winked at me.

"So are you dating my Jackie?" one of them asked me. Was it Ricky or Kyle? I couldn't remember which direction jack introduced everyone in. Damn.

"Not to my knowledge," I said as I cased the bar, this time taking note of all the vampires. "I'm only visiting."

"I know, he told me when I stopped by this afternoon."

I raised my eyebrows and nodded like I was interested, but with the wine in me, I couldn't concentrate on him and my counting. There was one in particular that piqued my interest, and I studied him as Ricky/Kyle droned on about something. He was slight and not overly tall, but not short either; about 5'10". His short black hair was styled in short dreadlocks that were maybe 2 inches long, at most. I could tell he spent a lot of time pushing those dreadlocks out of his face; they automatically fell back, away from his face as he stood up straight. The most striking part were his features. Perfectly pale, olive skin covered a strong bone structure that reminded me of David's. Strong cheekbones and a gracefully tapered chin made a portion of my heart ache for David. I thrust that aside as I took in more of him. His outfit was something else, as well. He was wearing a tight black v-neck t-shirt, loose black cargo pants, and black army boots. It's like someone plucked this man from a spy mission. My heart fluttered as a sole thought crossed my mind. _What if he was on a spy mission? Spying on me?_ His eyes bore holes into me and I stared back, partly in fear and partly in curiosity. He turned away from me and immediately produced a cell phone.

Jack seemed to pick up on my new mood, probably because I at some point started squeezing the life out of his hand. "Are you OK?"

I shook myself out of my reverie. "Yea, just thought I saw someone I know."

He nodded before nudging me in the ribs. (Something that was mildly painful still. He didn't see the quick grimace that covered my face.) "What do you want to drink?"

"Vodka," I said. "On the rocks."

He turned to the small waitress. "Tall Brown Ale for me, and a double vodka on the rocks for the lady," he said. This was going to be a long night.

.

I pulled my phone from my pocket, which I had shoved in there for the sole purpose of timekeeper. I had left my phone on airport mode, which effectively turned my iPhone into a fancy iPod. It was almost 2 in the morning and I was borderline hammered. I could still see straight, but only when I didn't move too fast. I haven't even tried walking yet. Jack had been nursing the same beer all night, but kept pumping alcohol down me. When I asked him why, he just said, "someone has to make sure you get to bed OK," with a wink. I looked up into his face as I finished my fourth (or was it my fifth?) double vodka on the rocks; his eyes were filled with hope. Not the horny, the-drunker-I-get-her-the-better-chances-I-have kind of hope, but the kind of determined hope with which you watch a friend go through something horrible when there's nothing you can do about it. I'd seen that same look on Sydney's face more times than I care to remember.

Right when I was about to get up to use the restrooms, I got a vision. I was watching a phone conversation from both sides through mediums that were not actually on the phone. It was quite confusing, I couldn't quite keep up at first.

One of the waitresses was watching Eric as he sat with David at his favorite table at Rum Runners. "My childe, do you have something to report?"

Next, my mind flipped to a small man as he watched the deadlocked vampire at the bar with awe. "I believe she knows I am here. She saw me," said the vampire.

"God damn fucking vampires that can't mind their own fucking business!" I said. I didn't mean to say it out loud, but it just came out. I can add alcohol to my short shit list for the evening.

Jack, along with the rest of the table, quieted and looked at me with awe. "Pardon?" Jack asked.

I recovered, spreading a fake smile across my face. "I remembered where I know that guy from. Excuse me," I said. The liquid courage was working itself into a fever pitch in my body as I stormed across the crowded dance floor toward the deadlocked vampire.

"Sloane, wait, where are you going?" Jack said as he tailed behind me, struggling to keep up. That was one advantage of being so small; working your way through the nicks and crannies of crowded spaces was generally not a problem.

I didn't answer him, I just keep marching. Finally, I approached the dreaded vampire, poking him on the shoulder. He seemed much taller when I was standing right next to him. "Hi," I said, malicious smile on my face. "Give me that phone." I plucked the connected phone out of his hand and shoved it to my ear. "Eric, you sniveling little shit," I said just in time for Jack to hear. "Call off the dogs or I'm personally going to slice your head clean off."

"Yes, my Queen," he said, on the verge of tears he was laughing so hard. "David wants to talk to you."

"Oh, fantastic," I said sarcastically. I glared up at the dreaded vampire, who had equal parts surprise and excitement on his face. He wasn't even trying to hide it.

It was David's voice I heard next. "Sloane, Love, calm down."

"God dammit, David. I'm not a child, I don't need a babysitter." The dreaded vampire's eyes furrowed lightly at being called a babysitter. "If there's a problem, I'll handle it. If I can't handle it, I'll call. But until then, butt the fuck out."

"I understand you are mad, Love…" He sounded a bit like he was soothing a child which just set me off more.

I didn't even let him finish his sentence. "Ugggh!" I screamed into the phone, frustrated. "Why are you fucking vampires so fucking high handed? God, you cuntfaces make me want to scream sometimes! Dickwads!"

I could hear the smile in David's voice. "Feel better, Love?"

"Yes," I said as I took a deep breath. I actually did feel much better.

"Good. I will 'call off the dogs', as you say, providing you are extra vigilant. Victor evaded us for the moment."

That shot a bit of fear through my system, but not enough to calm my liquid based fearlessness. "I can handle myself, David."

"I know that, Love. You are the strongest woman I know in the smallest package."

I actually stomped my feet. "Uggh! Shut the fuck up."

He let a little laugh escape, even though he was trying to hard not to let it go. "Of course, I love you."

I hung up without saying anything more to him and thrust the phone back into the dreaded vampire's hands. "You are some woman," he said, in awe.

I wagged my finger in front of his face as his fangs came down. "You shut your mouth when you're talking to me, you dickhead."

He tried his hardest not to laugh as I turned on my heels toward a very stunned Jack. "Yes, my Queen."

Oh, that set me off. I turned back toward the dreaded vampire, seething hatred in my voice. "You," was all I could manage to say as I poked him in the chest. He bared his fangs at me, growling lightly at my brazenness. I starred him in the eye as for several seconds. I would _not_ back down, not even as Jack tugged on my arm, begging me to leave it alone.

After several seconds, the vampire burst out laughing. "I must know you, woman."

I turned on my heels, this time for real and followed Jack back through the bar. His grip on my hand tightened as he pulled me into the mass of dancers. "Please, woman. I am Cian," the vampire said as he followed me through the crowd. I ignored him as he followed me back to our table, where the guys instantly shut up. Their focus was behind me. I turned to see what had plastered fear across all their faces. "One dance and I will leave you alone." His fangs were bared, making him look slightly menacing, but with the shit-eating grin that covered his face, it was hard to take him seriously.

"Fuck off," I said as I grabbed my coat.

He laughed again before bowing. "Yes, my…" When he saw the glare plastered on my face, he stopped mid sentence. "Yes, Ma'am." He turned and walked away, shaking his head to himself.

"Can we go?" I asked Jack, who was frozen next to me.

When he could function again, he nodded. "Sure," he even managed to mumble. He fumbled to get his coat on.

"It was nice to meet you guys," I said with a polite smile. As soon as Jack had recovered enough to walk, he escorted me out of the bar and onto the street. It hadn't stopped raining, but the rain had lightened slightly.

"I cannot….What the…." He was stammering, trying to figure out what question to ask first. I waited until he could figure out what he wanted to say. "Why on God's green earth would you mouth off to a vampire? They're very dangerous!"

I shrugged. "I knew he wasn't going to hurt me."

"How could you possibly know that?" he asked me as his voice rose.

"Because David sent him." He was starting to seriously loose it over there. I wrapped my arm around his waist and leaned into him for warmth and decided now would be as good a time as ever to tell the extremely abridged version of the story. "Do you remember when I was telling you about my pushy ex? David?" He nodded. "Well, that pushy ex also happens to be an extremely overprotective vampire, who sent Cian," I said, seething his name, "to keep an eye on me. He knows full well that if he hurts me, all of Michigan is going to hunt him down." I was aware my words were slurring. I leaned heavily on Jack for the short walk.

That did not calm him down at all. "All of Michigan? What does that even mean? Is all of Michigan after me?"

I might have let more information go than I needed to. "David also happens to be the King of Michigan, and should he say the word, every vampire in Michigan would essentially go head hunting. But don't worry, you're not on his hit list."

"How do you know that?" he asked as he unlocked the door to his home.

"Because I'd kill him." I shucked my coat, but before I could hang it in the coat closet, I stumbled on my own feet. Jack caught me before I tumbled to the ground. "I need to take these shoes off," I said as I reached down to pull them off, Jacks arm still around my hips.

"OK, that's enough scaring me for one night. Up to bed." He made sure I landed flat on my feet, then followed me up the stairs, making sure I didn't land flat on my face. He opened the door for me, letting me in, then quickly closed it when I started immediately shucking clothes. I quickly got into my pajamas as I chuckled to myself. I left the lace boy short panties on and pulled a new tank top out of my bag, pulling it over my head. After quickly washing my face and brushing my teeth, I stumbled out of my room. I had stopped drinking, but I was still getting drunker. It was getting harder and harder to see straight. It was no surprise when I lost my footing and stumbled into the wall, jarring my broken arm into my broken ribs.

Jack ran out of his room when I yelped in pain. "Sloane, are you alright?"

I took a minute as I sat on the ground to gather myself. "Yea." I wrapped my arm around my body as I waited for the pain to subside.

"Come on, I'm going to keep an eye on you." He helped me to my feet and into his bedroom, where he sat me on the bed. "Stay right there," he said as I ran into his bathroom. I leaned back, falling onto his bed before curling into a ball. When he returned, he pulled the covers down. "Come on," he said. "Into bed."

I was curled into a ball on the end of the bed. "I'm good," I said. I couldn't move if I tried.

"Under the covers," he said as he lifted my shoulders and knees off the bed and lightly dragged me toward the pillow. I closed my eyes, begging for sleep to come. I hate this feeling, like I had absolutely no control. He covered me up and climbed into his side of the bed before I heard the click of the bedside lamp turning off. "Goodnight," he said as he rested his hand on my hip.

.

I'd rather be drunk than in this nightmare again. I was lying back on Filipe's bed, him looming over me. "No, please no," I begged as he kneeled on the bed, unbuttoning his shirt. Tear were streaming down my face as I tried to move, I tried to get away from him. He didn't say anything; he just unbuttoned his own pants and dropped them to the floor with a deviant smile. Because I couldn't have more on than him, he stripped the last of my clothes off, tearing the panties from my body. "Don't you touch me," I yelled at him.

"You are mine," he said as he leaned back over me. "I will do with you whatever I please." He spread my legs open; I tried to fight him, but had no strength to even move. I screamed out in pain as he thrust into me roughly and deeply.

"Stop," I said weakly as he continued to pump into me. His fangs came down as he roughly fondled my breast, which made him look downright cruel. He started to laugh as he encircled my neck with his hand and squeezed. I only had the strength to move one arm at a time, so I weakly grabbed Filipe's arm and tried to pull him away one by one. Blackness crept in to my vision from lack of oxygen as he finished, pumping into my hard. Thankfully, mercifully, the dream ended as my eyes shot open.

I was sobbing and shaking as Jack hugged me to him. "Shhhhh, shhhh," he cooed as he rubbed my hair.

I pulled myself into him as the sobbing got more frantic, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and burying my head in his neck. "Don't let him," I gasped between sobs. I knew he was just ashing away, to be washed down some drain, but I was still terrified of him. My heart and my body weren't listening to the rational part of my brain anymore.

"No one's going to do anything to you, darling." He held me as I sobbed until I had calmed down enough that I could at least breathe somewhat normally. "Did someone rape you, Sloane?" I didn't answer him; I couldn't. I gripped his shirt tighter. "You don't have to answer that."

It took me a few minutes, but I could finally answer him. "Almost."

"Almost what?" he said.

Tear started to run down my face again, but I wasn't sobbing. "I was naked on his bed and, and I couldn't move. I couldn't fight him." He rubbed my back as I took my time. "He drained me almost dry, and then he was going to rape me. But Eric killed him first."

I could hear the sleep returning to his voice. "See? He can't get you anymore if he's dead. You're safe now."

That's just the thing. I had never been in more danger. "No I'm not," I whispered. I may have an entire state to protect me, but three states were after me. That math was not hard.

.

I couldn't fall back asleep, either because of fear for my life, my budding migrating, or both. I spent the rest of the night mulling over the options that would keep me alive. I could just give Victor what he wants and make him king. By far my worst idea. He was going to be a ruthless dictator, not to mention that just giving him what he wanted didn't ensure he'd leave me alive. He wanted to kill me for less. I could give the Kingdom to David and Emma permanently, but they were having enough trouble managing Michigan and keeping me alive. I could give the Kingdom to Eric, but Sookie would kill me. I, under no circumstances, was going to keep the Kingdom.

I shot into a sitting position as I thought about Sookie. _Shit_, I thought. _She's gotta be in danger, too_.

"What, what?" Jack asked, rousing from his sleep. He had fallen asleep with his arms wrapped around me, and I obviously disturbed that when I shot into a sitting position. "Sloane, you need to get some sleep."

My head jerked towards the bedroom door as I heard a cracking down the stairs. Someone had broken some glass.

Jack shot into a sitting position to match mine. "What the bloody hell was that?" he whispered.

I turned to him, adrenaline suddenly coursing through my viens. "Where's my sword?"

He pointed to a large walk in closet. I hopped out of bed and tread lightly across the cold wooden floor and retrieved the case, popping it open and wielding the sword. "Give me that," Jack said as he snuck up behind me.

"Do you know how to use one of these?" I asked with an eyebrow raised. He shook his head no. "Then I'll keep it." He gave in, letting me keep the katana.

He insisted on following me down the stairs as I went to investigate. The stairs, which dropped you off right at the front door, were covered in broken glass from the front window. The front door hung open. "Stay behind me," I whispered when I heard another crash coming from the kitchen. I skittered lightly into the kitchen, trying to keep my footsteps silent. A smaller man dressed completely in black (including a ski mask) was rooting through drawers in the kitchen. He didn't notice as I approached. I turned back to Jack and pulled him down until I could whisper directly into his ear. "Go call the police," I breathed. He nodded and sulked down another hallway toward a home office.

I hid the sword behind my back. "Can I help you?" I asked.

I caught the robber off guard; he dropped his flashlight into the drawer he was searching. I waited for him to regain his composure. He pulled a small hunting knife from a sheath on his belt. "Stay back, bitch, or I'll gut you."

I pulled the shining katana from behind my back and rolled my eyes. "God, learn how to rob a house. What the hell are you looking for, anyway?"

His eyes got really big as he took in the sword. I swung it, connecting the blade with his hunting knife, basically making him defenseless. "M-money," he studdered as he held his hands up.

I smiled at him. Yup, I was losing it. "In the fork drawer? You're an idiot." Sirens blared behind me as cops rushed in.


	72. Chapter 72

I was exhausted by the time the cops left. I rubbed the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger as I sunk into the couch. My migraine was getting steadily worse. _See_, I thought to myself. _This is why I don't get shitfaced: it fucks with my visions and gives me a giant headache_. "Come on," Jack said. "Back to bed." He was handling this very well. At least, for someone who didn't deal with small catastrophes on a bimonthly basis.

"I hate you a little bit right now," I said. I glared up at him from the couch, his hand extended toward me. "I am so hungover."

"Thumper?" he asked. I looked up at him, one eyebrow cocked. How could we speak the same language without really speaking the same language? "Headache?" he translated.

"Migraine."

He laughed to himself as he pulled a bottle from a drawer in the coffee table. "Here," he said.

I looked at the label. Off brand acetaminophen. "Tylenol doesn't really work for me. Do you have Advil?"

"I can get some," he said. "Do you want me to make a run?"

"What am I, you're pregnant wife?" He either didn't understand the comment or didn't appreciate it, because his eyebrows furrowed. "No, I'm fine. Maybe I'll go get some in the morning, if I still have it." I was having a hard time feeling anything other than the pain of my migraine.

"OK, then," he said, pulling me off the couch. I followed him through the house and up the stairs in a trance. I was still holding his hand by the time we reached his bedroom. He was almost giddy. Must be the adrenaline high. "I should thank you." He spun me into his arms and gave me a deep hug. "He could have killed me."

"He wouldn't have," I answered.

He lifted my chin until we were nose to nose. "Well, thank you anyway."

"You're welcome." I tucked my head into his neck and took in his smell as he held me. I didn't want stop him when his hands roamed lower, pulling aside the robe he'd given me when the police arrived and cupping my lace-covered butt.

It didn't take him long after tucking his hand under my panties to pull away and give me a questioning look. The look in his eyes almost hurt to look at; painful horror. He didn't talk; he just traced the still fresh whip marks with his thumb, questions in his eyes. "Did he…?" he whispered.

"Yea," I said into his neck.

**JACK'S POINT OF VIEW:**

_That bastard_, I thought to myself as I gently felt the marks that covered her perfect ass. "Did he…?" I asked barely above a whisper, unable to ask the full question. I didn't want to hurt her any more than he already had.

She wouldn't look at me; she buried her head in my neck even deeper. I tried not to think about how good her breath felt as it trickled across my skin. "Yea." There was no emotion in her answer, she had disassociated from the whole ordeal.

"There are so many," I whispered as I tried to count them. Seven, maybe eight?

"He hit me ten times," she said. "As punishment."

"I am sorry, Sloane." I pulled her toward the bed.

I couldn't believe it, she shrugged. As if it were nothing. "I've had worse." I sat her down on the bed but kept my arm around her. She grabbed my hand and rubbed two of my fingers over her upper thigh. I could feel a small indented scar. "I was shot in the leg," she said. She pulled the same two fingers away and shoved them under the strap of her tank top over a matching scar. "And in the shoulder." She lifted her tank top and pressed my palm against her stomach. She rubbed my thumb across another, much larger scar. "And was impaled with a large rod." When she started to move my hand to another painful memory on her body, I couldn't take anymore. I wrapped her up in a hug.

She climbed onto my lap and curled into me. _Think about cricket_, I thought to myself as let out a deep breath. _Think about the Queen_. "Um. How does your head feel?" I asked, changing the topic.

"It hurts still," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry," I said as I pressed my palm against her forehead, putting a fair amount of pressure against her head. I held her steady against me as I pushed myself back toward the headboard, struggling to free enough of the covers to cover her with.

"Don't stop," she whispered as she pressed my hand back against her forehead. "That felt good." I kept the pressure against her head as I rolled her head over my bicep and lightly kissed just under her chin. "Mmm," she moaned. "That felt good, too."

"More?" I whispered into her neck.

"Mmm, yes please." I moved across her jaw line, leaving light kisses across her neck. She moaned and her breath caught in her chest as I kissed just below her earlobe.

"More?" I whispered. I desperately wanted to make sure that I didn't push too far with her, not when her emotional wounds were so fresh.

"More," she begged as she straddled me, pulling my face into hers.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

"More?" he whispered into my ear as his mouth and hands roamed over my body.

I wanted him not to be so careful with me. I wasn't broken, I wasn't damaged. I wanted him to stop treating me like a porcelain doll. I straddled him, rubbing my body against his hard member. "More," I begged, pulling his face to mine and kissing him deeply.

"What about your head?" he asked as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it behind me.

"Screw my head," I said as I pulled my tank off. "Make me forget it. Make me forget everything."

His hands immediately were drawn to my breasts. I threw my head back and moaned loudly as he pinched my already hard nipples. "You asked for it." Faster than I could track, my back was bouncing off the bed, my legs still wrapped around his hips. He kissed my lips gently before making a trail down my body to my breasts.

"Oh, Jack," I moaned as he sucked and nibbled, giving each breast its due attention. I didn't even notice that he had worked my panties off me until his thumb rubbed a complicated pattern on my clit, to which I screamed in delight. "Jesus Christ," I panted as I gripped his shoulders hard enough to leave nail marks. He was a flurry of activity as he covered my entire body with pleasure. "Yes, Jack, yes….more," I begged. He wrapped his one free arm around my back as I bucked into him. I was now shaking in his arms, the anticipation almost more than I could bear. "Jack," I moaned.

He looked up at me devilishly from between my breasts as he shoved two fingers in me without even a hitch in the rhythm of his thumb. That was all I needed; I screamed his name in delight as he pushed me over the edge. "Jesus, where did you learn to do that?" I asked between whole body spasms. He was good; for the ten minutes I was in his arms, I couldn't think of anything but what he was doing to my body.

"GQ," he answered truthfully between kisses. "More?" He rolled off me, revealing that he at some point had stripped down to match me.

I nodded vigorously. "Please," I begged.

He lifted me off my back with a smile and settled me back so I was straddling him as he leaned against the headboard again. I could feel his hard, erect penis up against my clit; I couldn't help myself. I wiggled my hips to rub him against me. Now it was his turn to moan as he layered kisses across my clavicle. "Not yet," he said huskily as he stopped me from lowering myself into him.

"Why?" I pouted. I loved how tightly he held me to him. I rubbed my erect nipples against his chest as I nibbled on his ear. The friction of his chest hair against my hard nipples felt so good it hurt. "I want you."

"Are you sure you want this?" he asked between moans. "I…mmmmm, I don't want to rush you."

I reached down and positioned him just right; all he needed to do was let me lower myself onto him. "Take me, Jack," I whispered into his ear.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head under his chin as he lowered me onto him. "Oh, yes," I moaned as I immediately started moving my hips in a figure eight. Left over spasms from my last orgasm tightened me around him as I lifted, just to release slightly as I sunk back onto him. This felt so good. I let go of him and leaned back slightly, positioning him so he was putting the right pressure on exactly the right spot in me.

"Sloane," he moaned. I knew he was getting closer as he squeezed me tighter. My ribs hurt, but I didn't care. I started moving faster, working myself up to the same fever pitch he was at.

I was pretty sure I screamed again as I came on him. He grabbed my hips and kept moving me on him as I spasmed, following closely behind me with his own release. I collapsed into him, tucking my head into his neck. _I love post-sex endorphins_, I thought to myself. "That was great," he said quietly into my ear.

"Yea," was all I could articulate. I was jello in his arms. I couldn't pull the smile off my face if I tried.

He cleared my hair away from my face and shoulders, uncovering Filipe's bite marks. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

"Does what hurt?" I mumbled. "My head? Kinda."

"No," he said as he kissed the tip of my nose. "Being bitten."

"Only if they want it to," I answered as I curled into him. I was about ready to fall asleep right here, upright, leaning against Jack's smooth skin.

"I've never been bitten," he said sheepishly.

"I assumed that when you asked," I said post yawn.

His whole body moved as he giggled silently beneath me. "I still cannot believe you told a vampire to fuck off. You must have a death wish."

I just shrugged as my eyes closed. I was suffering big time from post-coital drowsiness. I couldn't even bother to take him out of me. I listened to his steady heartbeat, which combined with his breathing to pull me under.

.

He was ready for me again when I woke at nine in the morning; his erect penis was pressed up against my backside. I moaned in complaint when I opened my eyes. Bright sunshine was streaming through the window directly into my eyes. "Fuck," I mumbled as I buried my head in my arm.

"What?" he mumbled sleepily as he interlaced his fingers with mine.

"My head," I said grumpily.

"Close your eyes," he said as he pressed his palm against my head, covering my eyes with part of his palm. "Better?"

_No_, I thought to myself. It might have worked last night, but now, it wasn't even denting the pain I was feeling. Instead of telling him that, though, I just groaned in pain.

"Not really, eh?" He sat up, pulling his arm free of me and abandoned his attempt to ease my pain. "I'll go get Advil." I couldn't even bear to keep my eyes open to watch his nude form walk across the room. I closed my eyes and buried my head under a pillow, then pulled the comforter up over the pillow. Jack chuckled at my reaction. "If I knew you had this strong a reaction to alcohol, I would have cut you off at four."

"It's not usually this bad," I moaned. That even sounded pouty to my ears.

"British beer carries more of a kick than American beer."

I was about to throw a temper tantrum. I kicked my feet angrily as I tried to get comfortable. "I didn't drink beer."

"Oh, that's right."

I moaned again as he sat on the bed, causing the entire bed to shake. "I really hate you right now."

I could hear the smile in his voice, which made me want to punch him. "I can see that. I'll make it up to you," he said as he rubbed my back over the covers, finishing with a light squeeze of my butt.

"Extra strength Advil," I said. "The strongest stuff they have."

"Yes Ma'am," he answered. _Smartass_.

.

It took him and excruciatingly long time to run to the store and back. It took everything I had, but I managed to get back into my pajamas, even adding a pair of jeans to the ensemble. I didn't think I could bear this headache and wearing a bra today. _I'll see how I feel after the drugs kick in_, I said to myself. _Then I'll shower_.

I had just crawled back into his bed, burying myself completely again, when I heard the front door open. "Jackie?" said a male voice. _Shit_, I thought to myself. I stayed deadly still as footsteps climbed the stairs. _Now is not the time_, I said to myself.

I groaned internally when there was a knock at the door. "Rise and shine, Jackie." I peeked my head out of the covers to see who it was. One of his friends from last night was looking much too chipper as he stood in the doorway. He was everything Jack wasn't; where Jack was tall, blond, and handsome, his friend was short, squat, and dark haired. Where Jack was kind and understanding, his friend was infuriatingly annoying.

"Go away," I grumbled.

He laughed loudly. "It's the vampire tamer!" he practically yelled. My head hated him. "How's your morning?"

"Fuck off," I said as I rolled over. It wasn't eloquent, but it worked last night. I was having trouble breathing steadily. I remembered these migraines from high school. I knew better than to hold my breath; sure, you get a minute of relief as you shut down oxygen delivery to the brain, but the second you breathe again, the pain comes back a hundred fold. I wasn't sure it was worth it.

"Nope, see, I'm not as easy to get rid of as a vampire. 'Fuck off' doesn't work on me." I could hear his shoes flop across the floor just before he bounced onto the bed. I'm fairly sure he was doing this on purpose.

"Leave," I said, almost panting in my effort to breathe normally. "Or I'll make you."

"I'd do it if I were you," Jack said. I pulled back the covers; my knight in shining armor, here to deliver the ever-needed drugs. "She's vicious."

His friend laughed as I pulled the covers back over my head. "Oh, I see how it is. She's a tiger in the sack, eh?"

I'd had enough. I swung one of my legs, connecting with what felt like his shoulder in one strong blow. He toppled off the bed and to the floor. "Ow! Hey, now, that hurt!"

"Good," I grumbled.

Jack burst out laughing, attempting to keep it quiet for my sake but failing miserably. "I told you, Ricky." I listened as Jack helped his friend off the floor. "I'll ring you later."

"What a surly little…" Ricky mumbled under his breath as he left.

Jack sat carefully on the bed and pulled the comforter down just enough to show my face. "I'm not saying he didn't deserve it, but did you have to kick Ricky?"

I ignored him. "Did you bring the drugs?"

He pulled a bottle from his jacket pocket and handed it to me. I struggled to open the bottle and pop four pills into my mouth. "Water?" he asked.

"No." I pulled the comforter back over my head and swallowed the four pills down painfully.

The bed indented as Jack sat down next to me. "I'm sorry for pouring alcohol down your throat." He found my head and massaged my temple through the blanket.

I smiled. "I guess you're forgiven."

"You're not going to kick me, too, are you?"

"No, probably not," I said. He laughed and got under the blanket with me, rubbing my neck and temples. I forgot to keep breathing, my body automatically cutting off oxygen to my brain to relieve pain. When I finally did gasp for breath, it took everything I had not to cry.

"Sorry," he said frantically as I curled into a ball and stifled my scream into the pillow. I gripped the pillow and the comforter in tights fistfuls and rocked back and forth as I tried to wait out the intense pain. "Jesus, Sloane," he said. "Did I hurt you?"

It took what felt like ten minutes to recover, but I was sure it was actually under a minute. "No," I could finally answer. "I just have to remember to breathe."

He continued to rub my temples and massage my neck. "Does that feel better?"

"Somewhat," I answered.

.

It took entirely too long for the Advil to kick in. Even then, complete relief never came; a dull aching pain still nagged at the back of my consciousness. After an hour of lying in bed, Jack forced me to come downstairs and eat something. "You're finally awake in time for breakfast, let me make you something."

"I'm not really hungry," I moaned.

"I'm cooking for you anyway."

Before I could appropriately complain, he dragged me down the stairs and sat me at the kitchen table while he whipped something up in a skillet. I buried my head in my hands while he whistled. I was working very hard to ignore him when he stopped whistling abruptly. "Sloane?" he said, fear in his voice.

"What?" I groaned. I wasn't going to move unless the kitchen was on fire.

"You're bleeding," he said.

I pulled my hands away from my eyes to see a growing puddle of blood on the table. "Shit," I said. I closed my eyes as I started to get lightheaded. Jack pressed a kitchen towel up against my face, which I took from him.

"I'm calling an ambulance."

"No," I said. The words were muffled by the towel. "They can't help me."

"Why not? What's going on, Sloane?" He had the cordless phone in his phone, instantly ready to dial.

I took the phone from him and dialed David's number. "Because I'm dying. Again."


	73. Chapter 73

****Don't worry all, this section's about to end. The next part is going to be a bit…different.**  
**Again, loving the reviews. Keep 'em coming!****

Jack was pacing the floor. "David O'Hara," David said as he answered the phone on the third ring. "Is this my lovely bonded?" His voice was light and happy.

"David," I said. The weight in my voice must have tipped him off to my state of mind.

"Sloane? What is wrong?"

"Where's Victor?" If anyone was behind this, I would be him. The coward.

"Who the hell is Victor?" Jack asked.

I shot him a 'shut up' look. "Who is there with you, my Love?" David asked.

"Jack, he owns the bed and breakfast. Victor?"

"Idi and Idriis have been tracking him. Last I knew he was in Washington, DC. Idi and Idriis could not determine what exactly he was doing without tipping him off to the fact he was being tailed. Now answer me."

"Did he visit any witches?"

"He visited several people; the brothers are in the process of determining who and for what purpose now, before the sun rises. Please answer me, Sloane. Are you in danger?"

"I had a headache all morning, and now my nose is bleeding."

His silence told me he understood. "Come home, Sloane."

"I can't," I said. "I can barely handle the change in altitude from one floor to the next. I wouldn't survive another eight hour flight."

"Then I am coming to you."

I shook my head. That was not going to help me at all. "No. You need to find the witch, David."

"Idi and Idriis will find the witch; I am coming to you."

"OK," I said. There wasn't anything I could do to stop it. "Will you bring Emma?"

"Of course, Love. I will see you as soon as the sun sets in London."

"Bye." I hung up the phone and handed it back to Jack, who was nervously pacing the floor.

"What the hell is going on?" Jack yelled. I flinched as my migraine flared. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

"Promise you won't freak out when I tell you the whole story?" I didn't know if I could manage this alone, even for one day. I needed him to understand.

"I'm already 'freaking out'. Please just tell me what's happening to you."

I took a deep breath. "You heard Cian call me Queen, right?" He nodded. "Well, that's because I am. For the moment, at least." I paused, trying to figure out how to explain it. I did not in any way want to mention Filipe. "If I die, the kingdom falls to Victor. Victor Madden. And he would like nothing more."

"What does this have to do with your headache?" he asked.

"He's trying to kill me by cursing me. Like, pointy-black-hats curse me, because he's a coward."

"Curses? Witches?" He rubbed his curly blond hair. "Sloane, this stuff doesn't exist."

I smiled up at him as he paced. Some people can be so naive. "Why not? Vampires exist. The two-natured exist."

He held his hand up as if to tell me to stop before turning his back to me. He needed to just understand that, and he was going to try. "How do you know you're cursed?"

"Because it's happened to me before."

His face lightened. "So, that's good." He must have heard how wrong that sounded. "You lived through it once is what I mean."

"Yea."

I stood shakily and slowly climbed the stairs to my room. Jack followed, matching my pace. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Fixing this myself, while I'm still able to." I pulled my laptop onto my lap as Jack pulled me into his.

"Are you a witch or something?"

I laughed, which made my head hurt more. "No, not a witch." I opened my laptop, and after Jack gave me the password to the wireless, I logged on to Google. "Hmm," I said as I tapped my fingers on the platform. I typed Association of Witches, London, UK into the search engine. Several links popped up, but none of them even remotely helpful. What I needed was a name, a phone number. I got slightly frustrated after 15 minutes of searching. I hadn't found anything I could use. I leaned my head back over Jack's shoulder. Where would I go to find a witch in East Lansing? Well, first I'd ask Sydney, of course. My heart hurt just a little bit as I thought of her. I missed her so much. I tried to think of what she'd tell me. She'd immediately go to Marnie at Triple Goddess. "Do you know of any divination stores in the area?" I asked him as he massaged my temples.

"Like, a Wiccan store?" he asked.

"Yea, something like that. Do you know of one?"

"I actually happen to." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial.

"Hey, Jackie boy," I heard on the other line. It wasn't that annoying Ricky's voice, thank God. "How's your little vixen?"

"Hung over, thanks for asking. Where's that shop Elsa works at?" he asked. He kissed my temple, then my cheek, then my lips. I kissed him back, nibbling on his lower lip as whoever was on the other line rattled off directions.

"She's working today, if you want to stop by."

Jack kissed me one last time. "We might. Listen, I have to go, but ring me soon, eh?"

"Sure, sure."

Jack hung up the phone and tossed it aside onto the bed. "Feeling up to a bit of a road trip?"

I kissed him again. "I should shower first." I pushed myself out of his lap.

"Want some company?" he asked, cocking his eyebrow and giving me a sexy look.

I glanced back over my shoulder and winked as pulled my tank off. "Couldn't hurt." Before I could even turn the water on to warm up, he snaked his arms around me from the back and unbuttoned my jeans. "Do you want to strip me?"

"Only if you will return the favor." He turned me around and left a trail of kisses down my body as he pulled my jeans and panties to the floor.

I pulled my hair back into a sloppy ponytail before turning on the water then turning my attention toward Jack. He rested his hands on my bare hips as I stepped into him, barely enough distance between us to allow my hands the space to unbutton his shirt. I started at the top, unbuttoning his shirt slowly. When I got to the bottom, I ran my hands up his stomach, to his chest, and finally to his broad shoulders, where I pushed his shirt off of him. It pooled on the floor as I made my way back down his body, unbuttoning his jeans. He was a boxer briefs kind of man. I let his pants pool at his ankles as I ran my thumbs underneath the boxer briefs, momentarily brushing against his erect cock. He moaned and pulled me into him, pressing it against my stomach. "You're not naked yet," I purred as I pulled back away from him. I was close enough that he could feel my hard nipples on his chest, but there was no friction between my body and his cock. I pulled the boxer briefs down slowly, running my fingers along the elastic band front to back. I pulled them all the way down to his ankles, kissing his member on my way down. When I licked the very tip on my way up, it jumped.

He pulled me back into him as soon as I was upright again. "I'm nude now," he said as he kissed me. "Should you be doing this?" he asked.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the shower. "Yea, why not? I'm not broken or anything." Well, I was, but I didn't want to admit it.

He rubbed his hand up my side, brushing the side of my breast before kissing me again. He gave me a skeptical look. "Be tender, then?" he asked.

"We'll see how it goes." I wasn't particularly in a tender mood; I wanted passion. To me, passion was reckless and fierce, not careful. I grabbed the soap and lathered up my hands to give me a reason to put them back on Jack. I ran my hands from his shoulders down his sides; he wasn't horrendously thin, but I could feel rib bones. He had the athletic build of a long distance runner. They'd been my own personal weakness in high school when I was on the track team. I guess some things never change.

"Tell me what you want," he said huskily. He grabbed the soap from me and started massaging and cleaning my body. My body quivered when he massaged down my body, lightly touching the sensitive area between my hip bones and private area.

"I want you to mean it," I said as I encircled his penis with my hand. I teased the very tip with my thumb as I stroked him. "Stop being so careful and let loose." He seemed to take my words to heart, gripping the back of my neck and pulling me into him as his eyes rolled back in his head. I continued to pump him and tease him for another minute, until he was moaning my name. "Do you want it?" I whispered.

"Yes, Sloane. A thousand times yes." He was gripping me to him as warm water flowed over both of our bodies.

"What do you want?"

"To stuff you." I didn't stop stroking him, but I looked up at him somewhat confused. "To fuck you, I want to fuck you."

I smiled wide and devious. "Then come get it." I pulled away from him and stepped out of the shower, not bothering with the towel before I sauntered into the bedroom, wagging my hips the entire time. I didn't get a chance to lay on the bed and wait for him before he took control, lifting me into the air and throwing me onto my back on the bed. I yelped hungrily as he grabbed my hips, pulling them until I was lined up at the end of the bed. Screams of pleasure ripped through me as he held my legs wide open and shoved into me. He was rough and passionate, just like I wanted. Before I knew it, I was screaming his name as I orgasmed. "Oh, Jack," I moaned. I was feeling a little lightheaded, but I did not want him to stop. He pushed me farther up the bed and crawled over me, easing himself between my legs and entering me gently this time. He intertwined his fingers with my uncasted hand as he kissed my lips tenderly. He felt so good; I wrapped my legs around him as he started to make love to me. I moved in unison with him as we both built toward the same moment. "Yes," I moaned as I came again.

"Ohhhh," Jack moaned as he followed. He rolled off of me and covered us both with the edge of the blanket. "Stay here with me and we will do that every day if you want."

I smiled at the sentiment. "I have to live through the week first." I laid on my back and shut my eyes, trying to get through the growing lightheadedness.

"Are you right?" he asked. "You look a bit pale."

"Just a little light headed," I answered. I took one last breath before pushing myself up to a sitting position.

"Go easy," he said as he got redressed. I slowly made my way toward the edge of the bed as I started to feel better. My heart rate was returning to normal, but so was my headache.

"Where'd you leave that Advil?" I asked him as I pulled some clothes out of my suitcase. If I was going to be here much longer, I was going to need to do some laundry.

"In the kitchen." He checked his watch before he finished buttoning his shirt. "You can't have any more for another two hours, though."

_Crap_. The Advil wasn't going to do the trick long term. "You're a buzzkill." I pulled the ponytail holder out of my hair and let my hair down. I was ready as I'd ever be.

.

Jack had lent me a hat and a pair of sunglasses, which were the only things that made the car ride in the blaring sun bearable. "I thought England was supposed to be rainy and gloomy all the time." Jack just laughed. "Seriously, though. I'm not handling this sun well. Are we almost there?"

"Just finding parking now," he answered. He pulled into an impossibly small parking spot and escorted me into the small, dark shop. Just how I liked it. I stripped off the hat and sunglasses and walked straight up to the counter.

"I'm looking for a witch strong enough to undo another witches curse," I said bluntly to the woman behind the counter. She was slightly older than me, and without all the black makeup, she might have been beautiful. She had a long black ponytail that sat high on her head, which seemed to accentuate a natural cat eye.

She looked up from the computer screen. "Hi Jack, who's your friend?"

I started fanning myself with my hand as Jack introduced us. There were several candles burning in this small enclosed space, which was making it hot and smoky. "Elsa, this is Sloane. She's staying at the bed and breakfast."

Elsa gave me a once over. "Is that so?" She studied my eyes for a long moment before turning back to her computer screen. "There aren't any such things, witches."

I laughed lightly. "Oh, sweetheart, you're too cute." She looked back up at me, eyebrow raised. "Then tell me, who painted the lovely design above your door?" I pointed to the intricate design that encased the doorway. I had seen the same thing on the Triple Goddess's door. I was betting that was no coincidence. "And the rune behind you?" It was the same rune that Sydney had given me only this one was the size of a 3 by 5 poster and painted on the wall. For luck, I seem to remember.

She sighed. "You'd best find the witch that cursed you. They would be best to remove it."

I shook my head. I had to steady myself, the simple motion making me dizzy. "Not an option, too far away." ** I snaked my hand back into Jack's to anchor myself to the here and now. "Do you know of anyone In England?"**

**She sighed and pulled a piece of scrap paper from the register. "Let me make some calls. What's the curse?"**

**I fidgeted. "To block my second sight." She didn't write anything down, she just gapped at me. "The sooner the better, please."**

"**What's second sight?" Jack asked. I squeezed his hand. I'd explain later.**

"**I'll pass the information along to you, Jack."**

**I nodded in thanks before rushing Jack out of the store. Sure, it was dark, but the heat was quickly making me feel like I was going to faint. "What's second sight?" Jack asked again as I settled into the passenger seat. Uh. My headache was back in full force.**

"**Just what it sounds like," I responded as I rubbed my forehead. "I can see the future, among other things." He didn't start the car; he just sat there staring at me. "Jack, please…" I whispered after a moment. I needed to get somewhere dark and cold.**

"**Here," Jack said as he handed me one of the kitchen towels he had shoved in the back of his car. "You're bleeding again."**

"**Thanks," I mumbled through the cloth hanging in front of my face. Mercifully, he turned the car on so I could turn the air on maximum. **

"**Warm?" he asked. **

"**Yea," I said as I repositioned the all the vents in the car to hit me. He pressed his hand up against the skin of my neck. **

"**You're burning up," he said. "Are you sure you don't just have an illness?"**

"**I'm sure," I said. What had taken several days to develop last time I was cursed took about half a day to develop this time. Either Marnie is a weak, inefficient witch, or whoever cast this spell is way more powerful than her. **

**That was a silent drive home. I didn't blame Jack for not wanting to talk; I had given him a lot of information to digest. "I'm sorry," I said as we pulled in front of his home. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I'm sorry for pulling you out of your comfort zone. I'm sorry for…" He stopped me before I could go on. **

"**Forgiven."**

**I got out of the car and walked quickly into the house. "You should wait at least until tonight until you forgive me."**

"**What happens tonight?" he asked. **

"**David and Emma are coming." I collapsed onto the couch, burying my head under a light blanket. The migraine was now officially back in full force, nausea, lightheadedness, and sensitivity included. "Can I have my Advil yet?"**

**He pulled the bottle from his pocket and handed me two pills. When I pouted up at him, he stood his ground. "Two is all you get. You can overdose on painkillers, you know."**

"**I took four earlier today." I was fairly sure it'd take more than four pills to kill me. At least half a bottle.**

"**And that's why you're only getting two now."**

**I popped them in my mouth before he took those away, too, and slowly made my way up the stairs. Jack followed me up until the point I shut myself in the bathroom, where he stopped just outside the door. I kept the light off, only opening the door to throw the bath rug into the bedroom and out of my way before shutting it again. I laid down on the cold floor in the dark room. "What are you doing?" Jack asked after several minutes of silence. **

"**Lying on the floor," I answered. "Now be quiet."**

**I moaned as he cracked the door open, letting light in. "Why?" he whispered.**

"**Because it's cold and dark and most importantly, quiet in here." I had learned this trick in high school, when migraines were far more common for me.**

**Jack closed the door, so I followed his creaking footsteps down the stairs. A minute later, he returned, this time shutting himself in the bathroom with me. He didn't speak, which I appreciated. He simply laid what I assumed was a pack of frozen peas on my forehead and another on my chest. I groaned as he folded himself onto the floor near my head and started gently rubbing my hair.**

**.**

**Worried vibes were streaming off Jack as I laid in the fetal position on the floor in the bathroom. I whimpered every once in a while as gently rocked myself back and forth in a failing effort to control the pain. It was overwhelming, the pain. I whimpered louder when there was a knock at the front door. Jack rubbed my head before silently excusing himself. **

**I could hear Jack talking as he walked up the stairs. "No, I couldn't get her to eat; I couldn't even get her to move."**

**I groaned louder when the door creaked open behind me. "Sloane, how…" Emma said to my back, stopping mid sentence. I stifled as scream as I clamped my hands over my ears. Tears were starting to fall down my cheeks. I continued to rock back and forth as I heard shuffling behind me, shortly followed by a prick in my shoulder. Emma had given me a shot. **

**.**

**They'd left me alone once Emma had given me a shot, shutting me back in the bathroom. It didn't take long for whatever she'd given me to kick in. In a matter of ten minutes, I was at least able to move. I took it slowly, first sitting up, then crawling into the bedroom, where I sat on the end of the bed for a full minute before I even attempted standing. My eyes automatically squinted when I opened the bedroom door to a well lit hallway. David, Emma, and Lee stood just outside the door in downtime as Jack paced the hallway. "Hi guys," I said.**

"**See? There is no need for a hospital," Emma said to Jack as she gave me a hug. "I missed you¸ sister." I smiled at her as she squeezed my hand before walking down the stairs. Lee nodded to me before following her.**

"**My Love," David said as he gathered me into a hug. He kissed my forehead. "I got a message from the brothers this morning. The witch Victor used is now dead."**

**I nodded as I pulled away from him. "I figured." I didn't see Victor making the same mistake as Simon did. "I assume you have all met?"**

"**Yes, I have met the proprietor."**

**I rolled my eyes at the back handed jab. "His name's Jack." I walked past David toward Jack and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for staying with me."**

"**Anytime," he said. Just to up the ante in the male pissing match, he kissed my lips lightly and tenderly. "Can I make you dinner?"**

"**Ug, no thanks." I may have been mostly pain free, but the nausea was still there. I put both of the men at my back as I followed Emma's route down the stairs. When I got to the living room, however, it wasn't just the two vampires I was expecting. "Oh, come on," I pouted as I turned toward David. "You had to bring Eric? You know we don't exactly get along, right?" **

"**The feisty Queen's awake!" I heard. Cian popped his head around the corner from the kitchen.**

"**Oh, fuck me," I moaned. "You too?" The smirk on Eric's face let me know why Cian was here—to annoy me.**

"**Absolutely!" he said enthusiastically. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."**

**I let out a frustrated sigh. "Eric, leave. And take the pup with you," I said as I pointed to Cian with my thumb. **

"**No. Eric, sit," David ordered. **

**I turned to him, shock on my face. The look of shock quickly turned to a deathly glare as my anger boiled over. "Excuse me?" I said. I was way too grumpy to put up with all of this. I could feel the blood pounding through my veins as I clenched my fists. **

"**Ohh, a domestic. Let's watch," Cian said as he pulled one of the kitchen chairs front and center. All he needed was popcorn.**

"**Fuck off, dickweed," I yelled at him before whipping back around to face David. He had the ultimate poker face, nothing flashed across it. "Who died and made you God?" I asked angrily. The fact I was getting lightheaded was the farthest thing from my mind at the moment. I poked him in the chest. "As I seem to remember…" I quit mid sentence as I swayed on my feet. "…you aren't…" I had given my body too much to handle. Everything slowed down as blackness creeped in. It seemed as if the world was spinning around me. As the closest one to me, Cian popped out of his chair to catch me when my knees buckled. **

**Cian lowered me to the floor slowly before wiping my lips with his thumb and shoving it in his mouth. "Mmmm, yum."**

**I tasted blood when I opened my mouth. "Shut up, Cian," I whispered as I pressed the back of my hand to my nose shakily. I kept it there until Jack knelt next to me and handed me yet another kitchen rag. **

"**Everyone out," David said. "Emma…" He beckoned her over to take a look at me. **

**Jack went to stand and followed the rest of the vampires out of the room, but I grabbed his hand to stop him. "Stay," I begged. He folded himself onto the floor, sitting next to me Indian style without letting go of my hand. **

**Emma knelt in front of me, small flashlight in hand. She shined the light into each of my eyes before feeling my forehead. "You need to take it easy, Sloane. No more screaming at David. In fact, I prefer you not even try to stand."**

**I rolled my eyes at her. "Nothing is going to make me stop fighting with David." She might have been on to something about the standing, though. I was barely feeling well enough to sit upright on my own right now, let alone standing. "I'm serious, send Eric and Cian home."**

**David was still standing, looming over me. "I have no control over Cian, and it seems he is quite taken with you." I rolled my eyes again. "Eric, however, stays. He must pay his penance."**

"**So you're torturing both of us?" I asked. He smiled down at me. "Seriously, David. Sookie…"**

"**Sookie will deal with it."**

**I sighed as I pulled the rag from my face. "Don't make me regret calling you." Jack excused himself as his cell phone started to ring. "Please, David."**

**He nodded. "I cannot say no to you. Eric will go home, but Cian will stay. We may need his expertise and contacts while we are here in London." **

"**He's annoying."**

"**Yes he is," David agreed. "But you will need to put up with him for the night. We must go announce ourselves to Guinevere." I raised my eyebrows. "England's Queen."**

"**OK, have fun," I said as I tried to push myself off the floor. **

**David lifted me into his arms before I could even get to my feet. "Where would you like to be?"**

"**Couch is fine," I grumbled. I could walk the three feet to the couch. He set me on the couch as Jack returned to the room.**

"**Elsa came through, she found someone," Jack said as he shoved his phone back in his pocket. "She said they could drop by later tonight."**

"**Good," I said. I filled David in on what we had done that day as Emma popped open a Coke.**

"**I believe this drink is caffeinated, correct?" she said as she studied the ingredients list.**

"**Yea," I said.**

"**This should help with the lightheadedness, then." She handed me the open pop. "You should also eat something." She pulled my casted hand into her palms and with one quick squeeze, she cracked my cast and peeled it away. With that, Emma and David were gone instantly. **


	74. Chapter 74

****Some of you may recognize Cian from Dead Give Away, my E/S novella. Well, yes, he may have the same name and the same maker, but he needed a bit of an overhaul for this story. I didn't think Sloane could handle another serious vampire. Cian is pronounced Kee-an. It's an old Irish name.****

I beckoned Jack over as I sat on the couch where David had left me. "Come sit with me."

He sat on the couch next to me and I quickly crawled onto his lap. "This is all a bit overwhelming."

I buried my face in his neck. "I'm sorry," I said. "Do you want me to take my vampire entourage elsewhere? I'd understand."

"No," he said. "I just wish we had time to be a normal couple."

I pulled my face from his neck and looked him in the eye, wide grin on my face. "We're a couple?" He simply kissed my lips. "Well, that's a first for me."

"I'm your first Brit?"

"No." I buried my head back in his neck. "Well, yea, that too, but it wasn't what I was talking about. You're my first human."

"Is that so?" he asked as he absent mindedly rubbed my leg.

"Yea. I don't really date much. It's hard when you can see how it ends before it even begins, you know?" He mumbled an affirmative response. "But now I can see more and it's like…either join a convent or deal with it."

"Do we break up?" he asked me. Wow, loaded question.

I shrugged. I hadn't seen it, but I had to assume yes. He lives in England. I live in Michigan. The ending seemed obvious, didn't it?

"Oh, this just gets better and better!" Cian came sauntering back in the room, hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. I glared over Jack's shoulder at him. He plastered an innocent look on his face before pointing to the door with his thumb. "You want me to leave so you can snog?"

I had no idea what 'to snog' is, but I could assume it was something people don't do in polite company. "As a matter of fact, yes."

He lowered himself into the armchair across from us as folded his hands in his lap. "I'd rather watch. Do you have any blood?"

"No," Jack answered. He was trying to be polite, but he was just as annoyed with being saddled with Cian as I was.

Cian looked me straight in the eye. "Can I have some of yours?" He wiggled his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes back at him. "It was worth a shot."

I was just curling into Jack's chest for a little nap when the phone in his pocket buzzed against my hipbone. I moved so he could pull it out, but then settled right back in. "Hi Lizzie," he said into the receiver. "No, no, I have a few guests right now." He started rubbing my back. "Well, where are you?" He nodded as he listened to his sister talk on the other line. "I'll be out," he said as he looked at his watch. "Give me an hour and a half." He closed his phone and gave me another kiss. "My sister's having car trouble; I have to go get her." I gave him a pleading look. I didn't want him to leave me here alone with the most annoying vampire I've ever met. "I'm sorry," he whispered into my ear. "I'll bring you back some cheesecake," he said to placate me.

It worked. "You better." He kissed my head one more time before grabbing his keys and walking out the door.

"So what are we going to do tonight, Kitten?" Cian said as he sat where Jack had been and threw his arm around me. He squeezed me into his side. "_We_ could snog if you would like."

"I'm pretty sure you're disgusting."

He buried his nose in my hair just above my ear and took a big sniff. "Mmm. I would love to be disgusting with you."

"Oh, shove it." I pushed myself to my feet and walked into the kitchen for the sole reason to get away from him. I only got a few steps before he threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"You're not supposed to be on your feet." He plopped me back down on the couch right where I had been.

"Can I uninvite you?" I asked as he cuddled next to me again.

"No, not from this room."

"Then I'm instituting a 10-foot radius rule." I pushed him away, without success. "You have to stay at least 10 feet away from me."

He didn't budge. "I do not think I like this rule."

"Then I'm going to my room," I said as I pushed myself to my feet again. Not even a step later, he lofted me back over his shoulder. "Put me down, all the blood is rushing to my head."

"No," he said as he carried me up the stairs.

"Cian, I'm serious," I said as I gripped the back of his shirt. "I'm getting light headed." He dropped me lightly to my feet at the top of the stairs. I grabbed his forearms for stability as the blood returned to the rest of my body. "I'll walk from here," I said. It was only a few feet to the door. I could handle that.

Cian let me take the few steps on my own. As soon as my hand hit the doorknob, the floor fell out from under me. Left was right, up was down, the silence was screaming. Everything went black.

.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked to the dreaded vampire who was leaning over me. My head wasn't working; foggy space filled my thoughts. It wasn't until I tried to move that I realized his was holding me down. He was straddled over my legs, pressing my thighs to the floor. One of his hands was holding both of my wrists to my chest, effectively strapping me to the floor. I should have been terrified, but I just wasn't. "Let go of me." I didn't notice that his other hand was resting on the back of my head until I tried to fight him.

"You do not remember me?" he asked, his fangs fully down. He hadn't budged. My heart was yelling at me to fight.

"Get off me," I said as I tried to fight him again. There just wasn't any leverage for me to make any headway.

"Not until you tell me if you truly do not remember who I am." He gripped the back of my head painfully hard to keep my head steady.

"No, I don't. Now let me up." I couldn't see where I was until he got off of me, leaving me a better view of my surroundings. I could feel that I knew where I was, I just couldn't pull that information to the forefront.

"I am Cian, sent by your King to protect you."

It took me way too long to digest that information. "He's not my King," I said finally. I pushed myself up to a sitting position as he produced his cell phone. When I put my hands behind me to scoot away from the strange vampire, they slipped. I looked back to see what was making the floor so slippery. The wooden floor was covered in a large puddle of blood. "Oh my God," I said as I shut my eyes. "What happened?"

He didn't have to answer me. Everything was coming back. "You are not acting yourself," he said quietly to me. I was getting flashes of my evening coming back to me. The migraine. David and Emma coming. Cian left to protect me. Jack leaving to rescue his sister. "Yes, sorry to bother you, King O'Hara." I pulled my already blood covered hand up to my face and wiped under my nose. More blood. "I do not know what is wrong with her, but she is not acting herself and she is bleeding again." I was going to be sick. I tried to crawl into my room so I could get into my bathroom, but Cian grabbed me by the belt loop. "You cannot go in there until you invite me in," he said, phone still pressed to his ear.

"Come in, then," I said as I started crawling again. I just barely made it all the way into the bathroom before my stomach heaved.

"You should probably come back, Majesty. I do not know how to handle sick humans," Cian said into his phone. He listened to the receiver for another minute. "Yes, Sir."

When I thought I might be done throwing up, I curled into a ball on the bathroom floor. "Your King suggests I ask you what I should do to help you. Perhaps I should clean the blood from you," he said with a smirk.

I giggled to myself. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad to see the old Cian back. The serious one was starting to scare me."

"Is that permission to lick you clean?" he asked, surprised at my response.

It was polite when a human is bleeding to offer that blood to a nearby vampire, but I just couldn't fathom Cian licking my face. As a compromise, I offered him my bloody hand. "I remember now," I said as he sucked the blood from each of my fingers. It was oddly erotic.

"Hmm?" He said as he had my pinky in his mouth.

"I remember you." He started licking my palm. When he couldn't get the right angle for optimal licking, he pulled me onto my back as I lie on the floor.

He came up for air long enough to say, "Good." He started hungrily licking and nibbling down my arm, following the trail of a drip that snaked its way to the inside of my elbow. "What is it?" he said to himself. "There is something a little different about your blood, something I've never tasted before. It's intoxicating." He continued to lick the skin of my arm clean.

"I'm part Fae," I answered. He gripped each one of my shoulders and lifted my torso off the floor and started to lick the drips of blood that fell onto my chest.

"Mmm, I've never had a Fae before." He snaked his tongue between my cleavage to get the very last little bit.

That was the last straw for me. I pushed weakly against his chest. "OK, that's enough." He took one last lick before leaning me against the cabinets. He licked his chops between his fangs. "Will you get me some water? And another kitchen towel?" I didn't want to use one of Jack's nice towels to clean the blood from my face.

He didn't say a word; he just zoomed out of the room, returning with my items in a matter of seconds. I took a couple of gulps before wetting the towel from the bathtub faucet and cleaning my face. The cold water felt good against my hot skin. "We need to clean up the rest of the blood before Jack gets home." My stomach churned again as I remembered the thick red liquid puddled on the floor. I cringed for another reason as I was quickly becoming aware of a painful twinge at the back of my head. I wound my fingers into my hair to feel the spot. I had a large bump forming. "Did you hit me?" I asked him incredulously.

"No, but I will if you are into that." Yup, he's back to his smartass self.

I grabbed the bloody towel and made my way toward the puddle, still on my hands and knees. "Then why do I have a goose egg on the back of my head?"

He followed slowly behind, patiently matching my pace. "I assume you do not mean a fowl's egg."

I wiped small drips and handprints of blood on the hardwood with my towel until I got to the larger puddle. "It means a bump on my head."

"You bounced your head off the floor when you were convulsing." He lifted me off the floor with one arm strategically wrapped around my torso, holding my back against his chest. "Say the word, and I will kiss it and make it better," he whispered into my ear.

I slapped his arm. I wanted to punch him in the balls, but I needed him to clean up this mess. "Go get a mop and a bucket of water." He put me down and looked at me as if I were crazy. "Go ahead," I said as I waved him down the stairs. He pouted at me for a split second before disappearing down the steps. "Vampires," I mumbled to myself.

I was sitting on the floor mid yawn when Cian returned, bucket and mop in hand. "I have your cleaning materials."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, help me up," I said as I extended my hand toward him. He set down the filled bucket and the mop so he could use both arms to lift me to my feet. I grabbed the mop and got to work. I tried to think about something else while I was cleaning, imagining that I was cleaning strawberry syrup off the floor, or maybe raspberry chocolate. Cian leaned against the door frame, whistling an aimless tune through his fangs as he watched me work.

"Done," I said as I dunked the mop into the bucket for the last time.

"Good," he said as he pushed himself away from the door jam. "Ready to snog?"

"Oh, I'd love to, but all that cleaning was just too much work," I said sarcastically. "I think I should go rest now." I sat down on the bed as I yawned falsely, fanning my hand in front of my mouth dramatically.

He picked up the mop and the bucket of red water and glared at me before disappearing back down the stairs. Once I was pretty sure he was out of earshot, I let out the real yawn I had been stifling for several minutes. God, I was exhausted. I closed my eyes for a second as I laid my head on the pillow, my legs still dangling over the edge of the bed.

I shot into a sitting position when I felt a cold hand on my back. "How are you feeling, Love?" David asked. He was sitting next to where my legs dangled off the end of the bed.

"I'm fine," I said as I wiped my eyes.

"She is too tired to snog with me," Cian deadpanned from the doorway.

"Oh, shut up," I said mid yawn. "What does that even mean?"

"I will show you," he sneered. I rolled my eyes as David's fangs came down to match Cian's. _Vampires_, I thought. David full on growled at Cian.

"If you two are going to fight this out, go outside please." I either sounded commanding or desperate, because both of the vampires listened to me, retracting their fangs and calming down almost instantly.

Emma sauntered in the room, black bag in hand. I groaned. I hate that bag. "Tell me what happened."

"Seizure," I answered as I laid my head back down on the pillow and tucked my feet between my hipbones and David's. Emma nodded as she ruffled through her bag, finally producing a needle. "No more shots," I groaned as I buried my face in the pillow. "Ever."

"Sister," David said, warning in his voice. "Leave her be for now." The bed shook as David stood and kissed my head. "Sleep," he whispered into my hair before leaving, Emma and Cian following him out the door.

.

I jerked out of a light sleep as loud footsteps bound up the stairs. "Good thing you're awake," Jack said as he burst in my door. _I wasn't until recently_, I thought to myself as he caught his breath. "I brought you cheesecake."

I smiled sincerely at him. "What kind?"

"Strawberry caramel."

"Sounds good," I answered as I beckoned him closer. "But come sit with me for a minute." I sat up so he could get comfortable leaning against the headboard before I leaned against him again, tucked under his arm. "Mmmm," I moaned. "This is just as good as any cheesecake." He kissed the tip of my nose. "How's your sister?"

"She's doing well. I dropped her off at my parent's house."

"Probably a good idea," I said post yawn.

My eyes were just closing for another short nap when David spoke from the doorway. "The witch is here." _God Dammit_, I thought. _I'm never going to get any sleep_.

"OK. Where does she want to do this?" I asked sleepily.

"Downstairs."

I nodded as I pushed myself to my feet, Jack following behind. I didn't even get past the doorframe before David lofted onto his back like a monkey. "Emma's just being overprotective," I said as I held on. "I can walk."

"I do not trust you to go down the stairs without hurting yourself." He started walking down the stairs slowly for my benefit. "Humor me."

"I don't have much of a choice," I mumbled. "Pushy asshole."

He set me down at the base of the steps. "And you, my dear, are a stubborn child." David proceeded me into living room while I waited for Jack, wrapping my arm around his torso.

"You sure you want to be here for this?" I didn't want to upset his world view more than I already had.

"It can't get any worse, can it?" I just shrugged. I felt like Murphy's Law's greatest example. If I said no, even just to placate him, it would inevitably get worse. That's the way my life worked. "Hm," he harrumphed as I sat on the end of the couch. Jack sat on the arm of the couch as David stood behind me.

I eyed the woman sitting regally in an armchair suspiciously. She was dressed in a flowing black dress. Her shoulder length mousy brown hair hung loosely in weak curtains around her face. At her feet was a reusable shopping bag full of goodies. Tattooed on her chest, just below her neck, was an intricate black and white design laid within a harlequin. "It's you," she said as he stared into my eyes. "Strong magic surrounds you."

I wasn't quite sure what to say to that. Standing in the corner, Cian gaffawed to himself when I said, "OK." I glared at him momentarily, just long enough for him to get the message and silently lock his lips and throw away the key. "So can you fix it?"

She stood slowly from her chair and stood directly in front of me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "This is strong magic." She chanted a few lines of what I assume was Latin or Greek before gathering something from her tote. She turned back to me and lit what looked to be a dried stalk of weeds on fire, waving it on my face. "No, I can't fix it," she said finally after several more lines of Latin. "Where's the witch that cast the spell?"

"Unfortunately dead," I said.

"Hm, that's too bad. I would have liked to learn from them." I shrugged at her. I couldn't imagine why you would want to learn from someone who tries to kill people.

"Is there nothing you can do?" David asked. Jack grabbed my hand.

"No, nothing long term. How important is your second sight to you?" she asked.

"I'd just rather the curse not kill me. I couldn't care less about being clairvoyant. In fact, if you could somehow take that away _without_ killing me, that'd be great."

She nodded and pulled a few more items out of her pack. "I can cast a protection spell which will slow the curse down, but this is some strong stuff. Eventually, the blocking spell will overwhelm my protection spell."

"Do it," David commanded. I glared up at him. "Please," he said once he caught my glare. That's better.

She got right to work. "You," she said as she nodded to me. "Come sit right here." She pulled one of the kitchen chairs into the middle of the wooden floor. I followed directions, settling myself into the chair. She placed five purple candles around me, each one of them with a different symbol on it. I watched with everyone else in the room while she produced a large piece of chalk.

She bent down, as if she were going to draw on the floor. "Woah," I said as I hopped out of the chair. I looked up to the only man who would mind: Jack. "Do you want her drawing on your floor?"

"Yes, please continue," he said as he stood side by side with Emma and David, watching closely.

With his permission, I sat back in the chair. "OK, then," I said. I yawned and folded my legs under me as she connected the candles on the floor with chalk lines, eventually revealing a pentagram.

"We're ready," she said. She produced a little baggie of fine powder and sprinkled it on my head. I sneezed. "Goddess bless you," she responded. "Give me your hands." I complied and she grabbed both my hands, squeezing them tight. I fidgeted uncomfortably as she closed her eyes and started chanting something in another language, getting louder and louder. By the time she was done, she was screaming. When she pulled her hands away, everything snapped back into place. The remaining symptoms; nausea, achy, light and sound sensitivity, and weakness fell away. "Did it work?" she asked.

"Oh, yea," I said as several visions flooded in. Most of them were undecipherable or unimportant, all until the last one. I gasped when I saw Sookie's lifeless body through the eyes of Amelia. "Oh, no." Amelia screamed.


	75. Chapter 75

****I miss my reviewers! Where are you? I'll tell you what: I'm not releasing the next chapter until I have 192 reviews – that's only 5 more. You tell me if you want me to continue. ****

When I could see my surroundings again, I jumped to my feet and ran up the stairs. I needed to get my laptop and make a call now. David, Emma, and Lee followed me up the stairs, shortly followed by a winded Jack. "Give me your phone," I said to no one in particular. I held one hand out as I started up my computer, impatiently waiting for someone to comply. I looked up as David set his cell phone in my outstretched hand. "Someone's going after Sookie," I mumbled to him as I dialed her number. I fidgeted on my bed as it rang. And rang. And rang. "Hello?" Sookie said in her sweet southern voice.

"Sook, you have to run."

"What? Who is this?" Her voice was low and worried. I could hear the sound of the bar in the background.

"Sloane. Are you at work?"

"Yes," she answered.

"You OK, Sook? Who is it?" I heard Sam ask in the background.

The voices faded into the distance as Sookie found more a more private area. "What's happening? Where are you?"

I needed to bring her into up to speed fast so we could get to the heart of the matter. "Filipe's dead, Victor's coming after me, and someone is coming after you, too. I wouldn't be surprised if Victor's behind it; with me gone, Eric's his only competition for the throne, and you're the best way to get at Eric."

"When?" she asked.

I wish I knew. "I don't know. Tonight, maybe? Tomorrow? I feel like it's soon."

"Eric's not even here. I haven't seen him in a few weeks now." She sounded lonely. My heart ached for her.

"Yea, sorry. You can blame David for that. He should be on his way home now, though," I said as I glared at David. He nodded, confirming that he did indeed honor my wishes and sent him home.

"_You_ sent him home? Sent him home from where?" she asked.

"London. Look, don't leave work until Eric gets home, or maybe call Pam. Don't go anywhere alone."

"OK, but Sloane, what happened? Who killed Filipe?"

"Eric." I really didn't want to talk about this in front of Jack. "Look, I gotta go. I'll call to catch up tomorrow?"

"Yea, OK," she said.

I hung up and handed the phone back to David. "Call Eric and let him know?" David passed his phone off on Emma and sat on the bed with me. He looked into my eyes. Without even having to ask him to, he got up and left, pulling Emma and Lee with him.

It was just Jack and me. I watched him as he stared at me. I knew that look all too well. Fear. Repulsion. I couldn't look at him anymore. A tear slid down my face; I was quick to wipe it away. I guess I deserved it; after all, I was a freak.

"Do you want some of that cheesecake?" he asked me. I looked up at him, my eyes rimmed with tears ready to fall. It took me a minute to understand what he said. Before I could answer, he backed out of the room. "I'll go get some."

He returned quickly with a slice of the cheesecake and a can of RediWhip. He handed me the plate and silently sat next to me as I tasted it. It was good, that's for sure. "This is good," I said as I wiped one tear from my eyes. "Thanks." He continued to sit in silence and watch me as I finished my cheesecake and crawled into bed. He was still watching me with that look in his eye that said he'd rather be elsewhere. I turned away from him. I couldn't take it anymore; I had to know. "You knew what I was all day, why are you just now afraid of me?" I whispered as I curled farther under the covers. "I mean, I get it, no one likes to be around freaks, but why were you OK with it all day?"

"Why do you think I'm afraid of you?" he asked.

"I know that look," I answered as another tear fell.

"I'm not afraid _of_ you, Sloane. I'm afraid _for_ you." He leaned over me, forcing me to look him in the eye. "I don't want to watch you go through what you went through today ever again. And you are no freak. You are special." He wrapped his arms around me and held me to him.

I couldn't just sit around waiting for the apocalypse anymore. I pushed myself out of his arms and to my feet, wiping the remaining tear from my face. "Lee," I said barely above my usual speaking voice. I knew if he was in the house, he'd hear me. After pulling my hair back into a tighter bun, I walked toward the stairs, running into Lee on his way up.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Want to spar?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "I do not think you should be exerting yourself."

I full on pouted. If Lee wouldn't spar with me, I didn't know who would. David refused to fight with me, fearing he might inadvertently hurt me again. Emma probably wouldn't if Lee wouldn't. "Fine, I'll just ask Cian. I'm sure Eric taught him how to fight."

"You are stubborn," he said. "He will not fight you."

"Oh, I think he will," I said as I rushed past Lee.

Lee was at the end of the stairs before I could get all the way down them. "Fine. We will spar."

I grinned at him. "Good."

"What are you doing?" Jack hissed behind me.

"I can't just sit around all night." I followed Lee down the stairs and through the house. "It helps me think." I stood opposite Lee out in the small back courtyard covered in paving stones. "OK, come at me."

He pulled a set of honest to God nunchucks from his back. We had a small audience, David leaning against the siding in the corner, Emma in the doorframe. Jack paced the floor behind Emma while Cian watched from the kitchen window. "Be careful of her wrist, Dear," Emma said. "She is not completely healed yet." He seemed to completely ignore her, swinging the nunchucks dizzyingly fast.

"Human speed, please," I asked. He nodded as he slowed the weapon to a speed my eyes could just barely follow.

I did like he taught me; I anticipated. Before he could attack, I shoved my unbroken arm in the path of the nunchuck, bringing it to a stop, then quickly taking the weapon from him. I was still recovering from how much that hurt when he grabbed my neck and lifted me from the ground.

"Oh Jesus," Jack said as he turned away. I grabbed both of Lee's arms before bringing my legs up and kicking him in the chest. I pushed myself free as he fell backwards, falling back into the fence myself.

"So," I said, short of breath as I reset my stance. "How long do you think this spell will last?"

"I do not know." Lee recovered quickly and I dodged as he came at me, kicking him in the back of the knee to knock him off balance again. He smiled at me, fangs finally coming out to play. He wasn't kidding around anymore.

"What I need is a stronger witch," I said. I blocked the first two punches he threw, but the third one landed square on my broken ribs. I yelped as I heard cracking and dropped to my knees.

"That is enough," Emma said as Lee offered me his hand. I kept one arm wrapped around my torso as I took his outstretched hand.

"No, I'm good. Just steer clear of and recently broken bones, please." I took a deep breath and shook off what remained of the radiating pain. "So where would I go to get a stronger witch?"

Lee looked to Emma and David for permission. When he wasn't looking, I elbowed him in the jaw. My right wrist wasn't strong enough yet to withstand a punch. He returned the favor, throwing a fury of punches and kicks my way. I blocked or dodged most of them, a few landing and pushing me backwards until my back landed against the fence again. "Where?" I asked again as I ducked away from Lee's punch.

"I do not know," Lee said. He grabbed both of my wrists and held them against the fence while bracing me legs against the fence with his knee. "That is the end of your lesson for tonight." I grimaced as he squeezed my wrist. "You need time to heal before I can train you again."

.

My eyes were closing without my permission as Jack and I sat on the front porch on the porch swing. David, Emma, Lee and Cian had all gone when dawn came dangerously close, which is why Jack and I were alone watching the sun rise. "Sloane?" Jack whispered. I was so comfortable as I leaned against his warm body, the both of us wrapped in several blankets, that I didn't want to move. I let out a light sigh as I leaned against his shoulder. He grunted when he lifted me into his arms, struggling to open the front door, then carrying me upstairs and setting me lightly on a bed. "Time for bed, finally," he whispered into my ear as I groaned. I had been warm and comfortable.

He flipped my shoes off my feet. "I was comfy," I groaned as he flipped me onto my back. I still had my eyes closed.

"I wasn't." I unbuttoned my jeans so he could pull them off before tucking me under the covers. I was asleep before I felt him crawl into bed.

.

I woke up incredibly uncomfortable at around noon; I never liked sleeping in a bra. Filtered sun streamed through the window, but this time, it didn't hurt my head. I sat up, which roused Jack out of a deep sleep. He drowsily grabbed my waist tighter. "You're not going anywhere," he mumbled. He was responding to my movement, but he didn't particularly seem to be awake. I struggled to pull my t-shirt free of his grasp so I could take it off, followed by my bra. When I flicked my bra off the bed, my shirt went with it. _Crap_, I thought. I tried to pull my hips free from Jack, but he just wouldn't let go. I stretched as far as I could and tried to reach my shirt that now lay on the floor. No such luck. I spotted Jack's shirt at the corner of the bed. I leaned over him, trying to get my fingers on that shirt. When I leaned over him, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him, pressing me to his chest as he slept. _Fine_, I thought. _I'm sleeping shirtless then. But I swear to God, if another one of his friends stops by, I'm losing it_.

I couldn't fall back asleep fast enough. "Mmmm," Jack moaned, pleasantly surprised. His waking up had essentially woke me out of my pre dreaming state. His hands roamed up my nude side and back. "It's not every day I go to sleep next to a clothed woman and wake up next to a naked one."

"How often do you go to sleep next to a woman in any state?" I mumbled. Now that he was awake, I took the opportunity to roll away from him, putting him at my back. I felt immediately more comfortable now that I wasn't lying on the side with my broken ribs. I stretched out like a cat before pulling the blanket all the way up to my ears.

"Besides you? It's been a long while." He saddled up behind me, wrapping one arm around my side and interlacing his fingers with mine. I could feel the pillow moved as he tucked his other arm beneath it. "And I do love to be beside you."

I smiled and squeezed his hand. I was comfortable again. I could finally fall asleep.

.

I was alone in the bed when I woke up. My heart dropped when I felt the first twinge of a headache. _Here we go again_, I thought. I sat up in bed and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was only 2 in the afternoon. There must be something about London that makes it more difficult for me to sleep. Back home, I could sleep well into the afternoon without having been up all night the night before.

I begrudgingly slid out of bed, quickly rushing across the hall in nothing but my panties to my own room. I turned on the hot water in my bathroom. _Maybe a hot shower will loosen up and tense muscles in my neck_, I thought. _Maybe it's not the curse that's giving me this headache_. Once the water warmed, I stepped under the stream of water and sighed. That's so much better. I took my time shampooing and conditioning my hair, then spent the time to shave my legs and armpits. I scrubbed my face clean, then followed suit with the rest of my body. When I was perfectly clean with pruny skin, I stepped out of the shower. One thing my shower did not do was ease the ache in my head, at least not permanently. I rolled my head to try and crack my neck, but no such luck. After pulling my hair back into a tight French braid, I got dressed and walked downstairs.

"Good afternoon, beautiful," Jack said from the kitchen. He was so chipper, so happy. I approached him as he stood in front of the burners and he leaned down to give me a kiss. "I'm making omelets."

I glanced at the clock. 2:30. "For a late lunch?"

"It's the first meal of the day. That's breakfast." He grabbed a plate and unloaded an omelet onto it, handing it to me. That omelet was the size of the plate.

I grabbed it from him and after a sly look, I set it down at the table. It wasn't until I set it down that I noticed the bottle of Advil. I could use some Advil. But then I looked back at Jack. I couldn't burst his bubble with making him worry about me, he was just too happy. "I'm just going to use the bathroom first," I said. When I walked past the coffee table, I stealthily grabbed the bottle and shoved it into my shirt.

I swallowed two Advil then washed my already clean hands for good measure before coming back out to eat my omelet. I dug in and smiled at Jack as he did the same. He got what he wanted; time to be a normal couple.

.

Jack and I sat on the front porch during the afternoon, Jack's nose in a book and mine in my sketchpad. Mercifully, the Advil had helped to dull the headache. We hadn't been sitting out for more than 15 minutes before Elsa, the woman from the divination shop, walked up the front walk. "I'm not a parlor trick," I said without lifting my head as she got within hearing distance.

She gasped and stopped mid-stride. "How did…" she stopped mid question, obviously answering it for herself.

I set my sketchpad down as she blocked my view of the house I was drawing. "Thanks, by the way. For finding the witch."

"She said she was able to help a little."

"Short term, yes." Jack had finished his paragraph and was now listening to the conversation.

"Will you please help me?" She seemed to understand that I knew why she was here. She wanted me to read her and tell her if she was going to die of cancer. A cancer that no one knew about but her and her doctor.

She seemed so desperate. "I can't promise anything," I said. "If it comes, it comes. I may see something unrelated to…your predicament."

She nodded. "I can pay," she said as she pulled her purse from her side.

"No need," I said as I stood. "Let's go inside." Jack stood to come with us, but I gently pushed him back into the seat. "Girl time," I whispered. He seemed to understand (or misunderstand). He settled back into the porch swing and buried his nose in that book again. God, he looked good in those glasses. Mmm.

I moved the coffee table out of the way, giving me some open floor space. Elsa followed when I sat down on the floor. "OK, give me your hands." I rubbed mine together to make sure they were warm before holding them out for her. She gently set her hands in my palms. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and started to concentrate.

It took me longer than I'd like to admit to even get anything, but Elsa sat patiently. Even when I did get something, it was hard to concentrate, as if it were a radio station full of static. "You have a daughter?" I asked.

"Yes, Emily," she answered.

"How old is she?"

"Three. She needs a mother," she said, worried.

"I can see the two of you together; she looks to be about ten, twelve maybe?"

She took a sigh of relief. "Do I look good? Healthy?"

She was glowing and about-to-pop pregnant. I smiled. "Very."

"Oh, thank God," she said. "I've already had the mastectomy, but the doctors were saying they might need to take my ovaries, too."

"No, that's not going to happen." I didn't want to tell her she was going to be pregnant. For one, I didn't know how she'd react to that information. Another kid might not be something she was particularly excited for. Secondly, I'm nowhere near infallible. Circumstances change, and so does the future, especially something so far away. I pulled my hands away and opened my eyes. "Just because I say you're going to be healthy doesn't mean you should stop taking care of yourself. The future can change, you know."

"I know. Thank you," she said. As soon as I pushed myself to my feet, she pulled me into a hug. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Now that I was back to here and now, I could feel how bad of an idea that had been. I shouldn't have tried to pull that vision. My migraine was back. I plastered a smile on my face and ushered her out the door before collapsing back into the porch swing.

"How'd it go?" Jack asked curiously.

"All is good," I answered. Luckily, the sun was to our backs, or else the sun in my face might have been unbearable.

"Are you alright? Maybe you shouldn't have pushed it."

I nodded, making sure I was smiling and not grimacing at him. _No, I shouldn't have pushed it_, I thought. "I'm fine. Calling specific information from that far into the future is hard work. I just need a breather."

"OK," he said as he eyed me suspiciously. When I settled my head back on his shoulder and picked my sketchpad back up, he went back to reading.

.

It was almost like calling that vision to the forefront opened some sort of floodgates. Within a matter of a half an hour after Elsa left, my migraine was remember-to-breathe bad again. I held out as long as I could to tell Jack, but I just couldn't wait any longer. "Jack, I don't feel so good."

He looked down at me, equal parts concern and terror on his face. "How so?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to worry you again." I pushed myself out of the swing to go back inside. "But the migraine's back in full force."

**JACK'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Now that I was finally looking down into her eyes, I could see the pain in them. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to worry you again." How could she be worried about me? I was momentarily furious. Not at her, but at the kindness in her that put my feelings before her pain. She pushed out of the chair and let herself back into the house. "But the migraine's back in full force."

"OK," I said. I needed to handle it better this time around. "What do you want? Do you want Advil?" I rushed past her into the living room to grab the small bottle, but it wasn't where I thought it was. Then I noticed that she had reorganized my living room.

"Sorry," she said as she went to pull the coffee table back. I stopped her and set her down on the couch. I wish she would just rest. "Visions can sometimes be violent, I didn't want to break anything."

I fixed the coffee table. "Least of my worries. Do you know where the Advil is? Do you want it?"

She seemed to actually think it over. "I guess it couldn't hurt. I saw the bottle in the bathroom."

I rushed into the bathroom, grabbing the bottle then stopping in the kitchen and grabbing her a Coke. I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice, I handed her the entire bottle of Advil and let her choose how many she wanted to take. After swallowing a few and chugging the soda down, she curled onto her side and buried her head in her arms. "Are you hot again?" I whispered. "Tell me what to do for you."

She nodded after pushing herself to her feet. I recognized that restlessness. "Bring the peas." I quickly grabbed a bag of Brussels sprouts from the freezer and followed her up the stairs.

We were back in the dark, cold, silent bathroom, but Sloane's head now rested on my thigh as she curled up in a ball on the floor. My only reprieve was not actually being able to see what she was going through. But I knew. After just a few minutes, I could hear her pain. I started to rub her back as she rocked back and forth on the floor. "Just kill me," she whispered. "I'm already dying, just kill me."

"Absolutely not," I whispered back.

"Please," she begged. She started to sob in earnest, which tore at me. I couldn't find it in me to respond, I just laid my other hand on her head.

.

I was checking my watch every ten minutes, it seemed. I didn't know how long Sloane could wait for the female vampire to get here. They should be here any minute. I was more worried now that Sloane had stopped rocking and gone silent than I was that a slew of vampires were about to descend. I couldn't help but wonder momentarily how much more my world view would shift tonight.

I was roused out of my contemplative state when Sloane started to convulse. "Sloane?" I whispered. She was shaking hard enough that she threw her head back into my hipbone. She had a hard head; it felt like when you hit your funny bone. "Hey, Sloane," I said as I grabbed her head by her hair, struggling to hold at least that part of her steady. She continued to convulse, banging her knee into the tub and her own hip into the cabinets. I struggled to pull her into my body, pushing her head back against my shoulder with one hand, holding her torso steady against my own with the other, and wrapping my legs around her. It was like I was wrestling a large fish, until her entire body went limp. "Sloane?!" I said frantically. I laid her on the floor gently before turning the light on. A small trickle of blood was working its way down her face, which I wiped away.

"Come on, Sloane, wake up," I said. Her eyes were shut and her face drawn. I dropped my ear to her chest just to make sure she was still breathing. Her lungs wheezed as her chest rose and fell subtly. I carefully lifted her limp body off the ground as my hip continued to protest. Her head was _hard_. As I turned to carry her out of the bathroom, I was suddenly surrounded by several vampires, fangs down and angry.


	76. Chapter 76

****Thanks for the reviews! As promised, the next chapter.****

"What have you done to her?" David demanded. He was angry, that's for sure.

I panicked before remembering how Sloane treated them. _Just be confident_, I told myself. "Done? Nothing. I sat with her and watched her deteriorate all day. What have you done to her?"

His eyes softened as he flinched. I had hit a nerve. "More than she ever deserved."

I didn't think he wanted to get into it. I pushed past him so I could lay her body on the bed, being careful of her head in particular. "She was fine when she woke up; she even ate. It wasn't until she tried to help a woman I know that she started to deteriorate, but once she started, she went fast."

"Help? How?" the female vampire asked. She pushed me aside and quickly started examining Sloane.

"I'm not sure, they were both pretty secretive about it."

"How did she deteriorate, as you say? Headache, I assume. Anything else?" she asked. She pulled Sloane's eyelids up and shined a light into them.

"Yes, a headache even worse than yesterday's. Not even ten minutes ago she started to convulse."

"Another seizure," Cian said from the doorway. Another? When was her first seizure?

The female vampire turned to David, worried look on her face. "She's in a coma. If we can't fix this within the hour, I can't guarantee she'll wake again."

I sat on the bed next to her as I felt my knees going weak. She knew she was dying.

"Move," David commanded. When I didn't move fast enough, he pulled me from my spot by my upper arm and threw me out of his way.

He leaned down and put his mouth right next to her ear, whispering into it. "Are you trying to glamour her to wake her up?" I asked. I had watched a National Geographic special on vampires, the older ones can actually influence humans' thoughts.

"No, she is not susceptible to glamour," David answered.

I flinched when he bit his wrist; it crunched as if he bit into an apple. "What are you doing?" I asked frantically as he shoved his bleeding wrist into Sloane's mouth.

He was ignoring me now, addressing Cian. "Call your maker. Ask him to have his bonded and pledged contact Niall Brigant on Sloane's behalf. He has the strongest magic I know."

I had no idea what was going on, but Cian's eyes lit up. "The Fae Prince? Does he owe you a favor or something?"

David pulled his wrist from Sloane's mouth and licked the wound clean. "No, not I. Her," he said as he motioned to Sloane. Cian nodded and retreated from the doorframe to make his call. Next he looked up to the Asian vampire. "Call the brothers. Find out where Victor is." The Asian vampire nodded once and retreated from the room as well.

I needed to be firm and confident if I was going to get an answer. At least, that's how Sloane seemed to do it. I stared David down as I stood tall. "Tell me what's going on or I'm rescinding your invitation to my home."

.

_How did I get into the sitting room?_ I asked myself. The last thing I remembered, I was standing in Sloane's room. _What the bloody hell?_

"Welcome back," Cian said. "You and I are not allowed upstairs with the princess anymore." He sat in the armchair, leg crossed over his knee and fingers tented.

I stood quickly. "It's my house." I could not be banned from my own house. "Did you bloody glamour me?"

"Not I," he said. "King O'Hara did."

_That little bastard_, I thought. I jogged up the stairs and opened the door to Sloane's room. David, his sister, and the Asian vampire all stood in the corner. What I wasn't expecting was the other man in the room. Old and impeccably regal, he shone like an angel. His hair was soft and gold, which matched his khaki-colored suit. Leaning up against the bedside table was a walking stick that looked like it had been carved from the oldest wood.

Sloane still lay motionless on the bed. "And who are you?" the old man said.

"Jack Featherstone, I own this inn. And you?" I was currently going to ignore the vampires in the corner.

"I am Niall Brigant." He brushed her hair out of the way before placing one hand on her forehead. _I wish I had paid attention to Gaelic class in primary school, _I thought as he started to whisper something that sounded faintly like Gaelic. I wanted to know what he was saying. When he was done, he kissed her forehead. "Sleep well, my niece," he whispered to her.

"Much obliged, Niall," David said from the corner. He himself was looking a little flushed, one hand resting on his sister's shoulder.

One second he was there, and the next he wasn't. "Bloody hell…." I murmured. He literally just disappeared. "Did you see…" I looked at the vampires, but they were preoccupied staring at Sloane like starving lions look at a steak.

"Out," David commanded of the vampires. It took a second before the other two complied, sulking out of the room.

"Come, brother," the Asian one said from the doorway. David hadn't moved; he was still standing in the corner. "It has been too long since you've fed. You should not be here with her while she smells so."

"I will stay with her."

"Brother," the female said. "Come, feed. The human and Cian can watch her until you get back."

David glared at me, so I quickly averted my eyes. I did not want to be the recipient of his wrath. "I do not trust the human."

_I'm right here_, I thought. _And I have a name_. I didn't dare say it, though. "Brother," the woman said chidingly. "I am sorry, he gets very cranky when he hasn't eaten," she said quietly to me. She leaned into me, seemingly taking a deep breath. "And he gets so jealous."

"Jealous?" I asked. Of what?

"Her smell is all over you, and it just…"

"Emma Aoife O'Hara, as your maker I command you to shut up and leave," David seethed from the corner. Without any fair warning, Emma's mouth slammed shut as she turned on her heels. Before disappearing down the stairway, she turned and flashed a large grin at me. The Asian vampire followed diligently, smirking a bit himself. He seemed to take what she said to heart, though. "I will return. You are not to touch her, or I will drain you."

"Right," I said as he passed me. _Not a shot in hell_, I thought.

.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

The first conscious thought I remember is how sore my body was when I first emerged from my coma. I remember hearing Jack's smooth accent droning on. I remember the smell his mellow cologne and the feel of the light radiation of his body heat as he sat beside me.

As soon as David arrived that night, he pulled me into him and explained what happened. Eric had contacted him while I had been in my three-day coma and told me about the attack on Sookie's life. Victor had sent someone to kill her, but disguised it as a random attack. Because of my warning, Pam had been able to easily fix the problem. Victor, however, was in the wind. Idi and Idriis had lost him when he hired someone to transport his body during the day.

All of which brings me to today. Unfortunately, the only way I could get David, Emma, and Lee to go home was to agree to have Cian protect me until Victor could be found. I looked at it this way: I was getting rid of three possessive vampires in return for one annoying one. That is why Jack, Cian and I were sitting in the living room at the moment, Jack and I watching a movie and Cian watching us (well, me). At least Cian's obnoxious comments seemed to have taken a hiatus for the night. He was almost stoic, which worried me, but he declined to talk about it. "Girlfriend jealous?" I asked, trying to loosen him up.

Instead of some snide comment, he just said, "No," without even looking at me. I looked up at Jack, who gave me a significant look as well. We had gotten so used to his comments at this point.

.

I looked at the clock above the TV as the credits to Yes, Man rolled across the screen. It was well past midnight London-time. I stretched out, pushing my feet against the coffee table and bringing my hands above my head as I yawned. "Well, bedtime for me." I pulled the blanket off, uncovering my legs in the process as I stood. "What, no 'I'll tuck you in' comments tonight?" I asked Cian. Jack pulled his nose out of his book long enough to see Cian's reaction.

"Not tonight," he answered quietly.

"Will you just tell me what's on your mind? I didn't think I'd ever say this, but the new Cian annoys me even more than the old one," I said as I walked toward the staircase.

Suddenly, Cian's voice was right behind me. "I am brooding."

"I noticed," I said as I slowly climbed the stairs. "About anything in particular, or is it just that time of the month for you?"

He followed me up the stairs. "I am increasing uneasy with how long it is taking this Victor to retaliate. He either does not know you are still alive, which I find hard to believe, or he is planning something much larger."

I shrugged to him behind me. "Hopefully I'll see it coming, but if it's my time, it's my time." Ever since begging for death in the bathroom, it just didn't seem so bad. Sure, I wanted to live, but I wasn't going to live in fear of death anymore.

"I could turn you, make you stronger."

"No thanks," I said as I walked into my room. "At this point, I'd rather die as a human than live as a vampire."

"As you wish," he said as he turned his back to me and walked back down the stairs. With a wag of my head, I closed the door and shucked my clothes.

I let out a deep sigh as I crawled into bed alone. Jack and I had been falling farther and farther apart ever since I woke up from my coma about a week ago. Now that I wasn't dying or screaming in my sleep anymore, I guess I didn't satisfy his knight in shining armor fetish. Either that or spending every waking (and sleeping) hour with me was wearing on him. At least that I understood. I could be very abrasive. No matter what the reason, I knew what the end result was. At the moment, he was waffling, going back and forth between officially dumping me right here and now and just waiting until I went back home. I was getting so fed up with the waffling visions that I was about to just end it myself.

Once my bed was warm and comfy and all the stress had melted out of my muscles, I fell asleep.

.

I woke with a worried start. Something was horribly wrong. I sat silently in my bed for several seconds before I heard a light knock come from down the stairs, like a kitchen chair being toppled. I pulled my legs free of my blanket then froze. Should I go downstairs and see what's happening? Most of my consciousness screamed 'no' at me. A small sliver, however, was worried for Cian.

Before I could make my decision for myself, circumstances made my decision for me. I yelped as the door rocked on its hinges. "Sloane," Cian croaked from the other side of the door.

I quickly thrust myself at the door and swung it open. A broken and bloody Cian was slumped on the floor in front of my door. "Jesus," I mumbled as I pulled him into my room. "What happened?" I whispered.

"Close the door," he said as he popped himself up against the frame of the bed. The door swung hard when I kicked it, slamming shut before I fell to my knees at Cian's side. I specifically was looking him in the eye and NOT at his wounds gushing slow, syrupy blood. "I believe Victor finally attacked."

"What do I do?" I whispered. I closed my eyes when Cian ripped his shirt off, revealing a long gash across his chest. "I have a confession, I don't handle blood well."

"I noticed," he said painfully. "You are to stay here. Do you have anything I can use as a weapon?"

I did! "Shit. I do, but it's in Jack's room. A silver katana." I pushed myself to my feet quickly and leaned my ear against the door. I didn't hear anything out there.

"No. Stay here. I will fight him without it."

I nodded down to the gash on his chest without actually looking at it. "How's that working for ya? I'll be right back." Without giving myself any time to talk myself out of it, I flung the door open and skittered across the hallway into Jack's room.

Jack awoke with a start when I inadvertently closed the door a bit harder than I had anticipated. "Sloane?" he said groggily.

"Yea. Stay in here," I said as I pulled his closet door open and grabbed the case. I popped the case open to make sure the shiny sword was still in there before bolting back across the hall. I got just a glimpse of Victor as he leisurely climbed the last few stairs, triumphant grin on his face.

"You are a stupid child," Cian said as I dropped the case at his side. He was still pale, drawn, and obviously weak, but the gash on his chest was starting to look a little better.

"Quit your bitching," I said. "Now what?"

Cian took a survey of my room. "Hide in the bathroom while I heal."

I jumped, frozen where I was when I heard Victor's voice on the other side of the door. "You and your guard dog are done. Surrender yourself, Sloane McIntosh, and I will spare your injured bodyguard and the proprietor of this inn. Refuse, and I will burn this building to the ground."

I looked panicky at Cian, who albeit looked in pain, but also quite calm. He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me toward him until I could feel his lips on my ear. "Stall him. I need more time," he whispered almost so low that even I couldn't hear it.

"Why should I believe you?" I asked Victor shakily. I looked back at Cian, who nodded approvingly.

"Because you have no other choice," I heard from the other side of the door.

"Of course I have a choice. If you burn this place to the ground, there will be a huge investigation. Cops, fire department, everything. If I give in, it's only me that disappears. Not big investigation. So my option is this. I can make this easy for you, or hard. Unless I get something out if it, I sure as hell am going to make it hard on you. So why should I believe you?" Cian smirked next to me. "Hurry up," I mouthed to him. I was running out of time. "Are you ready yet?"

He shook his head no. Through the door, I heard Victor's smooth voice. "Ah, who do we have here? Tell me human, what is your name?"

"Jack Featherstone," I heard Jack say in that mindless way. Victor had glamoured him.

_Shit_, I said to myself. I shoved my wrist into Cian's mouth. After a questioning look, he latched on, pulling blood greedily from my vein.

"Jack Featherstone, this is your inn?" Victor asked.

"No, Jack," I said weakly.

"Yes," Jack said in a monotone trance.

"Could you invite me into that room?" Victor said.

"Yes, I could," Jack answered. I fell back off my haunches and leaned against the bed myself as I felt myself getting weaker. Cian dropped my wrist into his lap and licked his lips clean.

"Jack, invite me into that room," Victor commanded.

In one swift movement, Cian was on his feet, fragment of his shirt wrapped around his hand to protect himself from the silver hilt of the katana.

"Please, go in," Jack said.

Victor burst into the room, his own weapon in hand. Momentary insanity struck me as I thought how odd he looked wielding a weapon. It was like looking at my grandfather with nunchucks. It just wasn't right.

Surprise covered Victor's face as his fangs came down when he realized not only was Cian armed, but he was armed with silver. Before Victor could recover, Cian slashed a line down Victor's face, which not only bled, but burned. I slowly pushed myself to the corner of the room, just trying to stay out of the way. Victor responded, but Cian dodged his lunge, following it with another swing, which severed Victor's hand from his arm. "Jack," Victor said. "Kill Sloane."

Without even a word of acknowledgement, Jack circled the fighting vampires and approached me. "Jack, snap out of it. Jack, please," I said. I pushed myself away from him as I crawled against the wall. "Jack, listen to me," I pleaded. Before I could even say another word, Jack grabbed my leg and pulled me back toward him.

I landed flat on my stomach. I didn't really want to fight him because I didn't want to hurt him. But if it came down to it, I would. "Come on, Jack," I said over the hissing and fighting coming from the vampires. "Listen to me. It's Sloane. Snap out of it."

He kneeled over me as I flipped onto my back. "Jack, I'm serious. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to." I grabbed his wrists as he straddled my legs. He was struggling to get his hands around my neck and I was struggling to keep them away.

After a short struggle, his strength and position overcame my already weak body, finally clamping his hands around my neck. "Jack," I squeaked one last time. I looked into his eyes. They were empty, emotionless. The only solace I could take was that it wasn't really him that was trying to kill me slowly. I tried knocking him off balance by kicking up my legs, but he was too sturdy. Finally, I resorted to my only last option. I swung as hard as I could with my back pressed against the floor, connecting a punch with his eye socket. If I could get the air out of my lungs, I would have cried out in pain. I could feel a light crack in my arm where my cast had been.

Jack recovered from my punch without even a hitch in the strength of his hands around my neck. I reached back to deliver another blow, but before I could swing, Jack was gone. I gasped for breath as Cian helped me into a sitting position. "You are unharmed?"

"Kinda," I wheezed as I cradled my wrist in my lap. "Jack?"

"Unconscious," he answered.

"Victor?"

"Escaped." He wiped the blood off my sword before handing it to me. "This is an exquisite weapon." I just nodded to him. I was using a few words as possible.

He must have seen the worry in my eyes. "Victor is in no shape to return any time soon. For the time being, you are safe."

I nodded again. "Kay." I sounded like a drowning cat. I used the door handle to the bathroom to help hoist myself to my feet one-handed and approached Jack's unconscious body. His breathing was fine, he wasn't bleeding, and he didn't seem to be overly swollen anywhere, so I backed away. "Put him on the bed."

Cian lifted his body from the ground and dropped him on the bed. Without another word, I grabbed the unused pillow and tucked it under my arm. I could tolerate a lot of things, but sleeping anywhere near the man who just tried to strangle me was not one of them. After pulling the comforter off the bed in the empty room across the hall, I walked downstairs and settled into the couch.

Cian followed carefully and slowly behind me until I settled into the couch, when he settled himself into the armchair across the room where he had been sitting all night. He only got up to help me cover my feet with the blanket, and then settled right back in to his chair.

I felt mildly better knowing he was right there to protect me all night. I slept well this time.

.

I could smell the pancakes cooking when I woke up. I sat up and immediately felt my sore neck. I was going to have one wicked bruise.

"I woke up in your room with no recollection of how I got there," Jack said over his shoulder as he flipped a pair of pancakes onto a plate and slid it onto the countertop for me. "And you're down here."

"Yup," I said as I wrapped the comforter around my shoulders. I still sounded a bit like a drowning rat.

"Are you going to tell me what exactly happened last night?" He turned the stove off and turned toward me.

I shrugged as I sat at the end of the table. It's over, it's not that important. "I'm leaving today." He tried to look shocked and disappointed as I took my first bite. The pancakes were pretty good. Not mom's, but not bad. "Oh, don't try that. You've been waffling on how to dump me all week. I'm sick of watching the several different ways you've considered to let me down easy, so I'm leaving." I took another bite. "Plus, I'm toxic to be around."

He blushed before burying his face in his plate. "I didn't know you could see that much." I just shrugged again, which allowed the blanket to fall away from my neck just a touch. "What _happened_ last night?" he said after he gasped. Yup, I had a wicked bruise.

"Victor attacked." I swallowed another small bite, working my sore throat up to a normal-sized bite.

"Where was I?"

"Oh, you were there." His eyes squinted as he tried to remember. "The memory loss must be a side effect of Victor glamouring you. Or maybe Cian showed a bit of mercy and glamoured any memory away, I don't know."

"Are you going to fill me in? Did Victor hurt you?"

"No, Victor didn't touch me. And there's not much to tell." I took my last bite of pancake, finishing exactly half of the plate, and stood.

"Wait," Jack said as he popped up from his own chair to chase after me. "I want to know what happened."

I sighed as I climbed the stairs. "Cian used my sword to fight Victor, who used you to fight me. Cian knocked you out before you could finishing strangling me after Victor ran away like the French army."

His voice broke. "_I_ did that to you?"

"Yup." I wasn't mad at him for it, but I didn't want to rehash every single detail.

Jack followed me into my room as I dropped the blanket. All signs of the fight that happened last night had been cleaned away, leaving my room spotless. "Sloane, I am…"

I whipped back toward him and put my hand up to stop him. "Don't," I snapped fiercely. There was no way I could listen to another apology from a man that had hurt me, knowingly or not, without screaming. I took a deep breath to calm myself before turning away again. "It wasn't your fault."

"I feel like it is." He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Just don't apologize," I said. Still pantless, I pulled my last clean option from a pile on top of my suitcase, a navy full length skirt. I topped it with a pale gray tank top and a jean jacket (a collar might come in handy when flying).

It wasn't until I finished pushing everything back into my suitcase that Jack finally spoke. "Don't go," he begged.

I couldn't help but laugh. He spent all week thinking about how to dump me to the side, and now that I was physically broken again, he couldn't resist. "No, I'm happy with my decision. I'm going home."

"Then let me come with you."

I just shook my head as I sat on my suitcase to force it shut. "And what about when my bruise fades and I'm not broken anymore? You'll lose interest again." When I looked up at him for his answer, it was clear I had hit a nerve. I guess that was a low blow. "Sorry," I said as I zipped the last few inches of my suitcase shut. "How about this…if you still can't get me out of your head in a month, then come visit."

He took a minute to consider. "Can I at least drive you to the airport?"

"Sure," I said.

****A note about the Irish names. For reference, Aoife is pronounced like Eva (with a softer 'a'), and it means 'lovely'. Cian, as you know pronounced Key-an, and has a difficult translation. I guess the best one would be 'old', or 'ancient'. I didn't pick that one for the meaning; I picked it for the sound.**

**And yes, I am Irish. That is why many of the people in my stories are Irish. It's because most of the people in my life (and therefore most of the models for my characters) are Irish. I'll try and keep you up to date with names. ****


	77. Chapter 77 Part 5 Epilogue

**EPILOGUE:**

_Good_, I thought as I opened the familiar old door. _Syd's not home yet_. I ran my fingers down the crack that David had left down the center of the wood door as I passed through the threshold, dragging my suitcase behind me. Even though it was only one in the afternoon local time, I was exhausted. Damn jet lag.

I went straight into the laundry room and emptied all of the dirty laundry in my suitcase onto the floor. After starting a load of darks, I pulled the rest of my stuff up the stairs with me, obsessive compulsively counting each thud as the suitcase hit the riser. I was more than a little worried about how Sydney was going to take this whole ordeal. Without much of an explanation, I left for nearly a month without any notice as to where I was going or when I'd be back. I had turned off my phone and pretty much ignored my email, which effectively cut off all communication with home. I could only guess as to what Sydney was thinking and feeling. I would not be surprised if all hell broke loose.

_She loves you_, I thought to myself. _Maybe she'll just be glad you're home and leave it at that_. I organized my bathroom counter mindlessly as I thought about the possibilities. I guess I was more worried than I thought; all the items on my countertop were now organized not only by height, but also by color. Obsessive compulsive behavior seemed to come out more when I was worried or tense.

I knocked all the bottles of face cleanser and hair smoother on their side as an act of rebellion. I had to fight with myself not to pick them back up, finally closing the door to my bathroom to stop myself from thinking about the small mess I'd made.

Once I had hung the few clean items of clothing back in the closet and put away my suitcase, I settled onto my bed. _Just a short nap_, I told myself. _Just enough so I can face the rest of my day_.

.

_Damn being a light sleeper_, I thought. Every loud clunker that drove by roused me out of my sleep, meaning I didn't sleep much. I never really realized how busy my neighborhood was in the middle of the day. Or how many people that frequented my neighborhood in the middle of the day had loud clunkers for cars, I guess. Either or.

But this clunker I recognized. There was something familiar about the way this particular car backfired. I shook the familiarity away and turned over, immediately falling back into my restful pre-sleep place.

"SLOANE!" Sydney screamed from the door to my bedroom. I jumped about a foot into the air.

"Jesus," I mumbled as I turned toward the door. Before I could even get comfortable, Sydney was on top of me sobbing.

"Sloane, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean what I said, I swear," she garbled between gasping sobs.

"OK," I said. She was lying on my chest. "You're crushing me."

She rolled so the most of her weight was on the bed, but she wasn't letting me go anytime soon. "Do you forgive me?" she asked as her sobs quieted.

"Of course, but there's nothing to forgive." She grabbed a piece of my hair and started twirling it through her fingers. "You're not going to let me go all night, are you?"

"No," she answered. "I'm not giving you a chance to run again."

"I'm not going anywhere, I can't afford to," I said with a smile.

Her chest jumped as she let out one little giggle. "Where did you go, anyway? I called Sookie, but she said she hadn't seen you. I even called your parents."

Oh, crap. "Why on earth would you call my parents?" Now I had even more explaining to do, explaining I wasn't sure I could do without seriously upsetting them.

"I was desperate," she said defensively. "I even went to David." She spat his name as if he were the devil himself. "He knew."

"Of course he knew. He has his very own version of Sloane GPS."

"He wouldn't tell me where you were, though." That must be why she thought him such the devil at the moment.

"Well, I was in London."

"Ontario?" she asked. There was, in fact, a London, Ontario, but I had no idea why her mind would automatically jump to that conclusion.

"No," I said with a giggle. "The original London."

"You went all the way to England?" she asked. "What's in England?"

I shrugged as much as I could with her on top of me. "It was the first international flight out."

"So, tell me everything." And I did. I explained about my trip into the art store, about sketching in the park, Jack asking me to dinner, about fun with the cheesecake, going out with his friends, the fantastic sex; even about David coming because of the spell and Cian protecting me from Victor. "I don't even know where to start. Do you have a picture of Jack?"

I didn't think I did. I didn't think I had a picture of anything from London. "I may have a sketch," I said as I pointed toward my backpack.

She seemed to debate with herself whether or not she wanted to get up. After a minute of internal debate, she hopped up real quick and dragged my backpack toward me on the bed. She handed me the sketchbook and I started flipping though. "Where is this sword you were talking about?"

"Jack's going to ship it to me." Jack and I both agreed that taking a katana though airport customs might be a bit difficult. "Should be here in a few days."

"Why did Lee ship it to you again?" she asked as I continued to flip though sketches. I didn't do a whole lot of sketches of people, they were much harder than less complex things like houses and trees.

"No idea. I'm glad he did, though." She waited patiently until I found two good sketches, one of him with his nose buried in a book (as usual), and one while he's smiling, laugh lines and all.

She whistled. "I didn't think blonds were your thing," she said as she fingered the golden yellow pencil I had filled in. I noticed she wasn't impressed with my new talent. She was probably beyond being impressed with how quickly I picked up new activities at this point.

"It was the accent," I deadpanned. I really wasn't sure what attracted me to Jack. But it was there, that's for sure.

"Mmm, I bet," Sydney said.

The both of us were silent for a while, which gave me time to lie back down after a deep yawn. I was exhausted. I looked at the clock and did the mental math. It was only 9 PM London time. Why was I so tired? "I'm going to take a nap."

"I'm staying right here for now," she said as she flipped through the rest of sketches in my book.

I rolled my eyes as I closed them. I wasn't going anywhere, but if she felt better being close to me, I was OK with that.

.

As soon as I woke up from a short nap (Sydney still sitting at my side, reading a trashy paperback), I pulled my laptop out and checked my email. Four hundred and seventy six emails? I took a deep breath. I was going to be here all night.

First I went though and deleted all solicitation emails. Next, I went though and deleted all those from students from last semester. I had sent everyone in my classes an email telling them to email either Moose or the primary instructor, Dr. Rosenthall with any questions about their grade. With 476 emails to go through, I didn't have time for people who couldn't follow directions. Finally, I was left with just over 200 emails that actually needed my attention. I started with the oldest--I started with an email from Moose.

_Sloane,  
The final went fine, but your students missed you.  
I told Matt you dumped me before you left. By now, everyone in the lab should know. No more faking it.  
Come home soon,  
Mustafa_

I kept my response short and sweet:

_Hey Moose,  
Thanks again for subbing for me. I owe you one.  
SNMI_

I was almost done with responding to emails when the doorbell rang twenty minutes later. "I'll get it," I said as I popped off the bed. Sydney gave me an if-you-run-again-I'm-going-to-skin-you-alive look. "I'll be right back," I said in response to the death glare I got from her.

I didn't even get the door all the way open before my feet weren't on the floor anymore. "Welcome home," Moose said into my hair. My injured wrist was tucked between our bodies and protesting loudly.

"Thanks," I answered. "My wrist…"

"Sorry," he said as he gently set me back on my feet. "How was your vacation?"

"Stressful," I answered truthfully. "Come on up." I started up the stairs before Sydney could come down looking for me. "How were things while I was gone?"

"Quiet, but I missed you."

"Oh yea?" I massaged my sore arm slightly. "I do make life interesting. Are you hungry?"

I looked back over my shoulder to his face. He didn't even think before answering, "I could eat."

"You could always eat," I mumbled. He was a human vacuum. "Hey, Syd," I said as I walked back into my room. The room was washed in tangerine orange light as the sun set through the window. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm a bit peckish."

"Are you going to let me go grocery shopping in peace or are we going to have to order out?" I asked Sydney. I hadn't checked, but I was willing to guess that there was nothing but Oreos, strawberry milk, and mink chocolate chip ice cream in the fridge.

"I'll come to the store with you," she said after a short pause. She hated grocery shopping.

I grinned at her, on the brink of laughing. "Stop worrying! I'm not going anywhere." She gave me a very distrustful look. "Fine, you can come along."

.

I'd never been grocery shopping with two other people before. It was an odd experience. Sydney kept sneaking sugary snacks into the cart while Moose just followed me around, asking questions like, 'what the hell is evaporated milk and why would anyone use it?' and 'shouldn't soy milk be in the refrigerated section?' After the third question, I just started treating them as rhetorical. Several hours and almost $200 later, we were back home and I was slaving over a hot stove, making Swedish meatballs (a recipe I'm sure my mother made up long ago).

"Where'd you go for almost a month?" Moose finally asked.

"She went to England without me," Sydney answered as she smushed together the ping pong ball sized meatballs and dropped them on a baking sheet.

"Where in England?" Moose asked. I fell comfortably into the routine, where if both Sydney and I were in the room, we spoke more as one than as two separate entities.

"London. I stayed in this cute little bed and breakfast on the north side of town," I answered.

"London's nice, but I like Liverpool more. Did you get out at all and see the rest of the UK?"

I looked up from my cutting board. "I didn't know you're such a world traveler, Moose," I said, surprise in my voice. I didn't know why that surprised me, but it did. He had siblings on almost every continent, I should have known. "And no, I was busy right there in London." I had to concentrate on not disturbing the makeup that was covering the bruise on my neck, even though I had an overwhelming urge to rub it.

"Busy how?" Moose asked almost impulsively. "Sorry, that's prying. You don't have to answer that."

Sydney looked up and winked at me. I was not going to bring up the topic of Jack, and I was hoping to God Sydney wasn't going to either. "Vampire shit," Sydney answered. I think I exhaled loudly, but I couldn't be sure.

"Ah," Moose answered after a second to contemplate that. "Right. So how's the latest…troubles going? I assume they're over because you're home now."

"Not quite," I answered. I dropped the chopped peppers into the broth and got started on the celery. "Victor's still out there somewhere, and probably uber pissed about the fact two of his attempts to kill me failed. I'm still Queen," I paused, but finally managed not to giggle hysterically. "And have no idea what I'm doing in that respect. And now Victor's trying to go after Sookie because he knows he can't take out Eric. It's all very complicated, and as far as I'm concerned, very stupid."

"So why did you come home if nothing's changed?" he asked.

I smiled at him over my shoulder. "I missed you guys."


	78. Chapter 78 Part 6

****Alright, you asked for him…****

PART SIX:

Sydney and I had spent the sunny afternoon in our bikinis in the back yard. Because of my fair Irish complexion, I had been slathering SPF 75 (or something equally ridiculous) on every half an hour, along with covering my face and shoulders with a wide hat, but I loved the feel of the sun none the less. I also felt very 1940's pinup in my wide-brim hat and large sunglasses. All I needed was a Cosmo in a martini glass and a pair of sky-high peeptoe pumps.

"So are you going to go to that thing on campus tonight?" Sydney asked. She had been laying in the sun for a few hours now, no suntan lotion or hat to cover her face, but she didn't even look pink yet. She was lucky that way; she didn't burn, she tanned, and only when she intended to.

"I suppose," I said, sadly knowing exactly what she was talking about. Michigan State had recently made the controversial decision to hire a new assistant professor who just happened to also be a member the walking dead. Michigan State's higher ups were holding introductory meeting to introduce him to the community. Needless to say, there were some out there that were more than pissed at the whole situation, the Fellowship of the Sun high on that list. That's why David and Emma had asked me to go to the meeting and try to see if anything was going to 'happen'. After explaining vehemently how I am in no way their personal fortune teller, I agreed. I had planned on going anyway.

"Want some company?"

I rolled my eyes behind my sunglasses. It had been almost a month and a half since I had gotten back from London, but Sydney was still being overly clingy. It had taken her a week until she'd let me go to work without her, then another week before she stopped following me in her car to make sure I actually went to work. "Do you really want to come?"

"Sure," she said, sounding actually excited about it. "He's going to be in my department. I need to keep up to date with my college and all."

I smiled widely as I remembered exactly what he was supposed to be teaching: child psychology and development. A vampire that works with children. A small giggle escaped despite my best efforts. Sydney matched my giggle. "I was going to leave around 9," I added. The meeting was going to be held in Demonstration Field at 9:30, but I doubted it was going to be on time. David had told me he ordered more security than the president gets and on top of the security that Michigan State was offering, things were bound to get off track.

"The devil himself isn't going to be there, is he?" She was referring to David, of course.

"Not that I know of, but I'm not in charge of his social calendar."

She shot me the same snarky look she always shot me in these instances. "He better not be. Do you even know who the new professor is going to be?" Michigan State wouldn't release the guy's name, only his credentials and his arrival date. They didn't even release the fact he was a vampire; that was leaked about a week ago. Although David obviously knew, he wouldn't tell me either. He promised it would be a surprise to whoever it was, and he wasn't even allowed to tell those closest to him in his kingdom. Even Lee didn't know (I had begged him to tell me).

"Nope," I answered as I turned onto my stomach. The sun was setting, but it still warm enough to feel good laying in it, so I was going to stay right here. I tilted my hat so I could lay my head on the chaise and still keep my face covered.

Sydney had gone to get ready immediately after our conversation, but I lingered in the sun. Once the sun went all the way done around 8:15, I finally started cleaning up our mess outside. I pulled the chaises out of the middle of the grass, gathered up the towels, grabbed our empty glasses, picked up my sun block, and carried it all inside.

Sydney was already sitting on the couch, all ready to go. I was jealous of her post-sun glow, which contrasted nicely with her lightening hair. It always seems that as her skin got darker, her hair got lighter.

I carried everything up the stairs and looked at the clock. I was running out of time. I quickly threw on a sundress over my bikini, shoved my feet in my sandals, and ran back down the steps. "Wearing the hat, huh?" Sydney asked as she grabbed her purse. "I like it."

"I don't have time to fix hat hair," I answered. And I felt very demure in the hat, I had to admit. I just liked it.

.

Dem Field was a mess. There were already at least a thousand people milling around inside the barrier they'd cordoned off, and another probably thousand waiting to get patted down to get into that area. There were only two entrances, one on the east and one on the west. Once we finally found a parking spot (thank God for employee parking stickers), I shifted the Mustang into park and we walked over.

Idi was manning the east gate. "Miss Sloane," he said once we approached. "Come with me." He ushered the two of us past the crowd and to the front, where a small area was cordoned off for the MSU elites. As usual, I was not one of them. Idi pushed his way to the center of the field just behind the VIP area, putting both Sydney and I in front of him. The group of girls that once had the prime location we now took protested loudly. "Will you be coming to the party later?" he asked me after silently shushing the girls behind us.

"Party?" I asked. I had heard nothing of a party.

"Yes. The O'Hara's are holding a party for the new assistant professor." I noticed he specifically tried not to say the person's name. He knew who it was. "It would be nice to have a true woman there instead of these shrews." He made a small gesture to Sydney. "Two true women."

I patted Idi's giant bicep in appreciation as I glanced around me at the fangbangers that were interspersed in the crowd. They seemed to clump into crowds of three and four. "If you want me to," I answered. "So, who's the new professor? Anyone I know?"

"I am told you know them."

I glanced up at his face. "Going to share?"

"I am sorry, Miss Sloane. I cannot."

Everyone's attention shifted to the stage constructed at the front of the field when the microphone buzzed. "Ladies and Gentleman," the small portly woman at the podium said. LouAnna K. Simon, Michigan State's President, lowered the microphone so she could more easily reach it. "I'm glad there are so many people here to support Michigan State's newest member. As you all know, Michigan State has a long history of being a progressive University." I turned to Sydney and rolled my eyes. Ah, political posturing. "And the only thing more important to this University than sticking to those progressive roots is making sure all of our students receive the best possible education they can get. That is what makes Michigan State the perfect place for our newest faculty. Hailing from Dublin by way of Sweden by way of…well." She paused while the crowd gave a good laugh. "It is my pleasure to introduce our newest assistant professor, Cian O'Smythe."

My mouth dropped open as Cian—England's most annoying vampire—sauntered onto stage. LouAnna bowed awkwardly, observing the vampire tradition of not shaking hands, and Cian returned it before flashing a wide, fangy smile to the crowd. He scanned the crowd until he laid eyes on me, then winked.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said.

"What?" Sydney asked.

"I know that guy. That's Cian…from London…"

"No…." Sydney gasped.

Cian retracted his fangs as I glared at him, unamused with whatever he was planning. "Thank you all for the warm welcome," he said in his predominantly British inflection. Women all over the field cooed lustily, Sydney included. "I'll keep this short and sweet, because I'm sure we all have places to be. I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you. Speaking of, an old friend of mine is holding a welcoming party for me at a bar called Rum Runners. I hope to see you all there. Thank you." He winked to me again, and the woman standing over my shoulder practically fainted.

Applause erupted as I started to make my way through the crowd, my fingers entwined with Sydney's to make sure I didn't lose her in the crowd. "Miss Sloane," Idi said from behind me. For as large as he is, he moved remarkably well through a crowd. "David has requested your presence."

I turned back to face him, not secretive with my displeasure. "Why?" I asked mid-whine. _Because he knows he's in deep shit, that's why_, I said to myself.

"I do not know."

I was fifty-fifty as to whether or not I was going to find David. I looked to Sydney to be my tiebreaker. "Give me your keys, I'll meet you at Rum Runners," she said, instantly knowing what I wanted. I pulled the key to the Mustang off my keychain and handed it to Sydney. After a quick mutual kiss on the cheek, we went our separate ways.

"You could have warned me that the most annoying vampire I've ever met followed me from London," I said as Idi lead me toward the stage.

"My apologies," he said.

I walked up to David, Emma, and Cian as they talked with LouAnna and a few other of the MSU high-ups. "I hear we have you to thank for bringing us our newest faculty member, Mr. O'Hara."

"Please, call me David. And it was not just me," he answered, cordial smile on his face.

"Is that so?" an older man said. I couldn't quite pull his name to the surface, but I knew he was a trustee.

"You should be thanking this lovely woman," David said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the conversation. Idi moved as if he were an appendage of mine, never being more than an arms-length away from me. David introduced me to the crowd, but I couldn't find it in myself to concentrate on what he was saying. I was distracted by the fact David was still holding my hand. I didn't think I was OK with that. I was trying to figure out how to free my hand without looking like I was trying to free my hand when he squeezed it. "Sloane, are you in there?" he asked jokingly.

"Yea, sorry, I was stuck in my own head."

"I was just telling them you are a graduate student studying something I do not understand one bit." God, he was good at this ass-kissing thing. I just wasn't sure whose ass he was kissing.

I went straight into my spiel about what I study, making many of the eyes in the group gloss over, which was met with a chorus of ohhs and ahhs when I was done. "Will all of you be joining us for the after party?" he asked the elderly mob.

"No, I'm afraid I'm getting too old for things like that," LouAnna said.

"You can't be older than me," David said with a smile. I had finally had enough; I pulled my hand free of his and messed with my hair uselessly. I hoped that looked natural.

The group all laughed falsely. I hate politicians even more than I hate politics. "All the same. It was nice to finally meet you, David." LouAnna bowed awkwardly, followed by the other VIPs behind her. "And you, Ms. McIntosh," she said as she extended a hand. I shook it, followed by the several hands that were systematically thrust at me by the rest of her posse.

"Happy to see me?" Cian asked once it was only the vampires and I.

"Whatever would give you that idea?" I sulked as I followed behind them.

Cian dropped back and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Don't try and hide it. I know you want me."

"Yes," I said as I shrugged his arm off me. "I want you to get off me."

I sighed as I slid into the idling limo. This was going to suck.

.

I preceded the vampires into the club via the back entrance. They were going to have a grand entrance, and I wanted none of that. I quickly found Sydney's bobbing blonde ponytail leaning up against the bar and head toward it. "Hey, this place feels more like a bachelor auction than a bar tonight."

I laughed. She had a point; most of the people now crowded into the bar were women, throngs of which were gossiping in small groups. They were practically buzzing with anticipation. "Let's head upstairs, they're about to make their grand entrance and I don't want to get trampled." I instinctively took one last look around the room, casing entrances and exits and mentally documenting any suspicious looking faces. The group of women nearest to us seemed to overhear my comment; they immediately perked up. When I was satisfied, I followed Sydney up the stairs. We took the last booth available: a two-seater in the far corner. Varana was the bartender tonight, and she immediately brought us our drinks of choice: a double screwdriver for me and a Jack and Coke for Sydney. I wanted to know how she got away with being barefoot in a bar. Maybe she convinced the health inspector that those jingling ankle bracelets were really shoes. It was more likely that she glamoured them so they'd forget all about it.

The atmosphere up here was much better than downstairs. Downstairs was a fangbangers wet dream, while up here was much mellower. The dueling pianos played just loud enough to be entertaining but quiet enough that I wasn't screaming to hold a conversation with Sydney.

It took 15 minutes for Idi to find us upstairs. "Miss Sloane, Miss Sydney," he greeted us. "Enjoying the party?" he asked.

"Yea," I answered as Sydney's and my giggled died down. My cheeks hurt from laughing so hard with her.

He bowed deeply before retreating to the bar and grabbing Sydney and I round two and a TrueBlood for himself. After delivering the drinks, he posted himself outside our booth, back to us. "You can sit with us, you know."

"I prefer my back not be to the room," he said after a sip of his TrueBlood.

I rolled my eyes goodheartedly at his back. "Alright, then." I took another couple of swigs before Sydney and I got right back to our giggling.

.

I was definitely working my way toward drunk. I looked up from the five empty glasses sitting in front of me to Varana, whose eyebrows silently asked if I wanted another. I shook my head no. Sydney was in no condition to drive and she was not looking to slow down any time soon (I may be smaller, but she's a total lightweight). Instead, she delivered another Jack and Coke and a tall glass of water. "Thanks."

I didn't even feel it when I was lifted off the bench and set back down, but suddenly I was sitting on someone's knee. "I'll give you something to thank me for."

I didn't even need to turn around to know who was taking these most recent liberties with me. It was Cian's knee I was now perched on. "Idi…" I warned. If he was acting as bodyguard again, he was doing a piss-poor job.

"Yes, Miss Sloane?" he asked without turning his head toward me.

I glanced over my shoulder at Cian's face as Sydney finally caught up to the party. "Hey, now," she slurred.

"Why is he here?" I asked Idi as I glared into Cian's eyes. He grinned back at me as he rested his hands on my hips.

"Is this not his party?" he asked me, seriously confused as to the question.

I sighed as I noticed the glaring looks I got from a gaggle of fangbangers just climbing the stairs. "Cian," I said chidingly. "We need to go over the concept of personal space." I tried to stand to let him up, but he held my hips to his knee. "Cian…"

"If you did not want to sit on my lap, then why did you pick such a small booth?" he whispered innocently into my ear.

I peeled his fingers off my hips and stood. "For one, this was the only booth available, and secondly, maybe we picked it because we _didn't_ want you to join us. We were perfectly happy just the three of us." I included the silent Idi in our merry group.

I stumbled as I moved out of the way to usher Cian out of my seat. Idi caught me before I toppled to the floor, righting me before going back to his stoic bodyguard position. "Ohhh," Cian said as his eyes lit up. "Is the queen herself…what is that word…shitfaced?"

"No, she's shitfaced," I said as I pointed to Sydney, who looked up at me, mildly put out. She looked about ready to pass out. "I'm just a little tipsy." I paused for a second, waiting for him to get out of my spot. "And don't call me queen."

He slid out of the booth and grandly offered my seat back to me. "Princess?" he asked as he pulled a chair up to the table. "Or majesty, maybe?"

"Neither," I answered as I glared at him.

"Cupcake?" he asked. He was fully aware with how angry he was making me. He was enjoying it. "I obviously have never had one, but they do smell delicious."

"They are," I answered, teeth clenched. "But you can call me Sloane or Mac like everyone else."

"I call her Pony," Sydney piped in as she leaned against the wall. _Thanks, Syd_, I thought to myself.

"Then that is what I shall call you, as well." I gritted my teeth as David approached from behind.

"I should have known," David said. Cian whipped around, standing and backing away from the table with his head down. "Only you could make my Sloane that angry. Besides myself, of course."

"You two are going to drive me crazy," I mumbled and I took a swig of water.

"I sincerely hope not," David said. "Idi, perhaps you should take Ms. Mets into the office." I looked over to Sydney to see what he could possibly be talking about. She was leaning up against the wall, fast asleep.

Once Idi had lifted Sydney free of the booth and taken her down the back set of stairs, David sent Cian away. "We'll just be a moment," he said to placate him. Cian was full-on pouting, but he left. Now that he supposedly lived in Michigan, he had no choice. "Sloane, love," David said as he slid into the booth across from me. "You are yet to decide what you want to do with your kingdom."

I fidgeted uncomfortably. "Is this really the time and place?"

"I'm afraid we are quickly running out of time. Eric tells me that as he recovers, Victor is solidifying his role as ruler. If this is what you want, you can let him take your kingdom, but if it is not, we must act quickly."

"Victor's the last person I'd give the kingdom to," I answered quickly.

"I agree; he is not to be trusted with that much power." He reached across the table and engulfed my hands with his.

I actually kind of liked him holding my hands this time. It was comforting. "What would you do?" I asked.

He paused for a split second before answering me. "I would split the kingdoms back into their original three territories. No one vampire should be that powerful. I would give Arkansas to Sandy. A harmless vampire to rule a harmless state." He waved one hand in the air, as if her were dismissing the entire state. "I would give Louisiana to Eric, of course…"

"No," I answered. "Sookie would kill me."

"I doubt she wants you in danger because of a silly title, darling." I didn't need to speak to tell him how I felt about that. Transferring the danger from me to her was not the way to deal with the problem. He decided to let it go; an argument for another time. "And there is no one in Nevada I would trust to rule that state. Preferably, it would disappear all together."

I laughed unusually hard at his comment. He smiled at me as I giggled at him. "I'll think about it," I answered.

"Good," he answered as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He glanced at his text message quickly before a frown pulled his eyebrows together. "Stay here, my Love."

"What?" I asked. Something had upset him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing for you to be concerned about. Please, promise me you will stay up here, where it is safe?" I looked at him quizzically, but nodded yes. "Stay with her," he said to Cian. "Idi…" Without a word, Idi fell in step behind David and followed him down the stairs.

Cian slid into the other side of the booth. "What the hell is that about?" I asked him.

He flicked tongue against his fangs. "Whatever it is, it's not important. What is important is that we're alone now." He winked at me.

"Oh, honey," I said sarcastically. "I'm never alone." I smiled up to Varana, who nodded in acknowledgement.

Cian looked over his shoulder, pouting once he noticed Varana. "You take all the fun out of it." After a second, his face lit up. He leaned over the table, his face now mere inches from mine. "Unless you want to be alone. I could arrange that."

I tried my hardest to look enthused. "Oh, you'd leave?"

He winked at me. "Only if you are coming with me."

I rolled my eyes at him. That was not worth a response. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Michigan, this bar, or this particular booth?" I glared at him. He paused. It was obvious he either did not want to or was ordered not to tell me the exact reason. "You need another drink. Bartender," he said over his shoulder. "Another for the princess." I kicked him beneath the table. "Ohh, feisty," he cooed at me.

"Now I understand. You're going to teach child psychology because you're just an overgrown child yourself," I said. I had to admit, he was relatively charming, and that charm was starting to wear me down. I at least had to admire his zest for life. I smiled at him as Varana delivered another drink for me and a TrueBlood for him.

The fangbanger I had been watching inch closer finally couldn't take it anymore and approached the table. "Is she making you drink that?" she asked as she circled the mouth of the bottle of TrueBlood with her pointer finger. "That's not nice." I was having a hard time taking offense to her innuendo that I was a bad girlfriend.

"She's dessert," he answered smoothly.

"I am a true dessert; I've been told I taste sweet like chocolate. Let's go back to my place and I'll let you have a taste," she said as she leaned down showing the both of us her cleavage. She was on the older side, and her cleavage hung just a touch too low to be appealing. No bra either, I noticed.

Cian turned to me. "What is chocolate?"

"It's a candy, made from cocoa and milk," I answered after I swallowed another swig of my fifth or sixth screwdriver.

"Hm," he replied. He was ignoring the fangbanger, which was obviously annoying her. "Does that make you want to fuck?"

What the hell? I rolled my eyes at him. "No, not really. It just tastes good to some people."

"What is that drug that makes you humans want to screw like bunnies, as you say?" He dropped his hand over mind and was tracing my fingers with his pointer finger.

"Uhh," I answered. I was having a hard time following his train of thought. With this much alcohol in me, I was having a hard time following any train of thought. "Ecstasy, I think is what you're thinking of," I answered. I pulled my hand away.

"Ah, yes." He turned back to the fangbanger, who perked up automatically with his attention. "You may taste like candy, but her blood is like ecstasy. I will stick with the one that makes me want to fuck, but thank you for the offer."

She pouted, pressing her cleavage together even more. "Are you sure?" she purred.

"Quite," he answered.

.

Several drinks later, Cian and I were still sitting in the same booth. I finished the last of my most recent screwdriver and leaned my head against the wall. My vision was starting to blur. "Are you trying to get my drunk?" I slurred.

"Trying? I've succeeded," he answered. "Now are you shitfaced?"

"Yup," I answered. "I have to pee."

"Eloquent," he responded as he laughed at me. I think he got me drunk solely for his own entertainment. I glared at him as I pushed myself out of the booth, barely able to stand without falling flat on my face.

Cian noticed my instability and threw me over his shoulder. "Let's go down and see David, shall we?"

"Hey," I said. I grabbed the back of his shirt to hold myself steady as he bounded down the stairs. "My hat." It had flung off my head as Cian whisked me over his shoulder and was now sitting on the table. He left that and my purse in our old booth. "Get my stuff," I said as he was already halfway down the stairs. He did a quick 180 and grabbed my things before pulling me back downstairs with him. It may have been early into the morning, but the party was still going strong.

I stumbled when Cian put me back on my feet right in front of David, Emma and Lee. They were sitting at their table. "Cian got me drunk," I slurred as Cian steadied me. I turned to poke him in the chest, but he just dodged my attempt. "Which was not a good idea, by the way."

"Oh, this was a fantastic idea," he said as he held back laughter. "Are you going to tell me to fuck off again? I wish you would."

I shook my head no, which made me unsteady again. I stumbled into the table before Lee steadied me. "You wouldn't listen."

"I most definitely would not. This is way too much fun."

"Cian, please take her home," David said, amusement that mirrored Cian's on his face.

I pouted. "Why can't you take me home?" I asked David.

"I must stay here, Love. Cian…"

"My pleasure," Cian said as he lifted me back over his shoulder. "We're going to have so much fun together, aren't we Pony?"

"No David," I pleaded. "Don't let him…" Before I could finish my sentence, I was already out the door. Cian dropped me to my feet in front of a small sports car. A small, sexy sports car.

"Your chariot awaits, my Lady," Cian said with a bow as he opened the passenger side door. I giggled as I plopped into the passenger seat. He could be annoying, but he could also be very charming and a lot of fun.

****Sorry this one took a bit longer to get out. Finals week is once again fast approaching, and while I got lucky this semester and have no finals, my students definitely do. Once my get the foot-tall pile of papers graded, my pace should pick right back up.****


	79. Chapter 79

I woke up with the biggest migraine. _Why did I drink so much last night?_ I asked myself. I groaned as I rolled over onto my side and pulled the comforter on my bed over my head. I tried to remember last night, but it was all very fuzzy. I obviously remembered getting to Rum Runners. I remembered giggling over drinks with Sydney, but I couldn't remember what was so funny. I remember Sydney passing out in the booth. After that, I lost some time, only to pick it back up as Cian tucked me into the passenger seat of his sports car.

_OH SHIT_, I thought as I shot into a sitting position. I couldn't remember anything after that. Not even as hard as I tried. _Did I let Cian into my house? I better not have slept with him_. I lifted the blanket to see what condition I was in. I was wearing panties and I was in my own shirt, both of which were good signs, at least. I didn't feel like I had just had sex; there was no post-coital jello-ness to my body, no unexplainable contentment. _And where is Sydney?_

My first order of business as I finally got out of bed was Advil. I swallowed two as I walked into my bathroom to take care of the necessities. After a long, hot shower, I felt instantly better. Almost human, even. Now there was only one more thing I needed to function: Pepsi. After throwing on some clothes, I peeked my head in Sydney's room. She hadn't been in it since last night; her bed was still made, her laptop sitting on one of the pillows. If she wasn't downstairs, I was going to call her cell phone. Most likely, she was still asleep. Our sleeping habits switched on the rare occasions we drank together; I became the early riser and she slept in late.

Sydney wasn't down here, either. I blushed as I noticed my sundress slung over a chair. I really, really, really wish that I didn't let Cian in to see my striptease. I would never live it down. After depositing the dress in the laundry room, I poured myself a giant Pepsi.

Before I could fish my phone out of my purse, it rang. "Hello?" I said after a gulp of blessed caffeine.

"Hey, Hun." Speak of the Devil, it was Sydney. "What the hell happened last night? Why am I still at Rum Runners?"

"Don't really know, Hun."

"Well, where are you?" she asked. I could hear her doing something in the background, but I couldn't be sure what. Rustling paper, maybe?

"At home."

"Will you come get me?"

"I can't, Hun. You have my car."

"Oh," she said, surprised. "That's right. Then how'd you get home?"

"Cian drove me."

"Did you invite him in?" I could hear a door shut behind her.

"I don't remember. I don't remember actually getting home, just getting into his car."

"Uh oh," she said. _That's exactly what I thought_, I groaned in my head as I nodded to myself.

"Anywho, I'll be there in a few. Want a chai? I'll drive past Beaner's on the way home." Beaner's is a local chain of coffee houses that actually could make a good chai.

"Sure, if you're buying."

.

I was nursing my second large glass of Pepsi when Sydney got home. I giggled as she walked in the door. Her clothes were wrinkled and askew, her makeup smudged. The best part, however, was her hair. Last night, her hair fell down her back in perfect beach-blown waves. Now, her hair was up in a ratty, messy ponytail that was off center. "You look gorgeous," I said as I tried not to laugh.

"Oh, shut it." She slid my chai in front of me and dropped her purse on the kitchen island. "God, I have a headache."

"Have some Advil."

She swallowed a few Advil before sitting across from me at the table. "What are you doing today?"

"No plans. I thought I might run in to lab for a bit if I get bored." During the summer, without the added stress of classes and teaching, I go a bit crazy with lab. I don't do idle well.

"Mm hm," she murmured as she took a sip of whatever type of tea she got this time. "I need to be at the Handel's in two hours." She checked her watch to check the time.

"For how long?"

"All night," she groaned. "They're going to a wedding." She wouldn't usually be groaning about spending the night with Alex and Carter, she loves those kids. But even to me, the thought of trolling around with two children under the age of ten after an all-night bender the night before was daunting.

"Sorry, Hun. Maybe you shouldn't have sucked down those Jack and Cokes last night like it was last call," I said with a giant grin on my face.

She shot me a half-serious glare before shooting right back at me. "Maybe you shouldn't have let Cian drive you home. Have you found his boxers yet?" She took in a big, dramatic sniff. "You kind of smell like guy."

"Zip it," I tried to sneer back at her. It was hard to sound serious as a giant grin covered my face. "I've showered."

"Uh huh. In guy."

Like the mature 23 year old I am, I stuck my tongue out at her. I got a short flash; Moose, Matt, and I were hanging out by the pool near their apartment complex, basking in the sun. "Well, I'm going swimming this afternoon. So eat that."

She took one last sip of her tea. "I'm jealous. I have to go shower."

.

I was already in my bikini, beach bag packed when Moose called. "Damn, that took you forever. I thought I'd seen it wrong," I answered. I should know better than to doubt my own visions. Especially ones that happen so close to when I saw it.

"Hi Mac, it is a lovely day. I'm just fine, thank you, and you?"

"Sorry. Hi Moose."

"Hey," he answered. "So you know what I'm calling about?"

"Yea, I'll be over in ten."

"Alright, then. Just come up to my place, because I'm not nearly that ready."

I let the top down in the convertible on my way over to Moose's, blaring music the entire way. I parked right outside of Moose's building before bounding in the building and up the stairs. Usually, the front door to the building was locked at all times and all visitors needed to be let in, but today, the door was being held open by the maid's box of supplies. I also didn't knock before I let myself into Moose's place. Moose was standing in the living room in nothing but a towel, watching TV as he towel dried his hair. "You took a shower before you are going to go swimming?"

He shrugged, unphased by the fact I just let myself into his apartment. "Force of habit."

I plopped into the old lazy boy chair in the corner and watched him. _Oh, don't you start_, I thought as my libido started jumping up and down. Every muscle in his chest jumped as he rubbed the towel on his head. I curled my feet under myself in an effort to hold myself right where I was. I hadn't had sex in…too long to count, and my libido was more than ready to rectify the situation with Moose.

"What?" he asked, catching me staring at his perfect chest as I contemplated my sex life.

"Nothing," I answered. I felt heat flush into my cheeks.

He noticed the blushing, following it with a touch of color himself. "Uh, well. Did you go to that thing last night?"

"Yea," I answered as I dropped my gaze from his. Moose was true to his word, everything did go back to normal once we broke up save for the few awkward moments when we caught each other thinking about something really unpure about the other. "Unfortunately."

"How'd it go? Who is it?" he shouted from the bedroom. It took most of what I had not to follow him in there. I just wanted a glimpse of that perfect butt.

"It's not anyone you know. The whole ceremony was short and sweet, though." I hadn't told him about Cian in too much detail.

"Did you go to that after party? I heard it was an awesome party, despite who threw it." There was still no love lost between Moose and David, even though it was clear that at the moment, neither of them were getting the girl.

"Yea, I went." I said after I cringed.

"And? Was it as awesome as they say it was?" He was now standing behind me, piling all of his necessities (wallet, keys, iPod) into my beach bag.

"To tell the truth, I don't remember a whole lot of it."

He laughed. "So that's a yes, then?"

"I guess." He lofted my beach bag onto his shoulder and walked out of the room, me following close behind. "Syd and I kind of kept away from the party. At least what I can remember, we did."

"Syd went?" he asked, surprised. "She hates the fangers."

I shrugged as he crossed the parking lot toward the clubhouse. "She was interested in the newest faculty in her department. And she had a better time than I did at the party."

He laughed again. "Oh yea? How long did she last?"

"About two hours before she was passed out in our booth." I giggled along with him.

.

Moose and I parked it on one of the open chaises in the sun (after slathering on some sunscreen, of course) and waited for Matt to join us. I'd been cutting one hundred dollar checks to David to pay him back for my London trip every payday, so I really enjoyed the free entertainment. The warmth of the sun and the subtle music playing in the background worked to lull me into a comfortable pre-sleep state, which is why I was not at all ready when Matt stealthily snuck up next to me, lifted me out of the chaise, and dove into the water with me.

I came up swinging. "God, Dammit, Matt!" He was laughing so hard, I couldn't help but giggle along with him. "I'll get you back for that," I said as I squeegeed most of my hair dry. The way the pool was designed, you had to be at least 6 feet tall to touch the bottom, even in the shallow end, so I was treading water just to keep my head above water.

Matt flipped himself onto his back so he was floating next to me. "You can try," he said mockingly. He closed his eyes in mocking enjoyment, which gave me my perfect chance. I pushed myself out of the water, using his chest as I springboard as I straddled his chest and used all my weight to push his head and torso under water. He flailed for a moment before grabbing my hips and flipping me underwater with him. I yelped in surprise before I was underwater again. I brought my legs up to my chest and used his torso as a springboard again, this time pushing him down with my feet as I pushed my head above the water level. Moose was laughing with me, both his thumbs up when Matt resurfaced. "You're going to have to do better than that, Mac," he gasped as he swam closer to me. "Coming in, Moose?"

"Not yet," he said.

I was getting tired of treading water. I started to swim toward the staircase at the very end of the pool, but Matt grabbed my foot and pulled me back toward him. "Surrendering so soon?" he asked. "I thought I'd get a better battle out of you."

"What battle?" I asked. "My legs are tired from treading water," I complained. His whole body stiffened when I latched my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, now resting on him monkey-style. He finally relaxed when he realized this was not an attack.

"I thought you were going to get me back for my epic own."

I rested my bony chin in the soft spot between his neck and shoulders. "I rely on the element of surprise. It may be weeks until I see my opportunity, but I will get you back. You just wait." I winked to Moose, who laughed lightly.

"She's like an elephant, man. She never forgets," Moose added. "You're in trouble now."

_I wish I could give her something she'd never forget. Damn, her skin is so smooth. _I could feel Matt's hand work its way up the back side of my thigh a bit too close before he laced his fingers below my butt to hold me up.

I pulled my head back and look at Matt's face in profile. "What did you just say?" I asked, not believing what I just heard.

"What? Nothing," he said, confused. _Come on, push your chest against my back again._

I could hear Matt's voice, but I couldn't see his lips move. I panicked, Moose catching the small movement in my face that gave me away. "Moose, do you have anything to drink?" I said as I pushed myself away from Matt. I tried to shake the fantasies that filtered through Matt's head. His most favorite was pushing me up against the tiled side of the pool and taking me right here.

"Yea, I have a couple of Pepsi 20 ouncers in my fridge."

Matt was too stunned at the change in topic that he let me swim to the stairs without gathering me back in. Once I wasn't touching him anymore, the rampant fantasies that streamed through his head dampened, and I could almost think for myself again. "Can I have one?" I asked as I climbed out of the pool, wringing the water out of my hair into a trail of water that followed me.

"Sure," he said, perplexed. "Matt, watch out stuff? We'll be right back." I wrapped my towel around my torso and followed Moose through the entrance gate. "What's up? Did you see something?" he asked once we were out of earshot.

"No. I _heard_ something." I looked up at him to see if he was getting it, but I didn't have to. I could feel his confusion almost like I would be able to feel David's. "I heard Matt's thoughts, Moose. And I have to tell you, his head in constantly in the gutter."

Now he got it. He stopped walking and just looked at me. "Woah. Like, Sookie heard?"

I nodded. "And I can feel yours." He was a strange mix of afraid, confused, and aroused.

"Can you still see?" he asked as he started walking again.

I didn't know. There wasn't really a litmus test for ability to see into the future. I only saw when I was supposed to see. When we got into Moose's place, I tried to concentrate on seeing something, but it didn't work. It seemed like the harder I tried, the more I could hear. First, I could hear the girl in the apartment next door worrying about being pregnant. Then, as I tried harder, I could hear the guy below him debating the merits of a tongue piercing. "No, I can't," I said when I looked up to Moose. "Shit, Moose. Shit, shit shit."

"It's alright, you're alright." He sat on the couch next to me and wrapped his arm around me. "It's going to be OK. We'll figure this out." That is not what he was thinking about, however. He was remembering the one night I got snowed into his place. More specifically, he was remembering the sex we had the morning after. We were sitting on that couch right now.

"Please," I said as I shrugged out of his embrace. "Don't touch me when you're thinking about that."

He blushed. "Sorry."

"I can't block any of it out," I said. "I don't know how. Sookie makes it look so easy."

"She's had years of practice. Give it some time; I'm sure you'll pick it up pretty quick like you always do." He followed me into his kitchen, where I grabbed one of the bottles of Pepsi from the fridge. When I turned around, he pulled me back into a hug. He was careful with his thoughts this time, focusing most of his attention on how strong he knew I was. He was convinced I could do this. I wasn't.

When I shivered in his over air conditioned apartment, he ushered me back out the door. "Just relax," he said as we crossed the parking lot again back toward the pool. "Call Sookie and see what's going on. Maybe she'll have a few pointers. I'll distract Matt."

I smiled up at him just as Matt came back into view. He was out of the pool, toweling himself off right at the precipice of the water. Before I could think _stupid idea_, Moose bound past me and tackled the unsuspecting Matt back into the water, towel and all. When they surfaced, Moose laughed as Matt swore. "Fuck, Moose!" He was fuming. "That was a dry towel."

"You'll just have to go get a new one," Moose said as he pulled his hair back into a ponytail. "Isn't payback just a bitch?"

"Come on, man," Matt groaned as I pulled my cell phone from the small pocket in my bag. "I didn't do nothing to you." Moose just shrugged as he hoisted himself out of the pool. _I bet those two are fucking again. That's why he's hovering around her._

"Heeeeello?" Sookie said. I hadn't realized I zoned out there; I was trying so hard not to focus in on the voices in my head that I didn't hear the actual ones.

"Hey, sorry. Um…I have a bit of a problem."

"So do I and I think our problems are linked." I covered my phone as Matt got out of the pool and shook himself dry over me, showering me in droplets.

_I wonder who she's talking to. She looks tense. She looks great in a bikini. I bet she looks good naked, too. I'll have to ask Moose_.

"Hello, Sloane?" Sookie asked on the other line.

"Dammit, sorry. How the hell do you concentrate?" This was getting very frustrating.

"I could ask you the same thing. I can't tell what's real anymore."

So Sookie now had my particular quirk. "You have to learn to filter," I said. Now that Matt had left to gather another dry towel and it was just Moose and I, it was much easier to concentrate. "Also, keep in mind that a majority of the stuff you are going to see is horrible and there's nothing you can do about it. You have to stay detached."

"Do you have any idea what the hell is going on?" she asked me.

"Not a clue." Moose dried himself before plopping back into the chaise next to me, waiting for me to finish my conversation. "But someone's got to be behind this. I'm going to ask David first thing. But seriously, tell me how you block it out."

"It took me a long time to build me mental barrier, and even sometimes still it doesn't work. Just think of building a little fence that keeps all other thoughts but yours out."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically.

"Now your turn. How do I turn off this constant stream?"

"You don't," I said. Sadly, you can't just turn it off. "You just…think of like a sieve. Only the big visions--the important ones--get through. The rest are caught and discarded before you even see them."

"OK, how do I do that?"

"I don't even know. I just…do it."

"Thanks," she said equally sarcastically. "I'll give you a call if I find anything out."

"Great, ditto," I answered. "Oh, and remember, some visions can be somewhat…violent. Remember?" I was talking about the time I was sitting in Merlotte's Bar and all the sudden was stabbed through the chest. She let out an affirmative grunt. "Keep your cell phone handy and with you at all times. Try not to touch people." That always made the vision stronger—like going from a static radio station to HD in an instant.

"Same. Be careful."

We hung up just as Matt was crossing the parking lot. "So?" Moose asked quickly.

"She's got mine and I have hers." I matched his serious look. "I don't know how much more of Matt's fantasies I can take," I whispered as Matt approached.

'Fantasies?' Moose mouthed. I just nodded.

_They're definitely sleeping together again_. "Hey guys. Miss me?"

"Not really," Moose said coldly.

"Woah, sorry dude. Did I mess with your mack flow or something?" Matt seriously didn't know why Moose was so angry with him. For that matter, neither did I, really. Of course his thoughts were crude and disgusting, but he was entitled to them. It wasn't like he _knew_ I could read them. I'm sure if he did he'd at least kick it down to only those thoughts rated R and below.

Moose just glared at him as he sat at the end of my chaise. He stood and stretched as Matt snaked a hand up my shin, past my knee to my lower thigh. He thought Moose and I were sleeping together and he was still going to try something? I couldn't take it anymore when he started fantasizing about me pushing him down on the chaise and doing a striptease for him. I saw my opportunity and I took it.

Moose was standing, hands above his head, stretching out like a true cat. I bounded out of my chaise, knocking Matt's hand off me before sprinting at Moose and tackling him into the water. He saw it coming but let me tackle him, wrapping his arms around me as we both fell into the water. When we surfaced, Matt was looking fairly disappointed. I crawled up onto Moose's back so I wouldn't have to tread water. "He thinks were sleeping together again," I whispered into Moose's ear. I regretted saying that while touching Moose almost immediately. His mind was flashing between all the times we did sleep together. "Hey, keep it PG."

"Sorry," he said. I yelped as he dunked me under water. I instantly let go of him and started to swim away, towards the deep end of the pool.

_I heard she rolls pretty heavy with vampires. She probably fucks them too, right? I bet she lets them do nasty stuff to her. What I wouldn't give for a girl like that_.

I'd had enough. I surfaced for air, Moose right behind me. "I can't take him anymore." It was irrational, but a tear rolled down my cheek. Is that really how people thought of me? Just another fangbanger? "I have to get out of here."

"What? Oh, OK," Moose answered as I struggled to push myself out of the pool without the help of stairs. My upper body strength was way more than it used to be, but still lacking. Moose lifted me the last few inches before following me himself. "You want to just hang out at my place? I turn off the air and open some windows; it should warm right up in there."

I kept my back to Matt as I toweled off and pulled my maxi sundress on. Like a true woman, once the tears started, they were impossible to stop. "No, I'm just going to go home. Bye Matt."

"See ya," he said. He was oblivious.

Moose wasn't having it. He toweled himself off and pulled his t-shirt on before following me out the gate to my car. "Hey, hey," he said soothingly. "What happened? Was he thinking mean things?"

I fell into him as he pulled me into a hug. I was trapped between my car door and his body, but I was OK with that. "It's not important."

He smoothed out my hair and wrung it out down my back before twisting my hair into a bun and securing it with his own hair tie. "Are you sure?" I nodded my head. "OK. I'm here if you want to talk, or want some company." I nodded again before I pulled the car door open and slid in. Without anything more than a thankful smile, I pulled away and drove home.

.

When two hours passed and I hadn't heard anything from Sookie, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to text her. _Any news?_

She texted back quickly. She must not be at work right now. _None. W8ing to talk to Amelia 2nite._

_Let me know_, I responded. Right as the sun was setting, I grabbed my purse and my keys and headed out the door to David's. I was glad I changed into jeans and a tank top before coming; I luxuriated in the feel of pants. Also, I loved that I wasn't still wet.

I passed Sydney on the way out. "Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked. She was supposed to be with the kids all night.

_She looks upset, I should ask what's wrong. If she wants me to know, she'll tell me though. Maybe I did something to piss her off? No, no, I don't think so._ "Mr. Handel's feeling sick, so they're not going to the reception. Mrs. Handel gave me the night off."

"That's nice for you, I guess. I've run into a small problem, so I need to run to David's. Don't know when or if I'll be back."

_Small problem? Like what? Something I don't want to know about, I'm sure. I can't take her being in any more danger. It's all those fucking vampires. Before them, we were happy. She was happy_. "Oh? Anything I should be concerned about?"

She was right. I was happy pre-vampire. But for that brief period when David and I were together, I was really happy. I had to believe the problems and the heartache I have now is worth those brief happy times. I had to. "No, I'm fixing it."

"OK," _Phew_. "Love you."

"Love you too, Hun." I slid into my car and raced away. One thing's for sure. I couldn't stay here. I needed somewhere quiet. Somewhere where there weren't any people. Any living people.


	80. Chapter 80

I got to David's before he rose, so I let myself into his apartment. Lots of things had changed between the end of last semester and now. As soon as I opened the door, a security system chirped from the hallway. "Please state your name."

"Uhh, Sloane McIntosh," I answered. I was not used to talking to computer systems.

"Sloane McIntosh voice sample confirmed. Welcome, Sloane."

"Thanks," I mumbled back to the computer. The idea of talking to a computer just freaked me out a touch. I set my purse on the granite island and started to pace the living room. New mechanical shutters covered every available window, making the only light in the condo artificial. I jumped as a small rattling came from the windows; the shutters were opening. That must mean it's fully dark now.

"Sloane," David said from the doorway to his room, a touch of surprise in his voice. My libido jumped for the second time today. He was in nothing but a pair of jeans, his hair perfectly tousled. Many men work for hours to get their hair to look that good, and David's just is that good. "You smell like cleaning supplies."

"Oh, yea. I went swimming today."

"Ah," he answered as he walked toward me. "So what do I owe this pleasure?" He pulled a TrueBlood from the fridge and popped it into the microwave.

"I have a question." I wasn't sure how to broach the topic.

"Just a question? OK, what is it?"

I waited for him to get his drink from the microwave and lean against the countertop before I continued. "Do you think it would be possible for Sookie and me to just…switch disabilities randomly?"

Bless his heart, he gave my ridiculous question serious thought before answering. "I do not believe so."

I nodded. "OK. Do you know of why it might happen, then? Like, would a witch have to do it? Or Fae?"

"I am unsure," he answered. He was finally catching on to my line of questioning. "Why do you ask?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Um, well, because I can hear thoughts and Sookie can see the future as of about one this afternoon."

He took a second to take this all in. "I see. Tell me exactly what happened."

I explained everything. By the end, my tears were back. "People really think of me as just another fangbanger. You should have heard the horrible, gross things he wanted me to do to him, solely because he thought if I hung out with vampires, I must do it all the time." I wiped the tears from my eyes just before David guided me toward the couch.

"You are much more than just one of those vermin," he said as he sat me down next to him. "You are smart, and witty, and stubborn, and strong. Should I have been lucky enough to have daughters, you are the woman I wish they would have grown to be."

That was more than I could take. More irrational tears fell as I started to cry harder. I don't know why, but his touching words just hit me hard. David tucked me under his arm until I had worked it out of my system, after which I let him hold me close. "Can I stay here? I can't block anyone out yet, including Syd," I said.

"As long as you like," he answered. "Would you like me to stay with you?"

I yawned. It had been a long day, and crying always took it out of me. "If you want," I said as I shrugged. I tucked my feet under my hips as I leaned against his side. I was OK with taking a quick nap right here.

"If you could spare me for an hour, I do have some work to do." I nodded as he lifted me so he could stand, then settled me back into the couch. I waited what felt like forever for him to reemerge from his bedroom, but he didn't. My eyes closed on their own and he still hadn't emerged. Finally, as I was falling asleep, I felt him leave a light kiss on my temple.

.

I jolted awake as the electronic voice sounded. "Please state your name."

"David O'Hara."

"David O'Hara voice sample confirmed. Welcome home, David."

I stretched as the door lock clicked into place. "What's with the autobot?"

"Security is important. Should no one answer or if the voice is not recognized, my cell phone is alerted and the entire apartment locks down and fills with gas, suffocating the intruder," he said as he circled the couch. "Very cool, as you'd say." He dropped to his haunches so he could look me in the eye.

"Have you named her?"

He grabbed the remote and tucked himself in between the couch and my body. "Why would I name it?" he asked as he turned on the TV.

"You don't want to name the woman you come home to every night, er, morning?"

"It is not a woman; it only has a woman's voice." He sounded like he seriously thought that I seriously thought there was a woman in the wall or something.

"Right," I said after laughing. "Well, does she do anything else?"

"Like?" he asked as he flipped through channels.

"Well, will she whisper sweet nothings to you?" I whispered seductively. "Maybe tell you dirty stories? Even just compliment you when you've had a rough day?"

"You do understand she is not real, don't you?"

I laughed again, harder this time. "Nevermind." David, like most men, settled on ESPN before tucking the remote between my stomach and the couch. "Oh, ech." I never liked ESPN.

"Would you like to watch something else?" David asked.

"No, I'm going back to sleep." I stretched my feet under the pillow at the opposite side of the couch as a makeshift blanket and settled in. David pulled the blanket free from the back of the couch (a blanket, I noticed, that only recently appeared) and tucked it around me.

.

I stretched again as I rolled over straight into David's chest. "Uh," I articulated as pushed myself away from him to take a look around.

"Yes, she is. Of course," David said just before hanging up his cell phone. "I have never seen you sleep so peacefully," he said as he cleared my hair from my face.

"What?" I asked. I was still a bit groggy.

"You usually toss and turn, but just now you did not move an inch."

"Oh," I said as I pushed myself up to a sitting position. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "Who were you talking to?"

"Eric. Sookie is not handling the change as well as you are and he asked for advice."

"Well, I can hide from her quirk until the whole thing is fixed. You can never run from the visions, they just get worse when you do." I felt horrible for her. I knew how hard it could be; I had years of practice to learn how to control them, and I was still horrible at it.

"They determined the reason for the…change," he added. "It seems that foolhardy witch of Sookie's tried something above her abilities."

Figures Amelia'd be behind all this. "So is she going to fix this or what?"

"She is trying," he said maliciously. Obviously not hard enough, probably for either David or Eric.

We sat in silence for a minute as I woke completely. "How rough is Sookie having it?" I asked as I leaned against his thighs as he lay on the couch.

"She is having trouble disconnecting from what she sees." He rubbed my back gently.

"Dammit," I answered. "She can't save everyone."

"Eric is with her," he answered. "He will talk to her."

**SOOKIE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

"You are stronger than this, Sookie," Eric commanded from the doorway. "If that tiny, obnoxious woman from Michigan can handle it with grace, so can you."

I was balled up in bed, sore from crying all day. It seemed every other minute, I was seeing something new. Half of those visions were gruesome. Death, torture, abuse. The worst part was knowing but not knowing. I knew there was someone out there suffering, and if only I knew who, or where, or when, I could stop it. But I didn't. "I don't know how she does it. All the pain in this world."

Eric approached the bed and sat next to me. He was going to try and be tender now. "I know this is hard for you; you are too tender hearted to let these visions go without helping those in them. But you need to be strong."

"Sook, I am so sorry," Amelia pleaded from the doorway.

"Out, witch!" Eric hissed at her. She cowered from him before disappearing from the doorway.

Just then, another vision came. I watched as a small boy, no older than Hunter, drowned to death by his mother's hands. Bruises covered his entire body, speaking to a long history of abuse. "How?" I asked Eric. How can I be strong when I see nothing but fear and hurt all day? At least when I could get into people's heads, I only knew of this stuff when they were actively thinking about it.

"Get out of bed," Eric commanded. I knew the tenderness couldn't last all night. "Now."

I shook my head no.

For a split second, his frustration boiled over into my consciousness despite his efforts to block his emotions from me. "Please," he said through gritted teeth.

"Why?"

"Because this is not the Sookie I know. The Sookie I know is a fighter, so get up and fight!"

I could try and fight the visions. I pushed myself into a sitting position and mentally reconfigured my shields. Instead of blocking thoughts, I tried changing so it would block visions. I would have to constantly concentrate on keeping my shields strong, as usual, but it was better than watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show all day. It took me the better part of a minute, but the visions stopped. It had worked. I smiled up at Eric timidly as I wiped the last of my tears from my cheeks.

"Much better," Eric said. Some of the pain in his eyes lifted as well. He stripped off his shirt and tossed it to the ground, leaving me gaping at his perfectly formed chest. My breath caught in my throat as he stared at me with his smokey gaze and stepped within inches of me. I couldn't help it; before I could stop myself I reached up and touched his perfect abs. They jumped under my touch. He pulled my own top over my head and tossed it alongside his; he couldn't resist my breasts.

It didn't take long until we were both completely naked under the sheets. I moaned as Eric held my legs open, his tongue doing wonders. "Look at me," he said as he glanced up from between my legs. I held his gaze as he continued to lick me until he thrust a finger into me. I threw my head back and screamed his name as I came for him.

"Oh, Eric," I moaned as he licked me clean.

"Yes, Lover?" He was instantly looming over me, his hair falling in a curtain around my head. He gave me a light kiss; I could taste myself on his lips. "Tell me what you want."

I blushed. "I want you," I answered, skirting around the question.

He kissed me again and settled his hips between my legs. I could feel his gracious plenty pressed up against my pelvic bone. "You have me. Tell me what you _want_, Lover."

"Make love to me," I whispered as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Be gentle."

He kissed me again, deeper this time, as he sunk himself in me. I moaned in delight as he stretched me as far as I could go, slowly and gently pumping in me before pulling all the way out again. He repeated the cycle until I was on the brink of exploding. I gripped his upper arms so hard I was about to draw blood. "Yes, Eric, yes," I begged as I stared deep into his eyes. He started moving harder and faster until I was reduced to a happy pool of jelly, his release following shortly after mine.

I twirled my fingers through his blond chest hair as we lay in bed. "You are unusually quiet tonight," Eric said.

"Hm," I grunted as an answer. "It's getting harder to block out the visions."

"Perhaps it will get easier with time."

"I hope so," I said as I walked naked across my bedroom. Eric pouted as I pulled a pair of panties and my nightgown on. "I'm hungry."

He was in front of me in an instant. "As am I." His fangs were down; he looked hungry, pale.

"Let me eat first, and then you can eat." I popped up on my tip toes and kissed his lips before cinching my robe tight around my waist. He was gorgeous in every way. I am a very lucky woman.

He pulled his jeans on (no boxers tonight) and followed me into the kitchen. He didn't make a sound as he tread shoeless behind me; not even a creak on the old wood floors. He sat at the kitchen table watching me as I made myself a sandwich and wolfed it down quickly. "My turn?" he asked as I rinsed my plate in the sink.

"Your turn," I said as I turned back toward him. I thought eating, putting something in my stomach, would help with the slight weakness I was feeling. After all, I hadn't eaten all day. Maybe I just needed a chance to digest.

Eric wasn't concerned at all with any weakness I may be feeling. He lifted me off the ground and slammed my back against the doorframe between the kitchen and hallway. I screamed out in pleasure as I wrapped my legs around his hips; it didn't matter what he was doing, he always felt so good up against me. He pulled my panties to the side and quickly slammed into me again. He worked quickly; it was only a matter of a few ecstatic moments until he was close enough to the edge. He pulled the neck of my nightgown aside and bit hungrily, which pushed the both of us over the edge. I moaned happily as he pulled deep throatfuls.

I let him support my weight as he cleaned the punctures on my neck. When he deemed me appropriately healed, he dropped me back to my feet. I laced my fingers between his as we walked back toward my bedroom. "Something is wrong," Eric said.

I froze where I was. My heart skipped a beat as fear struck me. "What?" I whispered. Were there people outside my house? Could he hear something I couldn't?

"You are ill?" he asked. "I can feel something is different."

I clutched my chest as I took a deep breath. "You scared me. I thought something was actually wrong."

"You are not ill, then?" He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms across his chest.

I shrugged as I walked toward him. "I guess I do feel a bit…odd."

"You should take some of my blood."

I waved him off. "I'm fine, I'm just adjusting." I blinked my eyes and reached out for purchase as the room spun. "Maybe I'm not fine."

"Sookie?" Eric said as he steadied me. I gripped his biceps until everything went black.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I jumped as my cell phone rang. I wiped my hands on a napkin and swallowed the last of my Chicken McNuggets before answering. "Hello?" It was a number I didn't recognize, so I was seriously curious as to whom it was. It was the middle of the night, after all.

A deep male voice came over the line. "Sloane McIntosh."

"Yup, you've got her." I shoved a fry into my mouth and chewed quickly. The voice sounded somewhat familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"What is wrong with her?"

I paused. "Who is this?" I asked.

"Eric Northman."

Ohh, so 'she' must be Sookie. There would be no other possible reason he would call me. I took a swig of my pop quickly. "What all happened?"

"She said she felt odd then she collapsed. I have fed her blood, but she will not wake."

I shuddered as David looked up from his computer screen. "Ugh, I don't want to know about that. She's probably just in a vision."

"I doubt it. She learned how to block them."

OK, now I panicked a little. "_All_ of them?"

"Yes."

"OK, then that's what's wrong," I said. "You can't block them all. Sure, some of them you can block; the small, unimportant ones can easily be blocked. But do you really think that if it were that easy my life would be what it is?" He didn't answer. I guess that was rhetorical. "She has to let the big ones, the powerful ones through. It's like she fighting a sumo wrestler in her head. It's just a matter of time until she gets squashed."

"I do not understand."

I sighed. I thought my sumo metaphor was pretty good. "Just wait until she wakes up. Now that she's not consciously blocking any of them, the visions should work themselves out. But when she does wake, you need to tell her that she can't just block all of the visions, or this is going to keep getting worse."

He hung up without a goodbye. _Jackass_, I thought.

_Ah, home. This place is a mess. I should clean. Tomorrow, I'll do that tomorrow. Do I have any ice cream?_ I recognized that 'voice'. It was the woman that lived downstairs, below David. I'd run into her in the elevator a couple of times while David and I were still together. Man, she could talk. She could go on and on and on. It came to the point where I would actively try to avoid her.

I sighed. The silence was nice while I lasted, but now that the woman that lives downstairs was home, it was over. I finished off my Pepsi and tossed the remnants of my dinner into the trash. "Going to lab," I said as I threw my purse over my shoulder. At almost one in the morning, no one should be there. Hopefully.

"It is the middle of the night." David closed his laptop.

"Exactly. No one should be there, so I might actually be able to concentrate. Anyway, you're neighbor's home and making me hungry for ice cream." I nodded my head to the floor to indicate which neighbor.

"Would you like company?" David asked.

_Man, hover much?_ I thought to myself. "No, you're obviously in the middle of something. Besides, I'm not in danger or anything." I paused as the reality sunk in. David had been dodgy and over cautious since last night. "Right?"

He paused. "I suppose not."

I gave him a quick look before walking out his door. "OK, then."

.

Thankfully, no one was in lab right now. I set up my iPhone, connecting it to the stereo system and cranking the music all the way up. The short nap I had at David's helped to keep me awake, and along with the blaring hip hop, there wasn't a chance in hell that I was going to be able to fall asleep on the job. After several hours of preparing my gel, I had propped myself up in my usual position, knees on a stool and elbows on the lab bench. I wagged my butt in the air as I belted out some Beyonce and slowly but surely loaded a gel full. Just as I climbed down from my perch, I noticed movement in my peripheral vision. "Jesus Christ," I said after I yelped in surprise. Cian was standing in the open doorway, giant grin on his face. He looked borderline adorable in khakis, a navy blue t-shirt, and an unbuttoned light blue button down shirt. All he needed was a pair of rimless glasses and he would look just like any other assistant professor out there. Oh, and maybe some color in his cheeks, too. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," he said, holding back laughter.

"How the hell did you even get in here? There's an electronic lock system, you have to have a key card." I leaned against the countertop as my heart rate returned to normal.

"I have a key card, obviously. My office is in this building."

"How?" I asked as I loaded my gel into the electrophoresis machine and turned on the electrical current. "This is the Biomedical and Physical Sciences building, you aren't in either of those disciplines."

"I specifically requested this building. Are you going to give me a tour of your lab?"

I waved a gloved hand across the terrain sarcastically. "This is my lab." I stripped off the latex gloves and tossed them into the hazardous waste bin. "You're not here tonight by coincidence, are you?"

"I work here," he answered as he sauntered into the lab. I glared at him until he answered the question. "No, I am not."

"Why are you here? Did David send you in to watch me?" I crossed my arms across my chest.

"I wanted to make sure that you had recovered from your bender last night. King O'Hara may have alluded to the fact you were planning on going to lab tonight."

Oh, right. Last night. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as I cringed internally. "We didn't…" I asked as I looked down to the floor. He didn't answer my awkward question. "Nevermind."

"Are you asking, my dearest Queen, if we did something impure last night?" He caressed my cheek with the back of his hand. "Do you believe I would take such advantage of you?"

"Yes," I answered quickly. "I think that's totally, absolutely, 100% something you'd do."

He held the same hand that had been on my cheek over his silent heart and held his mouth gaping open in feigned hurt. "I assure you, despite how much I would have loved to taste your blood once again, I did nothing of the sort."

Oh, thank God. "Good. So what did we do? I remember getting in your car, but that's it."

"You gave me directions to your house, and I dropped you off."

"You didn't come in?" I had a hard time believing that he didn't try to get in, and as drunk as I was, I would have said yes. That's a well-guarded secret of mine: if you want me to say yes to something, get me drunk first. "You didn't even try?"

"Of course I tried, and you let me in, but I did not stay long." In an instant, he was standing right on top of me, pressing his body into mine as he pressed me against the counter. "I've been a very good boy. Don't you think I deserve a treat?"

"Up until this second I did." I couldn't even be disappointed in myself for letting him in with how mad at him I was right now. I checked the clock over his shoulder and did the mental math. I had about five and a half hours until my gel was done running and I needed to be back in lab. That meant that I had to be back in lab during one of the busiest times: the middle of the morning. I slid out from between Cian and the countertop and programmed my alarm in my phone. "Out," I said as I lofted my purse over my shoulder and turned off the lights.

"Ohh, where are we going?" Cian said as he followed after me.

"I'm going to my office to get some work done. I don't care where you go." I went down the stairs, taking them two at a time and practically threw myself out of the building. Obviously, no matter how fast I walked, Cian easily kept up with me.

"Where is your office?"

"Giltner," I answered as I walked toward my car. If it were the middle of the day, I'd just walk the short distance, especially in the middle of the summer. But it wasn't light out, and I did not feel safe walking even that short distance this late into the night. There were too many places for someone to lie in wait along the way.

"Isn't that just there?" he said as he pointed in the opposite direction.

"Yea."

"And you are going to drive the distance? Do you not trust me to get you there safely?"

He had a point, but I still wanted to drive. "Nope." I stood as far away from the car as I could as I used the key fob to unlock the car. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. When the lights blinked, letting me know the car was safely unlocked, I slid into the driver's seat. Not to be left behind, Cian let himself into the passenger seat. "Where are you going?"

"Giltner."

"Of course you are," I mumbled.

"This is quite a nice car for a student. Did King O'Hara buy it for you?"

"No," I sneered at him. "And it's nice to see you have such a high opinion of me." I am not and will never be a gold digger. Just the fact that I had to keep this car irked me a bit.

"So you did buy this for yourself?"

My driving habits often reflect the mood I am in while driving, and tonight was no different. I squealed the tires as I pulled out of the space and speed through campus. I think I had a new record time for the trip from lab to my office. "No," I snapped. "Eric bought it for me, if you must know. God, when did you get so fucking annoying? Do you do it just to piss me off?" I got out of the car and slammed the door shut.

"Depends on the night. Are you going to tell me why my master bought you a car?"

"Ask him yourself," I said as I stomped off toward the building.

"I'd rather hear it from you."

"I'd rather you fuck off," I said as I swiped my electronic key over the sensor and let myself into the building. I slammed the door shut behind me, not letting Cian into the building. I stuck my tongue out at him through the glass door before retreating down the basement steps. I'd had just about as much of him as I could tonight without throwing a small temper tantrum.

I sighed and shook the tension from my shoulders before unlocking the office door. Before I could put one foot inside the silence of that room, my feet were lifted off the floor and I was pressed between Cian's chest and the hallway wall several yards away from where I had been just a second ago. "I smell shifter." I'd had enough. I fought him as hard as I could, but the only good blow I really got was an elbow in the gut. "Shh, it is I, Cian."

I pulled his hand away from my mouth. "I know, you dipshit." I struggled against him until he put me down, finally delivering a good blow in the form of a slap to the face once my feet were on the floor. "I share the office with one." I sulked back down the corridor and into the unlocked room.

As usual, Cian was only seconds behind me. "Tell me why Eric bought you a car, and I will leave you be for tonight." I sighed and closed my eyes, only to try and hold back the rage that was building behind them. "Tell me."

I snapped. My eyes shot open as stormed toward him. "He lost it and drained me, OK?" I was screaming. "And instead of pulling out his fangs or whatever horrible punishment there is for draining a King's bonded without permission, David forced him to be my fairy Godfather. So, I either keep the car, or David pulls out Eric's fangs. Happy?" I shoved Cian as hard as I could, finally forcing him back out of my office. "Now fuck off!" I slammed the door in his face before sinking to the ground. _I am not going to cry again_, I told myself as I leaned up against the door. I was over the abuses doled out to me by vampires, over it, even if people insisted on bringing them back up. I took one last deep breath, wiped away the forming tears, and got to my feet. I was stronger than this.


	81. Chapter 81

I wasn't sure when I had fallen asleep, but I was beyond groggy when my phone alarm went off at 10 in the morning. "Shit," I mumbled to myself. Usually, 45 minutes or so would have given me enough time to take a quick shower and race over to lab just in time to do whatever it is I needed. But that was only if I was asleep in my own bed, mere feet from a shower and my clothes. There was no way I could race home, shower, get dressed, and get back to campus in 45 minutes.

I pulled my hair down and scratched my scalp before throwing my hair back up in a stronger bun. I ran into Deb on the way out. "Rough night, girl?" she asked as she took in my appearance.

"Fell asleep at my desk," I answered as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

She took a deep sniff. "Did we have some company last night?" she said with a wink.

"Uninvited, but yes." I shifted from foot to foot. It wasn't that I was not enjoying the chat with someone whose thoughts didn't scream at me, but I needed to get going.

"Same guy? I thought you dumped his ass?" she asked, concern finally falling into place on her face. She knew all about David's temper. She looked me over from head to toe, probably looking for bruises.

"Nope, different guy. That new professor, actually."

"Oh," she said. She was still concerned, but without being able to actually read her thoughts, I didn't know what about. "Well, I'll let you get home."

"I'm going to lab, but thanks. Talk to you later."

.

I groaned as I approached the lab. It was chalk full of people whose thoughts were screaming at me. Before I even walked in the door, I could 'hear' Karthik's voice; luckily for me, he didn't think in English, making his thoughts just background noise. Also in the room were Freddy, Matt, Jon, and Kyle. Finally, I mentally spotted my personal savior for the morning: Moose was in the back of the lab concentrating hard on something.

"Hey guys," I said as I walked in the door and plopped my purse down on the computer desk. "How's it going?"

A chorus of 'good's and 'OK's rang out from the guys. "Long night?" Matt asked.

"Fell asleep at my desk."

"Uh huh," he answered as he glanced to Moose. He looked equally rough today, his usually neat ringlets in disarray around his head and deep circles under his eyes.

I tried as hard as I could to block out the voices, but they wouldn't go away. Matt's head was in the gutter as usual. The word _threesome_ came through loud and clear. The most surprising thought that caught my attention was one of Freddy's. _Fucking bloodsuckers, taking what's rightfully ours_. I glanced at him for a second as he worked along in the lab. I had no idea he was so nasty toward vampires.

_Nice ass_, Matt added. I rolled my eyes as I pulled on a pair of gloves and got to work.

"How you holding up?" Moose whispered to me. He had silently saddled himself next to me.

"OK," I answered. I would be better once I actually got at least a few more hours of sleep, though. The more tired I got, the harder it was to concentrate on the words actually coming out of people's mouths.

_Put this in there, shake it all up, then transfer it into there…_

"Mac?" Moose said.

"Yea, sorry. What were you saying?" I expertly pulled the gel out of the conductive liquid and placed it on the drying pad.

"What all do you have to do?" he asked again.

"Just this," I answered. "I'll probably be back tonight so I can get some more done in silence."

_Is it 42 degrees or 45 degrees? I can't remember. Where did I leave that method? Oh, here is it…..45 degrees_.

"Hey," he said again as he gently grabbed my face and forced me to look at him.

"Sorry," I said again. "What was that?"

"I said you look tired. Go home and get some rest, and I'll finish this for you."

"That's OK," I said as I picked up the gel plate and walked toward the dark room. "I'll just be a minute."

He followed me into the dark room and took the bench stool. "Is it better in here?" he asked.

"Somewhat." Now that there were two doors between me and any other buzzing minds, my ability to concentrate was increasing slightly. "How was the rest of your night last night?" I had done this particular procedure so many times; I was on autopilot as I finished my experiment.

"Alright. I got a bit of color." He showed me his arms to emphasize the point. He did have a bit more color than usual, from what I could tell under the red lights.

"Nice," I answered. "How long did you stay out?"

"Maybe a half hour after you left."

I nodded as I clicked the picture and printed it out. "Cool. OK, I'm outta here." I folded the picture up and slid it into my back pocket.

"OK. You want me to drive you home? You're looking a bit dead on your feet."

"No, thanks. I could say the same about you."

"Full moon last night," he whispered as we walked back into the main lab. "Long night."

"I bet. Well, see you guys later."

"Call me when you're coming back in," Moose called after me. I nodded and waved as I left the room and the building.

.

Moose was right, I was dead on my feet. I struggled to keep my eyes open long enough to open my front door. As soon as I did, I was confronted with Sydney's mind. _Is that Sloane I hear? Yea, that's her_. "Hey, hun." _Where did she go last night? If she spent it in bed with David, I'm going to kill her, then stake him._ "Woah, you look tired."

"Yea, I worked most of the night. I got a few hours of sleep in at my desk, though."

"That sounds like you." _Phew. At least that's nothing new. Could she finally be back to normal? _

"Far from normal, Hun." Sydney's eyes widened as I realized I gave away more than I wanted to. "Shit, sorry, I didn't want to worry you."

_Did she…how….wait… _

"Amelia, Sookie's witch friend, tried something way above her pay grade and mixed up our quirks. Until she fixes it, I hear thoughts and Sookie sees the future." Momentary wordless panic filtered through her consciousness. "Don't freak out, Hun. It'll work itself out soon. At least, it better." I labored to push myself away from the countertop I'd been leaning on and shuffled up the stairs. Sydney followed after, trying unsuccessfully to keep her thoughts to herself. She was trying to talk herself into no freaking out. It wasn't working.

"What the hell?" I said when I opened the door. A vase of white lilies sat on my desk, another vase of purple flowers sat on my bedside table. Hyacinth, maybe?

"You didn't leave those on the counter last night?" she asked.

"Um, no." I decided to ignore them for the time being and fell into my bed, borderline euphoric as I stretched out. My bed has never felt better.

"Well, I left the cheesecake in the fridge."

"What cheesecake?" I said as I rolled onto my side.

"It was on the countertop next to the flowers. I figured they weren't for me."

I yawned. "OK," I said as I tucked my hands under my pillow. My hands scraped against something hard and smooth. I pulled out what felt like a small envelope. My name was scripted beautifully on the exterior of the envelope.

"Who's it from?" Sydney asked as she came to sit on my bed with me. I rolled on to my back so I could open the envelope. Inside was a homemade card of heavy cardstock with 'sorry' scripted in the same beautiful handwriting on the outside. On the inside, all it said was, 'forgive me?'

"I'm not sure, but I think Cian. He really pissed me off last night." I tossed the card onto the bed next to me before rolling back over to my comfortable position and quickly fell asleep.

.

I couldn't have been asleep more than 15 minutes before my cell phone rang. "Jesus Christ, what now?" I mumbled as I checked the caller ID. It was Sookie's cell phone. "Hello?" I said after a yawn.

"I've seen everything."

"OK." I really had no idea what she was talking about. "And?"

"Sloane, I am so sorry."

I closed my eyes and shook my head as I tried to follow her train of thought. "Um…thanks, I think. What are you talking about?"

"I've seen everything David did to you."

"Oh," I managed. "Well, it's in the past now."

A tearful hiccup escaped her lips. She has been crying again. "I saw what Eric did to you."

"Oh," I said again. That was harder for me to dismiss. It would be like someone telling you how they know their boyfriend cheated with you. Even if it wasn't my fault, I still felt guilty and horrible for her. "I'm sorry. I struggled with whether or not to tell you about it."

"You wouldn't have been in that position if it weren't for me."

"Don't start going there with yourself," I said after another long yawn. "I was there because Fate, or whatever powers that be, sent me there. It's not your fault. Whatever happened was supposed to happen, and knowing what was going to happen if I sat idle and did nothing, I wouldn't trade the outcome for the world."

"But he almost killed you!"

"But he didn't." I yawned again as I pulled the comforter over my top half and rolled back onto my side. "It all worked out in the end."

She took a deep breath. "OK. How are you handling the voices?"

"Oh, just staying away from people as much as I can." I yawned again. "Look, are you going to be OK now? I don't mean to be rude, I just feel like I'm about to pass out on you."

"I will now, thank you. I will talk to you later."

"Yea," I answered before I hung up. I didn't even put my phone back on the bedside table; I fell back asleep with it in my hand.

.

I didn't wake up again until I was fully rested and it was dark out. I smiled to myself; I never felt this rested when I had my own disability. I procrastinated getting out of bed or even opening my eyes as long as I possibly could, stretching each one of my limbs before peeking my eyes open. Cian was sitting at my desk chair, watching me sleep. "Do you forgive me?"

"That depends," I said after one last yawn. "What exactly are you sorry for?"

"With all of these flowers, does it matter?"

"Then no, I don't." I struggled to pull the heavy comforter over from the other side of the bed so I could more appropriately cover myself. Once I had cocooned myself, head and all, I put Cian at my back and got comfortable again. I could stay like this all night, happy and warm where I was.

"But I brought you that cake you like," Cian said as I felt the bed indent behind me.

"Yea, Syd told me," I said through the comforter at him.

"If I bring you some, will you forgive me?" His voice came from literally right behind me, meaning he had crawled further onto my bed.

"You better not be wearing shoes in my bed." I was so rested and comfortable; it was going to take a lot for Cian to piss me off tonight. I was sure he was going to try, though.

There was shuffling behind me until I felt the indentation lift from the bed. "I will bring you some." In a matter of seconds, he was back with a large slice of cheesecake and a _spoon_. Oh well, points for trying. "Here," he said as he shoved it toward me.

I rolled onto my back and took the plate from him, setting it on my chest. I discarded the spoon—have you ever tried to eat with utensils while lying on your back? Exactly. It's impossible. I started with the crust and just ate it with my fingers, breaking off pieces as I went and dropping them into my mouth. It wasn't graceful or elegant, but hey, it was my bedroom. If he didn't like it, he could leave.

"Forgive me now?" he asked as I finished off the cheesecake. At some point while I was enjoying my treat, his fangs had popped down, and they remained there.

I licked the last little bit of cheesecake from my fingers before collecting the tiny pieces of graham cracker crust and swallowing those, too. "You know what I want to hear."

He used his fangs to play with his lower lip as I licked the last few crumbs from my fingers. "Sloane, Ms. McIntosh, I would like to apologize profusely for the indignities you suffered on my part last night. It was wrong for me to demand you tell me such personal and painful information." If he could grit his teeth with his fangs down, he would have been.

I smiled up at him from my back. "Forgiven." I handed him the plate from my chest. He gently tossed the plate so it landed with a quiet thud on the dresser before sticking the fingers I had licked clean in his mouth. "It just kills you to stay on my good side, doesn't it?" I pulled my hand back and wiped my fingers clean on my pants.

"Was that unacceptable?" I asked, innocent question in his eyes.

"Yes," I answered. Quite obviously. I curled back into my cocoon and covered my head. I was hiding again.

"In that case," he said as he crawled back onto the bed. He got so close to me that I could feel his presence behind me. "I love being unacceptable with you," he murmured into my ear through the comforter.

"That's not going to happen," I said as I reached for my cell phone. I texted David. _Did you send the town idiot or can I uninvite him from my house?_

He texted back quickly. _I sent him._

_Because?_ I answered.

_I thought you could use the company._

I rolled my eyes for no one's benefit. _You're full of shit_.

"What are you doing in there?" Cian asked. It took him a minute, but he somehow weaseled his way into my cocoon behind me. I could feel every inch of him pressed up against my back.

I turned off the screen on my phone so he couldn't see the conversation we were having. "You really have no concept of personal space."

"You are wearing clothes, aren't you? That is too much personal space for my liking."

.

After a minute, I almost completely forgot he was there. He didn't breathe, he didn't talk, he didn't even move. He was just like a cold, hard pillow at my back.

I jumped, startled when my phone buzzed again. David had responded. _You are right. I will explain as soon as I can_.

Explain," I commanded Cian as I showed him the conversation.

"Am I the town idiot?" he asked.

I grinned widely, trying hard not to laugh. "A question that answers itself, I like it." I struggled to turn around so I was facing Cian. I couldn't completely pull the silly grin off my face, but I tried to make my face look a tad more serious. "Tell me why you're here."

"King O'Hara asked me to watch over you while he is busy. He worries entirely too much about you."

Finally, something we could agree on. "I'll tell him you said that." I uncurled myself and got to my feet, leaving Cian wrapped in my comforter. I reached my hands to the sky, stretching every muscle in my core before reaching down for my toes and stretching my legs. "I could get use to this. I feel great." A good night's sleep really does do wonders. "I'm going…I don't know, to do something." With this much energy, I needed something to occupy me. "I'm going for a run," I said as I pulled a set of yoga pants and a matching tank out of my bottom drawer. I'd never been one for long distance running, and ever since I graduated high school, I didn't put aside time of my day to exercise, but then again, I haven't had this much energy since…ever, maybe. I needed to burn some of it off.

"I can help you release some of that tension right here. No need to run anywhere."

"Shut up," I said from the bathroom as I changed into my new outfit. I laced up a pair of running shoes (that I pulled from the very back of my closet) and jogged down the stairs.

Cian followed me down the stairs. I did a few stretches before heading down the street, Cian following as if we were attached at the hip. I got about four blocks down before I had to stop to get my wheezing in check. Ever since dead flu, my lungs aren't what they once were. "You do not run often," Cian said as we walked the next block.

"Not anymore, no," I wheezed.

"You used to?"

It was taking me entirely too long to get my breathing under control. "Yea," I said in one gasp. "I was on the track team in high school."

As soon as I got to the end of the block, I started jogging again. "You stopped?"

I pseudo shrugged as we jogged through my neighborhood. "I started college, ran out of time. Long distance was never really my thing, anyway."

"What distance was your 'thing'?" He asked.

"One hundred meter hurdles."

"Were you a successful runner?" he asked. He didn't look as if he were putting any more effort into this than if he were walking.

"Not really," I said. I didn't run because I was awesome at it. "I'm a bit shorter than your average hurdler."

"Then why did you run that event?"

_Because AJ ran hurdles_, I told myself. I had to stop again, this time leaning against Cian for support as I wheezed. "Don't know," I answered between gasps.

"Perhaps you should stop," he said. "You do not seem to be handling this well."

"I'm fine, my lungs are just rusty." When I regained the ability to stand on my own, I started walking again.

"I would prefer you keep your lungs healthy, I hope to hear you screaming my name tonight."

I shook my head as I gripped my sides. "Not even if I were on fire."

.

Cian was silent for the rest of my short run. When I walked back into the house, Sydney was making herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Hey," I wheezed.

"Hey, Hun! Did you go for a run or something?" she asked skeptically. _She never runs. Unless she's running from something._ I flinched as her mental comment hit home. _Sorry._

"Actually, yes." I walked past her to grab myself a water, only then noticing Tiffany, a friend of ours from high school sitting on the couch (really, a friend of Sydney's more than mine). "Oh, hey, Tiff. Didn't see ya there." She was still just as beautiful as she was in high school. Her hair was naturally so blonde it was white and her eyes were a light gray. She was tall (well, everyone's tall to me), about five foot seven, and still not much more than a bean pole. Three time homecoming queen and one time prom queen, she was the yin to my yang. She was in theater club, on the cheerleading squad, president of the senior class (theirs, not mine), and active in all sorts of community service programs in high school. I haven't seen her in a while, but from what Sydney told me, nothing much had changed. She finished a degree in social work from Michigan State and became a school councilor and now chairs the same theater club that she used to be a member of.

"Hey, Sloane," she said, mildly surprised. "Did you cut your hair or something?" _Wow, she looks great. Who's the guy? He's kinda cute, in the stuck-in-the-grunge-scene kind of way. Syd said she was single, though. _

I dipped my head so she didn't see the smile that covered my face. "Nope, just that post-run glow, I guess. How are you?" She had always been so sweet.

So many things flashed through her mind, it was hard to keep up. "I'm just great! I got engaged!"

Genuine shock covered my face. "Oh, wow, congrats!" I gave her a short hug. "Who's the lucky guy?" I said as I pulled her ring finger up to inspect the ring. It was a small but respectable diamond solitaire set in white gold. Cushion cut diamond. "That's beautiful, cushion cuts are my favorite."

"Thanks, I love it, too! And it's Tyler, of course." Tyler and she had been high school sweethearts. He was in my graduating class; they'd met through theater club. The moment he popped the question replayed in her mind for me. A romantic dinner, a stroll down the Red Cedar River. What a romantic.

"Of course it is," I said with a smile. "What's he up to? I haven't seen either of you in forever!" From what I saw, he looked good. It didn't look like he changed much at all since high school, either.

"Oh, he's doing his music thing. Right now he's touring Michigan with a small company doing Fiddler on the Roof. He's playing Tevye."

I nodded my head, even though I had no idea what that meant. "Oh, well, that's cool. Do you have any plans yet? When's the big day?" Uncertainty rang through her mind, but it seemed next summer was what they had agreed upon.

"Excuse me," Cian whispered into my ear from behind me. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"I was really hoping not to," I mumbled. "Tiffany Hummel, soon to be Hawkens, this is Cian O'Smythe."

"It is truly a pleasure to meet you," Cian said as he approached Tiffany. To both Sydney's and my surprise, he took her hand and kissed the back. "He must really love you," he said as he examined the ring.

"Oh, wow," Tiffany said as she blushed. Cian had flustered her; for a moment, there were no thoughts. "Uh, yes, he sure does."

_Where the hell did that come from?_ Sydney thought. I was thinking much the same thing.

He winked at her. "He sure is a lucky man." I had no idea Cian could be so charming. The asshole was never charming with me, just annoying.

"Where did you find this one, Sloane?" Tiff asked. "I approve."

"He followed me home from London like a sad little puppy," I said sarcastically as I smiled at him. "I've got to go shower, there's plenty of lab work waiting for me."

Sydney seemed to know that was my plan, but Tiffany was disappointed. "You're not coming out with us?" Apparently, they were planning on going out and celebrating the engagement over some wine and appetizers.

"Sorry, can't blow off lab again this week, but have one for me." I gave Tiffany a quick hug before heading up the stairs.


	82. Chapter 82

I let out a deep sigh as I approached the lab, Cian tailing closely behind. I could practically feel his eyes on my backside as he watched me walk, but that wasn't what was bothering me. I could feel the buzzing of human minds as I approached lab.

"OK, I can take it from here," I said to Cian.

He wasn't about to let me go into lab alone. "Not a chance." He actually started to whistle as I grudgingly marched into lab.

"Hey guys," I said, mild surprise in my voice. I checked the clock above the door; it was a touch after 11:30 at night. "What are you two doing here?" Matt and Freddy were side by side, passing samples and materials between each other.

"Samples just came in," Freddy said before even looking up.

"Who's the guy?" Matt asked. _It's gotta be like, her little brother. He can't be any older than 18. What's up with his hair? I wish my hair would do that. No more styling for me_.

"Matt, Freddy, this is Cian. Just ignore him."

"Oh, that's not fair," Cian said. "Maybe they'll like me."

"I have a hard time believing anyone really likes you," I mumbled.

"You don't mean that," he whispered in my ear as he passed. "You can't get enough of me."

I sighed and shook my head. It was going to be a long night.

.

Shortly after Cian and I arrived, Freddy and Matt finished up and left. On one hand, I took a mental sigh of relief. I was trying to block out their minds, but I was only succeeding half the time. Every once in a while, an errant thought would break through. I decided that I wasn't going to respond to anything I heard. I still couldn't quite tell when something was actually said or when it was just thought, and I didn't want to make the mistake of answering a question no one actually asked. So I tucked my headphones into my ears and tried to ignore them. On the other hand, however, I mentally groaned. I was again alone with Cian.

Cian had pulled my computer from my backpack and was in the process of invading my privacy. "You have quite an eclectic collection of music," he said as he rooted through my iTunes music.

"Uh huh," I grunted, more interested in finishing this process than talking to him. I pulled out my headphones and set my iPhone on the countertop after cracking my jaw. I could only tolerate earbuds for about an hour at a time before my jaw starts to tighten and I get a headache.

"What is this?" he said as he clicked on my laptop. Swedish swing blared from my laptop's speakers. He'd chosen some Movits for our entertainment. "Oh, this I like. I speak Swedish, you know. Would you like to know what he's saying?"

"No," I said quickly. I obviously didn't like the music for the words.

"I loved the swing period of the 20's and 30's. Dance with me," he said as he pulled my hands away from what I was doing and flung me across the room with him. I appeased him, not really dancing, just letting him fling me through the air. "You can do better than that," he said as the song ended.

"I have better things to do." I tried to pull myself away as the song dwindled to a close with no luck. "What now?" I asked as I rolled my eyes. "Let me finish and we can get out of here."

He pulled my gloves off me and tossed them away as I threw myself into a mental temper tantrum. "One more dance," he said as Michael Bublé's edition of 'Me and Mrs. Jones' started playing.

"One more," I said after a deep sigh. Hanging out with him was like babysitting children. It's so much easier to give him what he wants than to fight him on it. I placed one hand chastely on his shoulder as he held my other, holding me close to him as he led me around the room.

"You know," I said after he twirled me and pulled me right back into his body. "I never really liked this song. Who sings about an affair?"

"I think it is very appropriate," he whispered into my ear.

"How so? And if you say I'm Mrs. Jones, I'm going to knee you in the balls." Saying I was Mrs. Jones implies there is a Mr. Jones, and to Cian, that had to be David. I mean, David and I weren't together and he was still fucking with my love life. Not that I'd even date Cian. Ever…I'm pretty sure. But still, it was the principal of the thing.

"Then it is better I don't answer that question."

He continued to twirl me with grace and skill until the song ended. But when the next song started to play (Lady GaGa, of course), Cian didn't let me go. "I wonder if it's worth it," he said absent mindedly as he looked down at me.

"What?" I asked. It was starting to get a touch uncomfortable with how tightly he was holding me.

"He threatened 'undeniable pain' if I tried something with you." No question as to who 'he' was.

"Excuse me?" I said, infuriated. I wasn't mad at him, I was mad at David. "'Something' like what?"

He pressed me against the industrial freezer door, holding my left hand at my side and using his other hand to press my hipbone back into the wall. "Something like this," he said as he dipped his head and kissed me gently. My knees buckled.

He pulled back just enough to let me breathe and snickered. "That good, huh?" he said through his fangs as he rested the tip of his nose against mine. I opened my mouth, but couldn't think of anything snippy enough to say, so I just stayed quiet. He kissed me again, this time deeper, before I found my ground.

"Stop." I pushed against him and glanced down as my face reddened.

"I'm not ready to stop," he said as he lifted my chin and kissed me again.

I snaked my hands up his chest as he rubbed his thumb against my cheek. Just when it was getting really, really inappropriate, I pushed him away again. "Stop," I said again, stronger this time. "Or I'll call David over here right now and we can both find out what 'undeniable pain' means."

He pouted, but pulled out of my personal space. "You aren't going to teach me a lesson yourself?"

"No, you'd just like that."

"I would," he answered, smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and pulled on another pair of gloves. Back to work.

.

Thank God, about half an hour of charged, silent sexual tension, Cian went into downtime and I could finish my work in peace. I seriously considered leaving Cian in the lab all night, sitting there in downtime, but in the end, I just couldn't. Oh, but I really, really wanted to.

"Come on," I finally said as I threw my purse over my shoulder.

He lofted my backpack onto his shoulder before I could grab it. "Now what, cupcake? Back home to snog until dawn?"

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. When I'd just woken up, I was rested enough to put up with him, even to enjoy it a little (although I wasn't sure I was admitting it to myself). But now, he was wearing on me. My stomach took the opportunity to growl at me. "No, I'm going to eat."

He backed me into the corner of the elevator as the doors closed and pressed himself against me. "When do I eat?" he whispered into my neck.

My breath caught in my throat. For a split second, before I could censor my own thoughts, I thought _God yes, please_… I buried that thought as soon as I could. Wow, I really need to get laid (NOT by Cian). "You can eat whenever you want, just not me," I said once I finally got a hold of myself.

I pushed him away as the elevator doors open. He was still smirking. "You _are_ a challenge," he said as he followed me into the night. "David said you would be."

"Oh?" I said, disinterested. "Sorry to disappoint."

"It will just make my victory that much sweeter when it finally comes." When I pulled the keys to my car out of my purse, Cian deftly swept them out of my hands. "I'll drive."

I wasn't paying attention as he drove; I figured he would just take me home. Instead, he pulled up outside of Troppo's. "Is this acceptable?"

"What?" I said as I looked up from my phone. "Why are we here?"

"You said you were hungry." He turned off the car and handed me my keys. Before I could even unbuckle my seatbelt, he was out of the car.

I looked at the clock on the dash. It was way after closing time. "It's way too late for them to still be open."

"We'll see," he said as he leaned back into the car to look at me.

I rolled my eyes again. I guess if he wanted me to come see that Troppo's was closed, I would humor him. As soon as the two of us approached the door (whose window was dark), it opened. A small, very tired, and very disgruntled looking chef opened the door. "I've got a table set up over here," she said after letting us in. _The money's worth it_, she thought.

I looked back to Cian. "How?"

"I made a phone call when you were zoned out in the passenger seat."

"I wasn't zoned out," I said defensively. "I was ignoring you." I turned to the chef, who was watching the conversation dispassionately. "I'm sorry to drag you out here so early in the morning. I don't know how he got you out here, but you can go home now."

"Nonsense," the plump woman said as she handed me a menu. "I'm here, I may as well feed you. You can pick something off the menu, or I can make something else." _Just make it quick._

"Chicken carbonara?" I asked. I'd kind of had a craving all week for some good Italian, and for the life of me, I could not make a decent carbonara.

"Sure," she said. _Good, easy._

"Oh, and garlic bread." I smirked at Cian as he glared at me. Message received.

Cian pulled out a chair for me before sitting himself. "Do I get points for this?" I had to admit: yes. I didn't want to admit it, but an early morning candle-lit dinner did earn points. I didn't answer him. "I thought so. I'll wear you down."

"I doubt it," I said.

The chef came back out carrying a TrueBlood, a wine glass, and a bottle of white wine. "I hope you're a wine drinker. This new Sauvignon Blanc goes perfectly with the carbonara," she said after setting the TrueBlood in front of Cian.

"I am," I said. She set the glass in front of me and uncorked the wine bottle. After pouring me a glass, she set the bottle in front of me. I got a good glimpse of the bottle as the chef walked away, back into her domain. I smiled at the familiar label; it was from my grandfather's vineyard. "David and Emma ended up buying this place, didn't they?"

"Yes," Cian said. "You determined that from a bottle of wine?"

I turned the bottle so the label was facing him. On it was a portrait of me my grandmother painted a long time ago, before she died. At the time, I was their only grandchild. I was sitting in the fields, among several rows of green grapes. I had a small white flower in my hand and I was looking off into the distance, giggling. The painting, which still hung above my grandfather's fireplace, was done in the impressionist style. My favorite style, even to this day. "My grandmother painted that when I was just a kid. She was a great artist, among other things."

"She was," he agreed.

We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. "So are you going to tell me why you're on babysitting duty, or am I going to guess?"

"I'm not to tell you; King's orders."

"I'm pretty sure you weren't supposed to kiss me, either, but you did anyway. Twice."

"Your point?" he asked.

"What's the difference? Just tell me." I hate secrets. I hate secrets even more when they pertain directly to me.

"The difference is when I kissed you I got something out of it." In the distance of a split second, he had gotten up from his chair and circled the table, kneeling in front of me. "Give me something worth my while, and I will tell you."

I didn't like where this was going. "Like what?"

After a moment of surprise at the fact I was considering it, he seemed to start to consider the options. "A night of passionate sex."

"No," I answered quickly.

"Half a night of passionate sex."

"No."

"Fifteen minutes of passionate sex."

I threw my hands above my head. "No! No sex!"

He pouted. "Snog with me."

"No," I answered again. "I'm not doing something that I don't even know what it is."

"Fine," he said as he leaned in closer. I leaned back to maintain at least a small bubble of personal space. "One kiss and I will answer your question."

"A real, honest, complete answer?" I asked. I didn't trust him. He nodded yes, so I left a quick peck on his cheek. "OK, tell me."

"That was not a kiss," he said as he locked his hands behind my knees and pulled me toward him. "At least, not a real kiss."

It was my turn to pout. "Fine," I said. I placed one hand on either side of his face, squeezed my eyes shut, and planted one on him.

He had already tucked his torso between my knees when he pulled me towards him, so when I kissed him, he finished the job, pressing himself tightly between my jeans. I had to convince myself not to want him quite so much. "That is better," he said as I pulled away from him.

"Now tell me." Much to my body's dismay, I pushed him from between my legs.

He smirked as he slowly retook his seat. "David sent me to protect you."

"I know that, I'm not an idiot. Why? What do I need protection from?" I smiled at the chef in appreciation as she dropped a steaming plate in front of me.

He didn't speak until after I took my first bite. "I don't know." I glared at him. Do not tell me I just kissed him for nothing. "Perhaps it has something to do with the council being in town," he added when it looked like I was going to skin him alive.

"Good," I said. "Now, what's the council?" I asked as I took another bite.

David's voice appeared out of nowhere. "Do not answer that."

I jumped before spinning in my chair to face the origin of the sound. "David, what the hell is going on?"

He approached slowly, emerging from the shadows. His fangs were down. "I am sorry, Love, but not even I can tell you." He glared at Cian, who bowed deeply before backing away.

"Wait, no," I said as Cian backed toward the door. He and David both froze where they were. "He's the only one giving me answers. Cian stays." I can't believe I just said that.

Cian smirked for a split second before wiping that smile off his face and bowing to David again. "I'll see you when the sun sets, Sloane," Cian said as he backed out the door.

I threw my hands up in the air and glared at David. "David!?" was all I could manage to get out.

"I am sorry. Just trust I am doing what is necessary to keep you safe."

I sunk back into my chair. I wasn't sure when, but at some point, I had risen to my feet. "What now?" I whimpered. I wasn't sure I had it in me to handle another catastrophe. David settled into Cian's spot as I gulped down one glass of wine and poured myself another. I finished half of that glass to before practically slamming the glass back on the table. "Who wants to kill me now?"

"No one wants to kill you, Sloane." I glared at him. He was so full of shit. "I promise. To my knowledge, no one is after you."

"Then why am I saddled with the world's biggest nimrod as a protection detail?"

"Just…in case."

He was being less than truthful. I grabbed my purse from the floor, pulled my keys from the bottom, and quickly walked out of the restaurant, leaving half of my plate untouched.

It wasn't until I was behind the wheel and about to pull away from the curb that David caught up with me. "Sloane, please," he said as he leaned in my passenger side window. I refused to look at him, just glaring out the windshield. "I wish I could tell you, but telling you would just put you in danger."

I finally turned to look at him. I was perfecting my death glare tonight. "Step back."

He dropped his gaze and stepped back onto the curb. Without hesitation, I drove away.

.

I could 'hear' Sydney's mental signature as soon as I walked into the house. Her mind was in a comfortable sleep. I grabbed a plate, served myself a large slice of cheesecake, topped it with whipped cream, and made my way up the stairs. I smiled to myself and I caught a glimpse of the flowers still on my bedside table. I took a sniff of them as I curled into my bed and devoured my cheesecake.

.

I was fifty-fifty as to whether or not I was dreaming or Amelia had figured out how to switch our gifts back. It was the middle of the day and I was lying in a wooden chaise in a bikini, which was sitting on a deck that was hovering just a few feet above water. In the center of the large deck was a small cabana; a wallless one room shack that held nothing but a king-size bed and gausy drapes. The only transportation on and off the island was a singular skee-do that was bobbing silently in the water next to the deck. I grabbed a fruity frozen drink from the small table next to me and sipped on it. Ah, heaven.

Now I knew I was dreaming. The sun streamed down as Cian approached with nothing on, only a towel draped low around his waist. My whole body moaned out for him. His muscles rippled as he pushed his short dreadlocks back out of his face. "Hello, gorgeous," He smoldered. I couldn't answer him, the breath caught in my throat as he dropped the towel. Speaking of gorgeous.

He reached down and took my hand. I took it, standing so I could follow him to where ever he was taking me. Instead of pulling me somewhere, he let my hand fall to my side as he reached around me, slowly untying the bikini top and letting it fall to the ground. Next, he untied the sides of the bottoms, letting those drop as well. I was just as naked as he was. I smiled up at him as he smiled down at me. Again, when he offered his hand, I took it. He pulled me with him into the cabana and set me on the bed. "Cian," I whispered.

He smiled. "Say it again," he said in his perfect British inflection.

"Cian," I whispered again. He laid his hand on the back of my head and gently guided me onto my back.

He laid beside me, propping himself up on his elbow as he looked down at me. My skin tingled as he gently rubbed his fingers up my body to my chest. I fidgeted under his touch. He gently cupped my breast, careful to keep his hands off my most sensitive parts.

"Care to share?" David asked from beyond the draped entrance to the cabana.

"Please, join us," Cian said. David walked toward us as he unbuttoned his crisp white button down, dropping it to the floor. Before joining us on the bed, David unbuttoned his linen pants and dropped those to the floor, too.

David slid into the bed beside me. I moaned loudly as he slipped a hand between my legs. Cian cut off my moan prematurely as he leaned in a kissed me deeply.

I shot upright as I woke up. Man, did I ever need to get laid.

****I know Sloane's been pretty celibate lately; trust me, neither Sloane or I are happy about it. BUT, I know you guys love your lemons, so I had to please the people.****


	83. Chapter 83

I woke up groggy. Groggy, and incredibly horny. Begrudgingly, I rolled out of bed and showered. I searched for Sydney's mental signature as I got dressed; she was nowhere to be found. She must already be at the Handel's. When I got downstairs, there was a note sitting on the kitchen island. On the outside, my name was scripted in David's chicken scratch.

_My Dearest, My Love, My Everything,  
I am sorry for upsetting you. Please trust that you are safe.  
I regret that I did not get to the real reason I came to see you last night. I have business to attend to and will be unreachable. Emma, Lee, Idi, and Idriis will be with me. If you need anything, please find Cian or Varana.  
I love you, I will see you as soon as possible.  
David_

I crumpled the note and tossed it into the trashcan. Yea, right, I was safe. As safe as a lamb in a lion pit. I used the same pad of paper to leave Sydney a note before grabbing my stuff and heading out the door.

.

My first stop was lunch. I headed into Buffalo Wild Wings to grab a to-go order of wings. I was leaning against the wall, watching the tail end of the lunch rush as something caught my attention. I had initially been ignoring the constant chatter going on in my mind, but a few overly-strong emotions coming from the far corner caught my attention. I listened in to the thought process of one particularly loud mind. Mostly, I got pictures, but there was some audio as well. First, I was seeing some internal map that weaved its way through northern East Lansing before ending in the no-man's land between East Lansing and Bath. I pulled my cell phone out and noted the destination address.

_That new professor's the last draw. Fucking progressive MSU. I don't want my children anywhere near that fanger_.

I moved closer to the 'voice' so I could try and hone in on who it belonged to. I decided on a group of older men sitting in a large booth in the corner. A few were in suits, but must were in jeans and boots. I took a seat at the closest open table. One of the men, dressed in a suit, eyed me suspiciously, so I propped my feet up on the chair next to me and pulled my phone out of my pocket. He went right back to ignoring me when he thought I was ignoring him. "Today's as good a day as any," he said emphatically.

"I agree," another one said. "I say we go right now. If we can take him during the day, he won't be able to fight it." I gasped silently when I caught a picture of what he was talking about. He and two of the other men at the table were planning on storming Cian's house and taking him while he slept. That's the address I was seeing.

The same man that eyed me suspiciously when I sat down was eyeing me again. "Oh, no she didn't," I said as I typed away on my iPhone. That seemed to placate him; they quickly went back to what they were doing.

"I've got the box in my truck," said one man.

"I've got the silver net and some chain," said another.

"Order 197," the hostess said. That was me. I paid for my food and checked the table again. In the minute it took me to check out, the table of guys disappeared. _Shit_, I thought. _They're already on their way_. I jogged to my car in the oppressive summer heat and slid inside. I wolfed down a few of the wings as I raced toward Cian's place, following the map that had flashed through one of the men's head. I pulled into a dead-end drive about a quarter mile from the house. There was a large truck in Cian's drive that I was sure didn't belong to him.

_Now what?_ I asked myself. I mentally checked the house: three buzzing minds and one black hole. I couldn't take on three men and reasonably think I could come out of it.

When their thoughts hit a fever pitch, I had to do something. I called 911. "911, what's your emergency?"

"Hi, there are men breaking into a house across the street," I said quickly.

"What's the address?" she asked. I rattled it off quickly. "OK, I'm alerting the police, they should send someone out soon."

"Please hurry, the guy that lives there is a vampire…I don't think these guys broke in to steal stuff." I hung up and tossed my phone onto the passenger side. _I'm just going to take a look_, I thought as I climbed out of my car. I stalked quietly behind the heavy brush toward the house. It was a beautiful old farmhouse; blue with white trim. The heavy wooden door stood ajar. I sprinted for the wrap-around porch so I could get a look inside. I could only see two of the three men; they were stomping their way up a flight of striking old stairs.

"Who the hell are you?" I heard from behind me. Oh, shit.

I turned toward the voice slowly while mentally kicking myself. "Sloane. Who the hell are you? You don't live here." I looked the man straight in the eye. His hair was graying, but prematurely. He couldn't have been a day over 35. Below his salt and pepper hair was a tan, wrinkled forehead and a set of very angry brown eyes. _Not good, not good_, he thought. _Who's this bitch? It's gotta be his girlfriend. Fucking fangbangers, making the rest of us people look bad._

He pulled a gun from his waistband. "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you don't do something stupid. I've called the cops, so I suggest you get the hell out of here before you get arrested."

Fury boiled over in his brain. Before he could decide whether or not he wanted to yell at me or shoot me, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. The other two had found Cian and were now hauling a large wooden box down the stairs.

I used his distraction. I kicked the gun out of his hand and over the porch railing. "Fucking bitch!" he screamed. I followed my kick with a punch to the nose and another to the jaw. Once I was pretty sure he was down for the count, I took off running. His scream had alerted the other two men to the problem, and I didn't want to be around to when they finally came to his rescue.

I just barely made it off the porch before the other two men came barreling out of the house. They'd abandoned the box and started running after me. Unfortunately for me, however, they were wearing boots. I was wearing flip flops. I sprinted as fast as I could, but I was no match for what I assumed was the youngest man. He didn't look much older than I was. He used his long, lanky form to gather a bunch of speed, and in no time, he tackled me to the ground. Pain tore through my left knee and hip as I landed on them, tearing the jean and most likely the flesh.

I was immediately in defensive mode. I started to fight like hell. I threw my right elbow back, connecting with his jaw, but it was a tad too late. Before I could get off my hands and knees, his friend arrived on scene, panting and gasping. "Traitorous bitch," he gasped as he swung his leg, connecting his foot with my stomach. This time, I landed on the ground in my right side. Most of the pain was centered where he had kicked me and I curled around that pain into a ball, but there was also some in my shoulder. I had scraped some of the skin off my right shoulder as I landed in a patch of rough, hard dirt.

"Come here," said the younger guy, the one I elbowed in the face. He pulled me onto my back and swung his fist to punch me, but I dodged him the first time. More fury radiated from him as started to kick, landing one good hit on his kneecap.

As the younger one dropped to the ground, the older, slower, smarter one delivered another kick to my body, nailing me in the ribs on my right side. For the first time, I screamed out in pain as something cracked. I curled into a ball as he pulled back to kick me again, but before he could, the first man arrived on scene. He was holding a bleeding and most likely broken nose as he jogged up to the scene. "Stop. We need to get out of here, she called the cops."

All three of the men looked down at me as I lay on the ground, curled in a ball. Before I could even get to my hands and knees in hopes of crawling away, the first man pistol-whipped me in the temple. I lost consciousness as my head ricocheted off the ground.

.

I could feel the warm sun beating down on me as my head bounced on the hard metal floor. I opened my eyes as I tried to move; I was lying in the bed of a pickup truck next to a large man-sized box, my hands and legs wrapped tightly with duct tape.

The driver of this truck slammed on the breaks. I moaned as I shot forward in the bed, smacking my head against the outside of the cab. I needed the element of surprise; I shut my eyes and made the rest of my broken body go limp as I heard car doors slam and footsteps circle the truck. "What the hell are we gunna do with the girl?" said one of the men as he lofted me over his shoulder.

"Interrogate her," someone said from far away. "I want to know how she knew what we were doing."

"Well," said that one that was carrying me. I counted as he stepped up three stairs. "Where do you want her?"

"Put her in with him," said the same distant voice. "Wake her up."

He carried me down another flight of stairs; I could tell we were now in a basement. It smelled like musty old wood and was several degrees cooler than it was just one flight up. A shiver ran down my spine from the cold.

Thank God, he didn't just drop me. At the angle I'd land at, it would surely dislocate my shoulder again. It was getting entirely too easy to do that these days. Instead, he set me down in a chair. I sat silently, heart pounding, as metal rustled against metal a few yards away from me. If I wasn't duct taped from head to toe, now would have been my chance to run, but as it was, all I would be able to do was flop like a fish.

A second later, cold metal clamped around one of my ankles, then the tape around my ankles was cut away. Next, the tape around my wrists was cut away before the same thing happened to them. I was now strapped to a chair.

"Wake up, cunt," he said as he slapped me in the face. Internally, I grunted in pain, but externally, I did nothing. Yes, the slap hurt, but what was coming was probably way, way worse. Instead, I just stayed slumped in my chair. I didn't know how much more if that I could take before giving myself away. "Hey," he said, louder the time, as he slapped me harder. By the third slap, I broke, yelping in pain when he hit me.

"She's awake," he yelled up the stairs.

The man who was undoubted in charge sauntered down the stairs. He was in a military uniform, boots and all. His hair, however, gave him away. Instead of a short cut like you'd expect in a military man, his hair was long, pulled back in a ponytail behind his head. A small goatee came to a sharp point at the end of his chin. He surveyed Cian's position, dead for the day and strapped to a chair before making his way to me. "What's your name?" he asked.

I didn't answer. That's how they did it in the movies, so that's how I was going to do it. When I didn't answer, he leaned down to get right in my face. I could taste the blood pooling in my mouth; I took the opportunity and spit that blood in his face.

Calmly, he pulled back and wiped my blood from his face with his sleeve. He didn't say anything, he just started the water from a faucet, slowly filling a large basin. It looked like something you used to bathe large farm animals in. "I am trying to be polite," he said as he pulled another chair up and sat a few feet from me. "I asked nicely. Why won't you tell me your name?"

"Fuck you," I answered. I wasn't giving him anything.

He nodded, disappointed, before standing again. "Go get about thirty pounds of ice," he said to the other man in the room, the one that had slapped me. The smaller, younger man nodded before jogging up the stairs.

The older man grabbed my hair and yanked me off the chair onto my knees. My shoulder snapped as the chains forced my hands to stay put, forcing my arms up behind me. I screamed out in pain; my shoulder was dislocated again. I tried to fight him as he fastened my arms together behind my back, but I had nothing to fight him with. No weapon, no strength, not even leverage. He unhooked my ankles and dragged me over to the filling tub. "Tell me what I want to know," he said as he forced me to lean over the water.

"No."

He didn't like that. I kicked and flailed when he dunked my head below the water and held it there. It felt like an eternity before he pulled me back out. I gasped for breath. "Tell me what I want to know."

"No," I said again. Again, he dipped my head below the water. My lungs screamed at me.

"Tell me what I want to know," he said again when he pulled me back up.

I shook my head as I gasped for breath. "You can drown me, but I won't tell you anything."

Fury boiled over in his eyes. He shoved one arm behind my neck and another between my legs and lifted me into the air. I yelped out in pain as I landed on my back in the tub of water. My hands were cuffed behind me, and when I landed on them, I think I broke something. Pain radiated from my hand up my arm.

The water was freezing. I struggled to push myself up so my head was above water, only to have it pushed under water again. I kicked and struggled for a few seconds before stopping. I noticed there was a chain coming from the floor that snaked up and over the side of the tub. It jangled when I moved my ankle.

He pulled me back up as the younger man reemerged, one large bag of ice in each hand. "Pour it in here," the older man said. The newcomer tore both bags open and poured them both in the tub I was in, quickly turning the freezing cold water into an ice-water slurry. The older man held my shoulders so I was forced to stay in the water. I yelped when he squeezed my dislocated shoulder. "You've only got a few minutes before the cold gets so bad it hurts. As soon as you tell me something, I'll pull you out of that, get you a blanket."

I started to shiver immediately. When I didn't say anything, the older man sat in the chair to watch me. He was so sure this was going to work. I was going to prove him wrong.

He was true to his word; painful tingling in my fingers and toes started to shows themselves within a few minutes. I gritted my teeth against the urge with whimper. It felt like a thousand tiny needles being poked into my skin over and over again. "C-Cian is-s go-going to ki-kill you."

The older man looked over to Cian in his chair. He was still dead for the day, but not for long. His fangs had made an appearance and he gritted his teeth. Whoever had tied him to the chair had taken his shirt off and strapped more silver chain than was necessary to cause the most pain possible. Scorch marks surrounded where the yards of silver chain contacted his skin; up his torso, around his neck, and down his arms to his wrists. Even his ankles were tied with silver chain. "How's he going to do that?" the older man said.

"He-he'll find-d a w-way." A tear fell down my cheek as the pain started to spread though my body. I had to give the older man credit; he definitely had an interesting and effective torture method. I didn't know how much more of this I could take. I looked down at the now-pink water.

After another five minutes of tingly torture, the older man linked one hand under my good shoulder and pulled me from the tub, tossing me to the floor on my bad shoulder. I was still shaking uncontrollably as I yelped, making the noise sound more like rabid crying. "Let her go," Cian said. The sun had set.

I looked up at him as I pushed myself toward the wall. With where my ankle was shackled to the ground and the length of the chain, I could just lean against the wall if I extended my leg all the way toward the bolt in the floor.

As soon as Cian said something, our captor's mind ran through their plan for the first time. They were going to make a statement. Initially, they were just going to have Cian meet the sun on the steps of Michigan State's Administration Building, but now, they want to add me to the fun. I tried to keep quiet as I struggled even harder against my bindings, but I wasn't successful in either pursuit. Both Cian's and our captor's attention turned to me. Cian's eyes were full of pain, but relatively calm. Calculating, even. I gave Cian a very panicky look. This was no good, he didn't seem to understand how screwed we were.

"Let her go, and you can do what you want with me. I won't fight it," Cian said.

"No deal," our captor said. Now that his attention was back on me, he decided I needed to be back in the chair. I groaned in pain as he shoved hands under both of my armpits and lifted me. He had obviously done this before; he deftly unchained my wrists from behind my back and rechained them to the chair in a matter of a minute.

"Hey, JP," said someone from the top of the stairs. "Your wife's on the line." I sighed and internal sigh of relief when he climbed the stairs. I wasn't sure how long I could keep my bravado. I started to cry silently; I kept my head down as I shook, the only thing that gave me away was the tears that fell to my lap. The fact that everything hurt was compounding with the fact that we were so royally screwed.

"They want to sacrifice the two of us at dawn."

"That's good news," he said. I looked up at him, shock on my face. "It gives David time to track you."

"He's not coming," I whispered as I dropped my head again. I knew Cian could hear me. "He's busy."

"Too busy for you? I doubt that." I looked back up at him. The desperation on my face must have told him how serious I was. "Then I guess it's just you and me, Cupcake." He smiled to put me at ease, but it didn't work. I dropped my head again. The pain in his eyes was hard to bear. He was struggling with his own bindings, which continued to scald his skin every time he moved. "Could you fight? If you had to?" he asked, more seriously this time.

"Not very effectively," I answered. Since I was already in a sullen mood, I decided to tally up my injuries. Well, I'm sure my face was beat to hell, and it felt it. My jaw was starting to tighten and swell and I could feel the blood start to trickle back down my cheek. Of course, my shoulder was dislocated, and the hand on the same side was most likely broken. I was down to my weak arm. I had broken ribs, among other internal injuries, which made deep breaths painful and dangerous. I wasn't quite sure what was wrong with my hip and knee, but they were both screaming at me. And, obviously, I was freezing.

"Could you run?" he asked next.

"Not quickly."

"What can you do?" he asked, half in frustration and half in sarcasm.

"Read their minds," I answered. The silence was deafening as he stared at me. "At least, for now."

"What are they thinking?" he asked after his heavy silence.

I took a second to probe the minds above us. I could feel three minds. One was agitated as he thought about his wife's nagging. He must be the one on the phone. In another room, two more men sat, each spending most of their brainpower on the card game they were playing. "One's right above us, arguing with his wife. The other two are up the stairs and to the right playing cards."

"Only three?" he asked. I nodded. "Simple. Can you get one to come down here? Preferably the one with the keys."

I nodded, my head still bowed. "I'll try." I raised my head and yelled, "JP, I'm ready to talk." JP's mind filled with satisfaction. "Now what?" I asked Cian as JP finished his phone call.

"I take his keys." I dropped my head again as JP's footfalls worked their way down the decrepit staircase.

"What are you going to tell me?" he asked as his foot hit the basement floor.

"It is I who has something to tell you," Cian said. Stupidly, JP turned and looked right at him, right in the eye. I could see the tension in JP's shoulders and hands melt away. His mind buzzed blankly. "Unlock her chains," he said as he nodded to me. JP obliged, unhooking my wrists, then my ankle. "Now, give her the keys." Again, JP obliged. I struggled to push myself up to my feet. "Now sit and be quiet." Again, JP obliged. I locked one of JP's wrists where mine had been and limped toward Cian. I coughed and tasted blood.

Cian's eyes went wild as I approached. "You're bleeding," he said. Obviously. I was bleeding in more than one place. "Unwind me fast."

I tried, but I was down an arm and limping horribly. Cian struggled not to yell out for the next five minutes as I struggled to unwind him. I started to cry harder for him; the wounds look gastly. As soon as I pulled the last chain from his skin, he bolted out of the chair. Before I could fall to my knees, JP was drained dry.

****SO, my copy of Dead in the Family just arrived—I'm excited. I'm posting this, then settling in to read it, so it may take a while for the next chapter to come out. Be patient.****


	84. Chapter 84

****OK, Dead in the Family was AWESOME! I won't give away any spoilers for those who haven't read it yet, but prepare to be riveted. I read it, cover to cover, in one sitting. Couldn't even put it down to make dinner; I made my fiancé forage for food (we had Subway). Anyway, here's the next chapter.****

"Are you not well?" Cian asked as he lowered me so I was sitting on the floor, leaning against the dirty wall.

"I'm fine," I said as another shiver ran down my spine. "It's just really cold down here." I was very disappointed in myself; there was a dead man only a few yards from me, and I wasn't the least bit bothered by it. His murderer was coddling me now. I wasn't even the least bit concerned. I was more concerned with the heavy pit that was forming in my stomach. Something was very, very wrong.

He didn't quite believe me. "You aren't going to vomit again, are you?"

I had to smile at his comment. "No," I answered. "We need to get out of here."

"Agreed," he answered. The blood was already working wonders; he looked better already. The marks on his chest were healing before my eyes. "How many?"

I threw out my mental net again, looking for an updated life signs reading (I've been watching way too much science fiction). "Same," I answered. The other two hadn't moved an inch.

He nodded. "Stay here, I will be back to get you." He disappeared up the stairs. In a matter of seconds, the screaming fell silent. Shortly after the second loud thud, Cian materialized in front of me again. His cheeks were rosy and bright, his eyes gleaming. I couldn't believe it, I think he was actually enjoying this.

I yelped in pain as he attempted to lift me into his arms. He had nudged not only my shoulder, but my ribs as well. He must have felt my ribs move, because he set me down in the bottom step and lifted my shirt. I wasn't heavily bruised yet, probably thanks to my ice bath slowing blood flow, but it was still evident. "Shove my shoulder back in, then I can walk." He looked at me like I had asked him to do complicated surgery. "He pulled my shoulder out of the socket," I said as I motioned to my injured arm. "Pop it back in."

"How?" Cian asked as he examined the offending joint.

Painfully, I made a ball with my broken hand and a socket with my unbroken one. "Shove my arm back into the joint," I said as I showed him what I meant. "Do it quickly."

He didn't look too sure of himself, and it terrified me. I grimaced as he pulled my dislocated arm so it was parallel to the ground. After bracing myself against the railing, he asked, "how hard do I push?"

"Just do it!" I yelled at him. His fangs came back out as he shoved my shoulder back into its place. As expected (at least, by me), I screamed bloody murder.

I could practically see what Cian was thinking as he caught me and braced my arm against my side. He was terrified he'd done something to make it worse. "What did I do?" he asked as he wiped the hair from my face. "Did I break it?"

I shook my head no as I sobbed. "Just give me a second," I said. I took deep, cleansing breaths in an effort to push the remaining pain below, and in a matter of a minute, I was done sobbing. Cian watched my every move the entire time like a hawk. "OK," I said as I offered him my other (non-broken) hand. "Help me up."

Instead of just helping me to my feet, he lifted me off the floor into his arms more gently than before. I set my broken, dislocated arm in my lap as I wrapped my other arm around his neck. Even though we were quickly outside in the warm summer night, I still shivered in his arms. It's like I couldn't get warm, no matter what.

He set me down on a lawn chair and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. They were slightly bloody. "Which one?" he asked as he handed me the keys. There were three almost identical trucks sitting in the driveway, only the make was different.

I glanced down at the blood-covered key fob. "The Dodge, in the middle." Again, before I could stand on my own, he lifted me out of the chair and set me in the passenger seat.

He pulled out of the driveway to a two-lane country road. There was literally nothing as far as the eye could see in either direction. "Which way?" he asked.

I did a one-shouldered shrug. "I have no idea where we are. Find a town, and I might be able to get us back home."

He took a guess and went right. He turned the heat on full blast, but I still wasn't warming up. "I had a dream about you," I said after a bout of shivers. We had been driving for what seemed like hours and I was starting to lose consciousness; I needed to say anything to stay awake.

"Oh, really?" he answered. "And what happened in this dream? Something good, I hope."

I waited until another bout of shivers passed to answer him. "I was sitting in the sun outside a little cabana in the tropics. I was sunbathing in a bikini, and you came up without anything on."

"I like where this is going," he answered.

"You undressed me, and we went in the cabana and got onto the bed."

His fangs came back down. "I really like where this is going."

"The David came in, and asked if you'd share, and you said yes."

He smirked. "I wouldn't share, but this is your fantasy. Keep going."

"And you kissed me and I woke up."

He frowned, and I smiled. "Tease."

I smiled as much as I could as my eyes closed. Just as I peeled them back open, I saw the sign I was waiting for. Directions to the highway. "Get on I-69 towards Lansing," I said as I pointed toward the sign with my good arm. I closed my eyes and gave him the rest of the directions to his house just before I passed out.

.

Off in the mental distance, I heard a phone ringing. I peeled my eyes open as Cian set me on his couch and rushed out of sight to get the phone. "Yes, my King," he answered. I guess he was still in the doghouse for kissing me. "She is here," he said after his eyebrows furrowed. "We were both kidnapped, but escaped." He paused again and turned away from me. "They want _her_? My King, she is not well enough for that. She needs a doctor, not a trial." My heart dropped as his head dipped. "Yes, my King. We'll be there shortly." He hung his phone back up and tossed it on the coffee table. "The Council wants to see you."

"What for?" I whispered. I closed my eyes as he changed out of the pants he was sleeping in to a pair of jeans that was lying on the edge of his couch.

He didn't speak again until he was fully dressed and lifting me off the couch. I opened my eyes to see where we were going, but not without great effort. "For a trial. They blame you for the deaths of Filipe deCastro and Simon Baker and the current disarray of deCastro's territory." He set me back in the passenger seat, but this time we were in his small sports car.

"What is the Council?" I asked as I closed my eyes.

"It is much like your American Supreme Court. Each of the continents picks a very old, very powerful vampire to sit on this council. Together, they keep the order between the Kingdoms. They generally only surface when something goes very wrong."

"Like me being Queen."

"Yes, like you being Queen," he answered quietly. "Be respectful. Speak only when spoken to. Answer every question truthfully and to the best of your knowledge. Bow when you meet them and when you leave, and do not look them in the eye." I nodded again. Answering truthfully might be a problem. Answering a question at all might be a problem. "Since David is your bonded, he will stand and face the Council with you. Any punishment you get, the two of you will share."

"OK," I whispered weakly. I shivered again, which caught Cian's attention. I could feel his eyes on me as he sped down the highway.

"You are not well enough for this," he mumbled to himself. "This isn't right."

"I'm fine," I said quietly. We sat in silence until we pulled up in front of the O'Hara estate. "What type of punishment?" I asked as Cian pulled me out of the car.

"I don't know," he said. "I've never been to one of these." He carried me quickly into the grand foyer, where several people were waiting. Idi and Idriis, as always, were just inside the door. Two other large men I didn't recognize were waiting impatiently with them. They must be with the Council; they were both wearing a uniform or sorts. Black collarless shirts with matching black slacks.

"You cannot go any farther," one of them said to Cian.

"She cannot walk on her own," Cian responded after bowing awkwardly to them, me still in his arms.

"I'm fine," I said as strong as I could. I wasn't going to get Cian in trouble with the Council for anything. Cian looked down at me, worry and warning in his eyes. "It's OK, you can put me down." Slowly, he lowered me to my feet, not letting go until I was as stable as I was going to get. I kissed my unbroken hand and pat his cheek before hobbling toward the two Council goons. "OK," I said.

Slowly, they led me into the grand ballroom, each with a grip on each arm. At the very back of the room, seven vampires sat in royal thrones. Before them, David knelt, and behind David were Emma and Lee. I limped past Emma and Lee and stood near David. I braced my good hand against his shoulder as I struggled to bow to the vampires.

"Kneel," one of the Council vampires said. He had olive-mocha skin and wavy black hair. His accent hinted that maybe he was originally from South America.

I grunted as I dropped to my knees beside David. "Fidel," the woman in the middle chided. "Is it not obvious this woman is in intense pain? Honey, would you like a chair?" she asked me.

"I'm fine, thank you," I whispered. I just barely finished my sentence before a started to shiver furiously again. No one spoke until the bout of shivers was over.

"Has everything been explained to you?" the same woman asked.

"More or less," I answered.

She nodded as I coughed. More blood. "Good. I am Guinevere, Queen of England and lead councilwoman. We are here today to decide the punishment of King David O'Hara and his bonded, Sloane McIntosh for their hands in the killings of King Filipe deCastro and Sheriff Simon Baker and to determine a solution for the current problems in the kingdoms of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Nevada. Before we begin, does anyone have anything to say?"

"I do," David said politely as he knelt next to me. Guinevere nodded to David, giving him the floor. "It is obvious Sloane is in great pain. Let Emma tend to her before we go any farther."

Guinevere looked down at me as I struggled to stay upright during another bout of shivers. "What says the Council?"

Fidel was the first to speak. "No. Let us finish this."

Next was a small Asian woman in a kimono. "No."

"No," said another man with a boxer's face and brown hair. He was made of nothing but muscle when he was alive, making him an imposing vampire now.

"Yes," Guinevere answered.

Next to speak was a tall African woman. "Yes."

"Yes," said a woman who could have been Eric's twin sister.

"No," said the last member, a man whose ethnicity was hard to place. He could have been either Asian or Native American.

"On a vote of four to three, Sloane does not receive medical attention," Guinevere said, obviously upset with the decision. "Anyone else?" After a minute of shivering silence, Guinevere decided it was time to move on. "First, Sloane, I would like to know what has happened to you today."

"I was waiting at Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch, and I heard the thoughts of a group of men in the back corner," I whispered. I think all seven of the Council members gasped, which was quite a bit for a group of very old vampires.

"How long have you been able to hear thoughts?" Guinevere asked.

"A few days," I answered. "I heard what the men were planning on doing. They were going to kidnap Cian O'Smythe and burn him at dawn. I went to stop them, but they got me too." I fell back on to my haunches, internally groaning in pain as my hip hit the ground. David steadied me.

"Who?" asked Guinevere.

"The Fellowship of the Sun," I answered.

"Is this the first time you were taken by this Fellowship?" I was running out of consciousness, all I could do was shake my head no. "What happened the first time?"

"Shot," I struggled to whisper.

"In a coordinated attack, members of this so-called church attacked several of our properties and kidnapped Sloane. They shot her twice and beat her before I could find and rescue her. She saved the lives of my sister, brother, and I, among countless other vampires in my Kingdom."

"Silence!" Fidel yelled. "That is not why we are here. Are you or are you not responsible for the deaths of Filipe deCastro and Simon Baker?" I nodded yes. Technically, I guess I was. "Ha! The punishment for killing a vampire is death. Kill her!"

"Now, Fidel," Guinevere said. I was leaning heavily on David, who was sending me all of his strength through the bond. "First, let's start with Simon Baker. Tell us about that."

"Curse," I whispered. I closed my eyes and dipped my head as I coughed up more blood. "Takeover."

"Please, your Majesties," David pleaded. "It is obvious she will not be able to continue much longer."

There was a long silence as I shivered in David's arms. "Your sister has medical training, correct?" Guinevere said.

"Yes," Emma answered for herself.

"She has one hour while we eat. You are not to give her blood. Do what you can."

David lifted my limp body off the ground and before I could process, he was setting me down on a bed. "Sloane, Love, tell us what's wrong. Why are you so cold?"

"Get the wet clothes off her. Here, Darling," Emma said as she pricked a needle into my shoulder. As the pain started to fade, so did I.

.

I was feeling somewhat loopy when I woke up, swaddled in blankets and leaning up against David's hard chest. "What?" I said.

"She's awake, let's proceed." I looked at the man who seethed those words. It was taking way too long for my memory to come back.

"What?" I asked again as I looked up at David.

"We were in the middle of a trial when you couldn't go on any longer. We have to finish it now," David answered.

Oh, yea, now I remember. "OK," I said as I struggled to unwrap myself. It was a more than painful process, I had to admit. David helped me to my feet before gathering up one of the larger blankets, carrying it as he followed close behind me.

It didn't take long before everyone was back in their proper places. Emma had insisted I get a chair, and by the time I had settled into the chair, the most of the Council members were looking quite bored. Guinevere was the only one that smiled at me. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

I took my time to answer. "Better, but loopy. I don't remember where I was."

"You were explaining what exactly you did to cause Simon Baker's demise," she answered.

I nodded as David took my good hand. Emma had wrapped the broken one and put my dislocated shoulder in a sling. It also felt as if she'd rewrapped my ribs, too. "I didn't know what was going on at first. One of my students…I'm a teacher, and one of my students collapsed in class. It wasn't until that happened that I knew someone had blocked my sight."

The entire Council looked confused. "She is psychic. She should have seen something that major," David added.

I nodded. "Right. Well, we got that fixed before it killed me, but we didn't know who was behind it. I was at Rum Runners when David and Lee got a tip, so they took Idi and Idriis to go check it out, but it was a bad tip. It was a distraction, I mean…" I was having a hard time expressing myself.

"It was a ploy to separate Sloane from her protection," David added.

"Well, Emma was with me, and Varana."

"Stop," Guinevere said. "I am confused. Get to the point. Who actually killed Simon Baker?"

I did a one shoulder shrug. "I don't know."

"I did," David answered.

"Then I will ask you what happened, King O'Hara."

David nodded. "They planned to separate me from Sloane so Simon's small army of Weres could kidnap her. He wanted her talents for himself so he could overthrow my kingdom." David's shame and anger as he remembered what happened ricocheted in my head. "Sloane saw what was coming, but not in time, so she sacrificed herself to save my sister's life. Simon had not been kind to Sloane while he had her." I squeezed his hand in support as he dropped his head. "I killed him not only for his mistreatment of Sloane, but also for his treachery. He attempted a bloody coup of my kingdom, and failed."

"See, Fidel?" Guinevere said to the small, angry man. That was his name, I knew I knew it. "There are always reasons." She turned back to David and me. "Simon was a clean kill. And Filipe? Who killed him?" Guinevere asked.

"I did," I said quickly. No need to get Eric in on this.

David looked up at me in surprise as I squeezed his hand. "Why?" Guinevere asked.

"He was about to rape me, so I staked him."

"But you were his wife," Fidel fumed. "It was his right."

"He threatened me. I didn't want to marry him. I was bonded to David."

Fidel's face was giving him away. He was very, very angry at me. "It makes no difference!" he screamed. "You killed my childe and I want retribution!" David put himself in front of me as Fidel launched himself at me.

David stopped him and was holding him off of me, with the help of Lee and Emma. Sure, David was a big guy, much bigger than Fidel, but I had a feeling Fidel was pretty old. "Council, if it is your judgment that this be her punishment, I will let King Herrero free, but I need to hear it from the Council first." I sat apathetically, waiting for the axe to fall.

"It is not. Fidel, calm down," Guinevere said.

He looked up at Guinevere with shock in his face. "What?" he said. "This is an outrage! Were this any other human, you would have served her to me on a platter!"

"But she is not," Guinevere answered. "She is special, and therefore gets special handling. Guards, take him out of here."

The two guards that ushered me into the room now ushered Fidel Herrero out. "I apologize," Guinevere said. "I consider that a clean kill as well, but the Council must vote." I dropped my head and nodded. "This leaves the fact you are now Queen of three territories. You have quite the collection of vampires determined to keep you alive and an equally large collection of our kind trying to kill you. To quell the coming bloodshed, the Council has decided to interfere. You cannot keep your kingdom if you intend to stay human."

I don't want it," I answered.

"Then you must decide how you want to give it away," Guinevere added.

"I've given it some thought," I said. I really, really, hoped that I was making sense. The drugs were still swirling in my head, making everything fuzzy and unclear. "I want to split them back up into their three kingdoms and hold auditions for each one."

She smiled at me as if I had surprised her. "Auditions, not elections?" she said.

I shook my head no. "No offense, but your way let Filipe take over three states, but only after killing lots of good people…vampires. Your way is broken."

"That sounds…reasonable." She looked to the remaining Council members, all of whom were nodding in agreement, varying shades of anger on their face. I had offended them. "You may go, the Council will vote on your punishment."

I bowed as much as I could, but with my ribs bound, it hurt a lot to do so. David walked behind me out of the room until the double doors closed, when he wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and lifted me into his arms. "You did very well," he said after kissing my forehead lightly.

"You should have let Fidel kill me."

He stopped halfway up the stairs. "Why, Love?"

"He's right. If I killed his childe, he has the right to kill me back. At least, in your world he does."

He started back up the stairs, not speaking again until we were back in a bedroom. He set me down in his lap as soon as he got comfortable on the bed. "I would never let him."

I pushed myself out of David's arm and limped across the room, slowly lowering myself onto a tufted bench. He's been taking too many liberties with me lately. Now might not be the right time, but boundaries are boundaries. "Sometimes I think the cost of keeping me alive is too much," I said as I dropped my head.

I could feel his heart drop as if my own did. "Do not say things like that," he said in a heavy Irish brogue.

"Think of all the people who would be alive if you hadn't gotten to me in time last year." It was just about a year ago exactly, give or take a month.

"Don't say that," he said quietly. In a second, I was back in his arms. He held me tightly to him as he rubbed my hair. "Never even think that again."

I didn't say anything else; no point in upsetting David. I just sat in his arms as he rubbed my hair. It took about a half an hour before Guinevere came in to the room. "We have a decision," she said. She looked glum. That didn't look good.

I followed David down the stairs; the two Council goons following me. "Hurry up," one of them said. I guess my slow pace was annoying them.

"I can't," I said as I limped down the stairs, one at a time. "This is as fast as I go." He sighed when I didn't speed it up. Well, he was just going to have to deal with it.

When the double doors opened, I took a deep breath. Here we go.


	85. Chapter 85

David and I didn't bother to sit or kneel again, we both just stood at attention, waiting for the lead councilwoman , Guinevere, to speak. "King David O'Hara, Sloane McIntosh, are you ready to hear your judgment?" Guinevere asked. She needed a black robe, a white wig, and a gavel.

"Yes," David said as I nodded. _No, not even a little bit_, I thought. David glanced at me, worry in his eyes, as I coughed again.

She looked from side to side, looking for a final agreement from the rest of the Council. She seemed to get it. "The Council has decided, rather harshly I believe, that a punishment for each of you is appropriate. David O'Hara, your punishment is a week bound in silver without blood." He nodded and grabbed my hand, accepting his punishment in stride. "Sloane McIntosh, you punishment will be imprisonment as well. We believe a week in confinement, in your condition, is sufficient." I nodded as well. "Queen O'Hara, I assume there are facilities in this complex we can use for this?"

"Yes," Emma said. She sounded quite sad. "Will I be allowed to continue to treat Sloane during her imprisonment? Her hand needs a proper cast, and I would like to monitor that cough; her lungs aren't as strong as they once were."

Guinevere looked almost ashamed. "No, it is the Council's decision that there can be no personal contact for either Sloane or King O'Hara."

.

David carried me into what was going to be my room for the next week. It was small, smaller than I assume a jail cell to be. There was no bed, only floor and walls. He set me down in the corner near the chains that protruded from the wall and floor. Blood welled at the corners of his eyes. "I am sorry," he said after kissing my hair. "I tried to shield you from this."

"It's OK," I said as I looked away. Ech, blood. Crying blood is even weirder. "See you in a week." I looked to Emma, who was crying in earnest behind David. Blood streamed down her face. I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to un-see that. "Tell Syd and Moose, please," I said when I opened my eyes again. She nodded before she couldn't take it anymore. She turned and buried her head in Lee's chest. He pulled her from the room.

"The chains," Fidel said. "She has to wear the chains." He seemed mighty pleased with himself. _That is a man this world could do without_, I thought to myself. I instantly hated myself for it. I was a better person than that.

"OK," I said as I hooked the cuffs on my ankles. The room was obviously made for detaining vampires; the chains were silver. I wasn't going to make David touch them. Painfully, I snapped the cuffs over my wrists.

"Rest, recoup, and when this is over, I will make this up to you," David said. I nodded. The guards pulled David from the room and shut the door.

Luckily, I was used to being alone.

**SYDNEY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Sloane hadn't been answering her phone all day. It wasn't unusual for her to ignore her phone while she was in lab, she gets in these trances where nothing can interrupt her. Only Moose had called me looking for her about three hours ago. She never showed at lab today. I was worried about her. Disappearing is nothing new for her, expecially on this particular day of the year, but never all day. That was not normal. At the moment, I was pacing the floor, debating on whether or not I would go to the cemetery. Today is—was—AJ's birthday. Sloane always paid her respects. She usually sits on the ground next to his grave and tells him everything…and I mean _everything_…that had happened since his last birthday. I think it's almost therapeutic for her, to get everything off her chest. Still, no one had seen her all day. Sure, a lot had happened in the last year, but all day? That wasn't like her.

I wasn't expecting company as I paced, which is why I was in my room in my pajamas. But when I heard the knock at the door, I didn't think twice about answering it. Maybe it was Sloane, just knocking because she forgot her key? I quickly glided down the stairs and pulled the door open. Only it wasn't Sloane. "Emma?" I asked. She looked like hell.

"They're being punished," she managed to say. I stared at her as I panicked, but she was done speaking. Red was already streaked down her face, and now I knew why. A bloody tear fell down her face before she could wipe it away.

"The details are not important," Lee said from behind her. I think that was quite possibly the second sentence I've ever heard him say. "Just do not be surprised when she does not come home for the next week." He looked markedly better than Emma, no bloody tears for him. Except for a bloody patch on the chest of his shirt. Someone had been crying for a while.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I asked. I gripped the door handle for support. Punished? What the hell did Sloane do? This all had to be David's fault. I would put money on it. _Fucking bastard_, I thought.

"Please trust that Sloane is alive and will remain so for the next week." Alive? That's all? No 'and well'? "As soon as you can see her, someone will contact you," he said before ushering Emma back toward the waiting car. I have never seen a vampire so shaken, and it terrified me for Sloane.

"Wait, what?" I yelled after them. "Where is she? Is she OK?"

"She is safe," Lee called over his shoulder.

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

"Mac's not here" I said as I glanced over my shoulder. Emma and Lee were standing in the doorway to lab. In fact, she hadn't been here all day, despite the fact she had some serious work to do. I put her plates in the fridge for storage two hours ago, but they couldn't keep in there for long. "She hasn't been in all day."

"We know; we are here to talk to you on her behalf." The fact that Lee was the one that was talking caught my attention. He never spoke. I turned and finally took everything in. Emma looked like a train wreck, Lee only slightly better. Her eyes were rimmed in red, with thin trails of bloody tears tracing their way down her cheeks and onto her shirt. She had a death grip on Lee's hand; if her knuckles weren't already white, they would be. He had two matching bloody spots on his shirt that I assumed matched her bloody eyes.

"OK," I said cautiously. This definitely didn't look good. I had a death grip of my own on the pipette in my hand. "Is she OK?" She needs to be OK. I can't handle it if she's not.

"She is alive," he answered. "She asked that we tell you she will be unavailable for the next week."

"Is she OK?" I asked again. I know a dodgy answer when I hear one. She better be OK.

"She is injured, but alive and stable." Injured? Like, a paper cut? A bruise? A broken bone? Gaping hole in her stomach? He needed to be more specific.

"Where is she?" I asked. I needed to see her. I needed to see this for myself.

"The Royal Complex," he answered.

"They're being punished by the Council," Emma said quietly. She was gripping the life out of Lee's hand still. It was almost like she was pulling his strength straight out of his hand and into her.

I took a deep breath and calmed myself. I needed to be calm and on top of things right now. "Who's 'they'?"

"Sloane and my brother," Emma answered.

I had no idea what the Council was, but I figured it was a fanger thing. "Punished how?" They didn't answer, they just turned to go. "Wait, give me some answers," I said as I followed them down the hall. As soon as they disappeared down the stairs, my phone rang. It was Sydney.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked frantically.

"I have no idea."

**SOOKIE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Amelia had finally admitted defeat and called Octavia to help. Octavia sure was not happy about being called away from her new life in New Orleans to fix another one of Amelia's problems, but I was happy to see her. I wasn't sure how many more sleepless nights and gore-filled days I could handle. As it was, Eric had taken time away from his duties to be with me as much as possible. I felt better, stronger while he was around. I felt like I might even be able to handle this long-term while I was with him. But even he couldn't keep the nightmares away. I still woke up screaming in his arms, which I could tell scared him. Even now, he watched me like a hawk, waiting for me to buckle under the pressure.

"Welcome back, Octavia," I said as she walked in the door. I let go of Eric's hand long enough to give her a warm smile and a welcome hug. "You look great."

"I wish I could say the same about you," she said as she held me at arms length. "You look horrible, chére."

I smiled as I grabbed Eric's hand back. "It's been a rough couple of days."

"Well," she said as she unpacked a few things from a small bag strapped around her waist. "Let's see if we can't fix what's bothering you. Amelia," she barked. "How did you design this spell?"

Amelia jumped up from her spot on the couch and explained in terms I didn't fully understand.

"Well, we'll let you work," I said as I pulled Eric toward my bedroom. "Can I get either of you something to…" Before I could finish my sentence, another vision hit. My heart dropped before I even knew what was going on. I couldn't take another heart-wrenching vision. No more abused children, raped women, devastated families. I couldn't take it. Tears already started to fall before I even knew what I was seeing.

"Lover," Eric said. I could feel his hand on my back, his strength pouring through the bond. "Tell us what you see."

"Uhh," I answered as I wiped the tears from my face. "It's Sloane. She's hurt and in a car with a guy. A, uh, black-haired vampire."

"Describe him more," Eric asked.

"Uh, he's white and he was young when he was turned, maybe 20. He has those, oh, they're not braids in his hair…"

"Dreadlocks," Eric answered. "That is Cian. Where are they going?"

"I don't know. She's not afraid or anything, she's just…glum. And in a lot of pain." I watched as they pulled up in front of a large house. All of the windows were lit. She wrapped one of her arms around his neck as he carried her gently into the large estate. "What's the Council?" I asked.

"A tribunal of sorts," Eric answered. "Sloane has to go before the Council?" I nodded. I felt a light twinge in my hip and knee as she limped into a large ballroom. I recognized David O'Hara, obviously, and Emma O'Hara and her husband, but not the other seven vampires in the room. "When is this?" he asked urgently.

I shook my head no. "I'm not sure. Soon, or recently. Maybe now."

"Where?"

"I don't know. A big, white house." As quickly as it started, the vision faded, but when I could see Eric's face again, it wasn't a relief. Now he looked really worried. "What?" I asked. My stomach dropped.

"That is not a good sign," he said as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. I studied his face as he focused on his phone. His eyebrows furrowed just a touch as someone answered. "Lee Wong? Where is O'Hara?" His face furrowed even more. Confusion, maybe? "And Ms. McIntosh?" Oh, that facial expression, as slight as it was, I recognized. Guilt. "I see. Sookie says she is hurt?" He waited for a response. "That is unduly harsh." He hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed a couple of yards away. I knew that one, too. Anger. "Fix this," he seethed at the women in the living room before shutting the both of us in my room.

"Eric, what is going on?" I asked as he lowered me onto the bed. "What's wrong?"

"I am worried about you," he said as he kneeled in front of me. He studied my face as he grabbed my hands. He wiped the remainder of a tear from my eye. "It kills me when you cry."

I smiled as I cupped his beautiful face with my hands. "You're already dead." He smiled. That's better. "It kills me when you frown," I said as I traced his smile lines. God, he's gorgeous.

He saddled himself even closer to me, shoving his body between my legs. Warmth started to pool at my center for the first time in a couple of days. I leaned in and kissed him.

He kissed me back passionately until I tried to pull him down over me while simultaneously trying to unbuckle his belt. "Not tonight, Lover," he said as he laid me on my back. He unbuttoned my jean shorts and pulled them off me, followed by my panties. "Tonight," he said as he worked his hands up my body. "Tonight, I make you a happy woman, and then you sleep through the night."

My whole body shivered under his touch. "I am a happy woman," I said as he pulled my tank over my head. In a second, my bra was gone.

He pulled away, looking down at me like a fat man looks at cake. "Then I guess it's time for bed."

I reached up and grabbed him, pulling him back down to me. "No!" I was like a whiny child, not ready for bed. He smirked.

I dug my hands in his hair as he worked a trail down my stomach. "Eric," I moaned when he finally sunk his tongue into me.

"Yes, Lover?" he said between licks.

"Make love to me." I was watching his every move. I know he likes that.

He moved up to kiss me. "Not tonight."

I pouted. "Do you not think I'm pretty?"

"You are beautiful," he answered. I moaned as he played with me, teasing me, working me up.

His muscles twitched as I rubbed my fingers down his chest to his belt buckle. As soon as I finally got it unbuckled, his fangs came down. "But you don't want me?" I had gotten good at playing him like a fiddle.

"Of course I do," he answered.

"Then make love to me," I said as I worked my hands in under his boxers. I rubbed the very tip of his penis.

That's all it took. I gasped in pleasure as he grunted and shoved into me. "Happy?" He was taking it slow, moving in and out of me gently and carefully.

"Almost," I breathed. He intertwined his fingers with mine as we both worked toward a release. "Bite me," I said as I threw my head to the side. This time, he didn't deny me; as soon as he did it, he released, which triggered my own. "God, yes," I moaned as my breathing return to normal.

"Happy?" he asked again as he tucked my under his arm.

"God, yes," I said again. That was exactly what I needed.

.

I was asleep, but I was having another vision. I groaned internally. I didn't know who I was seeing through, just another woman I didn't even know. If I could even call her a woman, she couldn't be a day over 16. She was standing outside of a large warehouse-looking building. It looked like it could be a high-class storage facility, or maybe a showroom of some sort. It wasn't until she started moving closer that I could tell what it was. I had to read the lettering on the glass door twice, just to make sure.

Fellowship of the Sun Church  
Pastor: Thomas Kerry

My mind automatically flashed back to Dallas. Dread flooded through my heart as I watched her—myself—walk through the door as if nothing was wrong. Just inside was a small, empty room, probably used as a greeting area. She walked through another set of double doors and entered a grand room with soaring ceilings. Rows upon rows of pews lined a wide aisle, which led straight up toward a grand pulpit. Behind the pulpit was a grand stained glass window. Light was shining through the window, casting the entire room in a yellowish glow.

"Welcome to the Fellowship of the Sun Church, young lady," said an eerily familiar voice. Twangs of a Texas drawl still snaked their way through his subconscious into his pronunciation. When she turned to face the voice, I shot up out of bed, finally awake.

Eric was rubbing my back as I sat upright in my bed, taking deep breaths trying to slow my pounding heart. "Steve Newlin," I said quietly.

Eric pulled me back into his embrace. "The Fellowship pastor whom we destroyed in Dallas?" he asked. He was running his fingers through my hair as I traced my fingers through his chest hair.

I nodded. "He rebuilt his church; he goes by Thomas Kerry now."

"Where did he rebuild?" Eric asked. It calmed me slightly that Eric wasn't freaking out about this. I mean, I knew he escaped, but knowing that he was doing well…that was a touch more than I could handle. Luckily, Eric was handling it for the both of us.

"I don't know. These visions are all so useless."

There was a knock on the door. Amelia peaked her head inside, her eyes squeezed shut just in case we were doing something…unclean. "Sook?" she asked.

"Have you fixed it?" I responded. God, I hoped so.

"We think so. We need you to come out here."

Eric kissed me. "I'll be out in a second," I answered.

She nodded, her eyes still squeezed shut. "OK," she said before shutting the door.

I threw on a nightgown and my robe as Eric got dressed. "This better work," I said as I opened the door.

"Yes," Eric agreed. Octavia sat me in one of my kitchen chairs in the middle of my living room. Almost as soon as I sat down, everything went blank.


	86. Chapter 86

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW – SEVEN DAYS LATER:**

I was sore, and tired, and weak, and in pain, and about ready to break down all in one. Because of the lengths of the chains that held my arms and legs in place, there was no way for me to actually lie down in this tiny room. Not that I was sure I would have wanted to. The floor was hard concrete. Because I had been sitting on this hard concrete floor for seven days, scarcely moving for the entire time, my legs, hips, and back were killing me. The Council only remembered to feed me once a day, but it didn't really matter to me; as of about the third day, I felt too sick to keep much of anything down anyway. As it was, I spent most of my time now coughing. Needless to say, my lungs and ribs were about on their last legs. Because of my uncomfortable position and constant coughing, I hadn't slept much in the past few days, and the exhaustion wasn't helping, either. And, as the cherry on top of the cake, I could feel all of David's pain and hunger.

There was one good thing about being sick while in here, though: I barely noticed that vampires insist on keeping their homes in the low 60's. I was making a lot of my own heat these days.

I didn't even open my eyes when the solid steel door opened, I just coughed…again. I was too tired to keep up the mental barriers, but I didn't 'see' any blank spots. I guess either the whole thing was fixed or I was completely, 100% normal. No visions, no mind reading.

I couldn't let myself think that. That was too much hope for me. "Oh, my," Emma said. I must look how I feel. "Sloane, honey, can you hear me?"

I pulled my eyes open, and after another coughing fit, answered her. "Yea." My voice was rough and heavy. It sounded exactly like I hadn't spoken for a week.

Emma was crouched down in front of me, careful not to touch the silver chains with her bare hands. Cian was hovering close behind her. I couldn't see anyone beyond them, no one waiting outside, but I had to assume Lee was out there. With the state Emma was in when the door closed seven days ago, I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't even apart for a second.

"The key," Cian demanded of someone I couldn't see. He stripped his shirt off so he could use the material to protect his hands while he unlocked the cuffs. I could have made some smart ass comment about taking it all off, but I just didn't have the energy. I just closed my eyes again.

"Is the Council satisfied?" Emma asked, just a touch of malice in her voice. I hoped Lee was close; he was the only one that could stop her from doing something stupid. Something like pissing off the Council.

"Emma," I chided. "Be nice." As soon as I finished my sentence, I coughed again. Emma pulled my eyelids up, and once Cian had freed me from my shackles, felt my pulse.

"She's severely dehydrated. Did you even bother to give her water?" she shot behind her.

"Yes, one bottle with her food," said a male voice.

"And how many times did you feed her a day?" she asked sharply. If she didn't start being nicer real soon, she was going to get in trouble.

"Once," the same male voice answered.

I could practically feel the anger rolling off her. "I'm amazed she's still alive," Emma said. "Sloane, honey, do you want to stay at the complex or go to the hospital?"

"I want to go home," I answered.

"I'm sorry, honey, but I can't do that. Cian, please take her upstairs. I must run to the hospital for supplies." In the matter of a second, Emma was gone.

"Come on, Cupcake," Cian said as he lifted me off the floor. As soon as he lifted me off the ground, my hips and back cracked. "Was that you?"

"Yea," I said as I rested my head against his shoulder. I waited for another coughing fit before I asked again. "Take me home," I begged.

"No," he answered.

"I'll give you another kiss," I said after a coughing fit.

He laughed as we rode and elevator up several flights. "I'm not sure I want one right now." Oh, ouch. Without another word, he set me down in David's lap. "My King," he said as he bowed deeply. He must still be in deep shit.

David was pale, but looked otherwise healthy. There were several empty TrueBlood containers on the bedside table. He was also freshly showered, which I envied.

"Thank you, Cian." David brushed the hair from my face as I had another coughing fit. "Has Emma seen her?" I shut my eyes and tucked my head into David's neck. My body remembered this position well, and I just fell comfortably back into it.

"Yes, my King," Cian answered. "Sloane's supposed to stay here so she can care for her. She went to the hospital to get supplies."

"Thank you, you may go." With one more bow, Cian left. "Oh, Love," he said after another bout of coughs. "What do you want?"

"Take me home," I said as I closed my eyes.

I felt his body move as he shook his head no. "Anything else?" he asked.

Damn, I seriously thought that would work. "A bath?"

"That, I can do." He set me on the bed before locking the bedroom door and disappearing into the attached bath. In a matter of seconds, I heard the water turn on. With my good hand, I pulled the tank top Emma and David had put me in a week ago off. No bra (in true David style). I was struggling to pull my pants off when David reemerged. "Let me help."

"I'm OK," I said as they dropped to the floor. "I got it."

I was just about to start the long walk for the bathroom when there was a knock at the door. "May I come in?" asked a delicate female voice. It was Guinevere.

"Guinevere," David said, not a hair above his normal speaking voice. It was too controlled, I knew that voice. He was pissed. "I have had a lot of respect for you in the past, but this is the last straw. If you and your people are not out of Michigan in one hour, I am personally ripping you all to pieces."

"David," I chided between coughs. I guess the anger and aggression runs on the family. "Give us a minute," I said to Guinevere. "This isn't her fault, not completely."

"You are being too kind." He kissed my cheek and wrapped a towel around me. I sunk back onto the bed as David opened the door and leaned my good side against the headboard. "You have one minute. Do not upset her." He settled himself near her, within an arm's reach. He was ready to pounce, if necessary.

She waited until after I had finished coughing to speak. "I came to apologize to you, Ms. McIntosh."

"OK," I said weakly.

"The men who neglected you are being punished."

"OK," I said again.

"Do you accept the apology of the Council?" she asked. She looked somewhat…not quite worried, but anxious.

I smiled as sweetly as I could. "First of all, you haven't actually apologized yet. Secondly, not a snowball's chance in hell."

David smiled down at me before seething at the small woman. "Start running, Guin." She disappeared quickly. I got back up to my feet and sighed. "What's wrong?" David asked, quickly at my side, hovering.

"I just don't feel good," I said. I was exhausted but couldn't sleep, my chest and my throat hurt, as did the rest of my body.

"What can I do for you?" he asked as he lifted me off the floor. I let him have me. It was kind of nice to not have to do anything for myself. "It isn't dead flu again, is it?"

"No, I don't think so, just the regular flu." For someone in my line of work, bacterial infections are fairly rare. I was exposed to so many of them on a daily basis that my immune system just was too strong for that. Viral infections, on the other hand, I was susceptible to. He stripped me of my towel and gently set me in a giant Jacuzzi tub filled to the brim with hot water. "Just stay and help me." He grabbed a bar of soap and my hand and started lathering my body. I closed my eyes and let him wash me. When he was done cleaning every inch of my body, he cupped the back of my head and dipped the back of my head under water. I sighed again, happily this time, as he lathered shampoo in my hair and rinsed. "Shampoo again, please." I just wanted him to massage my head; it felt so good. Silently, he obliged, focusing more of his attention at rubbing the tension out of my scalp than actually cleaning my long hair. After rinsing my hair out again, he conditioned, then drained the tub. "Hey, I'm not done."

"I am just draining the dirty water. I'll fill it back up." True to his word, as soon as all the dirty water was gone and I was shivering in the empty tub, he turned the hot water back on. I wasn't sitting there, enjoying my vision-free bath for more than five minutes before Emma knocked on the bathroom door.

"Sloane, honey, are you in there?"

All I could do was nod in response, so David answered. "She is, sister."

"It is important I get some fluids in her."

"Give us a minute," he answered. "Ready?" I nodded yes after coughing. He drained the water, letting the water level get quite low before lifting me free of the water. All of the sudden, I was really light headed. I closed my eyes while the vertigo passed.

"I brought her some clothes," Emma said as David laid me on the bed.

With difficulty, I pushed myself into a sitting position. "I can dress myself," I said as I shoved my arms through the armholes of the nightgown. Actually, I think negligee is a better term for what I was now wearing. A white silk negligee that barely went to mid-thigh. Subtle. After pulling the panties on myself, David lifted me free of the bed again and pulled back the covers, sliding me in gently.

"Are you hungry, dear?" she asked.

Ugh, I didn't think I could look at another bag of fast food without throwing up. "No," I said as I made a face. She gave me a disapproving look before producing two bottles of water from her infamous black bag. "Drink."

I handed one bottle straight off to David. I was down a hand and shoving a cold bottle of water between my thighs to get some leverage on it wasn't high on my list without pants on. It was obvious he didn't know what my thinking was. "Open it, please," I said as I showed him my broken hand.

He opened it and I quickly sucked the entire thing down. "How are you feeling?" Emma asked.

"Exactly how you think I'd feel after being beaten then stuck in a box with the flu for a week," I answered as I curled into the bed. It was a very, very comfortable bed. "Did Cian find my car?" I asked after a cough and a yawn.

My eyes shut involuntarily. "He did," David answered. I could feel the bed indent as David crawled in with me, his hard body pressed against my back. He snaked one arm underneath my body and wrapped it around my torso, followed by his other arm around my waist.

He waited maybe two minutes. "Now, sister," he whispered.

A cold hand wrapped itself around my wrist and gently pulled my good arm taut. I knew where this was going: needles. I protested as much as I could, but I was too tired. All I could manage was a simple groan as I felt a cold prick in my skin. Even on the verge of unconsciousness, the mere presence of needles was enough to make me feel weak and lightheaded (even more than I was). My breathing quickened as a small panic attack manifested. My pulse skyrocketed. "Oh, listen to her heart beat," Emma said. "I do not think she's asleep yet, brother."

"Neither do I," David said.

"There," Emma said after some rustling. "She will be soon." And almost immediately, I fell under.

.

I woke up in exactly the same position I feel asleep in, and I was incredibly groggy. David hadn't moved, either. I could still feel him at my back, his arms were still wrapped around me.

I remembered what made my pulse skyrocket before I passed out; the IV was still stuck in my arm. "Oh," I said as I closed my eyes again. "Pull it out."

"But I'm not in you yet," smoldered a smooth British accent in my ear. My body went stiff as my pulse shot even higher. That wasn't David. When a very cold hand snaked its way up my thigh, I shot out of bed.

"What the hell were you doing?" I asked Cian as I covered the needle in my arm. _I'm not going to look at it, I'm not going to look at it, I'm not going to look at it…if I don't look at it, it's not there_.

"Spooning," Cian answered as he leaned back, making sure to show me a set of tight abs. "You didn't seem to mind last time."

"That was different, I was clothed, and you asked first, in your weird way." I was starting to get that numb, tingly feeling in my fingers. "David's going to kill you, where is he?"

"Working."

That was disappointing. I wanted David to whoop him. "Well," I said as I showed him my arm. "Pull it out."

He pulled me down on the bed with him. I sat with my back to him as he straddled behind me. He dipped his head until lips were on my neck. "Is it often you fall asleep in the arms of one man, and awake in the arms of another?" he whispered.

"Dammit, Cian," I said. Fury boiled over in me. "I don't know what you're after, but you're not going to get it, so you need to back off and give me some personal space. Now pull the needle the fuck out!"

"What needle?" he whispered into my ear. I was sure that if I heard the word needle one more time, I was going to lose it. I looked down to the offending instrument, but it wasn't there.

"Hey," I said, amazed. I looked around, but couldn't find it. It's like it never existed in the first place.

"I see you are back to your feisty self," he said as he worked his hands down my arms. I noticed how he was lingering as he pressed himself up against me. I had a feeling I knew exactly what he wanted; I could feel it pressed up against my back. "Just the way I like you."

"Oh, come on," I said as I rolled my eyes and shot back up to my feet. I had to admit, he felt good back there. "Get the hell out of here," I said as I pointed toward the door.

"I am supposed to stay with you in case you need anything." God, he was obnoxious. "Do you need anything?"

"You to leave." I was half way to the bed to literally kick him out when a vision hit. "Oh," I said, surprised. I was seeing through myself in the not-too-distant future.

Sydney was standing in front of me, tearing up. "Pony, you look great!" she said.

"Thanks," I mumbled in my vision.

As she stepped to the side, she said, "I never thought I'd see the day." It wasn't until I looked into the mirror right in front of me that I knew what was going on. I was wearing a long, beautiful silk wedding gown. My hair was up in a messy ponytail and I wasn't wearing any makeup. I focused on the scenery behind me to try and get a grasp of where I was. Dozens upon dozens of wedding gowns hung on racks. Posters with anorexic-thin women in designer gowns were tacked up on the wall.

An older woman with strawberry blond hair was standing behind me, tape measure around her neck. "This dress was made for you," she said.

A whole different kind of surprise covered my face as the vision faded. "Oh," I said again, this time in disbelief more than surprise. "That's re-fucking-diculous. That's never going to happen."

Cian hadn't moved an inch, his legs still spread wide around where I had been sitting. "I take it that was a vision?" I nodded as I tried to work out alternate possibilities in my head. I tried, but failed to even think of one. "Of?"

"I was trying on wedding dresses."

"And why is that 're-fucking-diculous'?" he asked. He still hadn't moved, so neither had I.

"Because I'm never getting married. I can't."

"And why not?" he asked.

His question was so outrageous to me, I actually laughed aloud. "Who would I marry?" I asked as my giggles died down. "There aren't a whole lot of options out there for accident-prone, psychic kid geniuses."

"And why not?" he asked again.

"Well, Dr. Freud, because I have what I like to call baggage. Who would want to marry me?"

"I would," he answered. He dropped to one knee, and with a fangy smile, asked, "Will you marry me?"

"Shut up," I answered.

"Perhaps you only think no one would marry you because it makes the idea of committing to a long-term relationship less frightening."

I glared at him. "One more word out of you, Sigmund, and I'm…calling David." That was a weak threat, but I wasn't quite feeling up to kicking the shit out of him yet. I was feeling better, but not _that_ much better. "Can I see your phone? Or better yet, do you know where my phone is?" He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he stood from his kneeling position. He handed it to me as he locked his lips shut and threw away the key. I rolled my eyes and crawled back into bed.

My first call was to Sydney. "Hello, this is Sydney Mets," she answered.

"Hey, Hun," I said.

"Sloane! When are you coming home?"

I looked up to Cian, who just shrugged. "I don't know, Emma won't let me leave until she's 100% sure I'm healthy."

Wrong answer. "What's wrong? Are you OK?"

"I have the flu, Hun, I'm fine."

"I have so many questions," Sydney said quickly. "Where are you now? Where were you for the past week? What was Emma talking about, punished?"

"That's a lot of questions," I said, stalling. "And I can only really answer two of them. I am at now and have been for the past week at Emma and Lee's place. As for the punishment thing, I'm not sure I really understand it all."

"Where is Emma and Lee's place?"

"Uh…" I said as I looked up at Cian. He was smirking. "What the address here?" I asked him. He just locked his lips again and shrugged like a smartass. I hate him right now. I stuck my tongue out at him. "Cian's not answering me." I gave her pseudo-directions, using major landmarks as guide points instead of street names. "It's the last house on the street. It's huge, you can't miss it. Just say you're here to see me."

"OK, see you soon," she answered before hanging up.

"I hate you right now," I said to Cian as I dialed Moose's number from heart. "Hey Moose," I said as I heard him pick up the phone.

"Mac?" he answered. "Whose phone are you using?"

"No one important," I said as I glared at Cian. "What's up?"

"Oh, nice try," he said. Damn, I thought that might work. "What the hell is going on?"

"Not quite sure. If you haven't noticed, I've been excommunicato for the last week."

"Where are you?"

"Emma and Lee's," I answered.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Emma and Lee's."

"Why?"

I rolled my eyes as I curled farther into the bed. I gave Cian the stink eye as he moved to climb in with me. 'Out' I mouthed to him. He shook his head no. He did refrain from crawling in bed with me, though. "Some vampire thing. But listen, I had some plates in the incubator last week, did you pull those out?"

"Yea, I counted and froze the colonies for you, but you're not really answering the question."

I kicked my feet in a small temper tantrum. "I know. All I know is that someone had to take the fall for killing Filipe, and it was me, so I got a week-long vacation."

"A vacation?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yes," I said defensively. "I didn't say it was a good vacation."

"Mac…" If ever there was a warning.

"Sorry, Moose, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow, maybe." I hung up before he could fight me on it. Cian was glaring at me questioningly. "Don't look at me like that," I said. For the next number, I scrolled through Cian's address book. I dialed the number under 'King O'Hara'.

"What, O'Smythe?" David answered shortly.

"Are you responsible for leaving the town idiot in bed with me, or should I beat him senseless?" I asked.

"Sloane, you are awake," he said, pleasantly surprised. "What is this about Cian in my bed?"

It was my turn to smirk at Cian, who was very unhappy with me at the moment. "So you didn't tell him he could snuggle up with me when you left?"

"I certainly did not," David answered. "'Snuggle up' how?"

"Exactly where you were when Emma knocked me out." Oh, Cian was angry, and maybe a bit frightened. Good, a good scare will do him good.

"I am coming to deal with him now," he said.

"Don't worry about it, I can handle him," I said as I smiled sweetly at Cian. "But when you do get here, we need to talk."

"Indeed we do. I will be there within the hour." I hung up and tossed Cian's phone onto the bedside table.

"You said you would not call O'Hara if I didn't say another word, and I didn't! You lied!" Cian said as he crawled onto the bed so he could loom over me. I rolled onto my back to give myself use of both of my hands.

"Oh, not true. I said that if you did say something else, I would call him. I never specifically said that if you _didn't_ say anything, I _wouldn't_ call David, you inferred that. Check and mate." I was mighty pleased with myself. I pushed my hands against his shoulder, pushing him away from me. "You can go now."

He grabbed my wrists and held them against the bed near my head. "Not quite checkmate. Now I have nothing to fear, I may as well milk this for all I can before O'Hara comes to punish me." A second of pure fear rushed through me as his fangs popped down.

"You better…" I managed to say before he dropped his head and kissed me. Oh, God, he was good at this. I was momentarily stunned as he worked his magic, his tongue probing in and out of my mouth. I may have moaned in pleasure just a touch as every muscle in my body melted. It really had been too long since I'd gotten any if I was letting Cian kiss me like this. He let one of my hands go to cup my face as he kissed me, but I couldn't muster it in myself to try and push him away. In fact, I was pretty sure my body was responding without my permission, kissing him back passionately.

I moaned again as he moved to kiss my clavicle, spending a bit of his time where I'm sure he'd like to leave puncture marks. "Oh, David's going to kill you," I said as I let him kiss me. I moved my head to better present my neck to him.

"Worth it," he said into my neck as he let my other hand go. I reached up and gripped his bare shoulder.

"He might take your fangs," I said before gasping in pleasure. He was pulling the blanket down, exposing more and more of the barely-decent negligee.

"Worth it," he answered again from the top of my cleavage.

"He might put _you_ in silver for a week," I said as he pulled the spaghetti strap off my shoulder and nudged the negligee down a bit farther. Truthfully, I'm not sure I wanted him to stop. I was sure my body didn't want him to stop.

"Worth every second."

"Especially since we're in his bed."

He stopped to loom over my face again, stealing a glance southward to look at his damage. He was teasing me, holding himself just far enough above me so that we weren't touching. Just barely, though. I could feel his cool breath on my lips as he spoke. "Doesn't that make it more exciting?"

"I don't think he'll see it that way." When he leaned down and kissed me, I kissed him back again and gripped his forearm as hard as I could with my broken, wrapped hand. He was _strong_. "You better stop."

He kissed me again. So much for stopping. "You are giving me some mixed signals."

"So I am," I said after his kissed me again.

He continued to kiss me, and I continued to be putty in his hands until he pulled back suddenly. "Someone is here for you," he said as he hopped off the bed and perched himself on the tufted bench on the other side of the room. I blushed as I covered myself back up with the blanket. I couldn't believe I just let that happen.

"Pony?" Sydney said as she knocked on the door.

"Yea, Syd," I said as pulled the blanket up to my ears. _Never again_, I told myself. _Next time I need to get some, I'll go to the bar and take some drunk human home, like everyone else_.

"Hi!" she said as she sat a reusable Meijer bag on the floor next to the bed. She leaned down and gave me a tight hug. "Oh, I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Hun."

Cian cleared his throat. "Oh," Sydney said as she whipped to face him. "I thought you were the Devil, but you're OK." She started to pull things from her bag of goodies. "I made you soup," she said as she handed me a small Tupperware container and a spoon. "And some special tea," she said as she handed me a to-go mug.

"Thanks," I said as I took a sip of the tea. Perfect.


	87. Chapter 87

I had finished most of my soup and was working on the tea when David barged through the door. "Humph," Sydney said as she sat next to me on the bed. She didn't even put her book down.

He ignored her completely. "O'Smythe," David seethed. "Explain yourself."

Cian glared at me. I smirked at him. "Calm down, David," I said with a giant smile on my face. "I handled it. He's very sorry, isn't he?" I said as I smirked at Cian.

"I am," he answered. This was killing him, I could tell.

"And he's learned his lesson, hasn't he?"

"I have," he said. His fangs came down as he glared at me.

"And he's not going to do it again, is he?" I said like I was disciplining a small child. God, I think I loved this.

"Not without permission, no."

"Good. See, David? He's trainable after all." I leaned back against Sydney's shoulder, where I had been before David barged in and Sydney started reading to me again. It was a trashy romance novel (which Cian was getting a kick out of, sending me sultry looks every once in a while).

Sydney only got another few sentences before David spoke again. "What is she doing here?" he asked me.

"Reading to me." That didn't seem to be enough of an answer. "Emma said I couldn't go home, so she came to me. You did this to yourself."

Speaking of Emma, she gracefully slid through the door. The first thing she did was check out the mostly empty Tupperware container. "Good, you ate. And good evening, Sydney," she said with a genuine smile on her face. Emma and Sydney had made up since the Maryland trip and were again on speaking terms. David and Sydney had not made it that far yet.

"Hi Emma. How are you?" Sydney matched Emma's smile as she marked her place with her pointer finger and closed the book.

"Much better, now that I have Sloane and my brother back. How are you?" Emma asked Sydney as she checked my blood pressure.

"I'm fine," I mumbled as I shooed her away gently.

"Much the same, minus the brother part." Sydney winked down to me. "Care to join us? I was reading a trashy novel to Sloane."

"Can she not read herself?" Emma asked, part concerned and part perplexed.

"Of course I could read," I said to Emma. "It's how we make each other feel better when we're sick. We read to each other."

"Oh," Emma said. She circled the bed and propped herself up against the headboard on the other side of Sydney. "Go on."

Sydney started reading again. As a nanny, she could do this for hours; long past when my throat would get sore and hoarse. She paused momentarily as David leaned down and kissed my hair before towing Cian out of the room. Cian was about to protest before he thought better of it and followed his King out of the room, shutting the door on his way out. "What was that all about?" Sydney asked as she eyed me.

"What?" I asked. "Oh, David being mad at Cian?" I could laugh about it now that I had gotten my revenge, and I did, lightly. "When I woke up, Cian was in bed with me, so I put the fear into him."

"By what? Telling the Devil? No offense, Emma," Sydney said. Emma didn't make a move, not even acknowledging Sydney said anything at all.

"Yup. It worked, too." I giggled again. "Almost too well."

"I wondered what upset David so much," Emma said. "You do smell like Cian, now that I think about it." I could feel the heat rush to my face as I blushed. At least I had a good reason to smell like him. I was never, ever going to tell anyone that we made out. Nope, never. "He must have been very close to you. You smell more like him than yourself."

"Exactly where David was when you knocked me out," I answered. "He scared the shit out of me; I thought he was David until he spoke."

"Hmm," Emma said. "I should go make sure Cian still lives," Ema said as she scooted out of the bed. "David does have a temper."

"We know," Sydney and I said at the same time. A slight twang of fear and regret pulsed through my body as I remembered his temper. His very painful temper.

"Of course," Emma said as she dropped her head. "Get some rest, Sloane." She closed the door behind her as I yawned.

"So are you going to tell me what happened, now that we're alone?" Sydney asked. She dog-eared her page before tossing the paperback onto the bedside table.

I sighed before explaining everything (the PG version only, of course). "There, that's all I know."

She was momentarily shocked. "That doesn't make any sense, though." I shrugged. I kind of agreed. "I thought Eric killed deCastro?"

"Yea," I answered.

"But you said you did?" she asked.

"Yea," I answered again. "Sookie was dealing with a lot last week, no need to pile an absent Eric on top of that."

"So you took his punishment." Oh, she wasn't happy with me. Obviously, she didn't think that was appropriate.

"Yea."

"Wait," Sydney said, finally remembering something. "Can you still hear thoughts?"

"No," I answered. "Back to visions."

"Phew," she said. "Good."

"I guess," I mumbled. I'd much rather be normal, but I'd settle for seeing the future over hearing thoughts. At least I knew how to deal with the visions; I didn't think I could handle learning a whole new disability.

"Well," she said as she hopped off the bed. "I have to get some sleep before working tomorrow. When will you be home? It feels so empty; you haven't been there in over a week."

"Wait," I said. "_Over_ a week?"

"Yea," she answered as she packed up the empty Tupperware container and travel mug in the bag again. "Eight days."

"Uh oh, I lost a day somewhere." I could have easily lost track during my imprisonment, but I doubted Emma would allow the Council to keep David and me chained up even 5 minutes longer than intended. So that left either before or after my imprisonment.

Sydney shrugged. "Tomorrow, maybe? Will you be home tomorrow?"

"Sure," I said. "I'll try." She gave me one last hug before disappearing out the door.

Alone again. I rolled out of bed and started to explore. First, I opened the drawer in the bedside table. Nothing but a pad of paper and a pencil. Boring. Next, I opened the armoire opposite the giant bed. A flat screen TV with remote was on top of three drawers. I opened the top drawer: plenty of men's sweaters. In the next drawer down were several pairs of men's pants. Below the pants was a drawer of boxers and socks. Damn, I was really hoping for something I could wear.

Next, I walked back into the bathroom. After tending to my business, I opened the linen closet. Bingo; a full length robe. After sliding it on, it was obvious the robe was made for a larger man. I rolled the cuffs up until I could at least see the tips of my fingers then cinched the belt around my waist. The bottom of the robe just barely brushed against the tile floor as I walked.

Time to explore some more, outside of this room. I opened the door and walked onto the, well, I guess I'd call it an indoor terrace. I looked up and down the long hallway before peaking over the wooden railing down to the floor below. It's like the entire place was empty. "Hello?" I said rather loudly.

Idi peaked his head through a door on the ground floor. "Good evening, Miss Sloane. I am glad to see you are feeling better."

"Thanks, Idi," I said. "Do you know where I can get some clothes?"

He half bowed, half nodded before looking back up at me. "I will bring you some."

"Thanks," I said.

"No need," David said as he emerged from another door down the hall. He handed me a small pile of denim and cotton. "But thank you, Idi."

"We need to talk," I said quietly. He quietly ushered me into the same room I had been in and shut the door behind us. "Sit," I said.

He followed directions as I shut myself in the bathroom and got changed into the new clothes he'd given me. When I reemerged, David was lounging comfortably on the bed. I took the tufted bench. "Look, David…" I started. I wasn't sure how I was going to say what I wanted to say. "We need to reestablish some rules."

"Ah yes, your rules. Which one of your rules have I broken now?" He asked.

I shot him a look. "You just curled yourself around me as if we were dating! We're not dating, David. You can't do that stuff without asking first."

"I am not allowed to sleep in my own bed?" he asked quite honestly.

I sighed in frustration. "Of course," I said. I dropped my head into my unwrapped hand. "Do you at least see why I'm upset with you?"

"I do, and I apologize." He moved off the bed and sat next to me on the bench.

I leaned back and rested my head against the wall. "I seriously think that Cian only does it because you get away with it."

"That is not at all why he does these things," David said.

"Oh yea?" I asked, skeptical.

"He did not follow you all the way from London because you let me hold you when you are hurting." I glanced over at him, he was smirking sadly. "Although I wish you would let me hold you more often."

"Don't start," I warned.

He nodded; we sat in silence for several minutes before he spoke again. He smirked again, this time more amused than anything else. "He told me he finally got you to snog with him."

I shrugged. This was all getting to be a touch more than I could handle at the moment. "I don't even know what that means."

"Make out," he answered.

I sighed and dropped my head back into my hand. "Stupid," I said to myself. I figured I didn't need to actually admit to anything, David knew how I felt about it. He probably knew better than I knew. I let out another deep, final sigh as I got to my feet. "What's today?"

"The twentieth," David answered.

"Shit," I answered. I slid my feet into my old sandals, which were sitting by the bathroom door, and went to leave the room. "I lost a day somewhere, I'm still sore from being beaten to hell, I have to figure out how to explain a week-long hiatus to my boss and coworkers somehow, _and_ I missed his birthday."

David followed me onto the terrace as I glanced both ways. I didn't know how to get out of here. "Whose birthday?"

I ignored his question. I'm not sure he'd understand. "Where's my car?"

"Cian dropped it off at your home."

"Great," I said sarcastically. "Will you drive me home?"

"Anything for you," he answered as he pointed me in the right direction.

"Thanks," I said, sincerely this time. "Do you know where my purse and phone are?" I asked as I walked in the direction he pointed me.

"Your phone, no. Your purse is downstairs." I nodded as I dropped back behind him, following him down a flight of stairs. I got equal nods of acknowledgement from Idi and Idriis, still manning the front door. "Friends," David said to the two massive statues as he passed.

"My King," they responded in unison. _Aww, how cute_, I thought sarcastically.

David swiped something off a front table and handed it to me: my purse. "Thanks," I mumbled. I checked inside; my keys were in it. That was a bonus.

"I forgot to ask," David said as he held the passenger side door of his fabulous Mercedes open for me. "How are you feeling?"

I looked up at him as I sat in the comfortable leather bucket seat. "Do you actually have to ask?" I asked, actually curious.

"Not always, but right now I do." He answered before gently shutting the door.

I waited for him to climb into the driver's side at vampire speed before I answered. "I feel suspiciously better. It hurts a bit to walk, my whole body's sore, and I haven't really tried using my hand yet, but I don't feel like I am dying of the plague anymore."

"That's good," he answered as he pulled away.

I waited until we were about halfway to my house before I spoke. "Is Emma going to be mad at you for taking me home?" I didn't want to say anything too soon in fear that he'd remember all about it and turn around, taking me back to the O'Hara complex.

"Perhaps," he answered lightly. "I will handle her for you."

"Thanks," I said again. He was really making an effort to be everything I needed him to be, do everything I needed him to do. True to his word, he was trying to make last week up to me, in his own way. I turned the seat heater on and curled into the comfort of the warm leather seat.

"Are you still cold?" David asked, concern on his face.

"No," I answered mid-contented smile. Sure, it was the middle of August, which in Michigan can be downright unbearably hot and muggy to most people, but I wasn't one of them. I could never get too much heat. I'd happily take a blanket right now, if offered one.

He waited patiently until he pulled into my driveway to ask a question that I'm sure was just eating at him the entire drive home. "What are your plans for the night?"

I unlocked the door and pushed it open. "I'm going to visit an old friend."

.

I drove to East Lawn Memorial Cemetery after poking my head in the house. All lights were off, the house was dead silent. I took that as a sign that Sydney was asleep already. I decided not to wake her, leaving without so much as setting a foot inside the house.

I drove through the quiet streets of Okemos as the clock on my dash read midnight. I wasn't expecting any company at this time of night (except AJ, of course), but when I drove up to the small parking lot for cemetery guests, there was one other car parked there. I left my purse in the car, only taking my keys with me.

It was a quick, easy walk to AJ's grave from where I parked. Even though there was only the light of the half moon, I managed to head straight for it without tripping even once. I knew this route. Once I got close, however, I found the owner of the other car in the lot. A small candle was flickering at my end destination, I just couldn't tell who was holding it. It wasn't until I was practically on top of her that I realized it was AJ's older sister. "Caroline?" I said as I tried to pull out her features in the dim candle light. From what I could tell, her hair, naturally a warm golden brown, was dyed much darker. Her light blue eyes were rimmed in just a bit too much eyeliner, which matched the thick liner on her lips. I couldn't quite tell what she was wearing, but whatever it was, it was dark colored.

"Jesus," she said as she jumped. "Who is that?" She held the candle out toward my voice, trying to see who was talking to her.

"Sloane," I answered, a bit sheepishly. It had been a bit under a decade, but I still felt horribly guilty around his family. "What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I just got back into town this afternoon," she said. That didn't quite answer my question, but I wasn't one to judge. "Uh, I guess I was just leaving."

"Oh, no, stay as long as you like." After all, it was her brother. "I'll wait over there 'til you're done," I said as I pointed over off in the distance.

"No, I should get back home." She blew out the candle and put it on top of his headstone. "Oh, did you want the candle?"

"No, thanks," I said. "Eyes like a cat."

"OK. Take care," she said sadly. She sounded how I felt. I folded myself painfully onto the ground Indian-style as she walked away. As soon as the tail lights of her car disappeared into the distance, I leaned against the headstone.

"Hey AJ," I said quietly. "It's been a big year." I started from the beginning, therapeutically running through everything that had happened that year. The vision that started it all, David, Simon, Maryland, the Fae, Filipe and Victor, London, all the way up to the Council. I held nothing back; there was no censoring on my part. I guess when I really thought about it, it wasn't Sydney that knew the most about me, it was AJ.

It took what felt like hours, but I got it all out. And, as usual, tears were threatening to fall as I finished. "I wish you were here," I whispered after a deep breath to hold them all in. "You could tell me what to do." I sat in silence as the tears finally fell and wrapped my arms around my legs. I hadn't quite dressed for this; it was starting to get a touch chilly. I curled up against the headstone, leaning my good shoulder against the cold granite. I rested my chin between my knees and wiped the last of the tears away.

For some reason, I didn't jump when the iridescently white body emerged from the tree line. I just waited and watched to see who David had sent to check up on me. Of course it was Cian again. I guess I was secretly hoping it was someone more the strong, silent type, but alas, Idi's ebony skin wouldn't have shone like Cian's did. "Who is Alan James?" he asked.

"AJ was a friend of mine," I answered.

He shrugged out of a dark colored fleece sweater and wrapped it around my shoulders. "You cared for him?" he asked, less as a true question and more as a conversation starter.

"Yea," I said. "I was the dorky kid two grades too smart in high school, but he was nice to me anyway. And I killed him."

"I doubt that deeply. You don't have it in you to kill." He was so sure of that. It was like he was telling me that grass is green or the sky is blue.

I let his comment go as I sat with AJ. "I missed his birthday."

"I heard." Of course, once I got AJ up to date, I explained why I was three days late on coming to see him.

"How much did you hear?" I shivered lightly as a cold breeze blew through. It smelled and felt like a thunderstorm was coming and the sudden temperature drop confirmed it.

"Everything." Well, at least he was honest. "You were not surprised to see me."

"No, not really," I answered. "I'm just surprised David didn't come himself."

"Why would King O'Hara come? Did he know AJ?"

"No," I said, finally surprised. "David didn't send you?"

"No. In fact, he ordered me to stay away from you for the time being."

I rolled my eyes. Not that I couldn't use some vampire alone time, but forbidding contact with me was just a touch high handed. And kind of sweet. "So then why are you here?"

He avoided the question. "It is about to rain."

"I know," I answered. I raised my wrist to show him the long scar where the pins had been inserted. "I can feel it."

"In your hand?"

"My wrist," I corrected. "The pins ache when the air pressure changes, like when it thunderstorms."

I waited until he spoke again, which took some time. "I don't understand; I assume it is a human thing. Can I drive you home?"

"No thanks, I'm going to stay a bit longer. You're welcome to go if you want, though." He didn't say anything, he just folded himself next to me. I guess he was staying.

.

I waited another half an hour, maybe a little longer, before I tried to stand. "Oh," I said as a twinge ran from my knee to hip. I braced myself against AJ's headstone and pushed myself to my feet. "OK," I said when I was finally up. I took two steps toward where the car should be before the skies opened up and just dumped water down in sheets.

I stopped walking and looked up towards the heavens. "Ha!" I said as raised my hands up. I always felt emotionally lighter after talking to AJ, like everything was going to be OK. Even now, I couldn't care less that it was raining. I actually loved it.

That was not the right answer in Cian's book. I gasped as he threw me over his shoulder, nudging a few bruised and broken ribs in the process. "You're no fun," I said as he put me down just outside the passenger door of my own car. What is it with vampires and refusing to just go along with the ride? Do they _always_ have to be driving?

"Where are the keys?" he asked after trying the door. I'd locked it before I left my purse in there, obviously.

I was feeling playful in the rain. "Come get it," I said as I backed away from him. A devious grin covered his face as his fangs popped down to play. I turned and bolted. OK, I wasn't moving very fast, but Cian seemed game to play. He chased after me at the same pace I was moving as I giggled. Just as I felt myself trip over a low-lying headstone, Cian lifted me into the air. I let out a playful scream.

He pinned me up against the side of a ten foot tall pillar that mimicked the Washington Monument. "Let's see…" he said as his hands roamed over my breasts. He dipped his fingers down into my cleavage. "Not in there."

"Nope," I said after a giggle.

Next, he rolled his hands down my sides before cupping his hands underneath my butt. "Oh, what is this?" he said as he felt the perimeter of the key fob in my back pocket. He reached his fingers into my back pocket. "There it is."

"Hey!" I protested lightly as he threw me back over his shoulder, gentler this time. He set me back down right where I had been, just outside my passenger door and I squeegeed out my now soaked hair. "No fun," I repeated and slid into the dry car. Seconds later, he was in the driver's seat and we were pulling away.

.

I wasn't giddy as I had been when the rain started, but I was content, happy even, as Cian pulled into my driveway. I yawned; it was well into the 4 o'clock hour. "Goodnight," I said as Cian walked me to my door.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked while looming over me.

I reached up and pulled his head down so I could kiss him on the cheek. "Goodnight." With that, I closed the door (with him on the other side) and went up to bed.


	88. Chapter 88

Ah, sweet peace. Cian finally took David's edict to heart and left me alone for five wonderful (OK, busy) nights, as did the rest of the vampire population. Even when I did finally see Cian, it wasn't because he was there to babysit me (which irks me to no end) or to try and get into my pants again. Instead, he needed my help.

"Excuse me, future Mrs. O'Smythe," he said from the doorway. Moose and I were working side by side on the lab bench closest to the door. Moose had been beyond pissed at me when I got back to lab the afternoon after my mini vacation, but he had come around, even apologized for yelling at me. Again.

Our backs were to Cian and I didn't turn around. I knew that voice. "Is this your way of saying we aren't getting married?" he asked when I didn't answer.

"Something like that," I answered. Moose smirked.

Cian approached, leaning against the lab bench next to me. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Moose, Cian, Cian, Moose," I said quickly. "Hand me the hundred microliter tips," I said to Moose.

Moose handed me the small blue box. "This the fanger from London?" Moose asked.

I sighed, only to hide a smirk. Moose's disrespect was wearing on Cian. "Unfortunately."

"Hm," Moose harrumphed.

"Why are you here?" I asked Cian. He had a pile of papers in his hand, which I nodded to.

"Ah, yes," he said as if he had completely forgotten. "I need to make copies."

"OK," I answered, still not quite sure what he was doing _here_. "There's a copy machine one floor down, room 2245, I think."

"I know, I need someone to teach me to use it."

"Alright," I said as I pulled my pair of gloves off. I had unwrapped my hand, which only made it hurt more, and I grimaced as I pulled my fingers into a fist. "I'll be back in a sec," I said to Moose.

"You sure?" Moose asked. Something was obviously telling Moose not to trust Cian.

I eyed Moose suspiciously. "Yea," I said cautiously. After another short look to Moose, I followed Cian out of the room. "Do you have a code?"

"Code?" Cian asked.

"You need a four-digit code to make copies."

"I do not," he said as he followed me down the stairs. I was still limping slightly when it came to stairs.

"Alright," I said again. "You can use mine for now." After swiping my ID card to let us into the room, I turned on the lights. "Press the green button to wake it up," I said. He followed my directions like an old pro, but somehow, I was having a hard time seeing Cian doing any clerical work what-so-ever. In fact, I was having trouble seeing him teaching. Maybe I'd have to sit in on one of his classes, just to see the spectacle for myself. I typed in my code and let him figure it out for himself.

"Moose cares for you deeply," he said as he made 100 copies of a worksheet.

"Yea, he's a good friend." I carefully pushed myself up so I could sit on the countertop in the center of the room used for putting together mailings.

"He wishes it were more."

I wasn't quite sure what to say to that. I knew that, of course, but having Cian know it was a little awkward. Finally, I decided on, "You're perceptive."

"With most people, yes. You, on the other hand, are quite different." He pulled the first set of copies out and started with another 100 copies of something else. "You two dated?"

"Yea," I answered. To be honest, I kind of missed dating him. It wasn't the love or the sex or anything like that (OK, right now, maybe the sex), but more how easy it was. He was so easy to be with.

"Why did you break up?" he asked. I looked up to his face to gauge his facial expressions. His face was completely blank, until I looked up, that is. Then a sly grin covered his face. "I don't want to make his mistakes."

I rolled my eyes at him before dropping my gaze again. "It just wasn't fair to him for me to pull him into all of my shit."

"What is it I'm detecting? Regret for a failed relationship?" he asked as he leaned against the countertop next to me. In my sitting position, I was at eye level with him.

"Not quite," I answered. I think what he was detecting was my roaring libido. I wasn't regretting a failed relationship, I was regretting the fact I couldn't just jump one of them and get it all out of my system. _Why not?_ I asked myself as I looked into Cian's cobalt blue eyes. Gold flecks rimmed the outside of his eyes, which were accented by long black eyelashes. If he were a woman (or, these days, I guess some men, too), he would save a fortune in mascara.

"I'm confident I am now detecting lust, Sloane McIntosh," he said, slightly surprised. "Do you want me?" He turned to face me, placing one hand on the countertop on either side of me.

"I want something," I mumbled as I looked down, blushing. _I'm not going to jump Cian_, I promised myself. To make it easier, I pushed him away so I could jump down off the countertop to get away from the tension. Thankfully, he grabbed either side of my waist and gently set me on the floor. I hadn't thought about how that move would have felt on my still healing knee and hip. "Press the 'log off' button as soon as you're done," I said as I backed away, towards the door.

Cian followed me like a true predator. "You can't get rid of me that easily, Cupcake."

"Finish your copies," I said as I felt behind me for the door handle. I should be almost there…

Pain ripped through the base of my neck; before I knew what was happening, I yelped. It felt like I was being attacked by a shark. In a split second, Cian had lifted me back up onto the countertop. He didn't say anything, he just watched me, concerned look in his eyes. I felt the offending area; when I pulled my hand back, there wasn't anything there, even though I could feel blood trickling down my neck. I could also feel myself getting weaker and weaker by the millisecond.

I knew this feeling. "It's a vision," I said weakly as I braced my unbroken hand against Cian's chest. I was having a hard time keeping my body upright.

"What did you see?" he asked, concern now in his voice. My head drooped, I was losing consciousness. "Your heartbeat is slowing," he said as he lifted my head to look me in the eye again. Too bad I couldn't open them. I could barely hear him; I couldn't tell if I was sitting, standing, or laying down. I was in the airy place between life and the afterlife. I knew this because I've been there before. So, I let the airiness take me. As soon as I let go, everything fell away.

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I needed to finish this up soon; I had a date tonight. I was hesitant to tell Mac about it, I wasn't sure if it was going to be awkward or not. One of the new PhD students in the cell biology program and I were going to the midnight showing of that new superhero movie. That's why I was rushing to finish up when the door burst open.

Mac was limp in the new guy's arms. "Her heart's not beating," he said as he quickly but gently set her down on the countertop next to my experiment.

"What happened?" I asked as I set the pipette down and pulled my gloves off. I felt for a pulse; there was none. I dropped my ear to her chest, but I couldn't hear her breathing. Finally, I looked over her body quickly for some explanation as to what was going on. Other than the fact she was technically dead, she looked the same as when she left. Discretely, I felt her neck. There was no obvious damage; the new guy hadn't snapped her neck or anything.

"She was leaving and she cried out in pain. I caught her before she fell to the floor and set her on the countertop, then her heart stopped and she went limp." He was hovering closely behind me.

"She didn't say anything?" I asked. I pulled up one eyelid; no response.

"She said something about a vision. I asked her what she saw, but she didn't answer." He pushed me out of the way and gently cupped her face with one hand as he gripped her hip with the other. It was like he was willing her to wake up. Any second he was going to start shaking her.

"Snap out of it," I whispered to Mac. All the color was draining from her face, her lips turning a pale shade of purple. She needed oxygen. "Move," I said after making up my mind. I pushed the new guy out of the way before pulling Mac to the ground and laying her flat on her back. I knelt next to her and pressed my lips to hers, blowing all of the air from my lungs into hers. Next, I locked my hands together like I had been taught in medical school and pumped her chest. When she didn't start breathing on her own after ten pumps, I dropped my lips to hers again and breathed for her again.

On the third pump, her eyes shot open and she gasped for breath.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

My lungs were screaming at me when everything came rushing back. Moose was hovering over me, his hands pressing against my chest. "You're OK," he cooed as he lifted me into a sitting position and leaned me against the metal cabinets.

"Yea," I whispered once I could as confirmation. Cian was leaning against the doorframe behind Moose, watching me carefully. "I'm OK," I repeated.

Moose looked at his watch quickly, then back to me. He may have said it, but he didn't believe it. "Are you sure you're OK? I have to go."

I pulled his hand from my wrist as he felt my pulse. "I'm fine," I said as I tried to push myself to my feet. I did not succeed. That did not make him feel any better about leaving. I could see in his eyes how he didn't want to leave. "Go, have fun on your date with Sarah," I said with a wink. He looked shocked for a split second. I don't know why he didn't want to tell me, but he didn't have to. I'd seen it. They were going to have a great time.

"Are you sure you want me to leave you alone?" he asked with a smile. "Sarah and I can reschedule."

"Don't be stupid," I said. "For one, I'm not alone." I nodded up to Cian, who hadn't moved from his statuesque spot. "Secondly, no, you can't reschedule."

He gave me one last look before standing to his full height. "I'm calling Sydney, though," he said as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

"God, don't do that!" I pleaded as I tried to stand again. Again, it didn't work. Moose stopped dialing mid-phone number to catch me and lower me back down. "You'll just worry her."

"I will make sure she gets home safely," Cian said from the door. "Leave."

Moose looked down to me to make sure that sounded good to me, too. I nodded, and he leaned down to kiss my forehead. "Take it easy. Don't be afraid to call me if you need me."

Cian closed the door behind Moose as he left, and in a split second, he was looming over me. "You died," he said as he lifted me into the air and set me back down on the countertop.

"Yea," I said as I glanced to the side to see how far Moose had gotten. As far as I could tell he was finished, the only thing left to do was to put the samples in the deep freezer, clean up, and leave.

He leaned in close to me, like he was going to kiss me again, but stopped just before our lips touched. Oh, I wanted our lips to touch. "Is that self control?" I quipped.

"Not quite," he answered.

Just when I was about to ask him exactly what that meant, I saw the answer. He and David were sitting at Rum Runners. Just as the server set two TrueBloods in front of them, David said, "You're not allowed to touch her again, unless she specifically asks you to."

"He told you not to, didn't he?" I asked Cian. David could really piss me off sometimes.

"He did," he breathed onto my lips.

I sighed as I gritted my teeth. "He annoys the hell out of me sometimes."

"You have to ask," he breathed as his hands hovered over me.

I leaned in even closer, even tilting my head for the optimal angle if I were to kiss him. "I know," I said. I smirked as I lowered myself gently off the countertop and pulled on a pair of gloves.

"You know, yet you refuse to ask," he said as he followed around the lab. I put the samples back into the freezer and shut the heavy mechanical door.

"It's killing you, isn't it?" I said as I put the pipette away and cleaned the countertop with ethanol.

"Yes," he said as I tossed my gloves and grabbed my purse. I turned off the lights and went to leave, but Cian blocked my path. "I can tell you want it, why won't you just ask?"

I ducked under his arm and into the hallway. "Because I'm not doing anything with anyone in my lab."

He followed closely behind me to the elevator. "How about the elevator?" he asked as the doors opened.

"Nope," I answered.

He followed me silently until we got to my car. "In your car?" he asked.

I couldn't even imagine how anyone would do anything in a car this small. "How?" I asked.

"Let me show you."

I rolled my eyes at him as I pressed the button to put the convertible top down. I didn't object when he hopped over the car door and into the passenger side. At least he was going to let me drive.

.

He followed me into the house without even asking if he was invited to join me. I tossed my purse onto the foyer table as I passed. "I assume you're staying?" I asked him, somewhat annoyed. Sydney's purse was on the counter, but the house was dark, so I assumed she'd already gone to bed.

"Yes."

I sighed for the temptation he was presenting me with. "Alright, I'm going to bed."

"I'll come with you," he smirked.

I couldn't tell if I wanted to kick him in the chest or jump him. All I could tell right now was that I hated him with all of my being. "You're obnoxious."

He ignored me. I pulled my baggiest t-shirt from my drawer along with a pair of sweatpants. I wasn't used to sleeping in heavy pants like this, but I was pretty sure I'd need the protection. The reason I'd need protection was rifling through my underwear drawer at the moment. I gave Cian the stink eye before shutting myself in my bathroom. After washing my face, brushing my teeth, putting on my pajamas, and pulling my hair out of the ponytail, I opened the door again. Cian was laying shirtless (at the very least) under the covers in my bed, his hands behind his head. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw him. "If you're naked, I'm staking you," I warned. If I didn't have this sinking feeling that I shouldn't, I would have uninvited him from my house in a heartbeat and watched him walk out of my house in his underwear.

"I'm not…yet," he finished with a sly grin.

I rolled my eyes and pulled the covers back; he was wearing boxer briefs. My libido jumped into the stratosphere. "Jesus," I said as I closed my eyes. "I don't suppose you'll get out of my bed if I just asked nicely, would you?"

"No."

"You do remember how I haven't asked you to touch me, right?" I decided to just slide into the bed and put him at my back. If I can't see him, he's not there.

"Yet. You haven't asked yet." I could feel the bed shake and indent as he moved closer to me on the bed.

I pulled the blanket all the way up to my ears and curled into a ball. "What makes you think I will?"

"Because I know you want to, desperately."

"That doesn't mean anything," I said quickly. Notice how I didn't tell him it wasn't true.

"Ah, so you do…" he said, delighted. I could feel his presence behind me as he got even closer and whispered in my ear, "Be reckless. Ask me to have you and I will make you a very happy woman."

Heat was starting to pool in my center. "I'm done dating vampires," I said. "Especially ones who have to report directly to my ex."

"Who said anything about dating?" Cian asked sincerely. "I'm talking about sex."

"Oh, you're charming," I said sarcastically.

"You want it, I want it. I do not see what the problem is."

Something in my snapped; I couldn't take the celibacy anymore and responded to his temptation with some temptation of my own. I turned to face him, mirroring his body's position with my own. "How much do you want it?" I asked quietly.

"Very much," he answered. I was having my desired effect, his voice was heavy and his fangs came down.

"What would you do to get it?" I asked.

"Anything," he answered.

I rubbed my fingers incredibly gently up his abs to his chest. He gripped the blanket just a touch tighter. "Like?" I whispered.

"I would risk punishment from the King just to hold you down and kiss you again."

I'm not going to lie; it feels great to be wanted. I smiled as I traced a line down his bicep to the inside of his elbow and down his forearm. "Really?"

"Yes," he said through a tight jaw. When my fingers reached the very end of his palm, he unclenched his fist and spread his fingers as if he were asking me to intertwine my fingers with his.

I traced my pointer finger up through his palm and up to the tip of his pointer finger. "What are you waiting for?"

Apparently, he didn't know, either. He clasped his hand around mine and pushed me onto my back, kissing me deeply. I moaned happily under his attention. He snaked his hand up under my shirt and cupped my bare breast as I wrapped my legs around him. He squeezed just a little bit harder when I nibbled his lower lip, causing me to press myself up into him even farther.

I gasped when he pulled himself away from my body, letting cold air hit me. I was _not_ ready for him to stop. Luckily for me, however, he didn't stop for long. Just after stripping my sweatpants off me and following them with my panties, he dropped back down and kissed me again. "Oh," I gasped as he snaked one hand down between my legs. He gripped my hair at the top of my head and turned my head to present my neck to him. I was seconds away from crying out in pleasure as he kissed my neck and his finger probed inside of me. I wrapped my legs around him and gripped my headboard with both hands to the point of pain in my still sore hand. He was driving me crazy. "Stop stalling," I whispered breathlessly.

"I am going to milk this for all it's worth," he whispered into my ear.

I was so frustrated with him at the moment, I actually growled at him as I braced my hands against his shoulders and pushed as hard as I could. Shocked, he let me, falling onto his back. "I don't like to wait," I growled at him as I stripped off the t-shirt. I practically ripped his boxer briefs off before lowering myself onto him. I screamed and growled and moaned all in one.

He growled lightly up at me as he gripped my hips, guiding my movements to match his. "Feisty," he murmured.

"Impatient," I breathed between gasps. I was almost there… "Don't stop," I moaned. "God, don't stop!" Finally, that release that I'd needed for so long now came, and I screamed.

Cian caught me as I collapsed onto him and rolled the both of us onto our sides. I smiled as that familiar contentment fell over me. "I hope you don't think I'm done with you yet," Cain said as he pushed me onto my back.

"Uh huh," I grunted. He leaned down and kissed me lightly as he pulled my leg up at the knee, wrapping it around his hips. I kissed his lips, his neck, and his shoulders as he moved in and out of me gently. He was quickly working me back up into a tizzy.

"Do you want me to bite?" he asked.

"Yes," I begged. He barred his fangs and dipped them towards my neck. "Not somewhere that shows," I said before he could bite. He let out a frustrated sigh as he dipped his head farther down my chest to my breast. "Oh," I said in surprise when he licked my nipple. I gripped his dreadlocks and threw my head back as he began to suck. "Oh," I said again. "Cian, now."

He let out a primal growl before biting my nipple. I couldn't scream, I could even gasp or breathe as he sucked hard at my nipple. It was an incredibly odd and incredibly erotic feeling, like he was pulling the fluids directly from my lower area. My entire body tensed as I orgasmed again, this time he followed me.

"Wow," I said as I lay on the bed, completely limp. I didn't think I could move if I tried and Cian seemed to pick up on that. He rolled me under his arm; I automatically slung my leg over his to alleviate pressure on my hips. "Goodnight," I sighed.

"Goodnight," He whispered.

*****Our girl's back on the saddle! I couldn't be happier. Enjoy her gluttony.*****


	89. Chapter 89

I was mid-vision, I was sure I was. I couldn't tell who I was seeing though, not even if it was myself. The only thing that I could feel was her panic. Her feet stung as she ran barefoot through the woods; I couldn't tell if she was running from or running to something or someone. All I knew was panic. She glanced behind her at the exact wrong moment, pain ripped through her knees and shins as she tripped over an exposed root and tumbled to the ground. Not even the pain could stop her forward motion, though. She crawled a few feet before scrambling back up to her full height and sprinting again. Her lungs burned, but she couldn't stop.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed a large animal up ahead. A wolf. Her panic tripled. The animal was staring right at her and snarling as it sulked in her direction.

She knew she should move, run, but she couldn't. Fear immobilized her. Just as the animal lunged, I snapped up, awake and screaming.

Cian was sitting up next to me, watching as I grasped at my bare chest. "Are you hurt?" he asked as he placed his hand on my lower back.

I took a quick inventory as I looked down my still nude form. My legs were covered, but the rest of me looked fine. "I think so."

"Good," he said as he pushed me down onto my back and crawled over me. He stopped just before leaning in to kiss me, so I pouted. "You are bleeding," he said, mildly surprised.

I did some mental math; I shouldn't start my period for another week or so. "I shouldn't be."

Cian stripped the blanket away from me in one yank, revealing my bare legs. I pushed myself up onto my elbows and looked down my naked body as Cian took my leg in his hands. His fangs came down. "You are bleeding." A long gash from my knee down my shin to my ankle bone had suddenly appeared and was bleeding pretty profusely.

He gently lifted my leg off the bed before licking the blood away, starting at my ankle and working his way up. His tongue felt good on me, and for a split second, I could see myself doing this with him every night; laying in bed and letting him take care of things. And I mean all sorts of 'things'. I quickly quashed that thought as soon as it passed my mind. Absolutely not. He was too fucking annoying.

When he got to my knee, he didn't stop. I grinned when he started licking and kissing a trail up my inner thigh. "Again?" I said with false exacerbation.

"Is my sex drive too much for you?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"With as long as it's been for me, I could out-fuck a pair of rabbits right now. Bring it on." He was midway up my thigh before I sat up and gently pushed him onto his back. After kissing his lips lightly then running my tongue across the tips of his fangs, I pulled the comforter over my head and disappeared underneath it. I was careful not to touch him, not even a little swipe as I passed until I extended my tongue and slowly licked the length of his hard penis. He moaned and it jumped. I did it again, and as it jumped, I took the very tip in my mouth, running my teeth lightly against the head. The next sound that came from him was more of a growl and less of a moan. I was careful not to touch him again for a few moments as I smirked to myself. _Like putty in my hand_, I thought. "You like that?"

"Yes," he growled.

"Again?" I asked, smirk coming through in my voice loud and clear.

"Yes," he growled again. I wanted to see the look on his face, but it would ruin the effect. It all hinged on him not being able to actually see when I was going to do what I was going to do. I leaned in again, but this time, I stopped just before my tongue touched his member and breathed my hot breath on it. That worked, causing it to jump again, and when it did, I grabbed it with my teeth. I bit just a touch harder this time, making him growl deeper in the put of his stomach. Before his cock fell from my teeth, I opened my mouth and took as much of him as I could, sucking hard as I pulled away again slowly. That earned me a satisfied hiss.

His hand suddenly appeared on the back of my head and pushed me down again, so I opened my lips slightly and took as much as I could again. By the time my lips were wrapped around his head, he was gripping my hair. He wanted to push me down again, but I resisted, anchoring my hands on either side of his hips. He growled at me as I pulled the blanket back and stepped out of bed. "Maybe I spoke too soon," I said with a smirk. I crossed the room and opened my bedroom door. "Maybe your sex drive is just too much for me."

I closed the door behind me and started my way down the stairs, moving quickly. Even as fast as I jogged down the stairs, I didn't make it all the way to the first floor until Cian found me. Not even half way. At vampire speed, he lifted me up and carried me down the rest of the stairs. He wrapped one arm around my waist and held my wrists above my head with the other as he pressed my front against the wall at the base of the stairs. I yipped in delight as he shoved into me, throwing my head back over his shoulder. "Such a naughty little tease," he whispered roughly into my ear as he pumped into me. Cian was supporting the most of my weight with the arm wrapped around my torso; the rest of it was braced against the wall or speared on him. My feet weren't even touching the floor. He pumped into me just a few more times before driving himself over the edge and coming in me. When he was done, he shoved into me deeply, forcing me to take all of him as he held me against the wall. I gasped. "You know what I do to naughty little teases?" he whispered.

"Let me guess, you're going to teach me a lesson?" I pouted.

"Yes," he said. "Just as soon as I'm done with you¸ I'm going to make you want me so bad you'll beg me for it."

"As soon as you're done with me?" I asked as I craned my neck to face him.

His smile was devious, sly. "Yes." He lifted me off of him and, at vampire speed, tossed me onto the kitchen counter. I yelped lightly and braced myself as I landed on my back. He growled and crawled over me, pulling my legs up and opening them wide with his forearms while simultaneously holding my wrists as my side. I moaned as he pulsed into me, gentler this time, but by no means gentle. I was going to be sore tomorrow. But right now, it felt soo good.

All I could do was moan as he kissed a trail across my clavicles; I couldn't even move in this position. I wasn't sure I'd want to, though. I knew he was getting close to finishing when he started moving faster and faster. "Yes, Cian," I whispered as he worked himself into a fever pitch.

"Louder," he said roughly.

"Yes, Cian," I moaned, louder this time.

"Louder," growled at me.

I threw my head back and yelled. "Yes, Cian!"

He let out a loud growl and sank his teeth into my neck, finally releasing into me. Immediately after he recovered, he hopped off the countertop and padded through the kitchen. "Hey," I said as lay on the countertop, one leg falling over the edge. "I said no marks."

"My mistake," he said as he padded back for me, blanket in his arms. He spread the blanket over me and wrapped it around my body as he lifted me from the countertop. "We'll have to finish the rest of the rooms in the house tomorrow. I didn't mean to take so much tonight."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his lips as he carried me up the stairs. It was a very Rhett and Scarlet moment until he set me back down in the bed and pulled away from my kiss. "Are you still going to teach me a lesson?" I had to admit, I was kind of looking forward to it.

He crawled into the bed next to me and laid his hand on my stomach over the throw. "Hmmm," he mused as he kissed me lightly. "Would you like me to?"

"Very much," I said as I uncurled myself from the blanket.

"OK, Cupcake," he said as he bounded off the bed and started rustling through my closet, suddenly ready to do his worst. "This'll do," he said as he draped a scarf over his neck before continuing to riffle through my things. "And this one."

"What are you doing?" I asked when I couldn't handle the suspense anymore.

"Do you trust me?" he asked as he turned and gracefully sauntered back toward me, wrapping an old scarf around his hands.

"Not completely," I answered truthfully.

He laughed as he straddled me. "Perfect."

"What are the scarves for?" I asked, a touch of fear in my voice. I wasn't sure I liked where this was going.

He grabbed my wrist and gently tied one end of the blue scarf around it. "You strike me as a woman that cannot keep her hands to herself." He kissed the inside of my other wrist, tracing kisses down the scar where the pins were inserted.

"I don't know, Cian." Not having use of my hands frightened me a little, especially when he did. It was different when he had to actively hold me down, but I didn't know if I could handle being tied up. Not anymore, not after what I've been through.

He laced the scarf around the post, pulling the arm it was attached to over my head in the process. "I won't hurt you," he said as he tied my other wrist with a double knot. He hesitated as I resisted, but he eventually just overpowered me. "You'll have to trust me."

My heart raced, my breathing picked up. I didn't start struggling against my bindings until he pulled the other scarf from around his neck and wrapped it around my eyes. The ties might have been gentle, but they were damn secure. I wasn't getting even the slightest budge as I pulled. "I don't like this," I said shakily. I shook my head to shake the scarf from my eyes, but Cian held it gently in place.

He tied the second scarf loosely and traced his fingertips down my arms. "Relax. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, I won't let it."

I started to struggle harder against the scarf as I started to panic. Cian seemed to sense my impending breakdown, freeing my arms at vampire speed. As soon as he did, I ripped the scarf from my eyes, pushed him off of me, and scrambled across the room, finally stopping as I sunk down the wall. I wrapped my arms around my torso to better hold myself together.

Very, very slowly, Cian walked toward me, throw blanket in hand. I tried to slow my heart rate and calm down as he knelt and draped it over me. "I was expecting a reaction, but not a reaction that…severe."

I could still feel my heart beating in my ears, but the rate had slowed to something a doctor would consider acceptable. "I just don't like to be tied up."

"Apparently," he said. He moved to lift me off the floor, but at the last moment, stopped in his tracks. "May I?" he asked.

I nodded as I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding myself to him for dear life. He lifted me off the floor and carried me back toward the bed, but when he tried to set me down and pull away, I latched on even tighter. "Don't go," I whispered.

He pulled me back off the bed, pulled the dirty clothes off the chair in the corner, and settled into it, putting me in his lap. "In retrospect, I can see why you wouldn't want to be restrained." He wrapped the throw blanket around me before I even started to shiver. I stayed silent; I had nothing to say to that.

I laid my head against my arm and tucked my forehead into his neck; we sat there silent for quite a while. My breathing deepened, my heart rate slowed, but my eyes wouldn't close. After all, I should be exhausted. Cian had taken way more blood than he should have, I should have been lethargic. After an hour and a half of holding me, he asked, "Why won't you sleep?"

I was too comfortable to talk, I just shrugged. My grip on him had loosened slightly as time passed, but when he went to stand, I tightened it. "Relax," he said quietly into my hair.

I finally forced myself to speak as he carried me through the room. "Are you leaving?" The way the words came out, it sounded like I was a frightened little girl.

"Do you want me to?" he asked, holding me to him as he stood at the corner of my bed.

"No," I answered, my voice just as small.

"Then I won't." He expertly lay down on the bed, draping me over him so I could comfortably keep my death grip on his neck. I was lying on the bed with my legs parallel to the pillows, which made it a touch more difficult for him to cover me with the blanket, but he managed it. "How does O'Hara get you to sleep?" he whispered.

"Which one?" I asked. "David would breathe and rub my back; Emma prefers sedatives."

His chest jumped as he laughed. "You have an interesting life," he whispered before he started to breathe for me. He matched his slow, deep breaths to the rhythm of his fingers on my back. It took longer than I'd like, but my eyes finally closed. Just as I was starting to drift off, Cian unwrapped my arms from his neck and laid me back down on the bed, tucking a pillow under my head. I groaned in protest and grabbed his hand weakly. "I have to go; there is only 20 minutes until sunrise," he whispered as he intertwined his fingers with mine. That would probably give him just enough time to run home and die for the day. "I will be back as soon as I can." He kissed the back of my hand then my lips before he was gone.

.

I jolted awake as my bed shook. Sydney was still bouncing where she plopped onto my bed, pulling her legs under her to sit Indian-style and grinning at me. As soon as I knew I wasn't under attack, I got comfortable again and closed my eyes. I was still tired. "Good morning," I said sarcastically.

"No, good afternoon," she corrected. She was about to break into giggles. "Late night?"

"Very," I responded as I pulled the blanket up over my chin and up to my ears. "What time is it?"

"Three thirty-two," she answered. Crap, I obviously wasn't going to make it in to lab today. At least not even close to normal working hours. "So, you finally gave in to Cian, huh?" She asked.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

She finally let that giggle out. "Yes, Cian!" she yelled mockingly. Oh, she'd heard that. I harrumphed, but I was smiling under the blanket. "Is David going to be mad at him?"

"It's his own damn fault if he is," I answered. He was just going to have to get over it. Sydney handed me the shirt and sweatpants I had been wearing last night (for all of about 30 seconds). "These were on the floor."

I sat up, letting the blanket fall away as I pulled the t-shirt back on. "Panties?" I asked. She was eyeing my multiple sets of bite-marks.

She stood and grabbed me a pair from my drawer. "Must have been some night," she said as she tossed them at me.

"Yea," I said as I laid on my back and pulled the panties up. I tossed the sweatpants back to the floor and buried myself in the blanket. "I'm going back to sleep."

"Not so fast," she said. I opened my eyes again when I felt something land on the bed next to me. It was my phone. "Moose's called like, 7 times. He says if you don't call him back _right now_, he's coming over here."

I grumbled as I hit number 4 on my speed dial. "Finally awake, Mac?" he asked when he answered the phone.

"Thanks to you. What's so urgent that you needed to send Syd up to wake me?"

"Just worried," he said, somewhat sheepishly. "How are you?"

"I _was_ fine, why? Is something wrong?"

"No, I guess not," he said. "I was just worried after your vision last night. Have you had any others?"

"Yea, I had a dream last night that someone was running through the woods." I wasn't going to go in to the whole being attacked by an animal thing. As a shifter, I wasn't sure how he'd take that.

"Anything happen?" he asked. "You know, like, to you?"

"Whoever it was fell and scrapped her knee, and I had the scrape."

"Was the new vamper there?" he asked, more concern leaking into his voice.

"Yes, Moose. Really, I'm fine. I've been fine, I'll be fine. You don't have to worry so much about me. Now I'm going back to sleep."

"Mac, it's almost four in the afternoon," he said, mild surprise in his voice. "When did you get to sleep?"

I shrugged, then remembered he couldn't see me. "I don't know, just before sunrise."

He did the quick mental math just as I was doing it. "That's like nine hours of sleep."

"Yup," I confirmed. That's what my math had given me, too. "Bye, Moose."

"See ya," he responded.

"Why is Moose so worried?" Sydney asked as I tossed my phone onto the other pillow.

"Because he's turning into more of a nagging mother than you are," I responded with a giant grin. She didn't bite, she just looked at me until I gave her an answer. "I had a vision last night when I was at lab, like the one when I was shot."

"Oh," was all she could say. "And? Were you shot again?"

"No, it was like something mauled my neck."

"Uh, hun," she said as her smile grew. "Something _did_ maul your neck last night."

I shot her a smartass glare. "Something bigger than Cian. And it hurt, _a lot_."

"What do you think it was?" she asked.

"I don't really know," I answered. "An animal of some sort most likely, but I'm not familiar enough with the different animals that I could tell you which kind." Finally, I put two and two together. I could have slapped myself, I should have seen this sooner. "Although I'd be willing to bet it's a wolf."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because at the end of my dream last night, a wolf sprang for whoever I was seeing through."


	90. Chapter 90

Today was quite possibly one of the least productive days I've had in a long time. Sydney let me get a few more hours of sleep in before yanking me out of bed. "We need groceries," she said as she handed me a pair of jeans.

"Aren't you capable?" I grumbled. I was much happier in bed.

"You know I never get the right things. Now mush," she said as she slapped my bottom. I gave her a quick glare as I grabbed a bra and a top and retreated into my bathroom.

First thing on my agenda was to take a shower. I stood under the hot water, rehashing last night. My first vision only made sense when combined with my last, but even then only very little. I still had no idea of when, where, or why. I grinned as I remembered Cian's and my escapades. _Remember to clean that counter_, I said to myself as I rinsed conditioner out of my hair.

After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I got dressed and sauntered downstairs. "She lives!" Sydney said mockingly.

"Yea, yea." I grabbed my purse off the counter and slung it over my shoulder. "Alright, I'll be back."

I stopped by lab before going shopping. I passed Kyle on my way out, and he waved as we passed. When I got up to lab, Matt and Jon were both in the process of packing up to go. "Hey, guys," I said. Moose was in the back of the lab, looking mighty bored as he streaked samples across Agar plates. It was obvious he just started; there was a massive pile of unused plates to his left and just a small stack of four or so streaked plates on his right. "Want some help?" I asked.

He gave me a good once over before answering. "No, I'm good." I could tell the moment he noticed the bite marks on my neck. A flurry of emotions swept across his face. I caught a few of them; surprise, then concern, and then just a touch of jealousy. "Are those…" he asked. Before he finished his question, he looked down and streaked his next plate. "Nevermind."

"Alright, well. I don't have anything to do in lab tonight that I can't put off until tomorrow, so I'm taking the night off." I pushed myself away from the countertop. "Oh," I said before I forgot. "How was your date?" If Matt's head would have swiveled any faster, he would have snapped his neck. As soon as he realized that I was watching him gape at us, he turned on his heels and left, Jon in tow.

"Really good," he answered. Finally, a smile. "We got some dinner at Champp's before we went to the movie."

"That's a nice place," I said. "How was the movie?"

"Pretty good. There was a teaser for the next one at the end."

"Isn't there always," I said.

"Any plans tonight?" Moose asked after a second of silence as I watched him streak (the plate).

"Don't know. Cian's coming over tonight to check on me as soon as the sun sets, then I don't know." I hesitated to say no. If I did, something would inevitably come up. Most likely, something I didn't consider good.

"Check on you why?"

"I…" I started. I was going to say, 'I think because he took a bit too much last night,' but I stopped myself in time. "I'm not sure why," I finished. I blushed under Moose's stare, he knew I was lying.

"Spit it out," he said. I just fidgeted. When I didn't answer, he raised an eyebrow.

I broke. "Fine," I said. "He took more…stuff…than he should have last night; I was a bit off when he left."

He eyes narrowed. "You do look a little pale."

I frowned. "When are you and Syd going to learn that I am always pale?"

"Have you looked in a mirror today?" he asked as he streaked another plate.

Come to think of it, no, I hadn't. I shook my head no as I checked my reflection in the chemical hood's glass wall. Even in my imperfect mirror, my skin was sallow and my eyes were dull and sagging. Even my lips looked paler then their usual coral color. "Ech," I said as I wrinkled my nose.

"Yea," he said.

"Well, now that you've ruined my self esteem, I'm going grocery shopping."

"Take it easy," he said as I lofted my purse over my shoulder and walked out of the room.

.

Grocery shopping took me all of 45 minutes to complete. When I came home, Sydney helped me unload the bags from my (surprisingly spacious) trunk and put all the perishables away. I climbed the stairs back up to my room and my bed as I saw the sun dip below the horizon. After stripping out of my clothes and pulling my sleep shirt back on, I grabbed a book and climbed into bed.

I was lying on my side with my glasses on, reading my book as I felt Cian climb into bed with me. "Have you not moved from this bed all day?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

I bookmarked my spot and pulled my glasses from my face as I turned to face him. "What if I haven't?" I asked.

He looked my face over carefully before kissing me. "I've changed my mind."

"About?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows.

He kissed me again. "Maybe I am talking about dating."

I took a second to figure out what he was talking about. "Are you asking me out on a date?" I asked as I furrowed my brow.

"I am."

"When?" I asked. I didn't know where he was going with this; it made me nervous that his intentions weren't immediately apparent.

"Tonight."

He didn't move as I studied his face, looking for any sign of intent. He _looked_ sincere, but with our past, I didn't really consider him the type to spend the time to go on a date. He could get whatever he wanted just by glamouring a woman (or, I guess, charming them), so why wouldn't he? "What are you up to?" I asked skeptically.

He looked hurt. "I cannot ask you on a date?"

"Why?" I asked.

"To keep you happy. Isn't that what you women want?"

I studied his face for another second before pushing myself into a sitting position and pulling off the t-shirt. "I'll think about it. Right now I just want you to take me."

He smiled fangily as he straddled me and stripped off his own shirt. "You only want me for my body," he said as he leaned down and kissed me.

"Are you complaining?" I unbuckled his jeans and snuck my hand underneath the band of his boxer briefs.

"No," he said roughly as I rubbed my thumb over the very tip of his penis.

I wanted him desperately, but I was still a little sore from last night. "Be gentle tonight," I whispered as he pulled my panties off me and followed them with the rest of his clothes.

He kissed me and held me tight to him as he teased me with his head, rubbing it against my spot. I wrapped my arms around him. "Are you ready for me?" he asked between kisses.

"Yes." As soon as I gave the go-ahead, he took me. I moaned as he slid all the way in me gently, rocking into me in slow intervals.

"Is this gentle enough?" he asked as he caressed my face. I nodded, unable to speak at the moment. I kissed him, tracing my tongue on down his fangs and nibbling on his lower lip. As soon as I felt like I was about to explode, I wrapped my leg around his.

"More," I begged.

"Faster?" Cian asked. "Or harder?"

"Both," I gasped. I was so close to the edge, I just wanted him to push me over it.

He followed directions, picking up speed and intensity. In no time, I was moaning his name as I came for him. "Is that what you wanted?" he asked without pulling out of me.

"Some of it."

He smiled down at me. "You are voracious. Have you thought about my question?" He pulled out of me gently and propped himself up on his elbow at my side, tapping his fingers against my stomach gently.

"About going on a date with you?" He cocked an eyebrow, waiting for me to answer. "What kind of date?" I rolled onto my stomach and rested my chin on my forearm.

"Dinner for you, to begin with. Then perhaps a movie, and then dinner for me." He grinned down at me.

I shivered as he started tracing lines up and down and back and forth across my back. "That tickles."

"You think that tickles?" he asked. I squirmed and giggled as he gently tickled just above my hips.

"Stop!" I begged as I laughed. "Stop!"

"Say you'll go on a date with me and I'll stop," he said as he worked his way higher.

I was laughing so hard it hurt. "OK, OK! I'll go!"

He stopped immediately and jumped out of bed. "Good," he said as he padded naked to my closet, riffling through it. "Oh, wear this." I watched as he pulled out a blue sundress.

I got up and followed him. "You're so eager to get me dressed," I said before I launched myself up into his arms. He caught me and held me to him as I wrapped my legs around his waist. "Can't we just stay in bed just a little bit longer?"

"What will you give me?" he asked, mischievous eyebrows raised.

"I'll give you a kiss."

He kissed me. "I don't need to bargain for that anymore."

I pulled away from him as he went to kiss me again. "Are you sure?"

He stole one as I turned back toward him, kissing me hard and long. I melted in his arms. "Yes."

"I'll give you me for dinner right now." He didn't look impressed. "And later," I added. There we go, that's what he was looking for. His eyes lightened as he considered the option.

"That's a deal." He carried me to my bed as set me down gently. "Neck or thigh?" he asked.

"No marks. Thigh." I was trying my very hardest not to have David kill him. If there were several visible bite marks on my neck, I couldn't guarantee his safety.

He pulled me until my butt was resting on the very edge of the bed and spread my legs apart. I laid back to make sure I didn't catch a glimpse of something I wasn't going to like. Without any kind of warning, he bit. I gasped. It didn't hurt too much, it was just more of a shock. I wasn't used to being bitten when there wasn't sex involved. At least not willingly bitten.

He wasn't down there as long as I thought he would be. When he crawled back over me, his lips were bloody. I was suddenly very lightheaded. "You are very anemic and still low on blood," he said as I snapped my eyes shut.

"Uh huh," I answered weakly as I tried to quell the lightheadedness.

"Have you eaten today?"

"Nuh-uh," I answered. After running in to lab then to the grocery store, I was just too tired to do much more than fall back into bed. The thought of making myself something to eat just made me more tired.

I opened my eyes and scooted back so I was sitting up in bed, my back against my headboard. Cian sighed and pulled on his boxer briefs followed by his jeans. "Did O'Hara not explain how you should eat after we feed?"

"He did." I thought I was tired before, but _now_ I was tired. "I ran out of energy to eat after I went to lab and went grocery shopping."

He leaned over and kissed me, a kiss I was too tired to respond to. "You are so much trouble. Get dressed, I'm taking you out to dinner." He handed me my panties from the floor and the dress he wanted me to wear. Fortunately, the sundress functioned as its own bra, because he didn't hand me one of those and I wasn't about to get up and grab one. I gave his back a quick glare as he disappeared out of my room.

I slipped the dress on over my head and tied the halter top behind my neck. Next, I slid down the bed and pulled my panties on as I lay on the bed. _There, dressed you welcher_, I thought at Cian as I pulled the corner of my comforter over me. I was going to get every last second of comfort as I could before Cian insisted on pulling me out of bed.

.

It felt like just as I closed my eyes, Cian was gently rubbing my arm. "Wake up, Cupcake," he said. I opened my eyes, but only partly. He was now completely dressed and nursing a TrueBlood, which sat on my bedside table.

"Why?" I curled into his chest as he lay next to me and snaked my hands up under his black t-shirt.

"Because I'm taking you to dinner."

"You're a liar, liar pants on fire," I said with a smile. He wrapped one of his arms around my waist and pulled me into him when I kissed his neck. "You said we could stay in bed a while if I let you feed."

"Ah, but I let you lay in bed for an hour, even though I didn't actually feed," he said as he waved his TrueBlood in front of me. "You chose to sleep though it."

I checked the alarm clock on my dresser; yup, I'd been asleep for about an hour. "Oh." In that case… I pulled my hands from under his shirt and rolled off the bed. "Well, then I guess I'll get ready."

"You aren't ready?" he asked.

"No." If I looked anything like I did this afternoon, I needed makeup desperately. I was also sure my hair could use a comb. I shut myself in the bathroom, not emerging until I had put on some foundation, rosied my cheeks with some blush, and applied some coral lip gloss. I even put on some mascara; I wasn't sure where he was taking me to dinner, I may as well be prepared. I took one second to pull a comb through my hair. "Alight," I said as I emerged from the bathroom to Cian riffling through my jeans drawer. "God, you're nosey. What could you possibly be looking for?"

"Your secrets." He pulled a ripped pair of jeans and held them up for me to see. Both of the knees were ripped open and there was a long gash through the thigh. There was even a stain where I just couldn't quite get the blood stain to come completely out in the wash. "What happened to these?"

"David threw me through a fence," I said as I grabbed a pair of wedge sandals from the back of my closet. "I thought they might come in handy if I ever needed a pair of painting pants or something." I deliberately lingered with my head in the closet, giving myself time to completely wipe the painful grimace from my face as I remembered.

He laid the jeans out on the bed and pointed to the gash in the thigh. "And this?"

I sat down on the bed and busied myself with strapping on my sandals. "Some of the fence embedded itself in my leg." I stood and looked him straight in the eye, giving him a drop-it look. "Are we going or can I crawl back into bed?"

"We are going," he said as he folded the pair of jeans and tucked them under his arm. Like the nosey little bastard he is, he just couldn't drop the subject. "How long ago was this?"

I threw my hands into the air as I sulked down the stairs. "I don't fucking know, around last Christmas? Why do you care? I thought you heard my whole story when you were spying on me in the graveyard."

He picked me up and spun me around to face him as my foot hit the first floor landing. A moment of fear swept through me as I remembered David's hands on me. Only Cian's hands weren't on me in anger. He gently held me against the wall and caressed my face. "I don't remember this story." He leaned down and kissed me deeply; I moaned and melted in his arms. I just wasn't expecting that. "Let's see," he said as he dropped to his knees and lifted up the hem of my dress. He stopped just where a thin pink scar weaved its way up my thigh. "You must have lost a lot of blood," he said laying kisses up and down the scar. "Did you let O'Hara lick you clean?"

"No," I said as he worked his way higher and higher toward my sweet spot. I gripped the knob to the front door for support. "Idi took me to the hospital."

"Hm," he grunted as he pulled my panties down just enough to tease. I threw my head back into the wall and bit my lip. "Why did my King throw you through a fence?"

I could barely find the presence of mind to speak. "Because I stole—borrowed—his car."

He flicked his tongue up into me for a split second. I about fainted. "Ah, I remember this story now."

I gripped his dreadlocks as he dipped into my one last time. "Don't stop," I begged.

"Your David is right, you are easily distracted," he said as he picked up my jeans from a pile on the floor and tucked them back under his arm. He had only been kissing and licking me to distract me from my fear of David and my anger at him.

I slapped his chest hard enough to turn my hand red. "You're a sneaky little bastard." He only smirked down at me. "All you vampires are dickweeds."

"Oh, I'm hurt," he feigned. He dipped down and kissed my lips again, putting all of his skill into the kiss.

I gripped his shirt to anchor me. "It's not going to work again."

"I think it just did," he whispered in my ear before kissing my neck.

"Hey now," Sydney said as she came barreling down the stairs. She scootched behind Cian and grabbed her purse from the table, riffling through it. "Keep it PG down here," she said with a smile on her face.

"What we did right here last night was far from PG," Cian smirked. This was the exact same spot he had pressed me up against the wall last night. I slapped his chest again for good measure.

"I don't want to know about that," Sydney said before finding whatever it was she was looking for and jogging back up the stairs.

"Hey," I said before she got to the top. "We're going out. Be home late." She just winked at me before turning and retreating into her room.

.

He'd taken me to Stillwater Grill in Okemos for dinner. I'd protested, because this place was more expensive than I could afford, but he'd shushed me. "My treat."

"You're not even eating," I said in a low voice. There was a couple at the bar watching the two of us intently that made me very nervous. I didn't want them hearing our conversation, too.

"If I feed you well, I may get to eat tonight," he said with a flirty smirk on his face. I shot him an unamused look and ordered a large steak, rare. I usually wasn't much of a steak eater, but I was craving red meat and lots of it. When it came, I inhaled it and the baked potato. I was hungrier than I thought I was.

Without even asking if I was still hungry, Cian ordered me a piece of the cheesecake. "I can't eat that," I said when the waiter left.

"I hope you'll try." When it came, Cian quickly stole the fork the waiter left with it and hid it behind him.

"How am I going to eat it if you're not giving me silverware?" I asked, just a bit exacerbated with him at the moment.

"Lick it from your fingers, like you did in your bedroom," he said in a low voice. He leaned back in the booth and pulled his fangs down to watch me.

Two can play at that game. "Fine," I said as I discretely pulled the shoe off one of my feet. I started with the whipped cream, licking it from my pinkie finger. I kept eye contact as I sucked just a tad longer than necessary. His lips parted just a little bit as I pulled my pinkie from my mouth. Next, I broke off a piece of cheesecake and stuck it in my mouth. I moaned in ecstasy just to drive him crazy. It worked; he started to run his tongue over his fangs as he watched me. As I took my next bite, I ran my toes between his legs. His hands curled into tight balls. I grinned at him as I took one last bite.

After licking my fingers more than clean, I pulled my shoe back on. "I'm going to the bathroom." Now I needed to wash my hands. I slid out of the booth quickly and disappeared around the corner.

I didn't even feel Cian right behind me as I opened the bathroom door, but he must have been following closely behind me. I didn't even get two steps in the door before he lifted me onto the countertop and stuck my fingers in his mouth. He sucked each one of them clean then started to kiss my lips as he snuck one hand up my skirt. "Excuse me," I said between kisses.

"Yes?" he asked. He lifted me off the counter for a split second as he pulled my panties off me and shoved them in his pocket.

"What do you think you're doing?" I braced my hands up against his shoulders, neither pushing him away or holding me to him. I wasn't sure I wanted where this was going. Well, I mean, I wanted where this was going, but I wasn't sure I wanted to do it here. Restaurant bathrooms aren't known for their cleanliness.

"Having sex with you." He kissed me deeply as he lifted me onto him, probably to cover the borderline scream that came from me. God, that felt good. I wrapped my legs around his torso and my arms around his neck.

He pushed me up against the door, effectively locking it. "Here?" I said between gasps of pleasure.

"Yes, here," he responded. He thrust into me a few more times before I had to bury my head in his neck to muffle the sounds that accompanied my orgasm. Shortly after, I felt him release into me.

"That was…something," I said after he lifted me off of him and lowered me to the ground. "Can I have my panties back?"

He pulled them out of his pocket. "These?" he asked with a grin on his face. I nodded and gave him the stink eye. "Not yet."

I was just about to start fighting with him when David's emotions pulsed through me. They were so intense, so deep, that I actually clutched at my stomach and doubled over. Uncontrollable anger.

I pulled one arm away from my stomach long enough to extend an open hand toward Cian. "Give them to me," I gasped. I was trying to throw up as many barriers between David and me as I could, but he was too strong.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he helped me slip into them.

"David's coming; he's really angry."

****So what team are you? Team David? Team Cian? Team Moose? Let me know! And, as always, keep the reviews coming. I love them! They are the only thing that fuel me when I get writer's block.****


	91. Chapter 91

I managed to lock enough of David's emotions away that I could look like I was semi-functioning, standing up straight at least. "Have you paid the bill?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Then we need to get out of here, now. Go grab my purse, I'll meet you at the door." He left immediately so I started toward the front door as quickly as I could. I braced myself against barstools until I got to the front door, where Cian was waiting. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door; as soon as we were clear of the hostess' gaze, he lifted me into the air and rain to his car. A split second later, he was lowering me into the passenger seat. "He's almost here." I could feel more and more of his emotions ricocheting in me; my heart raced, my head pounded. I curled into a ball and buried my head in my knees.

"Stay in the car," he said as he shut the passenger door.

I knew the second David arrived. "O'Smythe," he boomed.

Cian kept his voice level and strong. "Yes, my King?"

"You disobeyed my direct order," he yelled. I didn't think David knew I was here, although I'm not sure why he wouldn't. He sure wasn't acting like he knew I was here. He couldn't see me curled in a ball, but he had to be able to feel how close I was, especially if he wasn't numbing the bond at all. Not to mention, what else would Cian be doing outside of a restaurant? "The punishment will be severe."

"What order did I disobey?" Cian asked. His voice was strong but cordial, warm but sharp at the same time.

"You were to stay away from her." I'm pretty sure I knew who he was talking about. Cian undoubtedly did, too.

"We work in the same building, my King. It was only a matter of time before we ran in to each other."

"Her smell is all over you, where is she?" David demanded.

I was sick of this shit. Never really being one to hide from problems, I opened the passenger door and shakily stood. "Stop it, David," I said as strong as I could. I was still holding on to the door and the hood of the car to keep myself upright.

He whipped around to face me. I shut my eyes and flinched as he moved toward me at vampire speed. I opened my eyes when Cian spoke. "My King," he said quietly. He was standing between David and me, on hand on David's chest to hold him back. "Respectfully, I suggest you take a few steps back and get control of yourself. Your anger is causing her pain."

"I'm not going to hurt her," David said, he voice slightly softer than before.

"Sir, you already are."

"The bond, David." It was starting to get a little bit better until I said that, then so much emotional pain came at me that my knee buckled.

Without taking his hand from David's chest, Cian wrapped his other arm around my waist to stop me from collapsing to the ground. As soon as David took those few steps back, Cian lowered me back into the passenger seat. "I told you to stay in the car," he said quietly.

"I'm not going to let him punish you, you've done nothing wrong." David was starting to lock away his emotions, making it easier for me. I was feeling better every second. As soon as I could stand my own ground, I kissed Cian's lips. "Let me handle this."

I walked slowly back to David, whose face was undecipherable. I could feel Cian right behind me, so I got bold, moving quite close to David. I took his hands in mine. "Look," I said. "It's very sweet what you're doing, making sure I have the space to live my life, but you can't live it for me. I'm allowed to decide who I want to see and who I don't want to see. And I know this may be hard for you, but I want to see Cian. At least, for now I do," I added.

It hurt too much for me to see his pain. I stood on my tip toes and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. He responded by wrapping his arms around my back. "David, I love you," I whispered into his ear. "Do you know that?"

"I do," he answered, matching my whisper.

I held on to him for another minute. "Please don't punish him, for me."

"I must," he answered. "If I do not, I appear weak as a ruler."

I pulled away so I could look him in the eye. "Just tell people he was assigned to protect me. Say you didn't tell anyone because you didn't know who could be trusted." I buried my head in his neck. "Please, David."

He hesitated for a moment, but eventually gave in. "Anything for you." He gently kissed my temple as I released my grip, dropping back down to my feet. "Do you love him?"

"Cian?" I asked. David didn't want to let me go; he continued to hold me to him. "I'm not even sure I like him." But I wanted him, that's for sure. But David didn't need to know that.

"Ouch, Cupcake," Cian said, much farther away from me than he had been. David must have glared at him, because he followed it with, "Sorry, Majesty."

"I love you," David whispered into my hair. "Come back to me soon." In the matter of a split second, he was gone. Nothing but empty space replaced where David's arms had been.

I turned; Cian was sitting on the hood of his car. "You don't even like me?" he asked. "You sure want to spend a lot of time with someone you don't even like."

"Shut up," I said as I joined him, hopping up onto the hood and settling in next to him. "Sometimes I don't."

He leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head and crossing his ankles. "Right now you do," he said, satisfied smile on his face.

What a cocky little… "Up until this very second, I did."

He just laughed. "What movie do you want to go see?"

I scootched and laid back, resting my head against his bicep. "What's out?"

"Let's see." He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pulled up the internet. "Romantic comedies, action movies, regular comedies. How about Prince of Persia?"

Jake Gyllenhaal borderline shirtless for two hours? I'm game. "Sure."

He looked up local theaters. "How long will it take us to get here?" he asked as he pointed to the listing for NCG Theaters in Lansing.

The theater was maybe ten minutes from Cian's place. "Half an hour or so if I'm driving."

"Was that a subtle hint? Do you think I drive too fast?"

"All you vampires do."

He shoved his phone back in his pocket and pulled me on top of him. "Even driving at your irritatingly slow pace, we have plenty of time. Want to snog?" He ran his hands from my waist down my hips and finally grabbed my butt.

"Here?" I asked again. I glanced around to the other cars parked in the parking lot, the cars whizzing past on the busy street.

"You are not very adventurous. Yes, here."

"I'm not sure," I answered. My emotions were all up in the air, I couldn't really make sense of anything in my own head right now.

He braced me to him and rolled over, supporting his weight as he loomed over me. "Let me persuade you." I moaned when he dipped his head and kissed me. Damn, he was persuasive. I snaked my fingers beneath his jeans and grabbed his tight butt.

I was jerked back into the here and now when I heard an unfamiliar voice. "Ahem." When I turned toward the voice, a small grey-haired lady was glaring at us. "Get a room."

My cheeks burned as I blushed. "But it's such a lovely night out, I'd hate to waste it by going indoors," Cian responded smoothly without even glancing in her direction. I pulled my hands from underneath Cian's pants and braced them against his shoulders.

She didn't take that kindly. "You young snaps, think you can go around disrespecting your elders."

Cian gracefully hopped to the ground, leaving me uncovered. I wasn't really showing anything, but that didn't mean I didn't want to bury myself right now and never be seen again. "Technically, I am older than you," he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against his car. I could tell the second he pulled his fangs down; the woman's expression went from anger to fear. "Therefore, it is you who are disrespecting your elders."

"You're a…" she said shakily. Without finishing the sentence, she slid into the passenger seat of the car parked next to ours and shut the door as fast as she could.

Cian smirked as the car pulled away rather quickly. "That wasn't very nice," I said as he climbed back on top of me. I braced my hands against his shoulders to stop him from dipping down and kissing me again.

"I wanted to embarrass her as much as she embarrassed you." He leaned down and kissed me again despite my protests.

"Hey," I said as I pushed him away. "I think you did more than embarrass her."

"So?" If I wasn't going to kiss him back, it was obvious he was going to try something else. He dipped his head into my cleavage and kissed a trail up to my neck. "She deserved it. She should live and let live," he whispered as he worked his way up to my earlobe.

"Ha!" I laughed. "Like you do?"

"Yes, like I do," he answered as he ran a hand up my side and to my breast. I moaned as he ran his fingers over my nipple.

"You poke and prod until you get exactly what you want."

He pulled my halter top to the side and took my nipple gently in his teeth. I bucked into him and gasped. "I do not," he pouted.

"You're doing it right now," I said between gasps.

He sucked my nipple hard before abandoning it. "Are you complaining?"

"No," I moaned. He smirked for a split second before moving to the other nipple, raking his teeth gently over it. Just before I was about to slide my panties to the side and unbuckle his jeans, he righted my dress and hopped to the ground.

"We should get going."

I was stunned for a second as I tried to start thinking with my head and not my libido again. "You're cruel." When it was obvious I wasn't going to get what I wanted (which was him to continue), I rolled off the other side of the car and slid into the passenger seat.

.

The only reason I could think clearly is because Cian had been driving like a normal person and not a bat out of hell. I had a momentary stroke of genius when we were about ten minutes away from the theater. "Cian?" I asked.

"Yes, Cupcake?" he responded.

"How are you at multitasking?"

"Depends at what I am doing," he answered. That was a good enough answer for me. I reached across the gearshift and unbuckled his jeans, freeing his penis. "What are you doing?"

"Getting even." I waited until we were stopped at a red light and unbuckled my seatbelt so I could lean over.

"Oh," he moaned as I took him in my mouth. He still tasted like me. I wrapped my teeth around his head again and licked the very tip. "Again," he said roughly as his hard cock fell from my teeth.

I licked the full length of it, causing it to jump. As soon as I did, the person behind up started to honk. The light had turned green while Cian was…preoccupied. I sat up, grin on my face. "Drive," I said as I rebuckled my seatbelt.

"You are cruel," he said as he slammed his foot on the accelerator. I yelped and closed my eyes as I was rocketed back in the seat.

.

He barely got the car in park outside of the movie theater before he freed me from my seatbelt and pulled me into his lap. He was thin and I was small, but in this tiny car, it was still a tight fit. I straddled him and pressed my body into him as the steering wheel pushed me closer and closer to him. The only thing between me and him was my panties, but not for long. He ripped them from my body and slid me down onto him. "Mmm," he moaned. I started to move in as much of a figure eight as I could without tweaking my hip or knee, but it wasn't enough for him. He clamped his hands around my hips and moved them for me.

He was starting to get rougher. Normally, I wouldn't mind; I'd actually love it, but I was still sore from last night. "Gently," I gasped.

He let up not only his grip but the intensity of his rhythm. "You're so fragile."

"After last night, I'm allowed to be sore." I gripped his hair as he moved me. I wanted him to come in my desperately. "Come on," I moaned. "Don't tell me I've worn you out."

I gasped as he shoved me down onto him hard and held me steady. Without any warning, he pulled the neck of my halter to the side and bit down in the exact same spot he'd bitten me last night. I moaned as he finally exploded in me. "What was that?" he asked after a long kiss. "I didn't hear you."

"Yes you did." I braced myself against his shoulders to push myself off of him, pushing myself over the gearshift and into the passenger seat. "Did you have to tear my panties off me?" I asked as I grabbed my purse and got out of the car.

"Yes I did." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me into theater.

.

There were only a few other people in this particular theater. Even though we were practically alone in here anyway, Cian insisted we sit in the back of theater, in the very last row so no one could see us. I glanced around the theater as the lights dimmed and the movie started. There were 6 other couples: two human-only couples, one half human half shifter couple, two shifter couples, and one other vampire-human couple. This late at night, I was glad to see an absence of families and children. I checked my phone; it was almost one in the morning.

Cian pulled the armrest between us up and placed his hand on my knee. "What?" I whispered, sudden panic pulsing through me. Was something wrong? I glanced from side to side, trying to spot whatever attack it was he was trying to warn me about.

"You are too jumpy. Relax." I let out a long sigh as I tried to shake that feeling of imminent dread from my body. "I could help you relax," he leered into my ear as he leaned in to me.

I smirked. "I'm not sure you could, you seem like you're slowing down."

"Is that a challenge?" He snaked his hands up under my dress and up my thigh.

I didn't think it could be done, but I was completely satisfied with him. I didn't think I could take any more; not so soon, at least. "Shhh, the movie's starting."

He snickered and pulled his hand away from my thigh so he could wrap his arm around my shoulder.

It was about fifteen minutes into the movie when I threw my legs over Cian's knee and leaned into his shoulder; I was more comfortable that way.

.

I was completely entranced in the movie by the time the vision hit. Cian and David were sitting in a remote booth in a bar I didn't recognize. The booths were red leather, but everything else was black: the walls, the table, the floor. Even the waiters and waitresses were dressed in head-to-toe black. They obviously picked this booth because of its privacy, only they didn't count on the very nosey pair of men in the table kitty corner from them. One of the men was spending a lot of energy focusing on what the two were talking about. Luckily, it was the one with a view, or else I would have been completely in the dark about what they were talking about. Cian dropped the pair of my jeans he stole on the table and leaned back. "She's a mess." He looked like just a kid through the eyes of my medium, not a day older than 17. God, I hoped he was older than that when he was turned. For both of our sakes.

"How so?" David asked. I couldn't see his face, but I could hear the sadness in his voice.

"She hasn't slept through the night without waking up screaming in days. When I ask her about it, she dismisses me, telling me 'nightmares', which tells me she most likely can't trust at the moment. I've asked her roommate, she says they haven't really talked in weeks."

"She's not one to burden others with her problems," David said, his Irish brogue coming out more and more with each sentence.

"Nonetheless," Cian said. He hesitated to say whatever it was he was going to say next, which only caught more of my and my vector's curiosity. "Have you ever tried to restrain her during lovemaking?"

"I have," David answered, his voice deep with warning. It was obvious Cian was dipping in to unsafe territory.

"How did she react?" Cian asked, more respectfully this time.

"She was…receptive. Why do you ask?"

Cian dipped his head in a respectful bowing gesture before he answered the question. "Because when I tried it less than a week ago, she panicked then wouldn't let me go until just before sunrise."

I couldn't see David's face; I wanted more than anything to see it. I was hoping for my medium to get up and look at him before I exploded. Luckily, he decided to speak. "What did you do?" he asked. He didn't sound angry, but that doesn't mean he wasn't. My medium's ear wasn't trained to David's emotions like mine was.

"All I could do was hold her and let her know she was safe. I'm afraid abandoning her like I did didn't help, either. I should have held her until she was ready to let go, but I couldn't. Sunrise was coming."

The both of them were silent for some time as they drank their TrueBloods. "I allowed you to see her so you could help her come back to me." Oh, so there's the reason Cian was with me. I knew there was one. All the sudden, I couldn't breathe. My head spun with anger at David. I felt incredibly betrayed by Cian. Now that I thought about it, my instincts had been yelling at me ever since I saw Cian, but I was just so horny, I didn't care. I wanted his body so bad; I could overlook the glaringly obvious for a few moments of ecstasy.

I had to struggle to focus on Cian's words. "I am aware," Cian answered.

"How long?" David asked.

"She has to learn to trust you again on her own time. I can't predict how she'll react if you attempt to make a move before she's ready; I'm a _child_ psychologist, I'm not really qualified."

"I am," David said quietly. "But unfortunately, she won't let me get close enough to help."

.

When I came back into the here and now, Cian was wiping a single tear from my cheek. God, now that I thought about it, he did look young. He was probably turned before he could grow facial hair.

I pulled away from him. "What did you see?" he whispered.

"Leave me alone." I didn't want to be near him right now, his betrayal cut me too deep. I cleared my eyes with the back of my hand, grabbed my purse, and walked out on the end of the movie.

I didn't even get to the end of the dark hallway before he caught up to me. He was careful not to grab me or force me to answer him; he just stood in my way. "What did I do?" His voice was soft and gentle. He was pretty damn good at faking concern. I didn't answer him, I just wormed my way between him and the wall and started walking again. "Or should I ask 'what will I do?'"

"I'm just sick of being lied to. Leave me alone."

He wasn't going to leave me alone. "I haven't lied to you." I didn't answer him, I just kept walking. He followed me out of the theater into the warm summer night. There wasn't a chance in hell that I could walk all the way home from here, not in these shoes, but I needed to keep moving away from him. "How did I lie?"

"You're only here to keep an eye on me for David, you don't actually like me. That's why you've been spending so much time with me lately." I stopped walking only long enough to pull my shoes off. As soon as I was barefoot, I started walking again. "You just pretended to like me to get into my pants so you'd have a reason to see me nightly, and that's as bad as a lie." It didn't quite come out as bad as it felt in my heart, but letting him know exactly how I felt about his betrayal wasn't high on my list at the moment. Getting away from him was.

"Why do you think this?" he asked, gently again. He stepped in front of me again, but now that we were out in the open, I simply walked around him. "Please answer me," he pleaded.

I didn't think I could answer him and keep it all relatively together, so I didn't even try. I just kept walking. "I don't know why you could possibly think something so ludicrous, but I promise it's not true," he said quietly from right behind me. "Ever since I first saw you at that club in London, I've wanted you so bad it hurts. I still do. I can't keep my hands off you."

I lost it and turned so abruptly that Cian almost walked into me. I was shaking, I was so angry at him. "Get the fuck away from me!" I yelled. I hurled one of my shoes at him as hard as I could, but he simply caught it before it could do any damage. That just pissed me off more. I chucked my other shoe at his shins before turning and marching away from him.

"Even if you refuse to believe me, I'm not going to leave you alone to walk home in the middle of the night. You can throw as many shoes at me as you want."

"I'll be fine. Leave." I crossed my arms in front of my chest to protect me. This wasn't the best of neighborhoods to be trompsing through in the middle of the night, and subconsciously I was more aware of that then consciously. I looked both ways before crossing the five-lane thoroughfare quickly and on the balls of my feet. There was lots of loose gravel; the faster my steps, the less it hurt. By the time I landed in the cool, soft grass on the other side of the road, Cian had enough.

He placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me. "Stop this silliness." Before he could start saying something else, I grabbed his hand, twisting his arm as I turned for him. Lee's training kicked in before I could think; I punched him in the side, shoved the palm of my hand into his nose, swung my elbow into his temple, and kneed him in the balls in one swift movement. He grunted and dropped to the ground. Only when he was on all fours did I start running.

.

I sprinted all out until an oxygen shortage to my brain allowed blackness to creep into my vision. I dropped to my knees in the tall, uncut grass of a decrepit old house as I gasped for air. Almost as soon as I collapsed onto my back, Cian was standing over me, concern in his eyes. "Your lips are blue."

"Get…away…from me," I said between gasps of sweet oxygen.

"No. I am not leaving you alone out here."

I was still struggling for breath as I rolled onto my side and pushed myself onto my knees, then finally back up to my feet. I closed my eyes as my equilibrium returned; as soon as I could see straight again, I started running as fast as I could. With as tired as my body was and as weak at my lungs were, I wasn't going much faster than a jog.

He let me run another short block before speaking up. "Please, stop this. You shouldn't be running this soon after I fed."

"Fuck off," I gasped. I felt like I was about to pass out, but I couldn't stop. If I stopped, I was definitely going to pass out. I blinked and shook my head as more blackness creeped in, trying to head it off before it even started.

"That's the woman I fell in love with," he said, just a touch of a grin in his voice.

The smile in his voice didn't last long. After another block (less than a quarter of the way home, I estimated), just a touch of fury was starting to find its way in. "This is ludicrous." He had been following behind me, but at this point, he saddled up to my side, practically floating next to me as I struggled to keep moving forward. "If I stop following you, will you promise to stop running?"

"You…won't…stop," I gasped. I made it a few more steps before I couldn't go any further; I grabbed onto the chain link fence that lined the sidewalk and dropped to my knees again. If I could have spared the breath for it, I would have yelped as my knee landed on a large piece of gravel, tearing it up. As it was, I just leaned against the fence and sunk until I was sitting on my feet.

"Sloane?" he asked as he knelt in front of me. I was gasping for breath so hard my chest hurt with every breath. I shook my head again to keep myself conscious, but it didn't work as well this time. I only comprehended every fourth or fifth second. Before I could process, Cian was on his cell phone. It was like shoddy cell reception. "Corner of May and June Streets….Not answering…..Running from me…." Next thing I knew, I wasn't even leaning against the fence anymore. I was lying on my back under a tree, struggling to breathe. That's the last thing I remember.


	92. Chapter 92

I woke up the next day in a panic. I took in my surroundings quickly; I was lying on the couch at David's condo. Dr. Lupe was sitting across from me watching some crappy mid-morning TV talk show. Once I realized I was not in danger as the dream I was having suggested, my heart rate returned to normal. Once that happened, a slight pounding in my head returned. "The headache is normal."

"Doesn't mean it hurts any less." It wasn't until I sat up that I realized I was attached to plastic tubing. I pulled the tubes from my nostrils and unwound it from my head, tossing it to the floor as I forced my feet off the couch. "Advil?"

"Sure," he said as he stood. In a second, he was back with two Advil and a tall glass of water.

"What are you doing here?" I finally asked once I downed the entire glass of water. "Not that I'm not grateful you are, but…"

"I'm here to take your blood pressure every half hour."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Did Emma put you up to this?"

"She called me, if that's what you're asking."

I just shook my head as he strapped the blood pressure cuff on my arm and inflated it. "When are you going to just stop answering the phone when she calls?"

"Why would I do that?" he asked in a monotone voice as he kept time on his watch.

"Coming over here to watch TV while I sleep can't be high on your list of things to do. Don't you have to go to work? You know, care for_ actually_ sick people?"

"You, my dear," he said as he pulled the cuff from my arm. "…are currently my sickest patient. However, if you'd like to be at the hospital, I could arrange that."

"I don't."

"I didn't think so." He tucked the cuff back into the top of a small briefcase. "What exactly possessed you to run until you blacked out?"

"Cian was chasing me."

"And why were you running from him?" He wasn't watching me as I stood and walked toward the bathroom. Other than the conversation we were having, he was completely enthralled on the cooking segment of the morning show.

"Because he's a boy, and therefore and asshole. And a vampire asshole, to boot."

"Ahhh," he said, finally understanding. "Well, no more running unless it's for your life. Running from vampire assholes doesn't count."

"Humph," I grunted as I shut the door to the bathroom. I relieved myself and took some time to splash my face with cold water before emerging again. "So…." I said as I walked back into the living room. "Thanks, but I'm going home now."

"No you're not."

"Yes, I am." I slid my feet into my wedges, which were left at the end of the couch. I looked ridiculous in the short pajama shorts, tank top, and heels, but it was the only pair of shoes available to me. I tried to open the door, it was locked.

"Please state your name," the electronic system chirped.

"Sloane McIntosh."

"Voice sample confirmed. System lock-down initiated."

"What the hell," I said as I threw my hands into the air. I turned back to Dr. Lupe.

"You're not going anywhere; I need to keep an eye on you until you're back to normal."

I threw a small internal temper tantrum. OK, maybe a big one. "I'm back to normal," I said through clenched teeth.

"No you're not." He turned the volume up on the TV.

I was so mad I could scream. "Doctor," I warned.

"Please just listen for once." He muted the TV and turned for me. After a short stare down. "Is it so bad to just sit here and watch TV for a few more hours? Is my company that bad?"

I sighed and fidgeted. "You have kids, don't you?"

"Three girls," he answered, triumphant grin on his face.

"Hm," I grunted as I slid back into the couch. "I can tell; you're good at that."

"Years of practice."

I covered my legs with the blanket and threw my legs up onto the couch. "Fine. Two more hours, then can I go home?"

"If you're back to your normal self."

"God, you're worse than my own dad."

"We'll reevaluate in two hours," he said, giving in. He turned the mute off the TV. "Hope you like Diane Sawyer."

.

I stretched and rolled over. All the sudden, I was no longer on a flat surface, or any surface for that matter. I shot into a sitting position and opened my eyes. "Oh," I said. David was sitting back on his haunches, me in his arms. Before I was sure I wasn't going to fall off the couch and onto the floor, I wrapped my arms around David's neck and pulled me up to him, which is why I had a death grip on him. I looked around the room as David set me back on the couch. Dr. Lupe was still sitting in the same chair, now reading the paper. I could see Cian's head every few seconds as he paced past me, then turned, and paced right back out of my vision again.

"That's the fifth time you've rolled off the couch," Dr. Lupe said.

"I'm a restless sleeper."

"Yea," he answered. "I noticed."

Oh, yea. I was mad at definitely two of them, possibly all three of them. I glared up at Cian as he paced past, then shortly at David. "Can I go home now?" I asked Dr. Lupe.

"You could go home hours ago."

Yup, I was mad at all three of them. "Fine." I planted my feet next to David and pushed myself up then stomped off into his bedroom. "If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm still mad at you."

"Obviously," Cian and David said in unison.

I slammed the door to the bedroom and pulled off the pajamas, replacing them with a pair of jeans and one of the only women's tank tops I could find: a lacy, silky barely-there number in pale pink. At least it matched my shoes.

There was a knock on the door as I was combing my hair out with my fingers. "What?" I snapped.

"May I come in?" David asked.

I was technically standing in his bathroom, so if I invited him into his room, at least I still had a door I could slam in his face if I really wanted to. "Fine. Come in."

I could hear the door open quietly, then close again. The only indication I had that the door had been closed was a low click as the door mechanism slid into place. "Are you going to tell me why you're mad at me?" he asked.

"Cian didn't explain?" I asked as I started a French braid at the very top of my head.

"He doesn't understand, either." He walked closer, leaning against the doorframe to the bathroom door. "Let me try," he said as he watched my hands.

"Try what?"

"To do your hair. I think I understand how it's done."

I shrugged and sunk onto the floor in front of the bed. He sat behind me and started running his fingers through my hair. "He knows what he did. As for you, you're making Cian date me so he can keep an eye on me. For you."

I could feel the bed shake as he laughed silently. "You are paranoid; I am doing no such thing." I could feel the braid in my hair quickly taking form. His fingers were already halfway down my head.

"You will." I'd seen it. There wasn't anything that could convince me otherwise.

"If I know exactly what I will do to upset you, I won't."

"Let's start with not doing anything you think will piss me off."

He had finished the French part of the braid and was now finishing off the long end. "I am already doing that."

I was quiet for some time as he secured the braid with my ponytail holder, then tucked a few fly-aways into my hair. This felt good, it felt right. Just the two of us, David braiding my hair. I was mad at him in my head, but my heart wasn't, not now that I was near him. "Just…no more spies, no more secrecy. If you want to know something about me, ask me. If I'm in trouble, tell me. No more keeping me in the dark."

"Anything for you." He pushed my back forward gently so he could stand, then sunk to the floor so he could sit next to me. "When are you coming back to me?"

I shrugged. I couldn't get mad at him for asking, I had literally just told him to. "I'm not really up for dating yet."

"Isn't that what you and O'Smythe are doing?"

"No, that's sex. There's a difference."

"He doesn't think there is." David grabbed my hand and turned it over so my palm was facing up. There was a long superficial scratch down the middle of my palm; I must have scratched it against the chain link fence. "This is infected."

I sighed. "I'll put some Neosporin on it later."

"No need." He pulled my hand up to his face and licked my palm several times. "I think we should wed," he said as he enveloped my hand in his.

I burst out laughing. "You have to be kidding," I said once I was capable of forming a sentence.

"Not entirely," he said as he smiled down at me. "Are you aware of the situation that Eric and Sookie share?"

"You mean the thing with the knife?" I saw her present the ceremonial knife to Eric in front of Victor. "Yea, I saw it."

"In our world, that is called a pledging. I propose the same thing."

"Why?" I was trying to take this seriously, but at the moment, I was waffling between hysterical giggles and being downright pissed.

"You aren't going to like the answer." He didn't sound like he wasn't going to tell me, he just sounded like he was warning me, so I stayed quiet and waited for him to continue. "It would give me more leverage with which to protect you; much like the rights a married human couple enjoy, only more applicable to our world."

I nodded, taking the information in. I could appreciate the logic in it. "Do I need to be protected from anything?"

"The upcoming auditions for the Kingdoms worry me, and Victor is still out there, but there is nothing I see in the immediate future."

I leaned into his shoulder. I was just glad he was sharing with me. I feel like this is what our relationship was missing. That, and the trust he wasn't going to throw me through a wall.

He mistook the gesture as fear. "I will do my best to protect you whatever our status, no matter what comes," he said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"I know," I whispered. After a minute of enjoying the silence, I stood. I wanted to go home, take the world's longest shower, brush my teeth, and then run into lab.

Before I made it to the door, he pulled me up into his arms and kissed me. If my feet had been on the floor instead of dangling a foot above the ground, my knees would have given out. "If it was sex you wanted, you could have come to me," he whispered into my ear.

"I'm not ready for that yet," I said as he set me back down on my feet, making sure I was steady before letting me go completely. At least, I wasn't sure if I was ready for that yet. There's a certain degree of trust required when it comes to sex. I had no idea if I had that kind of trust in him yet, or if I ever would, for that matter. I opened the door and grabbed my purse from the island. "Who's driving me home?"

"I will," Cian piped up. He was at my side in an instant.

I glared at him for a second before giving in. "Fine. See ya, guys."

Cian followed me out of David's place nervously. I'd never thought I'd see him nervous, but there it was. Before I could reach for the door handle, Cian opened it for me then gently shut the door when I was inside. At vampire speed, he climbed into the driver side and started the car. "I don't know how to apologize for something I haven't done yet."

He had a point. I turned slightly away from him as he pulled slowly out of the parking lot, careful to not drive any faster than the rest of traffic. "Just…no sharing, OK? Don't tell David the details about us. And stop trying to do your shrink thing on me. I know I'm fucked up, just let me be fucked up for a while. I think I've deserved it."

"Does that mean you forgive me?" he asked. He still sounded a bit nervous, but there was also a lot of hope in there, too.

"I guess."

"Good. Where are we going to fuck like bunnies tonight?" he asked, fangy smile on his face. Just like that, the old Cian I know and hate snapped back into place.

"We're not. I have to be productive; I haven't really been into work for days."

He cut the engine and sped around the car to open the door for me. I took his extended hand, purposefully ignoring the pouty face he was giving me. "A quickie right here, on the porch, then?" he asked as I stopped to grab my key from my purse.

"No," I answered. Again, I purposefully didn't look at him.

"In the house?"

"No," I said as I finally got the door unlocked and stepped inside. Sydney's car wasn't in the drive and none of the lights were on, so it was a safe bet that she was elsewhere. "Don't you have work to do, too? The semester's coming sooner than you think."

"Finished," he gloated.

"Great," I answered sarcastically. "Well, I'm not. I'm going to shower, eat, then go to work."

"A quickie in the shower, then?" he asked as his eyes lit up.

"No." I dropped my purse on the foyer table and started up the stairs to my room.

"Why not?" he pouted. "I haven't broken you, have I?" he said, challenging me.

"No. And that's not going to work." Because I knew instantly that shutting him out of my bathroom would be a huge mistake, I started stripping after I turned the hot water on with the bathroom door open. It would only be recognized as a challenge right back at him if I closed the door.

"Then I'll try something else." He was in front of me instantly, his hands on my shoulders. "This usually works." He dipped his head and kissed me. I didn't let myself respond to it; if I had kissed him back, even just a little bit, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep myself from jumping him.

He finished his kiss and pouted down at me. "You are still mad at me, aren't you?"

I shrugged. I had no answer. I wasn't sure. Instead of committing to an answer, I stepped under the warm water. I didn't get my hair wet; David had just braided it and it didn't particularly need to be washed. Instead, I started with my face. When I emerged, clean and smelling like flowers ten minutes later, Cian was standing in my bathroom, leaning against the sink. "What can I do to make whatever it is I will do up to you?" he asked as he pulled the towel off the rack and wrapped it around me.

"Nothing," I said.

"You liked the flowers, didn't you?" he said as he followed me out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.

"I did, thank you." I occurred to me that I never actually thanked him for them. "But it's not necessary."

"Which is your favorite?" he asked. "No, let me guess." I pulled a bra and panties set from my drawer and slid them on, then followed those with the same outfit I had put on at David's. "Irises."

"No," I answered. I pulled a pair of slip-on shoes out of my closet and slid them on my feet.

"It's definitely not roses. Lilies?"

"No," I answered again. "You'll never guess."

"Hibiscus? You smell like hibiscus."

"No," I said over my shoulder as I walked out of my room. Cian followed me down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Hmm. Does O'Hara know?"

"Yes," I answered. There was nothing in my fridge. How could that possibly be? I just went grocery shopping. I pulled out a pound of ground beef and started rooting though the pantry.

"Did you tell him or did he guess?" he asked.

"What is this, twenty questions? He guessed right on the first try." I doubted he got it right on the first try, but I was willing to up the ante for Cian.

I pulled a bag of tortilla chips, a can of refried beans, and some salsa from the pantry. Nachos it is. "Crocus," he guessed next.

"Not sure what those are."

"Bells of Ireland?"

"Those aren't really a flower, are they? They're just kind of a leafy stalk."

He laughed. "Peonies?"

"No, but those are pretty. If I had a second favorite, I think it'd be peonies." I pulled a skillet from the cupboard and started frying up the ground beef.

"So you like large flowers. Maybe you do like roses?" he asked.

"No," I said as I wrinkled my nose. They were too plain to me.

"I didn't think so." He was quiet for a long time as I fried up the ground beef, drained it, and added the refried beans. "Hydrangeas."

"There you go," I said with a smile as I lined the bottom of a pan with chips. He looked mighty triumphant as I covered that with the ground beef/refried bean mixture, then covered that with salsa.

"What color?" he asked.

"You don't want to guess?" I asked, my head stuck in the fridge. I know we have shredded cheese in here somewhere. We always do; Sydney eats it straight from the bag.

I found it stuffed in the back. After checking the expiration date, I covered the pan with the last ingredient and put it in the oven to melt the cheese and warm it through. "You wear a lot of green, I've noticed," he said, contemplating my challenge.

"I wear green because Sydney likes it on me. She usually gets me something green to wear for Christmas and my birthday."

"Ah," he said, almost to himself. After I poured myself a Pepsi and turning to face him, he gave up. "I would be simply guessing."

"I'm not that picky," I answered. It had been a trick question. "I like them all."

He pulled his Blackberry out of his pocket and started fooling around with it as the oven beeped. "What is your address?" he asked as I served myself a slice of the nachos.

"You're not sending me flowers." I needed to nip this in the bud before it even got started. I took a bite of my nachos before remembering I needed sour cream, so I got up and served myself a dollop.

Cian's silence made me nervous. "Cian, did you hear me?"

"I did," he answered nonchalantly.

"Are you going to listen?" I asked after another bite.

"You'll see." I hated him right now, but I decided to keep my mouth shut (figuratively). "While we're on the topic of your birthday, when is it?"

"I didn't realize we were on the topic of my birthday," I said between bites. I was trying to eat as fast as I could so I could get out of here.

"We were, Ms. Evasive."

I rolled my eyes. It was late August, giving me several months before my birthday, anyway. He'd forget by then. I didn't see the harm in telling him. "December."

"A winter baby. What day?"

"The fifth. Don't get me anything."

"I will," he answered quickly as he stuffed his nose right back into his Blackberry.

I had enough of him. I gave up on eating, quickly covering the rest of the nachos and putting them in the fridge before grabbing my purse. "Bye, Cian."

"Goodbye, Cupcake," he said from my kitchen table. It was obvious I was ready to go, but he didn't budge and inch.

"That means out, Cian." I had one hand on the door handle, the other cocked on my hip. He didn't move. "I'm three seconds from uninviting you from my house. One…" I didn't even get to two before Cian walked past me slowly, out of my house. I smirked as I followed him off the porch, got into my car alone, and drove to work.

****END OF PART…6? 7? I THINK IT'S 6. PART 7 TO FOLLOW SHORTLY.****


	93. Chapter 93 Part 7

**PART 7:**

Three days. I got three days of productivity in before drama hit, and boy was I productive. After spending the day recouping at David's, I took a quick shower at my place, got something to eat, then went straight into lab. Without the distractions, sexual or otherwise, that Cian carried with him, I got four days worth of work done in just sixteen hours. It was nice to finally spend some time in lab while people were actually there. Sure, I had been there the entire night before, but I was on a roll.

At about ten in the morning that day, three large bouquets of hydrangeas, peonies, and bells of Ireland were delivered; one to the lab, one to my office, and one to my home. I smiled to myself. I had told him not to get me flowers, but once they arrived, I couldn't help myself. I got some interesting looks from the guys in lab, but I just smiled at them. "This is how you get out of the doghouse," I told them.

The night after my delivery, Cian showed up at lab. "What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.

He glanced at the bouquet still sitting on the counter. I hadn't had a chance to bring it home yet. "Still mad at me?"

"No," I answered after a sigh. I had been here going on twenty hours and I was tired, my feet hurt, and I just wanted to pull off these shoes and fall into bed. Oh, and I was hungry. "But I wasn't mad at you last night, either." I was almost done…just a few more tubes…

"You look tired. Will you have enough energy to have sex with me tonight?" he asked as he leaned against the counter.

"We need to talk about that," I said. He was getting in too deep; I knew that in my heart when he asked me out on a date, but when David mentioned he thought Cian thought it was more, I finally consciously realized it. "I'm not ready for anything long term." I wiped my fraying braid from my from my face using the back of my forearm before capping the last tube.

"It has been three days since you gave in to me. That is hardly long term." He followed me as I slowly walked to the walk-in freezer to store my samples.

"You know what I mean," I answered. "I don't date vampires, especially those that report directly to my ex."

"Does this mean you're breaking up with me?" he asked.

I pulled the latex gloves off, tossed them in the biohazard bin, and grabbed my purse. "If we had been dating, yes." I grabbed the giant bouquet from the table. "Thanks for the flowers, they're beautiful."

"You are welcome," he said. "Are you sure you're awake enough to drive? I read recently that humans drive poorly when they're tired."

"I'm fine," I answered.

"There is a couch in my office if you'd like to take a nap."

Of course there is. I smiled up at him. "Really, I'm good. Have a good night."

He leaned down and kissed my cheek. "You too."

.

I went hard for the next three days, only spending time outside of lab to eat and sleep (a little). On the third day, there was a note from Sydney on the counter when I got home.

_Pony,  
Tiff wants us to go dress shopping with her tomorrow. Can you go?  
Syd  
P.S. I miss you. _

I hadn't seen her in days and I missed her too. I grabbed the pen from the counter and wrote my response.

_I miss you too. I'll go tomorrow, just wake me up an hour before we need to leave._

Tomorrow was Saturday, so I wasn't planning on going in to lab anyway. Five 20-hour days in a row was a bit more than even I could handle.

I didn't even make it all the way up to my room. I collapsed on the couch, shoes and all.

.

Somehow, I woke up in my bed the next day. I was a little curious about that, but I just figured I woke up in the middle of the night and relocated and couldn't remember. Sydney sat on my bed, shaking it just enough to wake me up. "Hey," she said. "Tiff's picking us up in an hour and I made breakfast."

I sat up and stretched my arms to the sky. "You made breakfast?" I asked curiously. She wasn't the breakfast-making type.

"Pancakes."

I just looked at her, bewildered. "Why?"

"We had eggs that were about to go bad. Do you want some?"

I nodded as I threw the blanket off of me so I could get up, but I didn't get the far. I just looked down at my legs, trying very hard to remember if I woke up last night. "I swear I fell asleep on the couch wearing pants."

She reached over me and grabbed something. "Looks like the Devil was here last night." She didn't even read it before handing it off to me.

"Alright," I said as I opened the note that had been sitting on my pillow. "I'm going to shower then I'll be down."

I didn't look down at the note until after she skipped out of the room. It was written on a piece of computer paper he obviously lifted from my printer.

_Dearest,  
I came to talk to you, but you were sleeping so soundly and I did not want to wake you. I hope you do not mind that I moved you to your bed and made you more comfortable.  
If you can, please be at my condo shortly after sunset. It involves the upcoming auditions.  
Love,  
Yours_

I tossed the note back onto my bed and jumped into the shower. I finally pulled the braid out and spent a good five minutes just scratching the tension from my scalp before I actually washed my hair. I shaved my legs as I let the conditioner sit on my hair then rinsed it out as I rinsed the soap from my body. In a matter of minutes, I was wrapped in a towel, clean and refreshed. After pulling as much of the water from my hair as I could with the towel, I put some curl cream in my hair to let my hair dry naturally. It was a humid day, which meant it was much easier to work with my natural curls rather than fighting with them. I pulled on my underwear, a jean skirt, a tank top, and a cardigan (just in case), and jogged down the stairs. "Pancakes?" I said as I entered the kitchen. I didn't get to eat before I passed out last night, and I was starving.

"On the counter," Sydney said. She was washing the last of the dishes by hand. We had a dishwasher, but she liked to do it her own way. I preferred the dishwasher, myself. "What'd David want?"

"To talk, but he didn't want to wake me up." I pulled the pancakes to the edge of the counter, not bothering to sit down before I started to inhale them. "So what have you been up to lately?" I asked.

"The same. What about you? How's Cian?"

I shrugged. "I broke it off a few days ago. I didn't really want anything more than sex, but he was getting kind of attached. I broke it off before he could get in any deeper."

"Before or after the flowers?" she asked. She obviously knew about the flowers. All three bouquets were now at the house; one of them sat on the foyer table, one on the kitchen island, and one in my bedroom.

I swallowed my bite. "The night after. I feel kind of bad about that, but…it needed to be done."

She giggled silently. "Cold," she said with a smile on her face. "I hope you worked it all out of your system, then," she added.

"Several times," I answered with a smile. "In my room, and on the stairs, and in here, and…"

"OK, now," Sydney said to stop me. "I get the picture."

"…and in the restaurant bathroom, and in his car…"

"Damn, Pony!"

I laughed. "Yea. But I think I worked most of it out of my system."

"I hope so."

Tiffany knocked on the door just a few minutes after I finished licking the maple syrup from the plate. "Ready to go?" she asked, overly excited.

"Yea," Sydney and I answered in unison. We piled into Tiffany's Saturn Vue and away we went.

.

I wasn't really paying attention where we were going; I was just enjoying the pleasant drive. I wasn't really even paying attention when we got out of the car and walked into the small shop.

But when we walked in the front door, I burst out laughing.

Tiffany was looking at me like I'd grown horns, Sydney was just mildly surprised for a second before realizing what happened. I looked around to the very same bridal shop I had seen in my vision; the coral peach walls, the posters upon posters of anorexic teenagers in wedding dresses, the racks upon racks of gowns.

"Can I help you?" the short strawberry blonde woman from my vision asked. The fact that she was also here combined with the concerned and confused look on her face to make me laugh harder.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I said as I braced my hands on my knees. I took one last deep breath and tried to compose myself. "Oh my God, that's rich. I'm sorry."

"Uhh," Tiffany said as she watched my small laugh attack. "Yes, please. I'm getting married."

"Congratulations!" the small woman said. She acted like Tiffany was the first Bride-to-be she's ever met. "So you're looking for something special for your special day?"

_What else would she be doing here?_ I asked myself as giggles started to bubble back to the top. I grabbed Sydney's arm and turned into her, putting my back to Tiffany as I recovered.

"Exactly," Tiffany answered.

"Have you thought about what you're looking for in a dress?"

"Not really," Tiffany answered.

"Come over in this room and I'll bring you some things. You, ladies," she said as she looked at Sydney and me, "take a seat in front of the three-way mirror."

"What was that all about?" Sydney whispered as the woman flitted around the room. She expertly pulled several of the gowns from the racks before retreating into the same room Tiffany was in.

"I saw this, only I was wearing the dress. I could not for the life of me understand what the hell was going on."

"Oh," she said. I don't think she really understood why that was so funny, but to me, it was.

Tiffany came out a few minutes later in a mass of taffeta and tulle. The look on her face matched ours; disgusted horror. "No, this isn't me," she said as she smoothed out the mass of fabric. "What do you two think?"

"No," we answered in unison.

"What don't you like about it?" the woman asked.

"It's a little too much for me. I was looking for something simpler, I guess," Tiffany answered. She just looked uncomfortable in that dress.

"Is there anything you do like about it?"

Tiffany turned, looking at the dress in the mirror at all angles. "I like this," she said as she pointed to the sweetheart neckline.

"Good!" the woman exclaimed, encouragement in her voice. "Let's go get another one on."

"So," Tiffany asked from her dressing room. "Are you dating anyone, Sloane?"

"Nope," I answered loudly.

"Who was that guy that was at your house when I was there last time?" she asked through the wall.

"Cian? Just a friend." I smiled at Sydney, who was watching me with questioning eyes.

"Don't tell me that! He's just a cutie! Oh, don't tell Tyler."

I laughed. "He is cute," I admitted.

"Is he gay or something? He didn't strike me like he was." She emerged from the dressing room in a dress that was much better. It wasn't phenomenal or anything, but at least it didn't make me cringe.

"No, he's not gay," I said as she hopped up on the stepstool and looked at herself in the mirror.

"Then why aren't you getting on that!" he asked as she turned away from the mirror and looked at me.

I just winked at her and smiled. "This one's tons better," I said, referring to the dress.

"Ohhh," she said as a grin covered her face.

"Those two had fun for a couple of days. Very loud fun," Sydney added as she glared good-heartedly at me. I just shrugged apologetically. "And I agree, a million times better."

"So just a fling?" Tiffany asked as she turned back to the mirror. She tilted her head to take in the most of the dress.

"You could call it that," I answered.

"Booty call is more appropriate," Sydney added. I bumped her with my shoulder.

"You crack me up," Tiffany added. With that, she mentally switched back into dress-shopping mode. "I like this here," Tiffany said as she pointed to the asymmetrical hip, "but I hate this," she said as she pointed to the large fabric flower that was attached to the hip.

"What do you think of the cut?" the strawberry blonde woman asked as she considered the dress in the mirror. The cut had a dropped waist to just below the hip then fell to the floor in an a-line cut.

"I like it."

"Is it something you want or is it something you can live with?" the woman asked. "Because if you can just live with it, I'm going back to the drawing board."

"I don't want to narrow it down to just this cut," Tiffany answered. "But I want to keep dresses like this in the running."

She nodded, seemingly understanding. "OK. Unfortunately, I have a dress I think you're going to love, but the sample we have is going to be really short for you and won't look right."

And here's how I ended up in a wedding dress. "Am I short enough?" I asked.

"You should be," the woman said as she looked up at Tiffany. "Do you want to see it?"

"If you don't mind, Sloane," Tiffany asked, eyes wide and excited. "Just so I can see how it would fit?"

"Sure," I said. I followed the woman back into a different dressing room and stripped down.

"Can you zip yourself up?" she asked. "Your friend needs my help getting out of that corset."

"Yup, I can handle it," I answered as I stripped off skirt and followed it with my bra. I threw my hair into a messy ponytail so Tiffany could better see the back, pulled the diamond white dress up, and zipped up as far as I could. When I emerged, I was holding the top up. "Zip me, Syd," I said as I hopped up onto the step.

Sydney zipped me the rest of the way up. "Pony, you look great!" Sydney said as she circled to look at me.

It was true, I did look pretty fantastic. The dress was simple white silk, sweetheart neck with a dropped waist. The bottom of the dress was gathered up into small bustles, giving it an airy feel. A pale pink sash wrapped around my natural waist and fell to the ground behind me. There was just enough of a train to make it obvious, but not enough to make it really heavy.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"I never thought I'd see the day." Sydney wiped a tear from her face.

"This dress was made for you," the strawberry blonde woman said. "We had a bride about your size order this dress but the wedding was called off before the dress came in. We agreed to buy it off of her as a sample dress."

"That was nice of you guys," I said.

Tiffany gasped behind me. She was wearing another gown, something you'd expect to see on a Grecian goddess. Small white fabric flowers adorned the one shoulder strap then followed the line down to the empire waist. The rest of the chiffon gown fell to the floor in beautiful billows. "I love that dress," she said. "That is exactly what I was thinking."

"I thought you'd like it," the woman said with a smile. It was obvious she had been doing this for a long time if she could get it exactly right on the third try.

"Can you get the sash in other colors?" she asked. "Maybe like a champagne color?"

"Any color you want," the woman said.

"I wish I could try that one on!" Tiffany said, almost pouting. "You sure it would be too short for me?"

"You're seven inches taller than me. If it looks good on me, it's not going to fit you."

"You know what I can do," the woman said, obviously up to something. "I have some friends that own other dress shops around the country. I might be able to see if anyone else has the dress in your size and would be willing to loan it to me for a weekend or something."

"Oh, I would love it if you could do that."

After another five minutes of Tiffany talking about why she loved the dress, she allowed me to take it off. I wasn't allowed to get dressed yet, though. Next, she wanted to see Sydney and me in some bridesmaids dresses. Sydney was delegated to trying on all of the cocktail length dresses and I got to try on all of the full length dresses. A few hours later, we emerged tired and hungry, but Tiffany had found her dress and shored up a better idea of what she wanted her wedding to be like.

"So if Cutie Cian was just a fling, who's going to be your date to my wedding?" Tiffany asked as we slid into the booth at Coney Island's.

"I don't know, isn't it a ways off?"

"We are thinking end of next May. We have to look at what locations are still available for then."

"Like, 7 or 8 months?" I asked with a smile. "I have no idea who I'll bring, but I'm excited!"

"What about you, Syd…any idea who you'll bring?" Tiffany asked.

"Not a clue," she answered.

I never thought I'd enjoy a lunch with the girls quite so much. I wasn't ready to go after we paid our bills, but the sun was starting to set and it was obvious Sydney and Tiffany were running out of energy. So was I, for that matter.

"I hate to ask, Tiff, but would you mind dropping me somewhere else? It's on the way," I said as we piled into her Vue.

"Sure, where to?"

"Stadium District condos, across the street from the baseball stadium."

Sydney turned and gave me a disapproving look. For the first time today, I actually got a chance to look at her and actually take her in. Sure, she looked like Sydney, but she also looked different. Her eyes weren't as bright as they usually were, her skin, although tan, wasn't as bright and rosy as usual. She looked tired.

"Sure thing," Tiffany said.

"Thanks."

.

I was sitting in David's living room watching TV when the automatic shutters opened. I jumped when they opened, then giggled when I realized how jumpy I was being. This was quite possibly the safest place for me in Michigan. _Unless it's David I need protection from_, my mind added before I could stop it. I sighed. I just wanted what David and I had before I lost trust in him. I wanted to be able to share my life with someone without having to tiptoe constantly.

"What's wrong?" David said from behind me. I had retreated completely inside myself as I quickly turned the good mood that came from a day with friends into an I'm-never-going-to-be-happy-again pessimism; I didn't even realize that David had risen and heated himself a TrueBlood.

I swiveled on the couch to face him. "Nothing," I said after a sigh. "What is it that you need to see me about?"

"That can wait," he said as he set his drink down on the counter and walked around the couch. "Come here."

He was standing right in front of me, so the only thing I needed to do to 'come here' was stand. As soon as I made it to my feet, he gathered me up in his arms, wrapping me up in a hug. "You just wanted a hug?"

"No," he said into my hair. "But you look like you could use one." I had to admit, I could use one. I wrapped my arms around his waist and took a deep breath, taking his scent in. "What did you do today?"

"Went wedding dress shopping then got something to eat."

"Ah," he said as he played with my hair. "Who is getting married?"

"A friend from high school," I said. Sure, it was really one of Sydney's friends, but better to keep the relationship simple. "They've been together forever."

"Good," he said as his grip on me loosened. He lowered the two of us to the couch and pulled me into him again. "I was worried that fool O'Smythe proposed and you accepted."

I laughed into his chest. "No, Cian and I broke up." I raised my hand to reveal an empty ring finger. "No getting married for me."

"I am not going to lie to you, I am happy to hear that."

I waited a few minutes, just enjoying my hug until I forced myself to push away from him and look him in the eye. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

He said it quickly and calmly, as if it were no big deal. "The auditions for Arkansas start tomorrow."

That was a big deal.


	94. Chapter 94

I took a deep breath to help hold myself together. "OK, so…what does that mean?" I asked. I was proud of myself with how strong I kept my voice. In reality, I was definitely nervous. I might go as far as to say I was scared.

"There are three applicants for the position and they will be arriving tonight. I was going to request Cian stay with you tonight but if they two of you are over, then I would prefer you to stay with me, just in case."

"OK," I said. I wasn't planning on doing anything today, and I did feel better that someone was watching my back. I generally don't like to be babysat, but today, I didn't mind.

"Good," he said. "What would you like to do tonight?" He stood and offered me his hand.

"Wait," I said as I grabbed his hand and pulled him back down to the couch. "What's going to happen tomorrow?"

I must have sounded really nervous. He sat back down and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Everyone will be there solely to protect you. I will be at your side every second, Emma and Lee as well. Idi and Idriis will escort each contender one at a time. Beyond that, it is all up to you."

I nodded. "OK." I didn't notice I was wringing my hands until I looked down into my lap. I instantly stopped and shoved my hands under my thighs.

"Have you considered what you would like to ask them?"

I hadn't, not really. "Uhh," I stalled. "I guess I wasn't really planning on asking them anything." I had another tool to use to determine who the best for the job was and I was going to use it. "I guess if I don't see anything, I'll ask them something."

"Is there anything you'd like tomorrow evening? A special drink or food; something to help keep you comfortable?"

I shrugged. I usually didn't know I wanted something until I didn't have it. "We'll have to see when I get there."

David loosened his grip on me, only loosely laying his arm on my shoulders. He had turned his attention completely to the TV, expressionlessly watching whatever I had left the channel on. "Oh," I said after a minute. "A carpet or a blanket to sit on. For the floor."

"We will have a chair for you," he said with a smirk.

"Sometimes visions are violent," I said quietly. "I don't want to hit anything if I start to…shake." 'To shake' is putting it mildly. More like convulse. Or become violent.

"I will make sure you're comfortable."

"Thanks," I said. I was too keyed up and worried to actually pay attention to whatever was on the TV screen, so I just stared at it blankly. A year ago, even just six months ago, the prospect of being surrounded by that many unknown vampires wouldn't have scared me as much. Now, however, I had the hardened fear that comes from experience. There is nothing in my past that would let me think this was going to end well for me.

.

_If I'm going to die, please make it quick_, I thought to myself after a few hours of contemplating the many ways I could get beaten, whipped, shot, drowned, frozen, or otherwise harmed.

David had pulled me off the couch and into his lap as I contemplated my doom and was now stroking my hair as he held me to him. "Something _is_ wrong."

"I'm just not looking forward to this. Sometimes," I started without thinking about what I was going to say. _Sometimes I just wish someone would kill me so I can stop waiting for the axe to fall._ I fell silent and let David hold me. He was oddly comforting at the moment.

"Sometimes what?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said quietly. "Nevermind." I didn't want to upset him or anger him. For one, I didn't need him constantly worrying about me committing suicide. I wasn't nearly that depressed and there's no way I'm going to leave Sydney. Not after what I've done to her in the past year. Besides, there are only a few ways I'd even consider trying to commit suicide. I don't like blood or needles, which rules out slitting my wrists or overdosing on quicker drugs. I could try and hang myself, I suppose, but I've already almost died due to asphyxiation and I never want to do that again. It was beyond painful. I guess I could overdose on Advil, but I hear that almost never works; you just end up having to have your stomach pumped and stay in the hospital for a few days. We all know how much I love hospitals. That left gassing my car, but I had a convertible. They aren't known for their air tightness. Maybe that's why Eric decided a convertible would be right for me, because it would be that much harder to kill myself in one.

Even I had to laugh at myself for the ludicrousness of that idea. He'd probably take a big (figurative) sigh of relief if I died. No more protecting the human girl for him.

The second and possibly most important reason I didn't want to say anything is because I wasn't sure how he'd react. He gets angry at the weirdest things and I was a bit too vulnerable at the moment. Maybe if I were on one side of my front door and he were on the other, but I was in his arms on his turf. It wouldn't take much for him to break me. Just a quick twitch of the arms could cause me intense pain.

He must have been able to sense where my mind was going. "You can tell me, I won't hurt you again," he said with an almost grim determination to be right this time.

I panicked a little. At this point, not telling him might piss him off as much as telling him. A tear fell down my cheek as I pushed myself out of David's arms. Reluctantly, he let me go. "Just…nothing," I said as I walked toward the hall bathroom. I wanted nothing more than to have _someone_ I could share all of this with. I couldn't tell Sydney, she was already worried enough about me; I couldn't tell Moose, he finally had a shot at happiness with Sarah and I wasn't going to be the one to pull him back into the mess that is my life. What's more, I _wanted_ it to be David. I_ wanted_ to be able to tell him anything. My entire emotional state combined with my frustration to cause the tears to start.

I could feel him just outside the bathroom door as I ran cold water over my hands. I splashed it on my face and ran it through my hair; anything to give me more time to gather myself.

"Sloane," David said quietly through the door. There was an entirely new kind of weight to his voice that carried his pain. "I won't force you to tell me, I won't force you to do anything, but I want you to know that if you want to, I'm here. You can tell me anything."

God, it's like he could read my mind tonight. _I want to_, I thought to myself, _desperately_. Instead, I squared my back and wiped the water from my face. It didn't take me as long as I thought it would to plaster strength back into my expression. It wasn't a happy look, but at least it wasn't teary. When I thought I could get away with ignoring the fact that I was breaking apart inside, I opened the door. "I'm just not sure how to say it," I lied. I knew how to say it, I knew exactly what words needed to be said to convey the extreme anxiety of how I felt.

He wasn't buying it, but he didn't push the topic any farther. I pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and cocooned myself in it before lowering myself onto the worn leather chair in the corner. Just as I sat down, my phone in my back pocket vibrated.

_When are you coming home?_ Sydney asked via text message.

_Whenever, but I have David as protection detail tonight so I was going to stay here_, I typed quickly. Why anyone ever bothered with T9 typing was beyond me, especially in this day and age of cheap keyboard cell phones. It was just so much easier.

_Protection from what?_ She typed back quickly.

_Just in case. The candidates for king or queen of AK arrive tonight. Auditions start tomorrow._ I may as well tell her. She needed to know why I was going to be missing tomorrow night, at least.

_OK. I am going to call in sick tomorrow so I'll be home if you need me to pick you up, _she texted back.

_Are you sick?_ I asked. She wasn't looking great today, but she didn't look too sick. She just looked tired.

_No, just run down. I need a day that's kid-free._

I tossed my phone onto the table beside me and curled into the chair. I couldn't see the TV, but I hadn't really been watching it, anyway. Instead, I just started to stare off into space again as I wrapped the blanket tighter around myself. In the back of my mind, I was aware that David was watching me with concerned eyes, but I couldn't find it in myself to fake it. After a while, I zoned out his worried eyes all together and focused on what was going on inside my head.

.

I must have been out of it for a while; when my eyes finally focused and I took in my surroundings, it was Emma, not David, who was sitting in front of me. "Hi," I said, surprised.

"Good evening," she answered. She had her nose stuck in a medical journal, her elegantly clothed legs crossed in front of her. She closed the journal, allowing me to see her pearl-encrusted cardigan set in pale sage green.

"Where'd David go?" I asked as I stretched out, flexing my leg muscles to get the blood flowing again.

"He seemed to think his presence was unhealthy for you, so he went to Rum Runners for a while."

Now that the blood was flowing again, I curled back into the chair and gave her a questioning look. "Why would he think that?"

"I suspect your catatonic state worried him."

"Psht," I said as I waved my hand in the air. "I was just sleeping with my eyes open. So what's on the docket tonight?" I asked.

"Nothing," she answered as she pulled the journal back up to her eyes.

"There's nothing else you could be doing but sitting here, watching me think?"

"Of course there are things I could be doing, but David asked me to watch you, so I am watching you."

I sighed. I didn't want to put other people out, especially if there's not a for sure threat. "Let's go over to Rum Runners."

She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. "For what reason?"

"To stretch my legs. And I guess I could use a drink." And, more importantly, so Emma could go back to whatever it was she was doing before pitiful little me needed a protector.

She smiled and stood. "Shall we?" she said as she extended an elbow for me. She and I were usually the same height, but she was wearing heels, putting her slightly taller than me. Emma opened the door and engaged the electronic lock system after I grabbed my purse from the counter. "David will be delighted to see you," she said as we stepped into the elevator.

"That's good," I answered after a minute. I wasn't sure what to say to that.

I must have still been in my mid-catatonic state fog when I suggested going to Rum Runners. It was Saturday. Even when State was on break (like it was now), Saturdays were big days for the Lansing bars.

There wasn't a line, but the bar was about filled to capacity. As if I had David radar (David-dar?), I immediately spotted him across the room, sitting almost alone at a new table. His legs were sprawled out in front of him as he sat away from the table, purposefully putting his back at the girl trying to talk his ear off, his hands tented as he contemplated something.

"I've never seen you look so….Eric," I said as I approached him.

He looked up at me and smiled. "I was just thinking."

"About?" I asked. The rest of the chairs for this table had been stolen by other groups, leaving the only chairs taken. Instead of acknowledge the fact the fangbanger was there, David righted one of his legs and patted his knee.

"Um, hi?" the fangbanger said as I perched where David had patted. She looked a bit put out.

"I am so sorry, that's so rude of me. Hi, I'm Sloane," I said as I extended a hand.

She was so flabbergasted, she took it before she could remember she was mad at me. "Christie," she said.

"It's so nice to meet you."

"Excuse us, Christie," David said in his politest voice. Without even thinking, she stood and bowed before leaving the table. "What are you doing here?" he said. I didn't object when he rested his hand on my lower back; it functioned well as a seat back.

"I came to see you. And to drink. Emma said you were worried about me?"

"I was," he said. "That's what I was thinking about."

"You worry too much," I said as I stood. David followed as I weaved through the crowd to the bar. "I was sleeping with my eyes open, that's all."

"It has been a long time since I was human, but even I know that's not possible," he said.

By the time I stepped up on the foot rail and saddled up to the bar, my drink was waiting for me. Varana was_ good_. Not only was it ready and waiting, it was strong. "Thank you," I said as she passed. I got the slightest of head nods in response.

I turned to David and followed him back to his new table, this time sitting in the chair that had been occupied by Christie. "You can too sleep with your eyes open," I said as I lifted my legs so my ankles were resting on his thigh. At least, I was pretty sure you could. It definitely felt like sleeping, that's for sure.

"As you humans say, you're full of shit." When I looked up into his face, surprise covering mine, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"David O'Hara, I never thought I'd hear that kind of language from you!"

"Old dogs _can_ learn new tricks," he said with a familiar old glimmer in his eye. That was the David I fell in love with. I smiled up at him as I took in every last second of his laughter, a reminder of what we used to be like.

"You're perfect when you want to be," I said before I could stop it. As soon as I realized what just came out of my mouth, I looked down into my drink. I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks as I blushed. Maybe it wasn't the best idea if I was having brain-mouth barrier problems, but I took a long swig of my screwdriver, drinking most of it down.

"You are perfect all the time," he answered with smoothly.

_Unless I'm pissing you off and you're throwing me around like a rag doll_, I thought before I could stop it. At least this one was only a thought and didn't actually make its way out my mouth. That happy moment, when I could remember what David and I were like in the beginning without remembering what happened next passed by and my good mood fell a few notches again. I didn't let the smile fall from my face, though. "Thanks," I mumbled as I watched Cian approach David's back.

"Good evening, Cupcake," he said. He slid his butt across the table and expertly braced his feet against my chair, succeeding in pushing me back a few inches so he could come to a stop right next to me. "How have you been?"

"Just dandy," I answered as I rolled my eyes at him.

David laughed once. "I'm glad to hear that. Can I get a kiss?"

I gave him a questioning look. "For what?"

"Because I asked nicely." He swirled the TrueBlood in his hand to even out the temperature and took another sip.

"No," I said. After a second, I had a genius and somewhat hilarious idea. At least, it was hilarious to me. I stood and grabbed his hand. "Actually, come with me, I have someone I want you to meet."

He followed closely behind me as I weaved my way through the crowd until I found who I was looking for. Christie was leaning against the bar, trying to hold a very one sided conversation with Varana. Of course, Varana was working. And ignoring her.

I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned, and for a split second, scowled. She didn't like me, but she was about to. "Hey, Christie, I have someone for you to meet." I pulled Cian out from behind me and Christie's eyes lit up. "Christie, this is a friend of mine, Cian."

"Nice to meet you, Cian. That's an unusual name, Cian," Christie said. She tended to ramble constantly.

Cian didn't answer, he just looked down at me as he took a sip of his TrueBlood. I grinned back up at him. I was about to burst out laughing.

Christie didn't miss a step. "I'm sorry, Christie, but I have to get going." I gave her a wink to let her know I was just going to leave the two of them alone. "But I'm sure Cian, here, would love to sit and have a long chat with you. He's very talkative, for a vampire."

If looks could kill, Cian's would have. I broke down and started to laugh as I walked away, back toward David. "What did you do?" he asked as I sat back down at the table and lofted my feet back up on his thigh.

"Introduced Cian to Christie and hinted that Cian may or may not be interested in long talks."

He laughed for a long minute. "You are devious."

"He deserved it."

Varana dropped a new drink in front of me and swiped the empty one away.

.

David and I moved to a booth as soon as one opened up about two hours later. I had the entire booth to myself, so I propped my legs up on the end of the bench and leaned against the wall. David didn't last long, maybe 15 minutes before he needed to do some paperwork and help shut down the bar for the night. When Cian approached a half an hour later, he was glaring at me. "That was uncalled for." He lifted my legs and sat under them.

I laughed lightly, and then yawned. "That was very called for." I finished off the rest of my water and slid the empty glass across the table. "Scootch," I said. When I gently pushed my feet against his leg, he slid out of the booth.

I was dragging my feet; I was dog tired. I barged into David's office without knocking. David was sitting behind the desk, buried in paperwork. He only looked up to see who was walking in, then immediately buried himself in what he was doing again.

Cian followed me in the room, but let me sink into the couch alone. I pulled the blanket resting over the edge of the settee over me, tucked my arms under my head, and curled up. "I am sorry, Love, I am almost done here," David said without even looking up.

"Take your time," I managed to say after a long yawn. Shortly after, I fell asleep.

.

I woke up as David was lifting me from the settee. "I'm sorry that took so long," he whispered.

"Mmm," I moaned as I curled into him. "'S OK."

We were suddenly outside and moving very, very fast. "Would you like me to take you home or would you like to sleep here?" he asked quietly. I peeled my eyes open for a split second; we were in the elevator moving upwards.

"Here," I mumbled. I just wanted to be in a bed as soon as possible.

"Please state your name," chirped the electronic system.

"David O'Hara," he said as quietly as he could without tripping the system.

"Voice sample confirmed. Welcome home, David."

In a matter of seconds, David was setting me down on layers upon layers of plushness. I unbuttoned my jean skirt, pulled it off, and followed it with my cardigan and bra. Without missing a beat, David threw the comforter over me and kissed the back of my hand. "Goodnight, _**a thaisce**_**."**

**.**

**I woke up screaming again, but this time, David was there. He held me as I shook, no questions, no prodding. I was the first time in a long time I felt like David's arms were the safest place for me.**


	95. Chapter 95

When I woke up, I was dead center of David's bed, lying cockeyed across the entire thing. My head was no longer on a pillow; in fact, there weren't any pillows left on the bed. They were now all on the floor. My head rested on David's bicep which, while hard, was the perfect height for my neck. The comforter was pulled from its usual place on the bed, tangled around my legs and arms.

I had flung my arm over David's torso and, for some reason, had a death grip on his wrist. I forced myself to let him go, allowing the blood to return to my knuckles.

David's legs were crossed at the ankle. He looked like he was just star gazing. Only he was dead, of course.

I stretched the kinks out of my muscles. My hand muscles weren't the only ones that had been working overtime all night; my entire body ached as if I had just finished a workout. I sat on the edge of the bed for a good five minutes, just trying to stretch everything out enough to function. Once I could stand, I took a nice, hot shower. I had obviously had tense nights before when either visions or nightmares kept me on my toes all night (more of them lately) and a hot shower always did the trick.

I emerged looser and generally happier than when I got under the warm water. I had nothing else to do this Sunday afternoon, so I spent a good hour blow-drying my hair with the blow-dryer David had stocked when we first started dating; making sure it was soft and manageable. I didn't put any product in it, it should last longer that way. I might get three, maybe four days of soft waves before my hair got grimy and needed to be washed again.

The only thing I didn't have at David's was makeup. I brushed my teeth and got dressed in a pair of the designer jeans Emma had got me and a cashmere sweater. It was beyond warm outside, but I was planning ahead for when I was stuck at the O'Hara place all night. David's gotten better with keeping his condo above freezing, but Emma hadn't. The O'Hara complex was constantly a cool sixty-five degrees.

I texted Sydney as soon as I found my phone exactly where I'd left it; on the table next to the leather chair.

_OK, come get me please!_

She texted back quickly. _Give me ten minutes_.

It wasn't until she texted me back that I opened the twenty ounce Pepsi on the kitchen counter and bit into the pear sitting next to it. Staying the night at David's was like waking up at a bed and breakfast. Everything was ready for me.

I didn't even notice the note that had been resting under my Pepsi until I went to throw the pear core in the trash.

_Please meet me here at sundown -David_

I had planned on it, actually. I wasn't sure what to expect and I didn't want to walk into anything at the O'Hara's before they were ready for me. I finished the last of the Pepsi and left the empty on the note, right where it had been. David recycles (well, Jeremy his day-man does).

.

I flew out of Stadium District condos and hopped right into Sydney's car as she pulled up. "Hey," I said as I buckled my seatbelt.

"Hey," she responded. "How was your night?"

I shrugged. "Uneventful. I pulled a good one in Cian at Rum Runners, though." I told her how I had saddled him with the most talkative fangbanger I'd ever seen. She giggled along with me. "You're looking a bit better," I said once I finally got a chance to look her over. Some of the color was back to her cheeks, and her eyes shone again slightly. "Feeling better?"

"I am," she said. "Not all the way, but definitely better. I was still in bed when you texted, actually."

"Wow," I said. She must have been feeling run down if she slept past me. That almost never happens. "Do you have to work tomorrow?"

"Yea," she said. "Although it's only a half a day, Mr. Handel is taking the kids golfing in the afternoon."

I rumpled my eyebrows. "Aren't they a bit young for golf?"

She just shrugged in response. "I think Mr. Handel's planning to raise the next Tiger and Tigress Woods."

I laughed as we pulled into the driveway. "Well, I guess that could be fun for them. It's good for you, though. You need longer than a 1-day vacation."

"The kids start school soon," she said, happiness and anticipation in her voice. "That will cut my day down significantly."

"Oh, right." I had completely forgotten about school. I started school up again soon, too. At least I was ready. I wasn't teaching this semester; instead I was taking a course in bioinformatics. It was an idea I've worked with somewhat in the lab, but never really understood. It will be good for me to get a bit more background in it before I have to explain it in my defense. "Wow, I forgot classes were coming up soon."

"They are," she confirmed as she unlocked the front door. She looked a bit like she wanted to go fall back up into bed, so when she started up the stairs immediately, I didn't follow.

I lingered in the living room, unsure of what to do. I was hesitant to start anything in the lab. If history has told me anything, it was that I shouldn't start experiments before I expect to be pulled into vampire politics. It's a waste of my time and the lab's resources. I didn't want to wake Sydney, because it looked like she needed her sleep desperately. I don't sit and do nothing well, either. I needed something to do.

I called Moose. 'Hey, Mac, what's up?" he asked. He sounded concerned, like he was debating whether or not he should answer the phone.

"Oh, nothing here. Are you OK? Did I call at a bad time?"

"No," he said, surprised. "I thought you were in trouble."

"Why? Is there something I don't know?" I asked, panicking.

"No, no, calm down." I didn't notice I was gripping the arm of the couch until I took a deep breath. "It just seems every time you call you're in something deep."

"Really?" I asked. "Sorry, I don't mean to lean on you so much. I'm actually just bored."

He laughed. "Oh no, the dreaded boredom. However will you survive?"

I harrumphed once. "So, what are you up to? Need any help with lab work or anything?"

"No, no lab work for me. You want to do something, though?"

I shrugged. "Sure, like what?"

"I'd invite you over to the pool again, but it looks kind of gloomy outside." I peeked my head out the window. It did look like something big was rolling in. "Want to go see a movie?"

"Sure, what's out?"

"Hmm," he said, stalling probably as he pulled up the local theater's webpage. "What kind of movie do you want to see?"

"Actually," I said. "I never got to see the end of Prince of Persia, want to go see that?"

"Sounds good," he said cautiously. "Why didn't you get to see the end?"

"Long story," I answered. "It ends in three bouquets of flowers."

"Ah," he answered. He didn't need to know the whole story, he understood the basis. "The next showing's in an hour and a half. I can come get you and we can walk around Eastwood for a while before the show. Or before it starts to rain." Eastwood was Mid-Michigan's only outdoor mall. Surprisingly, it was very profitable, despite only being really usable maybe five months out of the year.

"See you soon," I said before I hung up.

Moose picked me up fifteen minutes later, giving me time to throw some makeup on. After rosying my cheeks and putting on some gray eyeliner (less harsh on super-pale skin), I peeked my head in Sydney's door. She was fast asleep again. I was a little worried about her; she had never been a sleeper like that. She almost never got more than eight or nine hours of sleep, it was like she couldn't. She had some internal alarm clock that wouldn't let her sleep that much. But I trusted she wasn't just feeling sick. If she was, she would tell me. She'd never been shy about that before.

There was a book up-side-down and open on her pillow. I bookmarked her place and set it on her bedside table; I didn't want her to lose her place when it fell from its perch. Without disturbing her, I pulled the covers up to her cheek and left the room.

"Hey," Moose said as he walked in the door. He didn't feel the need to knock, either because we were not such good friends or because I should be expecting him. Or both, maybe. He just walked right into my kitchen where I was writing a note to Sydney. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready," I said. I grabbed my purse and a raincoat (just in case) and headed out the door.

.

It was like Sunday was lovebirds day at Eastwood. Even with the incoming inclement weather, there were several couples walking around window shopping. Some were holding hands, some held each other by the waist. Moose and I were not. We walked as separate entities, my hands in the pockets of my raincoat and his swung loosely at his sides. "So did you forgive the new guy?" he asked.

"I suppose. He took me being mad at him well, though. He hadn't even done what he was going to do that pissed me off yet…" I took a second to repeat that in my mind to make sure it made sense. "But he didn't blow up at me."

"That's good. Is he going to be mad at you for going out with another guy?"

"He shouldn't. I dumped him." We were strolling so slowly that an older couple passed us on the left.

"Why?" he asked before he could stop himself. "Sorry, I'm being nosey again."

I shrugged. I didn't mind him or anyone else knowing. "Because I didn't want to get serious. I mean, I'm not looking to date a vampire under David, that's just asking for trouble. Not that I think David would take advantage of his…position, but I think there could be some animosity there." I paused to let Moose take that all in. I quickened my pace as we moved toward the movie theater; it was threatening to rain real soon. I didn't want to be caught in a downpour after I just spent an hour blow-drying my hair. "I guess it boils down to I wanted sex, he wanted more."

"How'd he take it? I see you're in one piece, so that's good."

We started to jog as the first raindrops fell. We were almost there, but I didn't want to get any wetter than I absolutely had to. "On the outside, surprisingly well. On the inside…I have no idea. He shields like crazy with his witty quips and devastating charm."

Moose and I had already bought our tickets to the show, so we walked right into the theater and took a seat near the front. I liked to use the bars behind the handicap seating as a footrest. "Who took it better? Me or him?"

"Oh, him," I answered quickly. I was going to go with honesty. When I looked at Moose, he looked a bit hurt. "I swear, he basically shrugged, kissed me on the cheek, and left. I was prepared for more…I don't know, anything," I said as I grabbed Moose's arm. "You definitely did it better."

His wounded mood lighted a touch. "Glad to hear it."

I laughed at him as he flashed his 100-watt smile. Even in the dark movie theater, he could lighten the room. "So when's the second date with Sarah?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. She said she'd call me, but hasn't yet. _I_ thought the date went great."

"So did she," I answered. I knew because I was seeing through her for a good portion of the end of it. Like a gentleman, Moose leaned in for only a kiss on the cheek before leaving her at the door. "Maybe you should call her."

"I don't want to be pushy or seem desperate."

I couldn't roll my eyes at him harder. "Think of it this way. If I forgot to call you about something, would you call me instead?"

"Of course."

"Well…"

He paused. "I see your point." He started to whisper as the lights dimmed and the previews started. "I'll call her tonight."

.

The movie was good, even the second time around, although in my opinion Jake Gyllenhaal could have been shirtless more often. Maybe it was good that he wasn't; I didn't need to get my libido all started up again. Who knows when I'd be getting more…relief.

"I'm starving," Moose said as he climbed into the driver's side. It must have rained hard while we were at the movie, the ground and his windshield were soaked. "Want to grab something to eat?"

"No, I want to get back home and check on Syd real quick before I have to leave again. She wasn't feeling really well when I left."

"Where are you going tonight?" he asked. It was obviously about an hour before full dusk, the sun peeked past a few clouds as it was dipping under the horizon.

"The auditions for Arkansas start tonight, I'm meeting David at his place at sundown."

"Auditions?" he asked. He had that sound in his voice like, 'I knew she was in some shit'.

I sighed, remembering I hadn't told him everything yet. It wasn't that I didn't want to, it just never came up. "Yea, when Eric killed Filipe, I became Queen of Filipe's territory because of some stupid vampire rule." I paused, thinking again at how ridiculous that particular rule is. "Anyway, the Council says I can't keep them if I want to stay human, not that I want them anyway, so I'm giving them away."

"The Council…" he seethed. Fear, anger, and panic shot through me momentarily at the mention of the ancient group of vampires. "The same people who kidnapped you?"

That was an interesting way of putting it. That's probably the most accurate way of putting it, actually. "I guess, yea."

"Are they going to be there tonight?"

A moment of panic shot through me, so palpable that even Moose felt it. "I don't know," I whispered. I had been so stupid not to think of this before. They had every right to be there to supervise the process. And if they could be there to terrorize me, then who else could? Was Victor going to try and audition? Maybe he'd be there to do something else, something more…sinister.

He let go of the shifter and grabbed my hand, squeezing it just hard enough to pull my attention away from my panic and towards his strong face. He was so warm. "Hey," he said. As soon as we came to a stop at the light nearest to my house, he looked over at me, practically reaching out and grabbing my attention with his gaze. "You need me, you call me. Immediately. No waffling." I couldn't answer as the panic built, I just nodded. He kept a hold of my hand as he turned into my driveway. "You want me to come?"

I needed to calm down, but it was asking the impossible. I took deep breaths in an effort to slow my heart rate, but the adrenaline coursing through my system wouldn't let that happen. I even closed my eyes. No luck. "No," I answered finally; it came out in a weak, vulnerable voice. I hated that voice.

"You want me to drive you to David's?"

I raised a shaking hand from my lap and opened the passenger side door. "No, thanks." I might need my car later.

He let go of my hand and followed me up to the porch, finally taking the keys from me when my hands were shaking too hard to fit the key into the slot. "Jesus, Mac," he said as he pulled me into his arms. I could feel my body…not quite shaking, but buzzing against his. "You can't live like this."

"Like what?"

"You can't live this tightly wound, it's not healthy."

I forced myself to push away from him and walk up the stairs to Sydney's room. "I'm OK." I paused outside her door before I went in. I wasn't going to go in there until there wasn't even a smidgen of panic left on my face. I forced my facial muscles to relax completely, then carefully structured a light smile on my face. Now, if I just kept my shaking hands out of view and was really brief, I should be fine. "Syd?" I said quietly as I opened the door.

She was sitting up in bed, laptop on her lap, cup of steaming liquid on her nightstand. "Hey, where'd you go?" I braced one hand against the hallway wall and the other gripped the door tightly. No shaking hands were in view.

"Moose and I went to a movie. Look, I have to get going to David's, how are you feeling?"

"I don't know," she said. "I might be coming down with something."

"You want me to stay?" I wanted, more than anything, for her to say yes.

"No," she answered. My heart dropped. "Go get it over with. Maybe when this is all over, you can finally sleep through the night without screaming so loud it wakes even me."

I dropped my head. I usually didn't feel guilty about my bouts of screaming nightmares because, well, Sydney slept like the dead. She didn't even hear them. But if she already wasn't feeling well and I kept waking her up at night, then I felt doubly guilty. "You should have told me, I would have slept elsewhere; let you get some sleep."

"No big deal," she said. "I made up for it today." She beckoned me over with one hand. Uh, oh. I shoved my hands in my coat pockets to hide them and walked over to the bed. As soon as I got there, she reached out for a hug. "Be safe tonight," she whispered in my hair.

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too," she added.

I walked out of the room, not another word.

Moose was still handing about halfway up the stairs, one hand resting lightly on the banister. "You sure you don't want a ride?"

"I'm sure," I answered. I wanted my car, especially if Sydney wasn't feeling well. I didn't want to pull her out of bed again so she could come and get me. I walked steadily past him and right back out the door. "Thanks, though," I said as I slid into the driver's seat of my own car.

.

Moose had followed me all the way to David's, even into the parking lot, before heading home himself. He blew me a kiss before driving off, and I even managed to smile at him before he disappeared.

I let myself into David's apartment. I had about half an hour before he rose, and I couldn't stand just sitting in silence alone. I also didn't think I could handle having the TV on, either. I knew it was irrational because of the security system, but I didn't want the noise in case someone tried to sneak up on me. I wanted to hear it coming.

I wanted to be next to David. I knew he was dead and therefore unable to even defend himself, but I felt better when I was near him. Stronger, safer.

I tried to open the door, but it was locked. As soon as I let go of the door handle, a panel in the wall flipped, revealing a small pad. SCAN LEFT INDEX it said. I pressed my left index finger against the pad and immediately heard an electronic lock release. The door clicked open.

I closed the door behind me and climbed onto the bed. There wasn't anywhere else to sit in his room. I laid down next to him, using his arm as a pillow again. When that didn't make me feel all that much better, I moved my head up to his shoulder and pulled his arm up and wrapped it around me. That was better. Not completely, 100% better, but enough that I felt like I could breathe again.

.

I had fallen into a lull as I listened to myself breathe. I could still feel my heart thudding in my chest, struggling against the stress of the increased adrenaline in my system, but my breathing had slowed into an almost sleep-like state.

My whole body tensed and froze when David moved. It was only a pre-waking up twitch, but it was enough. More adrenaline shot through my body, causing my heart to skip a beat then rev into overdrive. A moment later, he wrapped both of his arms around me, curling me into him. "Perfect," he said.

I didn't respond; I was still trying to restart my breathing.

"Sloane, my love," he said as he rolled me onto my back. I hadn't realized I was gripping his shoulder hard enough to turn my entire hand white until he pulled it away. "Are you alright?"

I nodded yes.

"You look beautiful," he whispered. "All except for that deathly frightened look on your face."

"I'm OK, you just scared me."

"How so?" he asked as he rolled onto his back again. It was obvious he didn't want to let me go, but he thought it might be a good idea to give me some space.

I scurried back into him. "You moved."

"I tend to do that," he said with a smile as he wrapped one arm around me and propped his head up with the other.

"David?" I said, sounding small again. God, I hated that. I wish I could stop sounding (and feeling) so pitiful tonight. "Is the Council going to be there?"

"One representative, yes."

I froze again. Please, please don't let it be Fidel. "Who?" I whispered.

"Guinevere."

"Who else will be there?"

"Emma and Lee, of course. Idi and Idriis. Cian will be there, but only if you want him to be." I nodded yes vigorously. I wanted as many people that I trusted there as possible. Well, as many vampire people as I trusted. "Guinevere will be there, and the three applicants."

"Victor?"

"If he sets foot in Michigan, he is to be killed on sight." He kissed my forehead. "No one is to even touch you unless you say otherwise."

"What about Victor's people? He has to have followers."

"He does," David answered carefully.

"What about them?"

"I doubt he would send someone else, Love, but if he does, we will be prepared."

I nodded into his bare chest. I had to admit, I felt better. Just David's reassurance that nothing would happen to me was enough to calm my frazzled nerves.

"I must shower, and then we will go." David said after kissing my forehead. He hopped out of bed and tossed me one of the pillows from the floor. I laughed to myself. This was so backwards; he, the male, was supposed to be waiting while I, the female, got ready. Not the other way around.

The smile must have made it to my face. "Absolutely breathtaking," he said as he studied my face. I furrowed my brow at him and he closed the bathroom door.


	96. Chapter 96

I insisted on following David in my own car. The guy at the front gate to the O'Hara complex actually stopped me this time as I pulled up. A young guy and a young vampire, maybe forty years old, total. He had a short military cropped haircut and a set of very broad shoulders that stretched his black on black outfit to its limit. Usually, he just smiles a tight, forced smile and lets me through. Tonight, however, he stopped me. "Hey, Mike," I said as I rolled down my window.

"Ms. McIntosh," he said in his warmest greeting. It always amazed me how he was just made to be a soldier. It was like he was born for it.

"What's up? What's with the super security?" I had a feeling I knew, but the empty, silent space after Mike's greeting was making me uncomfortable.

"I am only following orders, Ma'am. Please open your trunk."

I shrugged and followed directions. There was literally nothing in there, not even and ice scraper or a blanket. I wouldn't stock my trunk with cold weather gear until winter came.

He glanced around and closed my trunk. "Go ahead," he said as he leaned back into my window.

"Thanks. Have a good night," I answered.

He responded with only a nod. Talkative.

David was waiting patiently at the end of the long drive where it opens into a small parking lot. "OK," I said as I gathered my purse and keys and locked my car.

I didn't notice I was gripping my keys to the point of pain until David pried them from my hands and wrapped his fingers around my now achy hand. "You need to relax. Remember, you are in charge. You are in a fortress, protected by Michigan and the Council. You have nothing to fear."

"Then why is my gut screaming at me?" I asked as he opened the front door. Idi and Idriis were on either side of the door, and both turned to look at the new additions. Idi smile at me. Idriis did not.

David ushered me into the ballroom. It was set up in a very obvious display, even to my eyes. There was an expensive looking Oriental rug dead center in the room. Strewn all around it were large, plush pillows. About ten feet behind the rug, three thrones sat side by side. To the right of the rug was another chair sitting at an angle. Anyone who sat there could simultaneously see the door and whoever was on the rug. In front of the rug was a chair. This one was expensive looking and most likely antique, but not nearly as comfortable as the other four chairs in the room. It looked like it would be more appropriate around a dining table for twenty than sitting alone in the middle of a large ballroom.

"Take your time. When you're ready, we'll send in the first person," David said.

I looked behind me, toward David. Emma and Lee had silently followed him into the room. Guinevere did too, but she was standing much farther back than Emma and Lee. Someone had made it very clear to her she is not to get near me tonight before I even arrived.

I sat down in the middle of the carpet, crossing my legs in front of me. I closed my eyes and took a quick minute to gather myself. _Remember your wit, Sloane, but be careful_, I told myself. _Remember, be authoritative. They'll never take you seriously if you sound like the scared little human_.

I took one last deep breath and said, "Send them in." Good, I was off to a good start. I sounded strong, controlled.

David smiled and pulled out his Blackberry as he and the rest of the vampires took their seats. Emma, David, and Lee behind me (in that order), Guinevere at my side. Seconds later, Cian escorted the first batter to the plate.

He wasn't overly tall or muscular, but was imposing none the less. He wore a light brown suit with a pale pink shirt. His magenta and navy striped tie matched his pocket square exactly. White gold (I assumed) cufflinks shown at the ends of his sleeves. To cap off the outfit, he was wearing mahogany colored dress shoes buffed to a blinding shine.

I didn't like the way he walked. Small, heart shaped lips pursed into an angry line. Curly black hair was gelled back, away from his angular face making him look more severe. Dark brown eyes watched me as glared up at him. As soon as he was close enough to try, I could feel his mind pressing against mine, trying to lull me into doing his bidding. "Uh uh uh," I said as I waved a finger in the air. "That's not nice."

The brown eyes momentarily flared with anger before he could force himself to try and look amiable. "My deepest apologies," he said with a deep accent. I couldn't for the life of me place it, but his complexion made me thing perhaps he originally hailed from Greece or those parts. I motioned to the chair and he took it. He leaned back in the chair, crossing one ankle over his knee and resting his hands in his small lap. "I am Antonio Beldicci."

"Sloane McIntosh," I said in the same dead tone he addressed me in. "But, of course, you know that."

"I do," he answered. "I know a lot about you."

"I'm not interested in what you know about me." Ok, maybe I was a touch. Or a lot. But I played like it didn't bother me. "I'm more interested in you. Why do you want to be King of Arkansas?"

"Power." At least he was honest. Or maybe that was the best answer he could come up with.

I smiled in response, eliciting a confused look from him. "Have you ever run anything as complex as a state before?"

"I have," he answered. "I built my business empire from the ground up." Such a modern and human colloquialism sounded strange from his lips.

I wasn't interested in what he did too much. "Why do you think you are the best equipped to run your state?"

"I am the oldest vampire by several hundred years."

"That doesn't really answer my question," I said. I knew I was pushing my luck when I felt David push caution at me through the bond. Cian, on the other hand, was about to break out laughing. When I looked up at him, he winked at me.

Antonio's fangs popped down. "I am the most powerful vampire in the state now. The state is mine to run."

What is it with vampires and being so cocky? No, he is not entitled to run the state because he's old and powerful. I held my hands out in front of me, palms up. "Come here, give me your hands."

He looked at me like I had asked him to do a striptease.

"Come on," I repeated. Reluctantly, he folded himself onto the flood in front of me and gently laid his hands on top of mind.

I took a deep breath, wiggled on my butt until I was more comfortable, and closed my eyes. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Reading you. Quiet." We sat in silence for several minutes before a vision came. "You don't hang around humans much," I said. If it took me this long to see something—anything, that meant there wasn't much to see. Since I could only see though humans and shifters, that meant he doesn't see them much.

"No, not much," he answered. He sounded as if the answer to that was obvious. Why would he, a magnificent creature, hang around the lowly humans? Most of what I saw were glimpses before the mind of my medium blanked out. Great, a vampire that liked to glamour people.

"Just to feed. You take your blood, erase their memory, and send them on their way." In fact, he used a service run through a company he owned. It was kind of like a Meals on Wheels, only for vampires. A person of specific requirements was sent to a vampire's house or business daily to feed from and…whatever else the human was willing to do (or could be glamoured into doing). Of course, it wasn't always the same human; that would be dangerous.

But he had a type. A disgusting type. A very young type.

This time he sounded more intrigued. "Yes, how did you know that?" he asked.

"I ask the questions here." I tried for another couple of minutes to get something meaningful, but he seriously never interacted with people I could see through. Even his day woman, a small blonde never interacted with him. They communicate via phone and email only. I released my grip from his hands and he quickly pulled them away. "OK, you can go."

He stood quickly and retreated away to the edge of the carpet. He bowed gently to Guinevere, then gave significant nods to David, Emma, and Lee. I got no recognition at all before Cian escorted him back out.

I sighed as soon as the door shut. "You are doing fantastic," David said from his seat.

I didn't even turn to face him; I just braced my hands on the ground behind me and leaned back into them. "Thanks."

"Would you like to send the next one in, or would you like to wait?" David asked.

"Give me a second," I said as I leaned back and closed my eyes. "That really took it out of me."

"Take as much time as you need," Guinevere said.

I took another couple of moments. "OK, send the next one in," I said as I cracked my neck. _One third the way done_, I told myself.

Cian escorted the next one in. I gasped silently. He was gorgeous. He had long sandy blonde hair and deep brown eyes that were smiling at me. Strong cheekbones were also raised up in a gentle smile, revealing adorable dimples. His lips were full and warm and parted to show beautiful white teeth.

He was tall and thin but muscular at the same time. He knew how devastating he was, and he'd gotten so used to using it throughout the years that he couldn't stop now. He dropped to one knee in front of me and pulled my hand from my lap to kiss the back. "What a lovely Queen I have," he said as he looked me in the eye. I'm pretty sure I was blushing because Cian was laughing.

"Thank you," I said finally. I could feel David silently object behind me, a thin hint of jealousy present in the back of my mind. "Although it'd probably be best if you lean back a bit. I wouldn't want David to tear you apart."

The thin hint of jealousy turned into deep satisfaction. "Is King O'Hara quite attached to this one?" he asked me as he gazed over my head at him.

"He sure is," I answered with a smile.

"I can imagine why," he murmured as he kissed my knuckles again, this time grazing them with his fangs. "You are quite beautiful. Exquisite. Lovely. Stunning. Not even a thesaurus holds the words to describe how beautiful you are."

"Thanks again," I said. He was still holding my hand, and it was making me a touch uncomfortable, but I held strong, keeping the pleasant smile on my face as he caressed it with his own. "I'm Sloane," I said. I wanted to know his name, but I didn't want to sound crass asking him directly what it was.

"Phillip Mason," he responded. Ah, good old predictable manners. "It is truly a pleasure to meet you."

I finally pulled my hand from his and motioned to the chair he had passed by. "Have a seat." He follows directions nicely, too. "Tell me about your life in Arkansas," I said with an amiable smile. It really didn't matter what the answer to any of the questions were; Phillip was already beating Antonio by a landslide.

"What would you like to know?" he asked back as he cocked his head slightly.

"What do you do?"

"I run two very successful strip clubs."

"Oh," I said, actually curious by his answer. "Male or female?"

"Male strippers. Are you interested in visiting?"

I smiled brighter and brighter at him as David got more and more jealous. "I might. Do you enjoy what you do?"

"Very much so."

I showed interest by nodding my head. "OK, come back down here and give me your hands," I said as I held my palms open and ready for him.

He smiled fangily at me as he crawled from the chair until he was right in front of me. Oh, I bet he strips at his club. He was just too good at that for it not to be something he practiced often. "Gladly," he said as he sat close to me and laid his hands in mine.

I smiled at him one last time as I shook my head lightly. With one last glance to Cian (who was done laughing, for the moment), I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

It did not take long at all for the visions to come barreling at me. He spent a lot of time around humans; women mostly. "Oh," I said, surprised and just a touch embarrassed at what I was seeing. The woman I was seeing through was really enjoying Phillip's…show. He was currently wearing nothing but a black leather-looking cod piece. That's it. No shoes, nothing else. If there was any chance that my libido was going to let me get through the night, it was far, far gone.

Phillip dropped to his knees on the stage just in front the woman I was seeing through. Slowly, carefully, he dropped to all fours so he could reach down and grab the woman's hand, five dollar bill still in it. He pulled her to her feet as he got back up to his knees. "Oh," I said again as he pressed her hand against his firm chest, pulling it down ever so slowly. As soon as her hand got somewhere that made me blush even harder, she tucked the bill into his only clothing.

Her hand lingered mere centimeters from his…member. "Ahem," I coughed, clearing my throat. "You _do_ enjoy your work."

I flipped through visions very similar to the last one, working myself into a bit of a tizzy. "OK, thank you," I said as I opened my eyes.

"My pleasure, my Queen," he said as he kissed the back of my hand again. "Please, come visit Arkansas soon."

I nodded as Cian escorted him out of the room. As soon as the door shut, I laid back onto the pillows behind me. "What time is it?" I sighed.

"Only midnight, Love," David answered. I could see his head pop into view as he stood and approached me. "You're tired," he said. "Maybe we should save the last audition until tomorrow." He held out both of his hands, a bottle of water in one and a Pepsi in the other. Both were dewy with condensation. Nothing better than a cold Pepsi.

I struggled to sit up and grabbed the Pepsi from his hand. "No, let's get it over with." I reached my other hand up while I took a swig or two of the cold elixir and David helped me to my feet. I just needed to get the blood flowing again, then maybe I would have enough stamina for the last one. _Alright Sloane_, I told myself. _You can do this. Woman up_.

I took one last swig, finishing about half of the twenty ounce in one fell swoop. I jumped up and down like the boxers in the ring do, swinging my arms in front of me as I did. "Alright. One last one. Then I choose and go to bed."

David kissed me forehead and squeezed my shoulder. "I am so proud of you," he whispered before going back to sit with his family.

I was still bouncing when Cian ushered the last person in. She was made of contradictions. Even I considered her short as she looked at me eye to eye. Only her nappy afro made her taller than me. Black hair spread from her head like a halo and shone just as much in the delicate lighting. Her skin was as pale a skin you could have and still be considered black when you walked down the street. The most striking part, however, were her eyes. It wasn't that they were empathetic and warm, something you almost never see in a vampire, not sincerely. It wasn't even that they were somewhat hesitant, like a child looking for something to let them know everything was going to be OK. It made me want to hug her.

No, the most striking thing was the fact that her eyes were blue. A deep blue that looked almost purple against her mocha skin. They were the very definition of amethyst.

She bowed slightly toward me as she approached. "Good evening, Majesty."

"Call me Sloane," I said kindly. If I didn't know better, I would have assumed her to be human. She just didn't carry herself like most vampires.

"Sloane," she said as she bowed again. "I am Nala."

"Pleasure to meet you," I said. "You're welcome to take a seat," I said as I pointed to the chair behind her. "Hope you don't mind if I stand."

"I will stand as well, if you don't mind." She spoke like Eric; it was obvious English was far from her native language, but she had many, many years to cover any accent.

I shrugged. "Up to you." For the life of me, I couldn't decide what to ask her. If anything. "Why do you want to be Queen?" I asked finally. I needed to ask something.

"I worked for the former King of Arkansas, the one before King Filipe of Nevada killed Queen Sophie-Ann of Louisiana." I nodded, but I didn't understand. Not really. "He was a horrid man and ran his state into the ground, so to speak. I can do better."

"Why did you work for him, if you didn't like him?" Now I was just curious, and the question came out before I could censor. I was aware it was probably prying.

"I owed him my life, I was indebted to him."

"That's a good reason," I said. "Do you say you spend a lot of time around humans and shifters?"

"I spend very little time around the two-natured, although I do see them from time to time. However, I do spend a fair amount of time around humans. My lover is human."

"Oh, what's their name?" I didn't want to assume and say 'he' or 'she'.

"Danny." Great, and ambiguous name. I guess I'd get to see for myself, then.

"That's great," I said with a smile. "It will make this easier." I opened my hands again and widened my stance. "Give me your hands, please."

She laid them in my palms without hesitation. The vision hit immediately, no need to try and call anything to the forefront. I saw who I assumed was Danny; a tall, elegant black man with delicate features and kind eyes. They were sitting at an upscale club, obviously on a date of some sort. His hands were laying on top of hers across the table and he was gently running his fingers tips back and forth across her wrists. She was smiling at him. No fang, no stereotypical vampire smile. Purely a human smile.

They paid their bills separately (I wonder whose idea it had been to go Dutch). As they were leaving the bar, hand in hand, something out of the side of Danny's eye caught his attention. Faster than I could track, he jumped in front of Nala, putting him between her and a charging fanatic with a stake. Before Nala could respond and protect him, the fanatic sunk the stake into Danny's chest.

My eyes flew open. I felt that, and it hurt a lot. I'd have to say this vision hurt more than the one where Sookie got staked. There must have been a bit of panic in my eyes, because Nala's narrowed on me. "Mages…Sloane?"

I dropped to my knees, unable to respond. Without letting go of my hands, Nala dropped with me. The spot between my stomach and my chest still hurt, meaning only one thing. Now I had Danny's injury. It was only a matter of time before blood started to run down my stomach. I could feel the first few trickles working their way down toward my belly button in hot streams.

Nala let go of my hands and held me to steady me as I wavered. She braced my neck with one small yet strong hand and placed the other on my arm.

My hands were free. I didn't think I could tear my gaze away from Nala without at least getting very dizzy, so I lifted my sweater up, just past where the hole in my abdomen would be. I ran my fingers across it. When I pulled them back, they were wet and sticky.

Cian was the closest to me. "Move," he told Nala, who instantly backed away from me. Without her there to hold my upper body up, I slumped to the floor. Cian caught me before I landed and laid me gently on my back.

"I did nothing to her," Nala said, fear in her voice.

"We know," David said as I shot up from his throne and rushed to my side. "Sloane, Love, what did you see?"

All I could see were Cian's and David's faces. Nothing happened when I tried to talk but gargling. As soon as I opened my mouth, I could feel the heat of blood run from one side down my cheek towards the floor.

Either David's or Cian's hand was pressing against the wound in my abdomen. "Emma," David asked. Without another word, she was at my side as well.

It seemed like I was always getting stabbed, shot, or staked in the stomach in my visions. I guess as the biggest target on a human, it made sense.

I was starting to lose consciousness. I forced my head to turn so I could look at Nala, who was standing away from me, shell shocked. "Protect…Danny," I whispered. More blood flowed from my mouth as I said it, but as long as she heard me, that was OK.

I was mildly aware that David was lifting me from the floor. "Nala, you may go. Thank you," he said as he passed her by. The doors to the grand foyer opened and I was confronted by the twinkling lights of a crystal chandelier. My vision was fuzzy, but I could still make out two human forms. One was wearing brown head to toe. Antonio. The other must have been Phillip.

There was a faint snickering in the distance before I finally lost consciousness.


	97. Chapter 97

Every core muscle in my body hurt. I didn't move when I woke up, I just tried to breathe as little as possible. "She must be a nightmare," a soft female voice said. I was pretty sure it was Guinevere, but I hadn't talked to her enough to be sure.

"How so?" David asked. Now that's a voice I recognized.

"Don't you worry constantly? If that had been Lance, I would feel like I had to watch him all day and all night. What if she has one of those visions when no one is around?" the female voice asked.

"She is very often around someone," David answered. "She has a roommate who understands, and a coworker. But yes, I do worry."

"Can they kill her? The visions?" the female voice asked.

"Technically, yes," David answered. The fear and pain in his voice when he said that scared me. "But so far her heart has eventually restarted on its own."

OK, it was time for me to attempt to get up now. I opened my eyes and tried to sit up. I was slow today. I groaned as my core protested loudly and dropped onto my back again. "Ouch," I said.

David stood from the seat he'd pulled up to the bed and helped me into a sitting position. "How do you feel?"

"Sore," I answered. I lifted my still bloody shirt to see the damage. Tongue marks covered most of my torso (thank you, David) and there was a small scab dead center between my abs. It looked like the wound had been healing for weeks. "That one really hurt. It really hurts to get staked."

"You were staked?" Guinevere asked.

"Well, _I_ wasn't, but yea." I shot David a what-is-she-doing-here look. I wasn't her biggest fan. "Are the vampires from Arkansas still here?"

"Yes," David answered.

"I've decided. Can I have a new sweater?" I was aware that the one I was wearing was covered in something I wasn't thinking too hard about.

David pulled one of his from his drawer and handed it to me. "Guin, please leave," David asked without even looking at her.

"I am truly glad you are feeling better," she said before shutting the door.

I tried taking my sweater off myself, but I couldn't raise my arms above my head yet without tweaking something painful. Before I could ask for help, David's hands were on my torso, helping to free me of my sweater. As soon as I was clear, David tossed the sweater to the floor. "Let me get something to clean your stomach with," he said as he walked into the familiar attached bathroom. I hadn't realized before, but this was the same room I woke up in the last time I was here.

He emerged with a wet washcloth. "Lay back," he said as he gently supported my weight and lowered me to my back. I groaned when he touched the cool, wet washcloth to my skin and my muscles jumped in response. "Relax," he said roughly. I tried my very hardest to not to flinch when the cold washcloth touched my skin.

I heard the quiet thud as the washcloth hit the floor, but David's hand didn't appear to help me back into a sitting position. Instead, cool lips landed just below my belly button. "Oh," I said, surprised. David gently caressed my hips as he worked his way up, intentionally laying a light, quick kiss on the new scab.

"David," I said quietly as he worked his way up my cleavage. Oh My God. I dug my hands into the comforter below me, grabbing fistfuls of plushness. My skin was electrified under his touch. How did he do that?

I was still wearing my fire engine red bra, but he didn't attempt to pull it off me. "Yes, Love?" he whispered into my collarbone before laying a line of kisses up my neck toward my ear.

"Not yet," I said with a heavy voice. I was starting to work myself up. "I can't move yet."

"I want you," he whispered into my ear as he slid his hands between my back and the bed, wrapping me in his arms. I returned the favor, wrapping my own arms around his neck.

"Help me up," I asked quietly. He lifted me into a sitting position effortlessly without even pulling away his embrace. I kissed his cheek, then his chin, then his lips. "I want you too," I whispered. "But not yet."

David kissed me one last time lightly on the lips before helping me into his sweater. "I will never take seeing you in my clothing for granted again. It's truly a pleasure."

I just cocked my head at him. "What?"

He just helped me to my feet. "You look lovely." No, what I looked like was his, and I'm sure he just loved that. For the first time in a long time, I didn't mind it so much, either. I smiled up at him. "There is blood in your hair; would you like me to help you get it out, or should I go assemble the court?"

"Uh, assemble the court, please," I said. "I can get it out I think."

He squeezed my hand and disappeared.

Unfortunately, I hadn't gotten a chance to see the blood in my hair before I said I could handle it. There was blood everywhere. I had painfully managed to get half of the blood out of my hair when I was suddenly no longer on the ground. The first thing that came to mind was immobilizing fear. I calmed slightly when I realized I was pressed into Cian's chest and his arms weren't hostile, but not completely. My heart was still beating out of my chest. "I thought for sure you were going to die," he said into the wet portion of my hair. He was holding me to him with only one arm, the other one stroking my hair gently.

"I didn't," I said once I could breathe.

"I've never seen you physically injured like that from a vision before. That was far from a scrape on the knee."

I shrugged as much as I could. "It happens." I finally managed to loosen his grip on me enough that I could wrap my arms around his waist and return the hug. I had finally managed to shake Cian to his core. No more Mr. Smartass, just the true Cian, the scared little boy. The glimpse into his mind was humbling and heartening and terrifying all at the same time. "Will you help me get the blood out of my hair?"

He dipped his mouth to my ear seductively. A bit too seductively. "I'll help you get that blood out of your veins," he answered. There was the Cian I knew.

I laughed quietly at him, trying not to hurt my core muscles. Once he would let me go, I handed him the damp, now-pink hand towel from the counter. "It would be easier to wash your hair completely," he said. "You bled quite a bit."

It was true, all my hair ear-level and below was caked in blood. Luckily, the blood was dried, so it didn't bother me as much. It just looked like crimson paint. "It hurts to bend over and pull my arms over my head, and I don't want to take a full shower."

"I'll help you," he said.

I shrugged. It was going to take several years for me to get the blood out of my hair this way. My hair already had a warm, red twinge to it, so I didn't need to shampoo the blood out; I just needed to make my hair less sticky with it. I braced my hands against the counter and used my arm muscles to lower my head over the sink. Cian helped me down until my chest was resting against the countertop and I was no longer using any core muscles. Slowly, he washed the blood from my hair until the water was clear again. "I need help up," I said as he turned the water off and toweled off my hair.

He helped me back up to my full height. "Would you like me to comb your hair, too?" he asked as he eyed the tangled mess on top of my head.

"Yes please." He grabbed the comb from the table and eyed my hair like a puzzle. "Start from the bottom and slowly work your way toward the roots to get all the knots out."

He started in the middle of my back and worked relatively quickly, even for my hair. "Why do you keep your hair so long if it takes this long to brush out?"

"I don't brush it out that often. It's usually not this knotty; I can usually get away with running my fingers through it and putting in some curl cream."

Once he got all the knots out, he started to comb it back into a ponytail. "Do you have a band for your hair?" he asked.

"Like a ponytail holder? No, not tonight." I usually have one on my wrist for occasions such as these (OK, not quite such as these), but tonight I didn't grab one.

"Hm," he said. He zoomed out of the room and in a split second was back with a pencil. "Women can hold their hair up with a single pencil, I've seen it."

"At strip clubs?" I said with a grin. I could just see him watching as a woman dressed as a naughty librarian pulled off her glasses and remove a single pencil from her hair, letting her hair flow down over her shoulders. Of course, she would shake her hair out slowly, too.

"Yes," he answered truthfully. I snickered. "How do you do it?"

I explained the idea behind it to him. "Don't stab me in the head," I said as he slid the pencil home. He let go of the bun hesitantly, like he wasn't how the single pencil was going to hold that much hair to my head. But of course, it held nicely. "OK, let's get downstairs and get this over with."

He followed me out of the room and to the stairs. I braced myself against the banister, but it still hurt when I took them. He must have seen the slight grimace on my face as I moved slowly, or perhaps my slow pace was annoying him, because he swept me into his arms and carried me down the stairs. When we hit the bottom step, he plopped me back onto my feet and showed me to the same great ballroom we were in before.

David, Emma, and Lee looked solemn; Emma's eyes were even rimmed in red. Guinevere looked nonplussed. When the door opened, the three vampires from Arkansas turned to see who was joining their group. The first face I noted was Antonio's. He was looking quite pleased until he noticed me, then he scowled deeply. Phillip looked mostly intrigued and a lot more interested in how I could be alive. David had carried me past where they were waiting in downtime for the judgment; they had seen my condition. Several hundred years of knowing exactly what would kill a human had told them I should be dead. No one corrected them.

Nala looked beyond relieved.

"How are you still alive? I thought this one stabbed you in the chest!" Antonio said as he nodded to Nala on his right. Emma's eyes were suddenly warm and light again, no hint of the sadness that was just there. I'm not sure why, but the O'Hara's had decided I was going to play dead. I wasn't sure why; I'd ask later.

"I'm harder to kill than I look," I said as I walked around them slowly and lowered myself into David's lap. There was no way that I was going to be able to sit on the rug painlessly and there wasn't a chair for me. David wrapped his arms around my waist. Cian followed closely, cutting the inside, near the foreign vampires. He was good at playing bodyguard, I was willing to bet he'd done this before. "I've made my decision."

I looked to Guinevere, who nodded back to me in support. She had no idea who I had picked, but she supported my decision anyway. "Antonio, just because you're old doesn't mean you're fit to rule a kingdom. Your poor standing with the human and shifter societies will not serve you well; you're a PR nightmare. You're also way too cocky to be diplomatic." There was another reason why I had picked David's lap to sit on. He was that much closer to protect me when I pissed someone off. "I wouldn't want to deal with you as another Queen, that's for sure." He was scowling at me at this point. That's OK, he wasn't going to try anything here.

"Phillip, I think you'd make a great leader." He smiled triumphantly. "Someday." His smile fell a touch. "You're polite, charming, and have good business sense. I think if there is a sheriff's position open in Arkansas, you should definitely be considered." He nodded to me in understanding.

"That leaves Nala. I think you're ready to rule Arkansas. You have practical experience under a former King, giving you a good idea of what it takes to rule a state. You at least understand the human and shifter world, mingling in with them effortlessly. Not to mention, you're a PR dream: beautiful but not to the point you'd be unapproachable, practical, kind, and understanding. You're the new Queen of Arkansas."

She smiled brightly at me and I returned her smile. "Antonio, Phillip, do you object to your new Queen?" Guinevere asked as she stood and approached the O'Hara's and me.

"No," they said in unison. Antonio still seemed very bitter about the decision, but Phillip had taken it in stride.

"Good. As the Council's lead member, I appoint Nala Black as Queen of Arkansas. One of the Council members will meet with you when you arrive home to facilitate the change and arrange a ball to introduce you to your constituents."

She nodded. "May I approach you, Sloane?" she asked as she looked past Guinevere and into my eyes. I nodded and, with the help of David, stood to meet her. "Thank you for this opportunity, I will not let you down."

"I know you'll do a fantastic job."

"Please come visit your….my….kingdom soon." I smiled at her genuinely. She bowed to me, then to David and the O'Hara's, then to Guinevere and turned to leave.

"Don't go too far," I said after her. "We need to have a discussion alone."

She turned and nodded her head before continuing out the door.

Phillip was the next to approach me. He took both of my hands and kissed the back of each of them, lingering just a bit. "Come visit," he said as he pressed a business card into my hand. "I'll be your personal tour guide."

"I might do that," I said as I smiled up at him. I knew it was a ploy to either get on my good side because he wanted to know how I survived or the old fashioned reason, he wanted to get into my pants, but I couldn't help it. He was just that charming. He did his round of bowing before turning to leave as well. As soon as his back was to me, I looked at the business card. Black Nights Entertainment, Phillip Mason, Owner. I laughed. Yup, Black Nights.

When I looked up, Antonio was the only one still glaring at me. I raised an inquisitive eyebrow and stared directly into his eyes. When he knew he was losing a stare down with a five foot one inch human woman, he started toward me slowly. "How did you survive?" he asked, pure intrigue and mysticism in his voice.

"Not everything is as it seems," I said, equal mysticism in my voice as he had in his. I sounded like Miss Cleo, but that was OK. Anything to confuse him.

He just studied my face. "You are wrong; I am best suited to run Arkansas."

"I'm never wrong." OK, sometimes I was. But it was rare.

"I will prove you wrong."

"No you won't," I added. I could feel David stand behind me and look down at Antonio. That was good; with how much it hurt to move right now, I wouldn't be worth my weight in a fight. He could kill me before I could even scream; before David could even stand.

Antonio looked up to David, then back down to me. "Please do visit Arkansas," he said in a monotone voice before he turned and left.

I reached back and squeezed David's hand, finding it without trouble and without having to look. "I need to go warn Nala," I said quietly.

"Would you like protection?" David asked.

I shook my head no. "She won't hurt me, he has no reason to."

"It wasn't really a question," David said. "I would feel better if you had protection."

I sighed. I wanted to turn around and sack him in the balls. I was not helpless. Much. "Then send the ninja to keep an eye on me without being seen. I don't need someone to hold my hand, I'm a big girl."

We had been having this entire conversation as I kept my eyes fixed on the door. David turned me to face him. "And who might the ninja be?" he asked with a smile.

I didn't answer; I just raised an eyebrow, asking him to think that through. "We're going for a walk outside, Nala and I. I'm kicking whoever I see in the balls. Understand?"

David just laughed at me. "I understand."

"Good." I dropped his hand and left the room without another word. "Queen Black," I said as I approached the singular vampire. I had no idea where Antonio and Phillip had gone, which worried me. Not so much the fact that I couldn't find Phillip, it was more Antonio. He's a vampire you want to keep an eye on.

"What is it?" she asked politely. Already queen and still polite to the lowly human. I liked her.

"Come walk with me," I said as I walked for the door. I squeezed Idi's giant forearm as I passed the two statuesque vampires at the door. He smiled down at me.

"Miss Sloane?" he asked as he eyed us leaving together. He moved to follow.

"It's OK, Idi. Stay here with Idriis." He nodded once and returned to his former position.

Nala waited to speak until we were far from anything. No cars, no house, just the surrounding woods that sloped down into the Grand River. I knew she was anxious to ask something, so I just waited until she got it out of her system to start in with what I had to say. "I have a hard time understanding your relationship with King O'Hara."

I smiled. "So do I."

She smiled genuinely and glanced down to the ground. The only reason I could see her was because of the light of the waning moon, only a few days removed from the full one. Once we got deeper into the woods, I would be relying on my hearing and Nala's eyesight. I wouldn't be able to see much of anything. "I suppose it seems that way to all people in relationships. However, you two are different from, say, my and Danny's relationship."

"Your relationship isn't a poster child for normal human-vampire relationships, either."

I couldn't see her looking at me, but I could feel it. I could feel her eyes as if they were boring holes into my shoulder. "How would you know something like that?"

"I'm sorry no one explained this to you, but maybe it was for the better. I'm psychic. What happened in there," I said as I nodded my head back toward the house, "was a vision." I let her absorb that for a few seconds. "I saw you and Danny. He's quite handsome, by the way." I had gotten a glance of him in a small mirror near the kitchen.

"He is," she agreed.

I smiled again. "What I saw was a future date of yours. Near the end, someone tries to attack you with a stake, but Danny defends you."

She was silent for several minutes. "Do you know when?"

"No. The future, probably not more than a few months out. Six at the most."

"Is that the range of your visions?" she asked.

"No," I answered. As far as I knew, I had no range. "But it didn't feel like a long distance from now." I turned to her and looked her in the eye (I hoped). All I could see was an outline of her body and I estimated. "You're Queen now, meaning more people are going to be gunning for you. You need to protect yourself."

"And Danny," she added.

"Yes, and Danny."

I turned on my heels and walked back up the slope painfully. Downhill was much easier than uphill. Not only were my core muscles yelling at me, but so was my hip. It still hadn't healed correctly from being beaten over two weeks ago, almost three. I was starting to think I had broken something. "You and King O'Hara are lovers?"

"Were," I corrected.

"But you are still friends."

"Yea, still friends. We're bonded, so I'm kind of stuck with him."

"You are bonded?" she asked, suddenly interested. "Is it true that you feel more…peace when you are around him?"

"That's a tricky one for me to answer," I said after a few minutes. When I wasn't scared shitless of him, yes, I did feel more at peace. But now there's always that little tickle in the back of my mind warning to me be careful, be weary when I'm around him. It was hard to be more at peace when you're constantly jumpy. "I guess the short answer is yes."

"If you don't mind me asking," she said quietly. "What is the long answer? Danny and I are considering bonding, especially now that I am Queen. I just wish I could tell him more about it. Beyond how it is done, I do not know much."

"Well, David and I haven't always been on the best of terms." I didn't come right out and say why. One reason was I didn't want to start a rumor around the vampire world that David was an abusive boyfriend, even though he was. Their public image was important to the O'Hara's. Secondly, I couldn't stand the look people give you when they hear you've been abused. It makes me feel so weak, helpless. I am not weak or helpless. "I guess moral of the story is there was a long time that I looked at him and above all else, felt fear."

I was starting to be able to see again as we emerged from the woods. "Thank you for your insight and your information."

"You're very welcome." By the time we had made it back to the house, I leaned heavily on the banister to make it up the three steps to the house. My hip was killing me. "And keep an eye out," I said as I walked back inside. It was obvious when she didn't climb the steps with me that she had no intentions to walk back into that house.

David, Emma, and Cian were standing just inside the door, failing miserably at looking like they were doing something else. They were waiting for me. Lee was suspiciously absent.

I harrumphed. I was just too tired and sore and scared to care that David thought I was incapable of holding a conversation without needing assistance. Sure, I had just woken up, but being knocked out by a vision was far from restful sleep. In fact, it almost pulled more out of me than usual visions. My broken and sore core muscles made me walk differently, causing me pain in my already tweaked knee and hip. That walk through the woods didn't help, either. I couldn't really complain about that too much; I mean, I literally asked for it. But I was going to try anyway. And, just like a cherry on top of the sundae, I had a brand new enemy in Antonio.

I hate cherries.

"Just take me home," I sighed. "I want to go to bed." I looked at my phone in my back pocket to check the time. It was just after 5 in the morning. I had a mandatory meeting with my doctoral committee, which was never good. Usually, the student had to beg and plead and sell their soul to get a meeting with all of the committee members at the same time. This meeting had been called by my committee. What's better, they decided 8 AM would be a good time to have it.

Even if I pushed my wake up time back as far as I could, I still needed to get up by 7:15. That was just two hours of sleep if I passed out right now, here, in the grand foyer.

Sleep deprivation was not good for me. _They're going to kick me out of grad school_, I thought. _I know it_.

****Where'd my reviewers go? I miss you guys! And, as always, thanks for your support! I write for you guys!****


	98. Chapter 98

****Thanks for the lovely reviews! I'll keep them coming…for now.****

David had driven my car back to his condo. I had insisted I could walk the distance from the car to the elevator, and then to the elevator to his bed, but he didn't believe me. Before I could take three very tired stumbles toward the door, he lifted me into his arms. I don't remember getting into bed.

I had set my phone alarm, which startled me awake. I wasn't used to waking up to an alarm. I didn't bother with a shower. David had cleaned me of blood last night, so I wasn't red anymore. What's more, I was just too tired for a shower.

I looked at David before I stumbled out of his room. He was dead for the day, but he hadn't been for long. The sun couldn't have risen that long ago. "See ya," I said mostly to myself. It wasn't like he could hear me.

Somehow, I arrived on campus. I remembered getting in my car, and I remembered turning it on. I did not remember driving here; I had done it on autopilot. _I hope I didn't run any reds or anything_, I thought to myself.

I felt beyond tired as I walked into the third story conference room in Giltner Hall. Dr. Kissenger, a small, gray-haired octogenarian was already sitting at the rounded table. His eyebrows were so long and ungroomed that they blended in to his receding hairline. He wore his signature socks with Birkenstocks. It didn't matter what time of year it was, it could be the middle of a blizzard. He would still be wearing those damn socks with sandals. "Miss McIntosh," he said in lieu of a warm greeting.

"Good morning, Dr. Kissenger."

I wasn't sure where I should sit. It wasn't your typical conference table; it wasn't rectangular, there was no distinct head of the table. The table was more oval shaped. There was one spot at the apex of the oval that was open. It was my committee, but I didn't feel like I should take that spot. After all, I didn't call this meeting. I think Jeanne did.

I sat opposite of Dr. Kissenger as another committee member arrived. Dr. Williams was much younger than Dr. Kissenger, but almost identical. I often wondered if he saw himself when he looked at Dr. Kissenger. Personally, I think that would be terrifying.

Jeanne was the last person to arrive and took the 'head' seat. I couldn't help it, I sighed. It was either that or yawn. Jeanne eyed me, taking me in before she started. "I've called this meeting to talk about Sloane's progress toward her dissertation and defense."

I nodded, trying to tell her silently that I was paying attention. Truthfully, I was having a hard time with it. Sleep deprivation makes it that much harder for me to concentrate. I needed that brain power to help keep the visions at bay, I couldn't waste it on paying attention.

I forced myself to concentrate on her words. "I believe she's made good, if spotty, progress on her project in the past year." She was looking me right in the eye, as if to accuse me of something. "If this pace keeps up, I think she can and will finish a year ahead of schedule."

I forced myself to transfer my attention from Jeanne to Dr. Kissenger. "I agree," he said. "I've taken a look at your data. You're making progress faster than any other ABD I've ever mentored."

Dr. Williams was more the silent type. "Yea," he added. I sighed again, but this time not to hide a yawn. I was suddenly not feeling so hot myself. Actually, I was feeling hot. I felt like I was spontaneously combusting, heat coming from the inside out.

"Is that something you'd like to try for?" Jeanne asked me. She was looking at me like she wishes she could project her thoughts directly into my head.

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I was someone who, if at all possible, liked to stick with her plans. Especially since they were good plans to begin with. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I was starting to feel a little bit shaky, but I stood anyway. I needed to give myself a chance to think for a minute. Slowly, I made my way toward the randomly placed kitchenette, toward the small sink. I needed some water.

I braced myself against Dr. Williams' chair as I passed. I was not feeling well at all. I felt like I was catching fire from the inside, like I had the flu, and like I had broken every bone in my body at the exact same time. "Sloane? What do you think?" Jeanne asked again.

It took everything I had to make it to the sink, I didn't have anything left to answer her. I leaned heavily against the countertop and shakily turned on the water. There were Styrofoam cups to the left of the sink, but I couldn't risk grabbing one. It would mean diverting one arm from bracing myself against the countertop.

It seemed like it lasted at least two minutes, but it had to be a matter of seconds. One knee buckled and I dropped until my armpits were up against the countertop. "Sloane?" Jeanne asked again.

I couldn't hold onto the sink anymore. I fell back, away from the sink, landing first on my butt before I started to fall onto my back. Deep, sharp pain cracked through my head as I smacked it against the leg of a heavy chair. Everything went black.

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I was almost to lab when I pulled over to the shoulder to let an ambulance pass me. _God, I hope it's not someone I know,_ I thought to myself. I knew it was a horrible thing to think, but I couldn't help myself. I pulled up to the red light and watched where the ambulance was going. It pulled haphazardly into the parking lot closest to Giltner Hall. _God, Mac_, I thought. It was a sad comment when that's the first thing I thought when I saw an ambulance outside of an office building. Several people had offices in that building, not just Mac. Not to mention the fact it was just after 8 in the morning. I can't remember the last time Mac was in her office at 8 in the morning, even before the vampires. She just wasn't a morning person.

My heart skipped a beat. Oh, God, she had a meeting at 8 with Jeanne in Giltner. As soon as the light turned green, I abruptly slammed on the gas, cutting the car off beside me so I could swerve into the Giltner Hall parking lot. I could hear the EMTs still scrambling up the stairs as I flew into the office building, only a flight above me. I followed them without even thinking about it. I didn't think about how stupid I was going to look if it wasn't Mac. I didn't think about how I was going to explain why I felt the need to follow the ambulance. I just needed to know.

I caught up to the EMTs as they were rushing into a room. They were pulling a back board from their stretcher, something that was only used when spinal damage was suspected. Now I really need to know.

I blocked the doorway as I looked into the room. Mac was lying on the floor, motionless, a puddle of blood pooled behind her head. Blood was also smeared down the leg of a sturdy-looking chair just inches from her head. She was unconscious, but I needed to believe that it was just because she'd seen blood and fainted. Something harmless like that. I needed to think that blood that was mixing with her hair wasn't hers.

But in the back of my mind, I knew better.

"Mac," I said as the EMTs chattered back and forth, checking vitals and patching wounds.

"Moose," Jeanne said, surprised to see me. There was a slight side of shock and fear on her face as she looked back down to Mac.

"What happened?" I asked. I resisted the urge to drop to my knees next to Mac, but just barely.

"She just fainted, just fainted." Yes, Jeanne was in shock. She was just standing there, watching the EMTs work. Two other professors I didn't know were standing in the corner, as far away from the action as possible.

"Which hospital?" asked one of the EMTs. She was tall and thin and deathly white, with a kind of muscular presence that women only get from weightlifting. Muscles that defined were intentional.

Jeanne didn't answer, so I took over. "Sparrow, her doctor's at Sparrow."

"Name?" the other EMT asked. He was the opposite of his partner; short and black, heavy in a way that made me think he'd always been heavy, even as a kid.

"Patrick Lupe," I answered. I spotted her purse on the floor next to the table, so I inched around Jeanne to grab it. She didn't move to give me more room, she just stared down at Mac.

"Lupe's not on call today," the short, black man said again.

I rooted in Mac's purse. I felt bad; I just hoped she wasn't trying to hide anything in here. I had her every which way I could think of, but I couldn't root through her purse without feeling dirty. "He is now," I said as I finally pulled her phone out of her purse. God, how do women find anything in their purses? This thing was a mess.

I knew she had his personal number in here somewhere. I dialed it as the EMTs lifted the back board from the floor, Mac strapped to it. I followed like there was a string attaching me to her. I couldn't stand to be far from her. He answered on the third ring, sounding quite drowsy. "Hello?"

"Patrick Lupe?" I said.

"Yes, who is this?" he asked.

"Mustafa Fallahin," I answered. "Mac's—Sloane's friend."

"I remember. How is she doing?" Something rustled in the background after he spoke.

"Not so good; she needs you."

His voice was suddenly very alert. "What happened?"

I explained everything I knew as they loaded her into the ambulance. "We're on our way to Sparrow."

"OK," he answered. "I can be there in ten minutes."

"Thanks," I said before I hung up the phone. The lone EMT in the back of the ambulance was waiting for me, so I climbed in quickly. "Dr. Lupe's on his way to the hospital. He said ten minutes."

She looked mildly impressed. "Is she family or something? It takes a lot to pull the chief of medicine out of bed."

"Or something," I answered.

.

Dr. Lupe was walking in the door the same time the EMTs were wheeling Mac through the door.

"She fainted and hit her head. Heart rate one thirty over fifty-five. Thready pulse, strong breathing. She lost a lot of blood through the gash in her head," the short EMT raddled off quickly.

"Why the back board?" Dr. Lupe asked.

The two EMTs helped Dr. Lupe transfer the back board onto the hospital bed. "They said she tweaked her neck pretty bad. Nothing felt wrong back there, but we air on the side of caution."

"Thank you," Dr. Lupe said in dismissal. The two EMTs shuffled out of the room and closed the door behind them. "What happened?" he asked me.

I looked him square in the eye. "I have no idea. I didn't get there until after the EMTs."

He took his stethoscope from around his neck and listened to her heartbeat. "All I can do is stitch up the wound on her head and wait until…if…she wakes up."

"Aren't you going to get and X-ray?" I asked. If the EMTs were worried enough to put her on a back board, I wanted an X-ray.

"I don't think it's necessary. It's been a while since they were together, but she's had a lot of David's blood. She's stronger than most people. I don't think she could break her neck like that."

I scowled a bit, but there wasn't anything I could do. I wasn't going to force Lansing's packmaster into anything. That's a dangerous proposition. Instead, I just lowered myself into the uncomfortable chair next to the bed. This time, Mac's room didn't have a comfortable recliner. I watched carefully as Dr. Lupe stitched the gash on the back of her head, as the nurses changed her out of her clothes and into a hospital gown. I was still sitting in the chair when Jeanne walked into the room.

"Do they know what happened?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "You mean what caused her to faint? No." I had a feeling I knew. Now I just hoped that Dr. Lupe was right. I hoped that she didn't have any other permanent damage because of it.

Jeanne nodded. There was something on her face that I couldn't place. I just stared up at her, trying to figure out what was going through her mind. She just glanced at me again and walked out of the room. Apparently, she had nothing else to say.

I wanted nothing more than to crawl onto the bed with Mac and rub her hair. I didn't, but I wanted to.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I knew I had a blistering headache before I even opened my eyes. As soon as I moaned, I felt heat against my hand and my head. "Mac?"

I opened my eyes. It was Moose's hands producing that heat for me. "Yea," I said. I waited for my eyes to equilibrate to the light, but it wasn't happening.

I couldn't remember why I was here. I knew where I was, I was in a hospital, but I didn't know why. I just lay there, looking at Moose for a minute as I tried to reconnoiter myself. I remembered being at the committee meeting. I remembered not feeling well, then really not feeling well. And then…nothing.

I had felt ill. I knew it was a vision because it doesn't come on that fast. Even when I had dead flu, it'd taken at least a few hours to get to the blackout point. This had gone from zero to one hundred and sixty in a minute.

Moose was slowly rubbing my hair as he looked down at me. He watched as every thought, every emotion flickered through my eyes.

Sydney wasn't feeling well. Oh, shit. I had been seeing...feeling Sydney. I shot into a sitting position, but it was too fast. I almost screamed as I grasped at my head. I had the world's biggest migraine, even worse than the ones I used to get in middle and high school that would leave me curled up in a ball, sobbing.

Moose lowered me back onto the bed so I could curl into a ball. "I'm going to be sick," I whispered as I tried to get off the bed.

Moose wouldn't let me. "Like, throw up, sick?" Moose asked.

I couldn't risk opening my mouth. I just nodded.

"OK, stay here," he said as he rushed into the bathroom. I the matter of a second, he was back with a trash can. He almost didn't make it before I couldn't hold it in anymore. When I was done, I didn't feel like I even had any insides anymore.

He leaned me back onto the bed on my side. "Are you OK?" he asked quietly.

"No," I said as tears started to well in my eyes. I was literally and figuratively empty. I hurt a lot. I hadn't slept more than two hours in two days (otherwise unconscious time doesn't count). I was terrified for Sydney. "Help me get up; I need to get out of here."

"I don't think so!" he yelled at me. He was still whispering, but it was clearly meant as a yell.

I pushed myself to the other side of the bed and took it as quickly as I thought I could. Of course, I didn't even have my feet on the floor before Moose was there to stop me. "Please," I begged as the first sob escaped. "It's Sydney."

"Mac," he said as he looked down at me. There was a lot of pain in his eyes, making it difficult to look into them, but I needed to. If it could even just maybe get me to Sydney faster, I had to. "You have a pretty bad concussion, I think. You need to be here."

I was sobbing in earnest now; tears were falling down my cheeks in droves. "Please," I begged again. "Help me."

There must have been something in my eyes that told him how desperate I was. "You need to get dressed first."

"Help me," I said as I tried to sit up again. I took it much slower this time, and with Moose's help, getting dressed was easier than it sounded. The nurse had left me in my bra and panties, so all Moose had to do was help me into my t-shirt and jeans. He slid the sandals onto my feet before lowering me to the ground slowly.

"I'm going to go tell Dr. Lupe," Moose said as he made it for the door.

"No," I about yelled. If I thought my head might be able to handle it, I would have yelled. "He might not let us go. Better to ask forgiveness than permission."

"Mac, he needs to know where we're going. What if you pass out on me and I can't wake you up?"

"Then we call him from the road." I shoved a hand out toward him. I was feeling very dizzy; I needed something I could lean on heavily. "We need to go."

He gritted his teeth, but took my hand. "Fine. I don't know why I let you get away with this stuff."

I smiled as much as the pain would let me. "Because I'm cute."

"You _are_ cute," he said under his breath. He wrapped an arm around my waist to hold me up and lead me through the almost empty lobby, down the stairs, and onto the street. As soon as the sunlight hit my eyes, I about collapsed, turning into him and using him as a human sun block. "What?" he asked.

"The sun," I said through clenched teeth. It was either clench them or scream. "Where's your car?"

"I came with you in the ambulance. We'll get a cab."

The sunlight wasn't helping my migraine or the dizziness I felt. In fact, I felt a bit like the sun itself was beating me to a pulp. Moose must have sensed that I was getting weaker; he lifted me into his arms high enough that I could burrow my eyes into his neck and hide them.

"I shouldn't be helping you do this, you should be in the hospital," he said as he lowered me into the backseat of one of Mid-Michigan's green cabs, an environmentally friendly version your usual taxi. I had never been in a Prius before, but it was nice. Roomier than I thought it'd be. The bike rack strapped to the back of the car didn't make much sense to me, though. If you had a bike, why not just ride that? Why get a taxi?

"As soon as I know Syd's OK, I'll go right back to the hospital, no fighting about it."

"Where to?" the cabby asked Moose. He eyed me suspiciously as I tried to block the sun from hitting my eyes. I failed miserably, clenching my teeth harder against the pain. "She gunna be OK?"

"She better be," Moose said with a real threat in his voice. He was looking directly at me when he did, too. I had a feeling if anything happened to me today, I was going to get blamed for it. I guess that's only fair.

Moose quickly rattled off my address and away we went. I was glad it was a short ride, a mere thirty seconds into the ride I was nauseous. This was not going to be a good day. I forced myself to pull the big bandage off the back of my head. I didn't want to scare Sydney unless I really had to, and that bandage was going to scare her. Assuming, of course, she's not unconscious. I shouldn't have left her alone while she wasn't feeling well. Not for that long a period of time.

"Hold on, let me go open the door, then I'll come get you," Moose said after he paid the man the seven dollar fare. It wasn't a long cab ride, that's for sure.

"You sure you're OK, little lady?" the cabby asked. He had a naturally loud voice. I hated him for that right now.

"Fine, just a migraine," I managed to say.

"That's a pretty big bump on your head," he said as he nodded to the wound I mercifully couldn't see. I didn't want to see it. My stomach's emotional state was too fragile right now, I didn't think I could bare to see it.

"I fell."

Thank God, Moose was back. "Thanks for the ride," he said as he lifted me from the backseat of the Prius. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head again. "Where's Syd?" he asked.

I didn't know. I assumed she'd be upstairs where I left her, but it'd been several hours since I was home. Almost a full day. She could literally be anywhere in the world. "Start upstairs," I said.

He didn't turn on the lights as he carried me up the stairs. "Wait," I said before he opened the door to Sydney's room. "Put me down," I whispered. I didn't want Sydney overhearing anything. Slowly, he lowered me to the ground and made sure I had a semblance of stability before letting me go. When I felt like I could most likely move without tossing my cookies or dropping to my knees, I opened the door.

Sydney was still lying in bed, but she looked awful. A slight shine of sweat covered her forehead, her skin looked pallid. Her lips were dry and chapped and extremely pale, almost to the point of matching her skin color. "Syd?" I asked as I walked as quickly as I could toward her. I don't know why I did. If she was sleeping, it was going to take a lot more than me saying her name to wake her. If she was unconscious, nothing was going to wake her. "Hey," I said as I sat down at the edge of her bed. I hesitated to touch her, there was just something that screamed at me not to. Like the slightest touch might break her into pieces.

I finally forced myself to lay my hand gently against her forehead. It was hot to the touch, really hot. "She's burning up," I said to Moose. "Sydney," I said again, this time louder. I shook her as I did. I needed her to wake up, I needed her to say, 'Oh, I'm fine, it's just a fever'. "Sydney!" I yelled this time as I shook her.

My head didn't like that. I dropped off the bed and to my knees as I grasped at my head. I had the overwhelming urge to scream my pain away, but I knew that wouldn't help. In fact, it'd probably hurt a whole hell of a lot more. Moose caught me as I toppled onto my side and lowered me to the floor. "That's it, I'm taking you back," he whispered.

"No, help Sydney." I can't believe I actually made something come out of my mouth, but there it was. A sentence. Almost.

He didn't say anything else, he just pulled my cell phone from his pocket before setting my head in his lap. "Dr. Lupe, you need to come to Mac's house." There was a moment when he looked down at me. I concentrated on being able to breathe. "She would have gone with or without me," he said somewhat angrily into the receiver. He took a minute to take a breath and calmed down. "Please," he asked, calmer this time. "Just come in, we're upstairs." He hung up my phone and put it on the floor beside him. "He's on his way. He's mad at us."

I just nodded as my eyes closed. The pain was starting to dull down to a more manageable pounding and as soon as my eyes closed, I felt like I was sinking. I tried to pull them back open, I hated this feeling, but I couldn't. "Hey, Mac, no sleeping, you have a concussion." I could feel Moose's hand on my shoulder. "Hey," he said again, this time with more panic. "Come on, Sloane, please, wake up." He lifted my head from his lap and set it on the floor as he rolled me onto my back. "Sloane," he said loudly. Internally, I cringed. Externally, I did nothing.

My heart rate shot into the stratosphere when he slammed his hands on the floor on either side of my head. "Wake up!" he yelled. The thudding was almost unbearable. If I could have opened my mouth, I would have screamed. Luckily, I was unconscious before he could do it again.


	99. Chapter 99

God dammit. I was back in the hospital. I didn't even have to open my eyes to know that, I could smell it. That smell was starting to make me nauseous. I was starting to get a rabid hatred for the smell of antiseptic.

I could also instantly feel the fact I was not wearing a hospital gown. I could feel my jeans against my skin. I could also feel something curious around my ankles. I hadn't been wearing socks before, so I shouldn't feel anything around my ankles. What the hell was around my ankles?

I tried to put my hand against my forehead to alleviate some of the pressure of my massive migraine, but I couldn't pull it up that far. I could only move it a few inches before I yanked against something very sturdy.

My eyes shot open before I could ready myself for the light and looked down my body, willing my eyes to focus. When I realized there were restraints wrapped around my wrists and ankles, I couldn't stop myself. I knew it was going to hurt, but I screamed and thrashed. Even when the pounding in my head started, I kept screaming. I knew I was in a hospital, and unless they made evil hospitals that torture people, then I knew I was safe. In my head. But heart, on the other hand, had jumped into overdrive. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. I couldn't force my breathing to slow; I was hyperventilating between screams.

It felt like it was ten years before someone came running into the room, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. It was Cian's hands that were immediately on my wrist, tearing the restraints away. "What the bloody hell were you thinking?" he seethed in his smooth British inflection. He made quick work of the restraints around my ankles and I scurried off the hospital bed, landing in a painful thud on the tile floor. It didn't stop me, though. I crawled into the corner and made myself small as I sobbed. "Sloane?" Cian said as he approached me slowly. I cowered, tucking my head into my knees as I shook and sobbed. "You are alright. Cupcake, you are OK." I jumped when a cold pair of hands appeared on my arms. "Is this what you had planned?" he seethed again.

"She ran once today, I couldn't let her leave again." I knew that voice, that was Dr. Lupe.

"Call King O'Hara," Cian seethed in a low voice. "Tell him to be here as soon as possible." Instantly, his voice changed when he turned his attention back to me. It was soft and warm. "Cupcake, look up at me."

Beyond shaking and sobbing, I couldn't get myself to pull my head from my knees. My eyes were shoved into my kneecaps and my arms were wrapping around my legs. I was as small as I could get. I wanted desperately for the flashbacks to stop, but I couldn't make them. Snippets of my own pain flashed through my mind to other times when I had been tied up.

"Bloody hell," Cian said again. He lifted me off the floor just enough to set me back down in his lap so he could wrap his arms around my back and my shins lightly, just enough to let me know he was there. "You are alright, no one is here to hurt you."

As soon as David arrived, Cian lifted me from the floor and set me in his lap. I was still curled in a ball, making it difficult to carry me, but he managed. "My Love, what has you so terrified?" David whispered.

"The mutt strapped her to the bed," Cian answered, still seething.

I could feel the momentary anger wash through David's body, both in the tightening of his muscles and through the bond. The breath caught in my throat as a whole different kind of fear rushed through me. I was on pins and needles waiting for the axe to drop, for David to snap. Instead, he kissed my hair and I jumped in response. I wasn't expecting it.

"He will answer for that, Love. I wish you would relax."

I had stopped shaking and sobbing; I thought that was pretty good progress if you asked me. Within the span of minutes, I went from screaming and hyperventilating to relatively calm. I thought that was pretty good recovery time for what I could only describe as a panic attack. He obviously didn't think so, though. Slowly, carefully, gently, he peeled my hands away from my legs. As soon as he let them go, I instantly clamped them back where they had been. "Sloane, let go." He peeled my hands back again. "If you need to grasp something, hold on to me." He laid my hands against his chest, and my fingers automatically clamped back down, grabbing fistfuls of his button down shirt. I could feel him trying to calm me down from the inside out, and I had to admit, it was working. It wasn't long before I leaned my head against his chest and let my legs fall from just up against my body. Not even five minutes later, even my death grip on his shirt had gone. I was starting to be able to think rationally again.

Which is when I remembered. My grip tightened again for a split second, getting David's attention. I could feel him move as he craned his neck to get a better look at my face. "Sydney?" I asked, my voice frantic.

"She is fine. Patrick lowered her fever; she was awake and asking for you last I checked."

"I want to see her," I said. I didn't make a move to get off of his lap, he'd just hold me to him. It's only been a year (just under) since we met, but there were a few things I was certain of. One of those things was he wasn't going to let me go unless he absolutely had to.

David lifted me into the air and was standing in one fluid movement. Most of the time he was so human, but every once in a while he would do something no human would be able to do. Something like lift a hundred pounds in the air and scoot off a bed gracefully at the same time, like I weighed no more than a loaf of bread. "Let's go see her, then."

I saw where Moose was as he carried me through the lobby. He was asleep, sprawled on three chairs in the lobby.

David opened the door to a room just down the hall from mine. Dr. Lupe was inside, as was a nurse and of course, Sydney. "Out," David seethed to Dr. Lupe. "Emma will be taking over from here."

"Pony?" Sydney asked. "I thought I heard you were up. What's up?" It may be an innocuous question, but her tone held more weight. She wanted to know 1) why the hell David was mad at Dr. Lupe, and 2) why he was carrying me around.

"Nothing," I answered as I wiggled out of David's arms. It wasn't important, at least not to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she said. "I swear I wasn't feeling that bad when I fell asleep, if I knew I had a temperature of one hundred and four, I would have called you."

"You better, you scared me to death, Missy." Despite David's protests, I crawled into bed with Sydney on top of the covers and laid my head against her shoulder.

"I can say the same about you," she said. "Moose told me what happened, you hitting your head and all."

I nodded. "I have a pretty wicked headache. I'd read to you, but I can't see straight enough to read right now." That was the truth. My vision was fuzzy and no matter how many times I blinked, I couldn't get my eyes to focus completely.

"Did you tell Dr. Lupe that?" Sydney asked.

"It didn't come up," I answered. I'm not sure when it would have, I've either been unconscious or screaming.

Sydney waited until the nurse left to ask, "What did you see, anyway?"

"Nothing, I felt you."

"Me?" she asked.

"Yea. I went from just tired to too weak to stand in the matter of a minute. Then I passed out."

"Sorry, Pony," she said sheepishly. "I'm feeling better now, though."

"Good," I answered. "Then it's worth it." We sat in silence for another few minutes, David watching up intently.

"What's with him?" Sydney asked as he jutted her head toward David.

I shrugged. "Same as always." Being overprotective and slightly overbearing but sweet in a strange, sick kind of way, as always.

"I am worried about the both of you. You are more trouble than you're worth sometimes," he answered flatly.

"I'll remember you said that," I said after a yawn. I was safe, Sydney was safe…I was ready for a nap. I closed my eyes.

"No sleeping, Sloane," David said. "You have a concussion."

Dammit. "It's just a headache," I lied. "You'd have a headache, too."

"No sleeping," he said again.

I smiled without opening my eyes. "You can try and stop me." I couldn't remember how long it'd been since I last got some normal sleep. I wanted it badly.

"Pon…" Sydney started.

David interrupted her. "I will handle this." In a second, I was no longer on the bed next to Sydney.

I protested. "Hey, I was comfy." I did not, however, open my eyes. That would be letting him win.

He tossed me gently in the air; I yelped weakly. When he caught me again, I was straddling his torso. He was carrying me like a big kid. I rested my head on his shoulder and tucked my forehead into his neck. "Wake up," he whispered seductively in my ear.

"Nope," I answered, barely a whisper.

My legs folded neatly beside him as he lowered himself into a large chair. One of his hands was working its way up my bare back; the other gently lifted my head so he could kiss me. I moaned as he kissed me deeply. "Is that enough to wake you up?" he whispered into my neck between kisses.

Half of me wanted—no, needed—to pass out. I'd started the falling asleep thing, and with my lack of actual sleep in the past week or so, it was too hard to turn back now. The other half of me was split between jumping off of David after forbidding him to touch me and letting him make me scream. "I can't," I barely sighed. If it was any quieter, it wouldn't have been audible.

"You can," he responded. His hand had made it to my bra and expertly unhooked it with only one hand. When I didn't answer, his soft, grazing touch turned to a firm squeeze of my ribs. Not enough to hurt, but enough to scare me. I gasped lightly, but that's all I could do. My arms, which were tucked between David and I, were useless, and my legs were tucked underneath me. Even if I could muster the strength to use them at all, it wouldn't have done me any good. _ Wake up,_ he said again, but this time, I didn't hear it with my ears. I heard it in my head.

_I can't open my eyes. Just let me sleep_, I begged back. I should have been worried why I was hearing David in my head, but I wasn't. His firm grip on my ribcage was enough to worry me. _Just an hour or so_.

I didn't hear him again, but I couldn't tell you whether that was because he didn't say anything or because I was asleep before he could say it.

.

I was instantly panicking before I even knew there was something to panic about. I opened my eyes and waited for them to adjust to the light, or absence thereof. All the lights in the room were off, making it so pitch black I wouldn't be able to see my hand if it were inches from my face. My other senses shifted into overdrive in response. I could hear a quiet rustling really close. Sensations tingled across my skin; the heavy fabric of my jeans against my skin, the softness of my shirt against my chest. Cold hardness was pressed against my back. I started to struggle again when I felt the thick, warm straps of the leather cuffs on my ankles and wrists. I tried to scream as I fought, but something sticky, most likely duct tape, held my mouth shut. All I could do was whimper in fear.

I stopped fighting and laid stock still when a voice sounded from right above my head. "This won't hurt a bit," the voice said. The tenor and intonation told me it was Dr. Lupe's voice, but all the warmth and sincerity was gone. The sound was pure evil.

I blinked my eyes as the harsh fluorescent lights flickered on. It took a minute before my eyes adjusted to see Dr. Lupe's eyes staring out of a surgical mask and face shield. I jumped as a cool, sharp instrument pressed against the bare skin just below my belly button and slid upwards. It wasn't hard or sharp enough to draw blood, but the sensation hurt. I raised my head to look down my body. He was using a large pair of scissors to cut my shirt and bra from me. Next were my jeans and panties.

I laid on a hard table, my clothes cut away from me, struggling against my bindings and fighting for my life. When Dr. Lupe raised a scalpel into my view, I woke up screaming.

I was still plastered against David's chest; besides the shaking, I hadn't moved an inch. David pressed my head into his chest and smoothed my hair. "Did you see something?"

I shook my head as my breathing returned to normal. "No, nightmare."

"About?" he asked.

I shook my head again. I wasn't going to tell him, he'd just worry. The last thing I need was another person to worry about me.

Moose came busting in the door, startling me. "What?" he said breathlessly.

"She had a nightmare, shifter." I hit David. Hard. "Apologies, Mustafa. She is fine."

"Mac?" Moose asked me.

I nodded in agreement. "Just a nightmare." I tried to push out of David's embrace, but he wouldn't let me, he just held me tighter to him and rubbed my back. "My hip hurts," I said in protest. I had no idea how long I'd been sitting/laying here, but it was long enough for the joints and muscles in my legs to seize up. David lifted me so he could shift my body weight, laying me back down on his lap in a more comfortable position. "And I have to pee."

Moose snickered for a minute as David let me get to my feet. I wavered for a second before regaining my stability and walking into the bathroom.

When I emerged, Moose was still in the room, leaning against the bed. "What time is it?" I asked.

Moose checked his watch. "Midnight."

"What are you still doing here? Go home, sleep."

"Not until I get to yell at you." He waited until I had slowly pushed myself up onto the bed in a sitting position. "That was stupid, Sloane. What if you died?" It didn't escape me that he used my real name. Ohh, I was in _trouble_.

"I hadn't slept more than two hours in two days, Moose; I was allowed to be tired." I wasn't going to touch the whole what if I died question. If I died getting Sydney the help she needed, I consider it worth it. Why should my life be any more important than hers?

"But you could have died. I'm sure Syd wouldn't have wanted that."

Many things to say to that flashed through my mind. Of course, the most idiotic one to say out loud was the one that slipped through my lips. "Better to die in the process of saving my best friend than in the hands of someone…" I stopped when Moose visibly flinched. I felt David's flinch even though I couldn't see him. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to actually come out." I waited uncomfortably through the long, heavy silence as the weight of the two men's stares beat down on me. I wanted very much to run into the bathroom and hide, but I couldn't do that without looking like I was running. So I sat on the bed, arms crossed over my chest.

I was the one that broke. "I'm a big girl; I can make my own decisions. I thought it was an acceptable risk, so I took it."

Moose laughed angrily at me. "Well, next time you want to kill yourself, I'm not helping you!" he yelled. Without another word, he stormed out of the room and slammed the door. What a hissy fit.

I cringed when the sound of the slamming door reverberated in my head. "Ouch," I whispered. I turned to look at David, who was watching me impassively. "What?"

"I actually agree with Mustafa."

"So?" I asked. "If you don't like my decisions, you can shove it just like he can." I tucked my feet into my sandals and forced myself to walk slowly and nonchalantly out of the room. I did slam the door, though, much to the dismay of my migraine.

"Where are you going?" David asked as he followed out of the door and down the hall.

"To see Syd. Don't worry, you can tell your pet wolf I'm not running again, he doesn't need to tie me down." I immediately regretted saying that. A lot.

He was at my back, but I could practically hear the thoughts running through his head as I read his emotions through the bond. Anger, guilt, regret. I dropped my head but kept walking into Sydney's room, closing the door behind me. David didn't follow.

Just a few days ago he proposed and I laughed at him. Tonight I'm mad at him for trying to keep me alive. It never really occurred to me until now that I abuse that poor man as much as he abused me. Perhaps I deserved everything he did to me and more. I cringed as a tear came to my eye.

"What's wrong?" Sydney asked. She and Emma had been sitting there watching the emotions ripple across my face.

"Yes, what is wrong?" Emma asked. She was propped on the bed, her back against the headboard with a book open in her small hands. I couldn't read to Sydney, so Emma was doing it for me.

"Nothing," I whispered. I was about to ask if I could join them, but Sydney beat me to it. She scooted to the edge of the bed and patted the spot between her and Emma. One tear fell as I crawled up from the bottom of the bed and laid me head against Sydney. Emma would have been closer and possibly more comfortable to lie against, but she has the same cold skin as David. I didn't want any reminders.

If I thought I was going to get away with 'nothing' as an answer, I was wrong. They both looked at me expectantly. I couldn't really put into words why I was in such a pissy mood. When I opened my mouth, something else came out. "David proposed."

Sydney was the first to speak, but it took her a minute. "Like, wedding bells proposed?"

"Kind of," I said. I looked up to Emma, who had to know about it by now. I doubt David did much without taking to his sister about it, especially with me. "It's like the vampire version."

I don't know what I was expecting to flash across Emma's face, but pure surprise wasn't it. "He proposed a pledging?" I just nodded.

"What does that mean?" Sydney asked.

"I will explain it to you later," Emma said quickly. "What was your answer? Please say you said yes. I've always wanted a sister."

I smiled up at her. Trust something that ridiculous to brighten my spirits. "David and I don't have to get 'married' for you to call me your sister, Emma." I made air quotes with my fingers around the word married.

"But did you say yes? Please say no," Sydney said. Emma glared at her above my head. "What?" Sydney asked defensively. "I don't entirely trust him around her, even if he has been better lately."

"Actually," I said slowly. I had them both on pins and needles. I couldn't deny myself a little fun, even if I was still in a bit of a pissy mood. "I laughed at him. I thought he was kidding."

Sydney sighed in relief, Emma looked like she was about to slap me. "You should not toy with that man's heart," Emma said. "He is more fragile than he seems."

"Yea, so is Sloane," Sydney piped in. Emma and Sydney glared at each other above my head. Neither of them had a menacing glare, but both glares held a ton of weight. I'm surprised the bed could hold it.

"That's it," I said. "I'm leaving if you two don't cut it out."

Emma's eyes immediately changed back into their usual softness. "Should I read?"

"Yes," Sydney and I said in unison. Without further ado, she opened the book back up wide and started to read.

.

Emma had forced Dr. Lupe to release me early that morning. Sydney needed to stay for another few hours, something about hospital protocol. She was asleep, anyway. No need to wake her up. I'd go home, take a shower, and be back to drive her home before the sun even rose.

I had allowed David to drive me home. "I told Emma, sorry if you didn't want me to," I said as he pulled into my driveway.

"Told her about what?" he asked. His voice was quiet and monotone. I cringed; he was upset about something.

"About you asking me to marry you."

"No, I don't mind," he said.

I shrugged. I was anxious to get out of the car. David can be dangerous when I can't really tell what his mood is. I couldn't tell if it was anger or sadness. For my sake, I was hoping sadness. "She seemed surprised, so I didn't know if you wanted her to know."

"You may tell whoever you like," he said in the same monotone. He wouldn't look at me. We weren't even together and that tore at me. I wanted to grab his face, make him look at me. I wanted to press myself into him until he didn't make me hurt for him anymore, until he would smile at me. "Goodnight, Sloane."

He was urging me to get out of his car. A tear slid down my cheek. "Bye," I answered quietly. Just before closing the door, I whispered "I love you." I didn't give him a chance to respond. I didn't want his response to be negative. I'd rather not get one then get a painful one.

I didn't turn when I heard David's car door open, I just kept walking up to my stairs. Tears were starting to fall harder and harder, but I didn't dare wipe them away. He'd see that, and I didn't want him to know. I didn't even turn when I heard him call my name, I just froze where I was, key in the lock, mechanism half-turned. I could feel him hesitating at my back, so I didn't move other than to drop my head. "I love you too," he finally said just loud enough that I'd be able to hear him.

I didn't respond, I just finished unlocking the door and stepped inside.


	100. Chapter 100

****Triple digit chapter number. I don't know how I feel about that. I have a few more good ideas for storylines, but I promised myself I wouldn't let it get this far. Any thoughts? ****

There were only a couple of people I could think of that would be somewhat unbiased. Two, actually, that would have any idea what I'm talking about. Only one would be awake at this time of the morning. I dialed Eric's cell phone number, which David (presumably) had programmed into my phone.

"Speak," he said as he answered the phone.

"I'm not a dog," I said in response.

"Sloane McIntosh?" he asked.

"Yea," I answered. He audibly sighed. "Nice to talk to you too, asshole."

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" he said. Straight to the point.

"So, you're my fairy Godfather, right?"

"I am no fairy."

"Fine," I said, already exacerbated with him. This was going to be a long conversation. "You're my vampire Godfather, right?"

"I do not believe in your God, nor am I your father."

I was seconds away from chucking my phone across the room. "Eric," I said with a warning. "Don't think I won't come down there and pester you in person."

"I don't believe you would."

I sighed this time, only to hold back tears. I hated that this asshole was my only unbiased opinion. If he could even be unbiased at all. "Nevermind, you fucktard, I'll just deal with it."

I was about to hang up when I heard his voice. "What do you need, Sloane?" He sounded as if this was as painful for him as it was for me. Good.

"Nothing, nevermind. I'll handle it."

"Are you in trouble?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it. Bye, Eric." Before he could ask another question, I hung up. He called me back almost immediately and I didn't answer. I was not willing to give this conversation another shot. I'd wait until a decent hour and call Sookie. It wouldn't be nearly as knowledgeable advice, but hey, at least she'd give it to me. Right?

I sat in silence until ten in the morning. That was something Sydney never understood; how I could sit in silence for hours, seemingly doing nothing. But I was never just doing nothing. I was thinking. Hey, it was easier to ignore the TV when it wasn't even on. I called Sookie's name up on speed dial and hit send.

"Hello?" she answered groggily. She must have still been asleep. Late night for her, I guess.

"Hi," I answered. "It's Sloane, sorry if I woke you."

She paused for a minute. "Did you see something?" She tried hard to sound nonchalant, but there was an edge of terror to her voice.

"No. Why does everyone assume that if I call them, the sky must be falling?"

"I'm sorry," she said in her sweetest southern accent. "It's just…with everything that's going on over here, it's making me nervous."

"Jumpy," I corrected.

We sat in silence for a minute. I could hear her rustling against her sheets. "There's a note here from Eric. It says, 'please contact Ms. McIntosh'." Damn Eric. "Is the sky falling?"

I knew exactly what she meant. "Not your sky."

"What can I do?" she asked.

"I need your advice." She was silent on the line, waiting for me to explain. "David asked me to pledge to him. What do you think?"

"Are you two dating again?"

"No," I answered quickly. I wasn't up to dating yet. Flings, yes. Dating, no.

"Did he tell you why?" she asked after a short pause.

"So he could better protect me, he said. I'm not sure I think that's it, though. At least not all of it."

"Did you ask his sister about it?"

"No," I answered. "I wanted someone that would have an unbiased view. Well, as unbiased as it gets."

"So you called me? I really don't know that much about it."

My shoulders dropped. "I called Eric first, but I couldn't even get past the niceties before I wanted to come down there and strangle him."

"He can be like that sometimes. What did he say?" she asked.

I told her the cliff notes of our conversation last night. "Can you do me a favor?" I asked.

"Depends," she answered.

I smiled; I liked her answer. Several years ago she would have automatically said yes. Now she was weary. Smart girl. "Just don't tell Eric why I called. In fact, don't even tell him we spoke. Can you do that?"

"Okeydokey, but I don't know why."

I just shrugged, this time not even bothering to enunciate the shrug for Sookie. I didn't want any shit from him, that's all. And I knew I'd get it. Either directly from him or indirectly from Cian.

Oh, shit. Cian would be unbearable if he knew. "Fuck," I said as the thought came to mind.

"What?" Sookie asked frantically.

"Just please, please, please, please don't tell Eric," I pleaded. I was suddenly very glad I couldn't stand Eric long enough to actually get down to business. I don't think I could handle if Cian knew. "He'll tell Cian, and I can't handle that."

"Who's Cian?" she asked.

It just now occurred to me that she hadn't had the pleasure. "Eric's other child. Think Pam, only 200 times worse and male."

She laughed. "OK, then. I didn't know Eric had another child."

"Yea, I think he's Eric's first. He's definitely a cocky little shit." She already had me smiling. Despite Cian's many flaws, I did tend to like him. It had taken me a while to warm up to him, but I liked him. "Come up and visit sometime, I'll show you what I'm talking about."

"He lives in Michigan?" Sookie asked, suddenly interested.

"Yea, new transplant."

"Oh?" she asked. She wanted the whole story. I gave it to her. She had let me know which parts she'd seen when we'd had our unfortunate disability exchange and therefore I could skip. There were very few of them, but they were there. She hadn't seen anything from London at all. "So he moved from London shortly after you came home?"

"Yup," I answered.

"Eric?" she asked. Her mind automatically went where mine went…this was all Eric's doing.

"Most likely," I answered. I didn't know for sure, but it sure had crossed my mind.

"Want me to ask him?"

"No," I said almost frantically. "Then he'll know we talked."

"Okeydokey," she said suddenly. "I need to get ready for work. Can I call you back later?"

"Sure," I answered.

"Oh, wait, I have an idea. I can ask Bill about the bonding thing."

"Do you think he'll tell Eric about the conversation?" I asked in a small voice.

"Not if I ask him not to," she replied confidently. I liked the confidence.

"I'd appreciate that, but only if he swears not to tell." Even I reminded myself of a fifth grader. I sighed internally for that. _Is it not enough that I look like a fifth-grader? _I cursed inside my head. _I have to sound like one too?_

"I'll give him a call tonight."

"Thanks, have a good day at work."

We said our mutual polite goodbyes and hung up the phone. After a few minutes of sitting around and contemplating our conversation, I took as thorough of a shower as I could ("Try not to wash out the stitches," Dr. Lupe had said as I left) and got dressed for the day.

I headed right back to the hospital to pick Sydney up. It was almost noon; she had to be up by now. When I got there, though, she was not awake. She had more tubing protruding from her body. "Syd?" I asked tentatively.

Dr. Lupe walked in the door behind me, obviously dragging his feet for my benefit as he approached. He didn't want to startle me. "She's stable, for now," he said quietly.

"She was just fine," I said, trembling. I reached out to entwine my fingers in hers, but stopped at the last moment. She looked too delicate, like the slightest touch might hurt her. "What's wrong with her?"

"Her temperature spiked again. I'm still waiting on blood work to find out more." He circled wide around me and grabbed the chart from the end of her bed. "I put her on antibiotics when she came in, but it's not looking like its helping at all."

I knew what that means. "Stronger antibiotics?" I asked. If the relatively mild antibiotics didn't work, it was time to try to harder stuff. Of course, there were always consequences. Those types of antibiotics have a higher chance of causing other problems like kidney or liver failure. Personally, I was willing to risk it. She's young and strong, her body could handle it.

"Not until after I get the blood tests back."

"Are you sure it's an infection?" There are other illnesses that can look like the flu.

He nodded his head and dropped the chart back where he got it from. "Increased white blood cell count."

I didn't know what to say, I just stared down at her. I couldn't lose her. "Any idea what it is?" I asked after a few long moments of silence.

"I have a thought, but no proof." For the first time since I laid eyes on her, I pulled them away to look Dr. Lupe in the eye. There must have been something painful in my eyes, because for the first time since I'd met him, he couldn't stand to meet my gaze. He looked down to Sydney quickly. "There's a new strain I've heard about, it's close to what almost killed you."

"Dead flu," I whispered.

He nodded. "There's no test for it, so I'm just guessing, but the resistance to antibiotics and the quick onset…makes me think that might be it."

I lowered myself into chair next to Sydney before my knees failed me as I turned my gaze back to her. My heartbeat was pounding in my ears. "What now?"

He stepped closer to me. I don't know if he thought I was going to faint or fight, but he hovered around me protectively before he spoke. "I don't think you should be in here with her. Dead flu almost killed you once; I don't want to be responsible for it finally succeeding."

"No," I said strongly. It was the most forceful thing I'd said since I saw her. "I'm not leaving her."

"Sloane," he said, chastising.

"No!" I screamed. I caught him by surprise; he took a few steps back away from me. His mouth was a perfect 'o' of surprise, his eyebrows raised. "I will not leave her."

"OK," he said after a minute. Without another word, he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I pulled my phone out of my back pocket with shaky hands. It had been a long time since I dialed the number to Sydney's mom's house, but I still had it memorized. Her dad had died when Sydney was just a little girl, leaving just her and her mom. They were best friends, sisters, soul mates. As rarely as I spoke to my mom, that's how often Sydney spoke to hers.

"Hello?" asked her mother's voice, the exact same voice I remembered from our childhood.

"Momma Jen?" I asked. I had always called her my second mother (sometimes more like my first), and I was the only one that called her Momma Jen.

"Sloane, honey?" she asked. She sounded worried, where I sounded panicked. "What's wrong?"

The first sob broke through, but a sheer force of will stopped me from breaking down just yet. "Sydney's sick."

I could feel her heart break silently through the phone. "How sick?" she asked after a few silent moments to gather herself.

Another sob escaped. I was losing the battle between self control and hysteria. "Really sick. She's at Sparrow." She was holding together better than I was. I gave her the details, telling her what room she was in and about how to get there. Sparrow Hospital was a lot of things, but easily navigatable is not one of them. Although I was getting better at it.

As soon as I hung up the phone, I lost it. I drew my knees up to my chest shakily as I sobbed. By the time Jen arrived, the sobs had quiet and the tears had quit. I simply had nothing left to cry. I stood and ran to her as soon as she walked in the room, letting her gather me into a hug. "How is she?" she asked. She was older, approaching her mid fifties, but still beautiful. Sandy blonde hair that matched Sydney's was cut in a short style, emphasizing her perfectly oval face. She almost never wore makeup; my like Sydney, she didn't need it. The largest difference between mother and daughter were their eyes. Sydney's blue eyes shone like topaz, where her mom's eyes were almost amber colored with a warm red twinge.

"No change since I called," I said into her shoulder. Sydney was still either unconscious or asleep. With as soundly as she slept, it could really be either. Her chest rose and fell with regularity. The steady beeping of the heart monitor let me know that her heartbeat was equally as strong.

I let her have the recliner; I pulled one of the more comfortable chairs from the lobby into the room. I settled the chair as close to Sydney as I possibly could so I could hold her hand. Momma Jen and I didn't speak; we just sat in silence with my best friend, her daughter.

.

Emma was the first to arrive at the hospital once night fell. I only diverted my eyes from Sydney long enough to register the fact that she was no hostile, then went right back to concentrating on Sydney's face.

"Good evening, I am Dr. O'Hara," Emma said to Momma Jen as she pulled the chart from Sydney's bed. A very unhappy sound came from Emma's mouth when she realized Sydney was getting way worse. "Oh, dear," she said set the chart back where it had been. "Let me go see if I can't find those blood results. How are you doing, dear?" she asked me as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

I didn't speak, I just laid my free hand over hers. She was strangely comforting at my back. Without another word, she pulled her hand from mine and slipped out of the room.

"Do you two know each other?" Momma Jen asked me.

I cleared my throat before I spoke. "Yea, I dated her brother."

"She looks too young to be a doctor," she replied after a short pause. I couldn't answer, I just smiled in a macabre way. In a way, she was too young to be a doctor, but she had more experience than any other doctor. If I had my choice of who to treat my best friend, I'd pick Emma every time.

Emma returned fifteen minutes later. "Blood results look better than I expected. With the permission of the family, I'd like to start a more aggressive course of antibiotics."

Emma was looking at me when she said it, but I left the question for Momma Jen. After all, she was actually family. Legally, I had no standing to make these kinds of decisions. "Yes," Momma Jen answered, voice rough.

Emma nodded. "Sloane, you have a visitor in the lobby."

I looked up at her. I wouldn't have left the room except the look on Emma's face told me it was urgent. I nodded and after giving Sydney's limp hand one more squeeze, I left the room.

A tall, ebony mass of muscle was standing alone in the lobby. As soon as Idi's eyes found me, they softened. He didn't move, instead he left me walk toward him. "Miss Sloane," he said quietly as he bowed his head slightly.

"Hi Idi," I whispered.

"The interviews for Louisiana start tomorrow. David wishes you to come to the Royal Complex for protection."

I just looked at him. I felt bad for busting his chops, I knew he was just following orders, but I didn't want to go anywhere. I didn't want to leave Sydney alone. "I don't want to go."

"He said you would say that. I am to tell you he will not be there."

God, David. I completely forgot how we left things last night. A tear came to my eye that I couldn't stop from falling. "That's not it," I said as I flopped into one of the more uncomfortable lobby chairs. "Sydney's sick."

"I am aware."

"I'm scared," I whispered. "I can't lose her."

Idi automatically stepped closer to me when a very worried looking couple entered the lobby, hand in hand. He watched them wearily as they stalked toward the nurses' station and asked for directions, keeping himself between me and them while simultaneously keeping an eye on each of us. As soon as they disappeared, he relaxed. "Perhaps she can be moved to the Complex as well," Idi said. He was really trying to get me out of the hospital and into a more secure location.

"You'll have to ask Emma, but I don't think she'll go for it. Syd's mom is here."

He looked at me like he didn't understand the implications of the last sentence. "Syd's mom isn't going to let her out of her sight, and I don't think Emma will be very keen on bringing another human into their home," I explained.

Idi nodded. "I will discuss it with my Queen."

Idi ushered me back into Sydney's room. I guess he felt that it was more secure than having me sit in the lobby. "Who was that?" Momma Jen asked with wide eyes after he closed the door.

"Idi," I answered. I didn't explain because I didn't want to.

"He's…tall," she said.

"That he is, Momma Jen."

"Is he your beau?"

I almost laughed. Almost. "Nope, just a friend."

"Do you have a beau?" she asked.

"I thought you and Syd talked about everything," I answered, finally looking up to her face. When I did, I could see some hurt.

"She's scared for you, so she doesn't talk about you that much anymore."

I looked down to Sydney's face again. "No, no beau."

"What happened to the last guy she mentioned?"

"Who's that?" I asked. I wasn't trying to be a smartass, I just didn't know who Sydney had told her about.

I could hear the exacerbated smile in her voice. "Why don't you just start from the beginning."

I sighed. Why is everyone so God-damn interested in my love life? I wasn't in the mood to be dodgy or lie or censor. I just started from what I considered to be the beginning. "First there was David, Emma's brother."

"Emma?" she asked.

"Dr. O'Hara." She nodded and I continued. "I loved him, I still do, but I can't relax around him because he has a temper and I have a tendency to flare it."

"What does that mean?" she asked. The police should have more mothers with daughters on their squad. All the bad guys would confess. Lord knows I was about to.

"He tends to get violent when he gets angry, and I anger him a lot." I didn't look up at her face because I knew if I did, I was going to spill even more. "Anyway, then there was Moose, the guy I work with. I didn't deserve him, so I dumped him. Then there was Jack, from London, but I came home and he didn't come with me." I paused to think for a second, making sure I got everyone. "Oh, then the last one was Cian. I wasn't looking for anything heavy; he was, so I dumped him. No telling my mom any of this. Or my dad."

"Why not?" she asked. I could tell she had planned on it.

"Dad likes David, and he's not a bad guy, he's just way stronger than me. He forgets that. I don't want to make my parents think less of him based on passed-on stories. They don't even know about Jack and Cian, so don't even bring them up."

Momma Jen gave me a curious look, but dropped the topic. There must have been something in my face telling her how much I didn't want to talk about it, because that was incredibly out of character for her. It was part of the reason that I just 'fessed up in the first place. She'd get the information out of me sooner or later. It was just easier to give it up sooner. She and I sat in a terrified silence, she leaning back in the recliner and me holding Sydney's hand, my head lying on mu bicep as I did.

It took another half an hour before Lee showed up. If he was trying to intimidate and terrify, he was succeeding. Momma Jen gasped as he walked through the door and stood, backing herself into the far corner of the room. "Lee, are you trying to get me killed?" Because after this performance, Momma Jen or my own parents are going to kill me. She was definitely not keeping this to herself. "What's with the getup?" I asked.

He was wearing head to toe black, which contrasted beautifully with his short black hair. His black eyes shown against the ashy pallor of his skin. He hadn't fed in a while; at least tonight, maybe not last night either. Strapped across his back was a double holster holding his two favorite swords so he could draw them both at the same time. A slight glint of silver color metal hinted at each wrist, telling me he was wearing his wrist sheaths, each with a dagger imbedded in them. If he was wearing his wrist sheaths, it was pretty much certain he was also wearing a back sheath tucked under the shirt around his waist, probably holding more daggers and some throwing stars. He came as his own armory.

He glanced nonplussed at Momma Jen before turning his attention back to me. "I do not trust Louisiana." He said it like the entire state was distrustful. I rolled my eyes, but the smile that usually went with the movement never came.

"Who is this, Sloane? Why is he covered in knives?"

"Momma Jen, this is Lee. Lee, this is Sydney's mom." I glared at Lee for a split second before returning my gaze to Sydney's sleeping face.

Lee bowed slightly in acknowledgement. "A pleasure." As soon as he straightened up, he pulled another shoulder holster from behind his back and handed it to me.

"Oh, dear God, Lee. Can I talk to you outside?" He let me usher in out of the room and shut the door, Momma Jen on the other side. "Are you trying to get me killed?" I seethed. "What were you thinking?"

"You need to be protected." He was completely oblivious to the fact the nurses that passed us by were staring.

"You need to take that thing off your back, you're scaring people."

"That is the intention."

I was about to scream. "I'd prefer David over this."

A small smile flashed across his face before he could stop it. "As you wish."

"That was the plan, wasn't it? Did he put you up to this?"

He was smiling in full now. His face lit up with amused satisfaction, bringing life to his eyes. "I do not know what you mean." He bowed once and turned to leave.

"Not fair," I called behind him. I wasn't sure I could stand another fight with David tonight. I'd rather not see him, but if it meant that Lee wasn't going to be walking around fully armed and ready to massacre, I guess I'd take it. I don't need a reputation around here.


	101. Chapter 101

****Alright, you guys win. I'll keep writing!****

I was still trying to talk Momma Jen out of calling the police, or at least not my parents, when Emma walked back into the room.

I glanced back at her. "You could be helping, here, Em."

I didn't notice the look on her face until I did a second take. She was solemn, even close to teary. "What?" I asked, instantly panicking. Momma Jen seemed to pick up on my sudden change of mood and focused her attention back to Emma. "Emma?" I asked shakily.

She was usually my height, but she was wearing high stilettos tonight, giving her some height. She looked down at me and grabbed my hand. "Sydney's not responding to the antibiotics like I'd hoped she would."

I stood, stunned. My mind was working in slow motion, protecting myself from what Emma was telling me. "So what does that mean?" I asked.

Emma grabbed my other hand, like she could sense something about myself that even I didn't know. "I don't know what else to do for her."

Momma Jen broke into hysterics as she lowered herself into the recliner again. "You can't take my baby, you can't," she sobbed over and over and over.

I gripped Emma's hands like a lifeline. "What?" I asked.

"I am sorry, Sloane," Emma added.

Another set of hands braced my elbows when one of my knees gave out. I knew that strong, careful touch. David was standing behind me, close enough that I could feel the coolness of his skin pushing against my own body heat. I could smell his subtle cologne. One sob escaped as I realized what she was telling me.

One bloody tear ran down her face as she pulled her hands from of mine. As if it were a well coordinated plan, David turned me and lowered me into the chair I had been sitting in. "I am sorry, my Love."

I wasn't looking at David, I was looking past him at Sydney's unconscious body laying limply on the bed. I couldn't lose her. I just couldn't. I wouldn't survive it. "No," I whispered. As soon as I opened my mouth, I began to sob along with Momma Jen. David resisted the urge to gather me into his arms, but just barely. I could feel the struggle pass through the bond.

David could save her; he'd saved me more times than I'd like to think about. He was kneeling in front of me, both of his hands tucked around mine in my lap. Careful eyes watched my every move. Gorgeous dark eyebrows arched and furrowed as they tried to understand what was going on in my head. I had suddenly stopped crying, staring at him instead. It seemed to puzzle him. "You could save her," I whispered.

David reached up to touch my face, but stopped just before he laid his skin on mine. "How, Love?"

David didn't seem to understand where I was going with this. I dropped to my knees on the floor as I threw my arms around his neck. "Please," I whispered. "I need her."

"I will do anything, just tell me what to do," he said as he wrapped his arms around my back.

"Heal her, give her blood," I whispered just above Momma Jen's fervent crying.

I could feel his body move as he turned his head to look at Emma. Tears were still falling down my face, making the crux of David's neck wet to the touch. "Will it work?" David asked.

"I…I don't know," Emma said. One red streak fell down each of her cheeks, now dry to the touch. She loved Sydney almost as much as I did. "If the infectious agent is really related to dead flu, it could make things worse, or not. I also will need permission." David stood, pulling me to my feet with him. He kept a light grip on my hand for support.

Momma Jen had quieted slightly, but small whimpers were still accompanying a torrent of tears. "There's one more thing they can do, but it's a tossup and Syd's not going to like it," I said to her, making her meet my gaze and forcing her to comprehend what I'm saying.

"What?" she asked.

Emma piped up. "Vampire blood, in good quantity, has healing abilities. It would help her fight this infection."

Momma Jen was shaking her head before Emma even finished her sentence. "I'm not turning my little girl into a vampire," she said.

"It won't turn her, she'll still be human," I added.

"But there is a small catch. If this is truly related to the dead flu that is so virulent for vampires, then adding vampire blood could be fuel to the fire," Emma added.

"I…I don't know any vampires," Momma Jen answered.

"Is that a yes?" I asked. I was practically buzzing with anticipation, my hand now had a death grip on David's, turning my knuckles white, but he didn't complain. I couldn't hurt him, anyway.

Momma Jen didn't speak, she just nodded. Almost before I could comprehend what was happening, David's fangs came down and he brought his other wrist to his mouth. "No," I said before he could sink his teeth into the flesh. "She's not going to like this, and she's going to like it even less if it's you. Emma?" I asked as I turned to her. "She likes you."

Emma gave me a hug before pulling her fangs down. A short gasp came from Momma Jen's mouth as she cowered into her chair. I tried not to look at Emma, soft and kind, tear into her wrist, but I couldn't help it. It was like watching a butterfly go cannibal. It was just so…odd. I'd never seen her feed before. Sure, I'd seen her fangs, but I'd never seen her lips bloodied, eyes wild.

I watched her own blood dribble down her chin like a train wreck as she pulled Sydney's mouth open. I was starting to feel weak, light headed. David wrapped his other arm around me and turned me so I couldn't see anymore, but the damage had been done.

"Sloane," David said. "Focus on me." He lifted my chin until we were eye to eye, but I couldn't deny the pull of unconsciousness. I could fight it, but I couldn't deny it. I struggled to keep my eyes open and comprehending, to keep my eyes focused on David's eyes, trying to concentrate on the golden, green, and gray swirls that made up what can only be described on a driver's license as hazel.

"OK, I'm OK," I said once I felt the drag of unconsciousness lift from my body. My eyes no longer felt like they were going to roll away, the tight nausea in my stomach was fading. "Just tell me when it's over."

I was pressed so hard against him that I could feel his growing satisfaction with the scene he was watching. Something very unlady-like was growing inside me, too, as I watched what it was doing to him. Hunger grew in his eyes until they seemed almost foreign. It was almost as if the color warmed and deepened, turning the beautiful swirls in his eyes to a monochromatic shade of amber.

David was holding me around the waist so tightly to him that I was sure if he tightened his grip any more, something in my hip or spine would pop. "David," I whispered. My voice came out low and seductive, yet thready. I wanted him, and at the same time, I was afraid of him. Afraid of what he could do if he just got a little too out of control.

He had pulled his hand away from mine and was running his hand up my arm towards my neck. My face was inches from his broad, firm chest, but I managed to run my hands up it to give myself a buffer. I pushed lightly, slowly, and he gave a little, only enough to give me some literal breathing room. My stomach was still pressed up against his groin, so hard it was almost painful. If I had been taller, tall enough that his groin would have been pressed against the bone of my pelvis, it definitely would have hurt.

He didn't respond to my voice, so I tried again. "David," I said as his free hand reached my shoulder. It wasn't until he finally looked down at me that I realized what was wrong. He was frightfully pale. His eye sockets seemed hallow, almost as if he were wasting away. Lips that were usually pink and full were drawn. He was hungry. Really hungry. And the scent of Emma's blood in the air combined with the almost obscene act of sharing blood was about to drive him over the edge.

My pulse beat in my throat as has hand moved farther up my body, momentarily resting around the back of my neck. One wrong movement and I was paralyzed or dead, my neck snapped in two. Without any warning, his fangs came down and he grabbed the hair at the base of my neck as he lifted me off the ground and spun me. I gasped for many reasons; of course, I was surprised at the sudden movement, I was afraid he was going to kill me, but the one reason that surprised me most made me blush. I wanted him to. I wanted him to kiss me then bite me. My cheeks had the audacity to blush as I looked past David's shoulder and into Momma Jen's frightened eyes. She had stopped watching Emma and Sydney and was now focused completely on David and me. But even those eyes couldn't dampen my own want.

Well, I got at least one of my wishes. I barely got a glimpse of Momma Jen and Emma watching the show before David's lips crushed down on mine, his kiss heavy and thick with want. A small moan escaped my lips as I brought my legs up to wrap them around David's waist. He had already lifted me so I was no longer touching the floor, only braced between him and the wall. It was just more comfortable to brace myself against him even more. As soon as I did, the arm that was previously wrapped around my waist scooted lower, cupping my butt as his other arm held my head to his kiss and my chest against his. I could feel him, hard and ready, underneath his jeans as it pressed up against my soft spot.

"David," I moaned between kisses. I was kissing him in earnest now, and if I could get my arms free, I would have wrapped them around his neck. He felt so good, so right against my body.

I whimpered lightly as he pulled away from me, finally looking down into my eyes. His were frightened, like he'd finally realized the spell he'd been under and was afraid he'd hurt me. I tried to make the look I gave back to him naked, raw need. His hand that gripped my hair and steadied my head released slightly, giving me some mobility back. I bared my neck for him. "Do it," I whispered.

Anticipation grew as he lowered his head into neck and kissed a light trail up to my ear. "Not until after I've fed," he whispered into my ear.

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose?" I asked as he sucked on my earlobe. I took his nicely pressed button down shirt and crumpled it into my hands as I linked my feet behind his back. Whether he liked it or not, I was strapped to him now.

I light sigh escaped his lips, so quiet that I wasn't sure I'd hear it if his mouth wasn't pressed against my ear. "I do not want to take too much."

I pulled away from him as he rubbed his face into my neck just enough so I could take his earlobe in my own mouth. I remembered his trigger. I bit down until he gasped then started to suck.

That did it. I moaned as fangs sunk into my neck. My eyelids fluttered then closed as I let my head hang limply to the side. There was something that felt vaguely like home about the situation. I should have been embarrassed that I was wrapped around David's chest, letting him—no, goading him into drinking from me. I wasn't. It felt comfortable, like a pair of old sweats.

"Brother," Emma warned. My grip on his shirt was loosening as he drew deep throatfuls from me. "Enough, brother," Emma said from much closer. I was starting to worry he wasn't going to be able to stop. I had been confident that he would stop, don't ask me why. He had told me he wasn't going to be able to, but I didn't believe him. Stupid me.

I forced my eyes to open to see Emma's hand on David's bicep. It was enough to bring him back from the brink of draining me completely. I laid my head against his shoulder as he ran his tongue over the small puncture wounds twice, three times. When he was done clotting my wound and cleaning his lips of my blood, he held me, unsure what to do with me now.

"Sloane? Are you OK?" Momma Jen asked from the recliner.

I nodded my head, which made her wiggle in my vision. "Yea," I said to drive down the point.

"I told you I would be unable to stop," David said quietly into my ear. He turned his attention to Momma Jen and turned the charm on. "Ma'am, would you mind giving her your seat?" he asked with just a touch of sheepish smile to his voice. I knew the look that went with that voice; it melted me.

Her head nodded frantically as she practically hopped from the chair and hurried into the corner. She was obviously weary of the vampires. Polite, but weary.

David lowered me into the recliner. The recliner was big enough and I was small enough that I could curl up with my head on the arm and lay comfortably with only my shins hanging over the edge. David flipped the handle on the side of the chair and the leg rest flipped upward. I was now lying down in the same position that David had lowered me into the chair. It was a comfortable position, so why move?

David leaned over me and kissed just below my temple. "I will go find you something nourishing." In a flash, he was gone.

Emma couldn't help herself. She'd been a doctor so long, it was instinct at this point. She lowered herself to her haunches in front of me and checked the exposed wound on my neck. "Can you move, dear?" she asked.

"Of course I can move," I answered. I'm not a complete invalid.

"Why haven't you?" she asked.

I shrugged as much as I could while lying on my side. "I'm comfortable."

I let her stare at me for a few more moments, meeting her eyes with my own. I was working up the courage to ask a question I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to, and she seemed to know this. She was waiting. "Is Syd going to be OK?"

"Too soon to tell, dear. Too soon to tell." She gently rubbed her hand down my shoulder once before standing back to her full height. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Momma Jen make a wide circle, giving Emma plenty of room as she exited.

As soon as the door closed, Momma Jen kneeled in front of me. "They're vampires," she said, almost shocked.

I giggled. "Yes."

"They don't look like vampires," she said.

I stopped giggling, but I couldn't stop smiling. "I'm pretty sure that was the plan. You don't have to be scared of them. At least, not mostly."

Her eyes widened. "Mostly?"

I shrugged again as I moved into a more comfortable position. My shoulder was starting to protest about the pressure I had leveraged against it. "A healthy dose of fear is always a good idea when dealing with supes, Momma."

She just stared at me, shock and surprise not leaving her face. "Does my Sydney know?"

I blinked my eyes at her. "About what?"

She got closer so she could lower her voice to just above a whisper. "Does she know her doctor's a vampire?"

I giggled again. "Yes, Sydney knows what they are."

The door opened again, and again Lee walked in the door. Momma Jen gasped and staggered backwards, falling on her butt and scooting the last little bit. "It's OK, Momma, he's harmless." I took a glance at his wardrobe. At least he'd lost the weapons, at least the ones I could see. I took another look at Momma Jen before glancing back up at him. She was practically vibrating with tension. "You're horrible tonight. A little help?"

He approached Momma Jen slowly and deliberately, showing her how he is, in fact, not dangerous. As far as that lie goes, he was pretty good at it. Standing next to Emma, he had to protrude some sort of harmlessness or else he'd stick out like a sore thumb. When he got within a few feet, he bowed deeply and offered a hand. "Good evening, Mrs. Mets, it is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lee Wong. You met my beautiful wife, Emma and brother, David already."

Inexplicably, Momma Jen reached up and grabbed his hand. She blinked a few times before letting him help her to her feet. "Please call me Jen," she answered, almost stunned with her own brazenness.

He bowed again and dropped her hand politely. "And you may call me Lee, of course." She almost smiled at him. Almost.

Lee turned his attention to me and produced an honest-to-God juice box. I looked at the label; it was apple juice. I don't like apple juice. David knew that. I crinkled my nose and refused it. "Brother said, 'If she refuses, tell her I will wipe that disgusted smirk from her face with a single kiss'." He imitated David's perfect American accent so well, I had trouble believing the voice actually came from Lee's lips. Why if he could speak in a perfect American accent does he usually speak in such a heavily accented one? I don't know. I hadn't worked up the courage to ask.

I pouted as I snatched the unopened juice box from him. "I'll take it, but I won't drink it."

His eyebrows rose ever so slightly. I was amusing him. It had taken a while, longer than I'd like to admit, but I could finally detect the emotions that flicked across his face. To Momma Jen, it must seem like he had absolutely no emotion. It seemed like that to me when I first met him. "I could send my Sugarplum back in, I'm sure she could insert…"

I cut him off before he could finish the sentence. "OK, you've made your point. No needles, I'll drink it." Hastily, I stripped the plastic off the little straw and violently shoved it into the hole. He smiled triumphantly. I wasn't even sure if Momma Jen would catch that movement, either, but I sure did. "David wasn't man enough to come in here and force apple juice down my throat on his own?" I said mockingly. Really, I just wanted to know where he was. I wanted to make sure he was OK after the fear that passed through his eyes as he pressed me against the wall.

"He is…busy." Lee's face fell into a perfect mask. He was hiding something, I knew it.

I narrowed my eyebrows at him. "With?" I asked suspiciously. This was going to be something I wasn't going to like.

"He is…busy," he repeated. He looked like he was about to say something else, but decided against it at the last second.

"Don't make me get up and come over there, Lee, what's going on?"

He smirked like he was ready for the fight. "Those wishing to audition are starting to arrive. He is…entertaining a few of them."

I crinkled my nose as I finished down the apple juice. I would have plugged my nose to help myself drown out the taste, but that makes it incredibly difficult to suck on a straw. Trust me, I've tried. I shoved the empty box back at Lee and pushed myself into a sitting position, which gave me more leverage in this argument (if you want to call it that). "Anyone here I should know about?" I asked. I tried to make it as neutral a question as I could, for Momma Jen's sake, but there was a bit of fear that leaked into the voice.

"I do not believe so," he said. He tossed the empty juice box in the trash in the attached bathroom and handed me a mass of black he had draped over his arm. I almost didn't notice it; it blended in with his own wardrobe so well. The only thing that tipped me off was the subtle sheen of silver that glinted up from the black. I rolled my eyes and took it from him. My own specially made wrist sheaths containing silver daggers (the sheaths had to be specialty made, my arms are very small) and an oversized cardigan that would cover the back holster, which went down to the bottom of my hips. "The sweater is Emma's."

"I'm not wearing the arsenal," I said as I handed back the wrist sheaths, "but I'll wear the sweater." It was just a bit too cool in here and now that I was a little lower on blood, I was feeling it.

"Why did you want to learn to fight if you refuse to do so?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes after taking a worried glance at Momma Jen. She was watching the conversation like a tennis match, no emotion on her face. She was blank. "I wanted to know how to defend myself should I be attacked during the day. If someone comes to a hospital filled with vampires to attack me, I'm sure you can handle them. I did not want to learn how to fight so I could just go around, beating the shit out of people." Although, right now, I could use the tension reliever I'm sure that would be.

"You do not have to use them, just wear them," he said as he handed the sheaths back to me.

I rolled my eyes to myself and instead of sighing in response, I smiled sweetly at him. "Maybe I'm hoping David jumps me again. I wouldn't want to burn his skin in the throes of passion accidently."

The next emotion to cross his face was undecipherable. "Very well," he said as he placed the sheaths on the table next to the back holster. "I will leave them here." Without another word, he turned and left. I swear he was shaking his head as he left.


	102. Chapter 102

Sydney was starting to just look better, but it was hard to tell if that was just the vampire blood enhancing her appearance or if she was actually getting better. I yawned and checked the clock above the bed. It was just after three in the morning.

I had given the recliner back to Momma Jen as soon as I felt like I could stand long enough to wobble over to the less comfortable chair on the other side of the bed. She was fast asleep now, the chair completely unwound and reclining almost into a twin-size bed.

My hip and knee cracked as I stood and stretched out my back. I should really get that checked out, but I was afraid of what Emma might insist on. There was no way I was going to have surgery to get it fixed. I wasn't even sure I would agree to physical therapy. The pain wasn't that bad yet; it only hurt when I sat for a long time or used the joints too much. That wasn't that often.

I was hungry, but I wasn't sure what my options were. It was after closing time for even most of the fast food places in the area. Sparrow Hospital didn't have a true cafeteria; it was more of a large room full of vending machines. I was hungrier than that. My body was still trying to catch up on replacing the blood David had taken.

I walked out of the room and straight into Idi's back. He'd been standing just outside the door. "Sorry," I said as I walked around him.

"Miss Sloane," he said as a greeting. "Can I help you?"

"No, thanks," I said as I ambled down the hallway. I think he meant it more as a 'what are you doing?' question, but I was not in the mood.

"King O'Hara will be back in minutes," he said as he followed me down the hallway toward the back staircase. It was the only staircase that connected directly with the parking ramp, but no one ever used it. It was small and dank.

I shrugged. "I'm going to get something to eat." I'm pretty sure there was a 24-hour McDonalds a few miles away. Too far to walk, but I could get there, eat, and be back in half an hour if I drove.

"May I come?" he asked.

I ambled down the staircase slowly, my hip and knee protesting. OK, maybe it was bothering me. I just need some Advil. "Sure," I said. He followed me at my slow pace, never complaining or trying to hurry me.

I put the top down on the Mustang before he climbed into the passenger side. I wasn't sure he was going to fit otherwise. This car was a lot of things, but roomy wasn't one of them. "Should I try and find somewhere that serves TrueBlood?" I asked as I pulled out of the parking lot.

"Will you be coming back today?" asked the guard at the front gate.

"Yes," I answered.

He stamped a card and handed it to me. "That's good within the next four hours."

I smiled up at him tiredly as I pulled away from the gate. "Well?" I asked Idi.

"No, thank you," he responded. "I've eaten."

"OK, then," I answered as I turned right onto Michigan Avenue.

.

Idi was beyond patient, letting me scarf down the food in my car in silence. Within 20 minutes, we were back at the hospital, making our way back up the dank staircase. I could feel myself getting closer to David; I was just too tired to shut down the bond tonight. An eerie sense of peace fell over me as I opened the door that spills into the hallway. At the end of the hallway, I could see the faint outline of a body I'd recognize anywhere. David was standing outside of Sydney's room, talking to who I assumed was Emma (based on how far David had to look down to hold the conversation) and someone else I couldn't see.

As if he knew I was right behind him, David reached back without looking and wrapped his arm around my waist. I let him as I leaned against his hard body. Now that I've eaten, I was feeling my exhaustion. I yawned and rubbed my eyes before looking at the rest of his group.

Emma was standing in front of me in a monogrammed lab coat. Her deep red hair was pulled back into a low bun, making her look even more harmless. To my left, across David's body, stood Eric Northman. I groaned audibly.

"What, my Love?" David asked.

"Why's he here?" I asked. I was in no mood to be cordial.

"I am here to audition," Eric answered.

I yawned again before nudging this entire conversation out of my head completely. I was not equipped to handle it right now. I decided I would ignore him. "How's Syd?" I asked Emma.

"Improving quickly," she answered. She was genuinely happy about that, I could tell. Her smile gave her away. Any smile that reaches the eyes is genuine. "Her fever is dropping; she may wake up soon."

I smiled back at her. "Thanks, Em." I wiggled myself out of David's embrace and opened the door to Sydney's room. She did look remarkably better. She looked almost healthy, like she was just sleeping. The heart monitor that had been hooked up long ago beeped happily, letting me know her heart was steady and strong.

Eric was the only one to follow me into the room, shutting the door behind him. "You did not answer your phone all day," he accused.

"I've been here all day," I answered just as strongly. It was hard for me to believe he couldn't tell I wasn't in the mood for this; he just wanted to make me just as angry as he was.

I dropped myself into the uncomfortable lobby chair again. Momma Jen was still out cold in the recliner. "What did you call me about last night?" he asked. His voice was softer, gentler, but not nearly light enough that I would mistake him for being anything but angry.

"It's not important," I answered tiredly as I leaned my head back against the back of the chair. It wasn't comfortable, but at least it was solid. If I didn't have to work at holding my head up, it was an improvement.

My eyes closed before he could respond. _Just for a second_, I promised myself. I wanted to be awake when Sydney woke up. "You made it sound as if it was," he said almost accusingly.

I shrugged, still not opening my eyes. "I wanted advice, but not enough to put up with you to get it."

I could practically feel the anger rolling of his skin and beating me. Now I was keeping my eyes closed because I feared what I'd see when I opened them. I didn't want to see my death coming for me; I'd rather be blissfully unaware until the last second. "I am here, and I am cordial. Ask your advice, woman, before I lose my temper."

"No thanks," I said. "I'm not sure I want your advice anymore."

I jumped and my eyes flew open as cold hands wrapped themselves around my wrists. "Do not try my patience." Eric was looming over me, pushing me farther into the chair with his gaze. His grip on my wrists was so tight it hurt.

My heart was jumping in my throat, my breathing shallow. I got a flashback of Filipe leaning over me, unbuttoning his shirt. My whole body shuddered in fear. "Don't touch me," I whispered. It was as strong as I could make my voice at the moment and it made me sound weak.

He didn't let go, instead he ground his fingers into the sheaths under my sweater, pressing it harder against my skin, grinding them into the bone of my arm. Hard enough to make me gasp in pain. "What are these?" he asked.

Tears were forming at the corners of my eyes. I was willing them not to fall, but I don't think there was a chance in hell that I'd succeed. I did not want to look weak, and the fact that Eric was doing such a fantastic job at making me look weak just pissed me off.

Lee switched out the blades in the sheaths to ordinary steel blades. I was betting that I could show him exactly what they were without actually killing him. Part of me wanted to shove both blades so far into his stomach that they came out the other side. Another part, admittedly a small part, was scared of the violence that was in my heart. I'd deal with that part of me later.

I flexed my wrists just enough to trigger the blades to come free and grabbed the handles before Eric knew what was happening. Before he could pull away and look down, I had shoved the blades so far into him, the hilts smacked against his ribcage. "You're just lucky Lee didn't trust me with the silver set," I whispered as I leaned into his stunned face.

I obviously hadn't hurt him that badly because he didn't drop to his knees or anything, he only swayed a bit on his feet. He grabbed my wrists, lighter, gentler this time, and pulled my hands and the blades away from his body. When he looked into my eyes, I saw confusion, pain, fear, but mostly anger. He was really angry with me now, no denying it. Sure, that vindictive, violent side of me felt better, oh so much better, but I had a feeling my body would pay the price.

His fangs came down as he glared at me. He was paying no attention to the two holes in his abdomen; he just balled his hands into fists and glared at me. That was frightening enough, but I managed to glare back. "Don't you ever touch me again," I said. "Because next time, I'll aim to kill."

I dropped the set of bloody daggers without looking at them, only listening as they clanged to the floor. Eric seemed to regain something of his control, because he leaned against the wall. Not because he was in pain or tired, he leaned more like he was posing for the cover of GQ. He looked down his body, which, of course, drew my own eyes down his body. The holes were about healed, but the healing did nothing about the blood that poured down the front of his clothes. I quickly moved my eyes back up to his face, which was still gazing at his body. "I believe you," he said, something close to surprise in his voice. "I do not think you will succeed, but I believe you will try."

"You're an arrogant fucker," I whispered. Now that the adrenaline was leaving my body, I felt drained. Letting the cold blooded killer I've buried in my subconscious out took a lot out of me. "Get out of this room."

"Yes, leave," added another voice. I lifted my head long enough to register that Lee was standing in the doorway. I wasn't sure how much he'd seen, but he could probably put together the pieces.

I didn't wait to see if Eric left or not; I pulled up the sleeves of my sweater up and shakily unhooked the wrist sheaths. I dropped them to the floor before I gingerly rubbed my wrists where Eric had gripped them. "Are you hurt?" Lee asked.

"No," I whispered. It was a lie, though. My wrists hurt a lot. No amount of rubbing seemed to be helping. "I mean, I'll be fine."

He smiled down at me. I have a feeling that he was looking down at me in a whole new light. "Very well," he said, something like pride in his voice.

He closed the door behind him after he left. It was just the sleeping mother in the recliner, Sydney who was looking mighty peaceful, and me. I tried to ignore the pain in my wrists as I grabbed her hand, cradling it in both of mine, but it wasn't working well. I kept fidgeting, trying to find a comfortable position for me, but I just couldn't find one. If I wanted to hold Sydney's hand, I was just going to have to deal with the pain. I'd deal with the pain.

I didn't even hear the door open, which is why I jumped when I heard David's voice. My eyes flew open, but I didn't remember closing them. The sudden rush of light caught me off guard, blinking to regain sight. "I did not believe it when Eric told me what you did to him," he said, almost with awe in his voice. "Sorry, I did not mean to startle you," he added after I jumped.

I didn't even look back at him. It wasn't that I didn't want to; it's that I was too tired to spare energy for the movement. I laid my head back on my bicep and looked up to Sydney's face again. She still looked peaceful; unmoving, but still alive. Almost healthy, really. "And you believe now?" I said. Even to me, my voice sounded horrible. Tired, worn.

"Yes, I do. You still find ways to surprise me."

I sighed. I think I was giving him the impression I didn't want to talk to him with the body language and audible sighs. "Sorry," was all I said.

"There is nothing to apologize for. I am merely astonished that you drew weapons on him before he even moved to hurt you, let alone that you used them."

I small giggle escaped, but it didn't even make a noise. All I could manage was just a light jumping of my ribcage and a smile on my face. "Who told you that?"

"Northman did."

I sighed again as the smile fell from my lips. "I wouldn't have drawn the weapons if he wasn't hurting me, David. I'm not a violent person like he is."

David voice changed immediately, suddenly cold and protective. "He hurt you?" he asked.

I lifted one hand from Sydney's and let the sleeve of the sweater fall away. It had only been a few minutes, maybe a half an hour, but I already had the makings of a wicked bruise. I could see the sharp lines of the wrist sheath imprinted on my skin radiating outward from the cuff-like bruises from Eric's hands. It looked like a matching pair of ornate bracelets. "Don't tell Emma, I can't take any more poking or prodding tonight."

"He could have broken your bones," he said as he approached, moving around the bed so he could look me in the eye. "Would you like me to punish him?" he asked.

At least he asked. I shook my head without lifting it from my arm. He stood there and looked down at me long enough to make me uncomfortable with meeting his gaze. I flicked my eyes back to Sydney and keep them there. I did, however, follow him with my ears as he circled the bed towards me. "You are so tired that I can feel it like a drug pulling at me. Why not just sleep?"

"I want to be awake when Sydney wakes up," I answered.

He pulled my hands away from Sydney's and gathered me into his arms. I was about to protest until he lowered himself back into the chair I had been sitting in. "I will wake you as soon as she wakes. Please, sleep before you faint."

I felt like a small child sitting in his lap, my head leaning against the soft spot between his shoulder and his ribcage. He gently smoothed the sleeves of my sweater over my wrists with the one hand that wasn't holding me up, hiding the bruising from view. A sandal fell from my foot as it dangled inches from the ground. I shook my other foot lightly to flip my other sandal off, too, just so I matched. "Promise you'll wake me up?"

"I promise," he said after laying a kiss on my hair.

.

I jerked awake when a door closed lightly. I had jumped so violently, David had to tighten his grip almost painfully to make sure I didn't topple to the floor. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear. Were you finally getting some sleep?" Emma asked as she grabbed the chart from the end of Sydney's bed. I don't think there was anything new on the chart, but she grabbed it more as a force of habit or automatic reflex.

"She was," David said.

I looked at the clock over the bed; I had been asleep for a little over 45 minutes. "How is she?" I asked sleepily as I pushed out of David's arms. He let me go, so I stood and stretched my hands to the ceiling.

"Her fever has dropped significantly, her white cell count is dropping as well. I believe it worked." 'It', of course, being sharing blood.

I nodded. "When will she wake up?"

Emma did the vampire equivalent of a shrug. "I cannot be sure. As soon as she is rested. I suggest you rest, too."

I leaned against the bed lightly, not enough to disturb Sydney, but enough to support some of my weight. "Will you wake me up?" I asked David.

He smiled up at me. It was hard for me not to feel peace, even serenity when I looked into his eyes tonight. It's like I knew my ultimate happiness lie within those arms. "Of course," he answered as he held his arms out for me. I lowered myself into his arms again and settled in, rubbing my cheek against the softness of the shirt over his chest. I was content to rub myself into him.

"I will leave you two alone," Emma said as she winked to me. Before I could respond, she was out the door.

I tucked my arms around his waist so I could press my face farther into his chest. He wasn't cool like his usual self; he felt more like the warmth of the blankets after you've been cuddling in them all night. He had warmth, but it wasn't his own. It was mine. "Is this what the bond is always supposed to feel like?" I whispered.

"What do you feel, Love?" he whispered back after kissing my hair.

"'It's not what I feel like, it's what you feel like." I paused mid-thought to yawn and close my eyes. "You feel like home to me."

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "Sleep," he whispered.

.

Sydney woke just before David and Emma had to leave for the day, right around 4:30 in the morning. True to his word, David woke me so I could be holding her hand as her eyes opened. Her eyes looked groggy, where I'm sure mine looked like I was about to burst into tears. I was exhausted, emotionally drained, and now just a bit terrified of what was to come the following night.

When Moose couldn't reach me all day, he came to the hospital about 20 minutes after Sydney woke up. I don't know why he'd assume that I would be at the hospital, but he had. I was lying in Sydney's bed giggling with her and her mother when he burst in the door. I was so giddy, anything could make me giggle at this point.

"Oh, thank God," he said under his breath. "Where have you been all day?" he asked, a touch of accusation in his voice.

"Here," I answered.

He let out a visible sigh of relief. "How are you feeling, Syd?" he asked.

"Almost all better," she added. "Thanks to Emma." Sydney hadn't been nearly as upset with the whole vampire blood thing once her mother and I explained how very close she came to dying. I think the tears in my eyes were what convinced her that there was no other choice.

"I'm glad everyone's OK. Does that mean I can steal you for a little bit?" he asked me.

I cocked my eyebrow. "I guess, if it's OK with Syd." I glanced back at her to find her nodding in agreement. "What's up?"

"A massive amount of samples just came in; no one else that I could get a hold of can help." There was a whole new pleading in his eyes that told me he was serious. "I only need you for a couple of hours, maybe five."

I nodded and slowly got off Sydney's bed. "Sure," I said.

I left Sydney my car because Dr. Lupe came in and promised she'd be released in the next few hours. I offered to stay, but Momma Jen said she'd be happy to make sure Sydney got home safe and sound. Without Sydney practically pushing me out the door, though, I wasn't sure I would have left.

I closed my eyes as the first of the sun peaked over the horizon and blinded me. Moose had a pair of sunglasses ready and waiting, but I almost never wore sunglasses. I could never keep a pair intact enough to get in the habit of it. So, instead, I ducked down in Moose's passenger seat and closed my eyes.

"Hey, youhoo," Moose said as he touched my shoulder. I jumped out of the seat, but I was still wearing my seatbelt, so it slammed me back down.

"What?" I asked, a touch of panic in my voice.

"You fell asleep; we're here," he said as he backed out of the way. It took me a minute to comprehend what he was saying, but once I did, I unbuckled my seatbelt and ambled out of the car. "Get any sleep last night?" he asked.

I smiled, he always saw right through me. "No, I wanted to be awake when Syd woke up."

He turned on his heels fast enough that he bumped into me. "Then I'm taking you home. I can finish up the samples alone."

"Don't be silly." I was already here, I may was well help him. Besides, it was a bit of payback for all the times he covered my butt when I needed help on my work. "I can work for a few hours. You might need to carry me to bed once we're done, but I can work until then," I said with a sly smile.

He smiled down at me. "Thanks."

"No problem."

.

Once I was actually doing something, some of the exhaustion melted away. Lab work is always like that, it sucks all of your attention to what you're doing; so much so that it can make you forget about bodily needs.

The one drawback to that, of course, is the feeling when you're done with your lab work. All of those needs come flooding back in full force. That included my exhaustion. I put the last of the Petri plates in the incubator and sunk into a chair. I looked up at the clock. It was just after eleven in the morning. Eleven in the morning and I was already miserable. That did not bode well.

Moose was just about to offer to drive me home when Matt and Freddy came busting in the door. "Sweet," Matt said once he noticed the two of us already in the lab. "Can you guys give us a hand? We have a shit-ton of filtering to do." Freddy sulked back out the door when he noticed me and was now dragging a large cooler through the doorway. I was starting to get the impression he did not like me.

Moose looked back to me, an apology already in his eyes. I knew he owed those two one, but he knew I was about to pass out on my feet. "Sorry, guys, but…"

I cut him off before he could finish. "You can help them, I'll be on Cian's couch." I was sure Cian had a couch in his office. It would be so against his nature not to.

Moose gave me a questioning look. "I'll be fine up there, it's not like he'll be bothering me. Just don't forget me when you leave, I don't have my car here," I answered.

He nodded and turned back to Matt. "Let me run to the restroom and I'll be back to help out," Moose said. He followed me out of the room and to the elevator. I was not feeing two flights of stairs today. Not even a little.

"How are you going to get into his office?" he asked once we were safely alone in the elevator. "Don't tell me he gave you a key."

"No, but I know where one is." There was a forgotten master key hidden away in the lunchroom on the fifth floor, conveniently two doors away from Cian's office. I do not know how he ranked such a coveted office space, but he did.

"How did you know that was there?" Moose asked in awe as I grabbed the long forgotten key from the back of the cupboard. I just grinned at him and unlocked Cian's door. The same way I knew a lot of things: I saw it. Originally, I had needed to get into the storeroom on this floor to forage for some backordered supplies, but I quickly figured out that the key opens every door in the building (all of those that still responded to keys, that is). Very helpful.

His office was everything I was expecting and more. The only thing industrial or institutional about it was the fluorescent lights overhead. He'd painted the walls, like many of the faculty here. The only thing that was different from the rest of the faculty on campus was the colors. Most people went for calming pastels. Cian went for an aggressive yet elegant shade of crimson. His desk was large and wooden, an obvious antique. Behind it were matching mahogany bookshelves that looked more like the built-ins that you'd find in a private study than something you'd find in a university office. Books with leather bindings covered the bookshelves, making the room look almost elegant. There was a large leather chair between the desk and bookshelves that would have looked at home behind the President's resolute desk.

On the other side of the room was a sitting area. One large leather couch was flanked on either side with matching leather arm chairs with elegantly carved feet. Beneath the couch, just like beneath the desk, was an elaborate rug so soft that I could tell it would be comfortable to lie on as I walked across it.

"Wow," was all Moose said.

"Wow," I repeated, same amount of astonishment in my voice.

I laid down on the couch and tucked my arms under my head as a makeshift pillow. I fidgeted for a while, trying to find a position where I wasn't leaning on my bruised wrists. "It should be at least a couple of hours," Moose said as he turned on his heels to get one last look of the place. It was truly something straight off a movie set, Cian's office; all it needed was a fireplace. I'm sure the girls will be impressed.

I was asleep before Moose closed the door behind him.


	103. Chapter 103

*****Sorry about the delay, guys. Hope you all had a wonderful fourth of July!*****

I was immediately aware that a lot more than a few hours had passed. As I started to wake up, I was starting to feel much more aware of the fact that other things had changed, too. My head was no longer on my arms, instead it was resting on a plush pillow. I could feel the subtle weight of a blanket thrown over my arms and torso, stopping at my thigh.

As soon as I realized that extra lumpy weight at my waist was an arm flung over me, I craned my neck to see whoever it was. I opened my eyes but it was still dark in the room, so I had to wait for my night vision to come. But I knew who was wrapped around me as soon as I turned my head and they planted a long, passionate kiss on my lips. "Cian," I said after the kiss. I tried to make my voice reproachful, but fell well short of the mark. It sounded more breathy. Dammit.

"Cupcake," he answered. He followed that with another kiss as he tightened his grip on me, lifting my shirt to expose my stomach and tucking his hand in the band of my jeans. Not low enough to make me blush, but almost. Just enough to play with the very top of my lace panties. "I love when you wear these," he said as he snapped the front of the panties against my skin.

"I didn't wear them for you, Cian," I answered. My voice still had the same breathy quality to it. Double dammit.

"Maybe not consciously, but you knew you were wearing matching lingerie when you decided to nap on my couch," he answered.

I turned my head away from him, so he left a kiss at the base of my ear. "What makes you think it's a matching set?" I asked.

"I checked," he replied. "Black. My favorite color."

I slapped his arm hard enough that he pulled away from me automatically. I took the opportunity to stand, dropping the soft throw blanket to the floor when I did. I stood there for a minute, not sure of what to do. I didn't have a car, so I couldn't just leave. Even if I did storm out, I'd have nowhere to go. I just stood there, looking at him.

"Such violence," he said as he gracefully sat up. He knew exactly what to do with his body to make himself look beyond irresistible, teetering on the fine line between sexy and ridiculous. He knew how to use the subtle moonlight streaming through the window play on that body like a spotlight. And he knew what that did to me, which only made it worse. "Now I believe the stories I hear."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, just barely managing to hold the grimace that followed at bay. Damn, that hurt. "What stories?" I asked. I even cocked one hip. When in doubt, get an attitude. That philosophy has served me, not well, but consistently for several years now.

"You _did_ try to gut my maker." Gracefully, he stood, moving within inches of me.

I shook my head. "I was making a point; I knew it wouldn't kill him."

He took a last step toward me to bridge the gap in space, and I took one step back in response. He repeated the last step, and I backed into the wall. "I don't know if that makes it better or worse," he whispered as he hovered above my cheek. "It definitely makes me hot."

"Cian…" was all I managed to say before his lips were pressed against mine again. My mouth was kissing him back, but my hands were pushing him away. He preferred to listen to my lips and grabbed my wrists gently. Still, it was more pressure than the bruises could take. I pulled my lips away and gasped before pulling my wrists back into my body.

He backed away just a touch; just enough that he could see that I was cradling my arms to my body. "I wasn't rough enough with you to cause such a reaction." He said. Almost as light as a feather, he took my hands and pulled them out so he could lift the sleeve. My night vision wasn't good; not nearly what Cian was capable of seeing, but even I knew it looked bad. In the low contrast of the dark room, it looked like I was wearing black bracelets. He touched one gently and I jumped. It didn't hurt, but I was expecting it to. "Eric?" he asked. I just nodded. He didn't say anything else, he just pulled the sleeves of my sweater back down to cover them and intertwined his fingers with mine.

I sighed when he lowered his head back to kiss me. "What? Do you not find me attractive anymore?"

"You know that's not it," I answered. Really, though, how could I not?

"Do you not want me anymore?' he asked.

I sighed again. I did want him, whether or not that was a good idea was the question. "Just, not now, Cian. I feel gross. I need a shower. What time is it?"

"Ten," he answered, his lips still hovering just above mine so close I could feel them brush against me as we spoke. "And you do not smell 'gross'." He put extra emphasis on my word choice, like he'd never heard it actually used before. "You smell like you, your blood. It's intoxicating."

I gritted my teeth this time. "Cian…" I warned. This time, it came out as a true warning.

"Yes, Cupcake?" he answered. He'd pulled away from my lips, but was in the process of burying his head in my hair, taking long, lingering sniffs of me.

"Where's Moose?"

"He and I arrived at the same time," he whispered into my ear. He pushed my body flat against the wall again with his lower body. I could feel exactly how happy he was to see me. "I insisted that you needed your sleep and I would drive you home."

"Then drive me home," I demanded.

"Of course, Cupcake." He pulled away from me but interlinked his fingers with mine. I'm sure we looked like newlyweds in love as he started swing our hands back and forth. I rolled my eyes at him, but smiled. It probably looked so ridiculous, how could I not smile. The vampire and the clairvoyant; the happy little couple. I was picturing us behind a white picket fence with our 2.5 children, dog and cat chasing each other around our legs.

I couldn't help myself. I started to laugh at my delusion. Cian looked down at me, pleased but confused smile on his face. He pressed the button to take the elevator down before asking, "What could you possibly be laughing at?"

I just started to laugh harder as I told him about it. By the time I finished, I could barely breathe. Hell, I could barely stand upright. He lifted me into his arms as the elevator doors opened and kissed me deeply. I couldn't quite stop laughing, but the kiss helped to calm me down some.

"Oh, uh, oh," said as small female voice. It was high pitched, like someone you wouldn't want to listen to for much more than fifteen minutes. When I looked down, her outward appearance matched her voice. I felt kind of bad for her. "Oh, Dr. O'Smythe? I was hoping I could grab those lesson plans from you."

I started giggling uncontrollably (albeit silently) again into his shoulder as he pulled out of the kiss to answer her. "My office is open, Cassie. Take what you need."

The elevator doors closed, Cassie on the other side. "Dr. O'Smythe?" I asked between giggles. I was laughing so hard again my chest was starting to hurt. "Oh, God, make it stop," I said between gasps of air and giggles.

"As you wish," he said. I was laughing too hard for him to try and kiss me again, so he trailed his tongue down the skin of my neck to right above David's puncture marks. "Mmm, sharing with King O'Hara again, are we?" he asked.

I was still laughing, but not nearly as hard when the doors opened on the ground floor of the building. "Yup," I answered between giggles.

"Do you think he's willing to share with me?" he asked. I didn't know when they came down, but I felt one of his fangs graze against my skin. He was lining them up so that his fang marks would be completely hidden by David's.

"No biting, Cian." I said fairly strongly. OK, that worked; all the giggles were gone.

His face didn't pull away from my neck, but the pressure of his fangs against my skin suddenly did. "There," he said. "Do I get a treat for making it stop?" I rolled my eyes at him, although he couldn't see. "I'll take that as a no."

"No," I confirmed.

He carried me out of the elevator (winning us some very strange looks from the janitorial staff) and toward the parking lot. "I can walk, you know. I'm not an invalid."

"But I want to carry you."

I kicked my legs lightly in a temper tantrum. "Put me down," I said again, more force in my voice this time.

He opened the door to the outside with his back because his hands were still preoccupied. Without warning, he dropped my legs, letting them thud to the sidewalk in the warm summer night's heat. I grunted as he hit, sending shockwaves up my body. "As you wish," he said as he steadied me.

"You're just like Eric," I said as I stormed away in no particular direction. I didn't see his car, so I had no idea where I was going, but it felt good to storm away anyway.

"And how's that?" he asked as he followed behind me.

"An asshole."

"Feisty," he said, borderline laughing at me again. "I like that." His voice was coming from farther and farther away from me, like he stopped moving while I continued to stomp my way away. "Where are you going?" he asked from a good distance away. I must be walking very fast; either that or he was walking backwards, because he was really far behind me now. It was so far, he felt the need to yell for me.

"Home," I yelled back. I don't know why I bothered to yell, he would have been able to hear me anyway.

"I'm parked over here," he yelled.

I didn't even turn around, I just continued to pound my feet to the pavement. "I'll walk."

Before I knew what was happening, Cian threw me over his shoulder. I screamed, but there wasn't anyone else around to hear it at ten, especially before the semester starts. "Let…me…go!" I screamed as I pounded him in the back with my fists and kicked aimlessly with my feet. He braced my legs against his torso in response, but there was nothing he could do about my fists. Even vampires can't steady something that's behind them like that.

Cian teetered that line between gentle and forceful when he set me down in the passenger seat of his car. As soon as he shut the door, me inside, and went around the other side of the car, I opened the passenger door back up and stepped back out. Yes, I was being unnecessarily difficult. I didn't care. My temper tantrum was off and running. No stopping it now.

"You are being so difficult," he sighed as he wrapped one arm around my waist and lifted me from the ground. My back was pressed against his chest for a split second before he practically threw me into the side of his car. It wasn't painful, but it was hard enough to make me stop for a minute. Just long enough for him to press himself up against me again. "I can't resist you, even when you make me want to scream."

"I'm about to yell rape," I threatened as he ran his hands gently down my arms, which hung limply at my sides.

I could feel his whole body move as he sighed before stepping away from me. Now only his hands rested just above my elbows. "If you won't let me ravage you, at least let me drive you home."

Internally, I pouted. Externally, I sighed. "Fine." I opened my own passenger side door, climbed in hastily, and slammed it shut without any of his help.

When he climbed into the driver's side, he was shaking his head. "I do not understand you sometimes."

I just harrumphed and crossed my arms in front of my chest. That was fine with me.

"Not a minute ago I had you laughing so hard, you couldn't breathe. Now you are so angry with me, I can feel it like a heat radiating from your body."

I fidgeted. "Your point?" I asked angrily.

"I have none."

If I were going to be honest with myself, I'd remind myself that this pissyness is probably just coming from an intense fear of what's to come brought on by a subconscious realization of why Cian was being so clingy to me. He was sent to protect me because there was most likely something very close that I needed protection from. Of course I was terrified. But I wasn't going to be honest with myself, so forget that. I continued to sulk in silence the rest of the way home.

Of course Cian didn't just drop me off at my place and say, 'see you later'. That would have been completely against his nature and I would have felt compelled to ask what was wrong. He followed so closely behind me that there wasn't a chance in hell I could have shut the door with him on the other side of it. Of course, I didn't really need a door to keep him out; in fact, that was the least effective method of keeping him out of my house available to me. I could just uninvite him, but I was afraid that if something big and bad did come bursting through that door, I wouldn't get a chance to fix the mistake.

I went straight upstairs and found Sydney sitting up in bed, reading a book. I didn't say anything, I just climbed into bed with her and wrapped my arms around her waist. "Sorry I was gone so long," I whispered as she smoothed the hair from my face. "When'd Momma leave?"

"About an hour ago," she answered. "I offered her the guest room, but she wanted to go home, shower, get some sleep."

I had completely forgotten about Cian until he spoke. "I hear we almost lost you, Sydney," he said as he leaned against the doorframe, his hands tucked into the front pockets of his khakis. "I am glad we did not."

"Thanks, Cian," she said, surprise in her voice. I didn't have to be able to see her eyes to know the look she was giving me. Probably the same one she gave me when I fell asleep next to David and woke up next to Moose. Confusion, a touch of hurt, and a dash of lost helplessness.

"I took a nap in his office this afternoon while Moose helped the guys in lab. I slept a little too long," I explained.

"Oh," she said, a bit of that misunderstanding falling away. "How'd you get into his office?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Cian added.

I smiled and squeezed her torso a little bit harder. "Trade secret."

I lay there just a few more seconds listening to Sydney's heart beat, feeling her chest rise and fall with her steady, even breaths. "I need to shower," I said as I pushed myself up.

.

My shower was heavenly, Cian even let me do it in peace. I was going to ask what was up, but I didn't. No need to encourage him. When I came out of my bathroom wrapped in a towel, Cian was lounging on my bed. A moment of pure want coursed through my body as I gazed down his body. He smirked. "I know that look."

"What look?" I managed to say in my normal voice. Point for me.

He pushed himself to the corner of the bed and gracefully stood, approaching me slowly. "Desire."

I took a step back as he approached, keeping even space between us. He was slowly unbuttoning his shirt from the top down, revealing smooth vanilla skin. I was aware that I had the willpower of a drunken sorority girl tonight; fear does that to me. The arms of a strong man can be very comforting and fantastic sex is great for distractions.

He pulled his shirt out from his pants and off his shoulders in one smooth movement, letting it drop to the floor. I was stunned by the beauty of his chest. Strong muscles danced as he unbuckled his belt , which brought my eye down. The faint outline of a sculpted stomach left shadows as he passed in front of the bedside lamp, the only light in the room that was on. Straight, course hair started a happy trail from his belly button down, begging me to look lower. He still hadn't taken the flat-front khakis off, but I knew what was beneath it from personal experience. And it was well worth the show.

My mind scrambled for a reason not to do this. "I just got _out_ of shower, Cian."

"And?" he asked as he whipped his belt from its loops. "If you are worried about getting dirty again, we could make use of your shower together."

My mind flashed to when David and I had done just that and heat ran throughout my body. I had to ball my fists to keep myself from jumping him.

He seemed to notice the effect he had on me. He smirked again and reached his hand for me, putting his hands on my hips and pulling me toward him. I let out a ragged breath. I got a quick vision of what Cian was going to do to me tonight, and it made my knees go weak. Steam filled my bathroom as hot water beat down on Cian's back. He was holding me up against the wall of the shower, each of my legs dangling helplessly on either side of his hip. He grunted as he shoved into me, and I gave a responding moan each time. As a final climax, he leaned down and bit into my neck, sending the both of us over the edge. The vision faded as he turned and back into the wall, still supporting my weight, and sunk to the floor of the shower.

I shook my head as my vision faded, shaking the physical memory from my body. "We're not going to start dating again, Cian. I'm not ready for dating."

He pulled the towel from my body and let it drop to the floor. "Who said anything about dating? I'm talking about sex."

I rolled my eyes. "I've heard that line from you before, yet I can't seem to push you away."

He was running his hands down my body starting just under my armpits and down to my hips. I shuddered as his thumbs gently rubbed over my nipples. "Tell me no, and I will leave. No questions asked."

I opened my mouth, but couldn't manage to get anything out, so I closed it. I tried it again, and again I failed.

"That's what I thought," he said.

He pulled my hands to his pants and placed them on the button of his pants. I unbuttoned and unzipped them just enough so I could cup him in my hand. He was ready for me, that's for sure. A small grunt of pleasure escaped his lips as I caressed him.

I let nature take its course, let my vision become a reality. It was well worth it, too. Cian turned the water back on and it took no time at all to heat back up. After all, I had only just gotten out. Once we were under the stream of water, I cupped him in my hand again and stood on my tip toes to kiss him. Gently, I rubbed the tips of my fingers against him, feeling his hard length jump and pulse under my touch. The breath caught in his throat as I teased just the tip of him, rubbing my thumb in a circle on it.

He was returning the favor, caressing my breasts, one in each hand. It was my turn for the breath to catch in my throat when he pinched both of my nipples at the same time as he parted my lips. My grip on his hard cock automatically tightened, making the rest of his body shudder in response.

He pulled away from me and dropped to his knees. I was momentarily stunned, not used to the warm water that was beating into me. He looked up and watched my face as he spread my legs apart and licked me. "Ohhh," I moaned.

I could feel more than see his mouth curve into a smile. He licked at me a few more times before sticking his tongue up into me. I threw my head back and cried out at the pleasure of it.

Before I could recover from Cian's tongue he was standing in front of me again, forcing it into my mouth. I could taste myself on him. Without any warning, he lifted me up and lowered me onto him causing me to gasp and him to shudder. Just like my vision, he pressed me against the wall of the shower and parted my legs to hang loosely around him. He grunted and I moaned at each thrust. He repeated the same rhythm; pulling almost all the way out before filling me back up again quickly. I could tell as the orgasm started to grow for him, he started moving faster and faster, thrusting harder and harder until the pleasure bordered on pain for me.

Without warning, Cian sank his teeth into my neck just above David's bite. His shuddering orgasm triggered my own. I buried my head in his neck and ragged scream escaped my lips. Then, just as my vision predicted, Cian lowered the two of us to the floor of the shower and let the hot water beat down my back as I tried to regain the feeling and function of my limbs.


	104. Chapter 104

*****Have I thrown you all yet? Yes? Good, good. Hold on, because Sloane's emotional life is about to get weirder.*****

Once I could move again, I had insisted that the two of us both soap up. I didn't want to walk into a vampire den smelling like sex for several reasons. One, and most important to me, was I didn't want to hurt David. Now that I had it out of my system, I was feeling a touch guilty. David and I had been doing so well lately, that I could possibly think about being with him again. Not in a sexual way, not just yet, but at least dating. Sure, the thought scared the shit out of me, but at least I was willing to give it a shot. I just kept reminding myself that I'd survived him before, I could survive him again. Still, though, sex was out of the question until I trusted him more. Sure, I trusted David to an extent, but sex—at least, good sex—requires a level of trust I wasn't sure I had yet. And there was no way in hell was I going to even try sex until I was 110% sure I had it. I knew that if we started and had to stop because I was having a panic attack, it would kill something inside of him.

Secondly, I was starting to understand what David and Emma had meant by a united front. The more it looked like David and I were a couple, the more protection I had from overzealous vampires. Not that I liked anything about that, but it was a grim reality of my life. Of course, I was simultaneously more and less protected when bound to David. More protected because it would be immediately understood that a move against me would be considered a move against Michigan and no one in their right mind would go against an entire state. That left the few not in their right mind, but no plan is perfect. I was less protected because that also made me David's weak link. Anyone that wished to attack Michigan probably wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to use me as a pawn. I was starting to really hate the proverbial double edged sword.

The third reason was purely selfish. I didn't want any shit from Eric about me screwing his childe. The fact I was doing it was weird enough, I didn't need flack from him about it.

Once we both smelled almost obnoxiously of hibiscus, we got out of the shower. Cian quickly redressed in his black button down shirt and khakis while I waffled over what to wear. I had worn jeans and a sweater last time, but I had a feeling it wasn't quite appropriate for tonight. I was feeling like I needed something more…dressy. David, Emma, and Lee had been what I would have considered first-date dressy when we interviewed Arkansas. Of course, I could just imitate what Emma had been wearing, but she'd been wearing a black sheath dress (one that I had an almost identical duplicate of in my own closet). I was planning on sitting on the floor. Unless you don't care who you flash, sitting on the floor in a dress isn't a good idea.

I pulled a pair of black dress pants out of the closet. They were a new pair and I hadn't had a chance to get them tailored yet, so they were a few inches too long. That meant I would also be wearing high heels. And I mean_ high_ heels. I pulled the pair of black leather pumps with silver heels Emma had gotten me from the back of the closet and put them next to the bed (Laboutins…swoon). Now all I needed was a top.

Cian was standing behind me staring at the closet. "This one," he said as he pulled out a shirt to match his own. Apparently, he wanted me to be monochromatic night. The long sleeved black button down would hide the hideous bruises on my wrists, sure, but was extremely low cut. Not only would it require a black bra, but it would also mean anyone even a few inches taller than me could see down my shirt. I had a feeling Cian knew that somehow.

"You do like me in black."

"It fits your personality," he quipped. I smacked him lightly.

"Out so I can get dressed," I said as I started to rummage through my lingerie drawer. I knew I had another black bra in here somewhere.

"Can't I watch?" he pouted.

"No," I said. Ah, found it. Now, to find the matching lace thong. Hey, when I dress up, I dress up all the way to the skin.

He sighed. "Fine."

.

I drove my own car to the O'Hara complex, Cian following behind me. I blew dry my hair to a silky soft wave that spilled over my shoulders in an almost crimson curtain. Black always did that to my hair, sometimes it was hard to tell how red my hair was until you put it up against something darker. I had put a touch of foundation on to even out my skin tone, adding blush to make me look alive. That was one of the drawbacks of black; it made me look really pale, almost extreme. Because I already dove in head first when it came to black, I added some black eyeliner and mascara, then topped it with red lipstick. Anything more demure on my lips would have fallen short. When I finally looked in the mirror, I had to admit: I looked great. I smiled at myself before walking out the door.

Mike was at the gate again, but tonight, he let me go straight in without the extreme security check. I'd hoped it was just me that he'd been told to let right in. When it took Cian several minutes to get through the gate, I took a deep breath. Hopefully, Mike was searching his car rather thoroughly.

David came through the back door where I'd parked and walked over to me. There was a cordial smile on his face, almost welcoming. It was the smile that was always on his face, his mask to hide what he was really feeling. I opened the bond to find out, but there was happiness there. I didn't understand, and it must have shown on my face. "What is the matter?" he asked when he approached.

"What's with the I'm-ignoring-you smile?" I asked. We'd already had a conversation about that face, so he immediately knew what I was talking about.

The false smile melted away, allowing his true smile to peak through. "I apologize, I have had it on so long tonight, I'd forgotten it was there."

I reached a hand out to him and he took it, drawing me into his embrace. "You look and smell lovely. Oscar de la Renta?" he asked. I'd applied perfume before leaving the house (just in case I'd underestimated the vampire sense of smell) and had deliberately chosen one that David had gotten me.

"Yea," I said.

He let me out of the hug, but I kept a death grip on his hand. When I had been getting ready, I somehow tricked myself into downplaying what I was going to be walking in to. Now, the fear was back in full force. "I know you hate when I tell you this, but you truly can relax. You are among friends, more than you know."

I looked up at him, one eyebrow cocked, but he just shook his head as he held the door open for me. "I promised I would not spoil the surprise."

Now I was frowning up at him. "I don't like surprises."

"Yes," he said. "I know."

David led me through the back of house toward the ballroom. I wasn't twenty steps in the door before Cian was suddenly right behind me as well. When David wasn't watching, he pinched my butt.

I jumped, which startled David. "What is wrong, Love?"

I swatted behind me with my free hand. "Nothing."

David moved to glance at Cian behind me, but held his gaze longer than he had originally intended. "O'Smythe," he said in greeting as he studied him. His eyes narrowed to small slits. I turned to look at whatever was making David so suspicious, but Cian looked pleasantly blank, hands now clasped behind his back.

"My King," he answered.

David's suspicious eyes fell to me and looked me over. I looked forward to where we were walking, careful to keep my head up, like nothing was wrong. In reality, I was trying as hard as I could not to blush.

Finally, the door to the kitchen was in reach. Just beyond it was the ballroom. I never thought I would look forward to surrounding myself with unknown, possibly hostile vampires, but to get out of the thick tension of the hallway, held between two men that have had and currently still want me, I welcomed it. Neither of them actually made a sound, but there were still words said. Silent words, but words none the less.

"O'Smythe, please go ensure the first of our auditioners are ready," David said as he leaned gracefully against the countertop in the kitchen, pulling me by the hand toward him.

Cian bowed slightly. "Yes, my King." Without another word, Cian disappeared through the double doors that lead to the ballroom.

As soon as the door swung shut, David lifted me so I was sitting on the countertop, his hips holding my knees apart on either side of him. "What?" I asked. My heart was thudding in my chest. I did not want to be alone with him if he'd figured out what I did tonight. Sure, help was just a room away, but I was afraid of the damage David could do in the split second it would take for me to scream and someone to arrive.

"What are you so afraid of all the sudden?" he asked. He pulled my hand from my lap and started intertwining my fingers with his.

"Nothing," I said as he kissed each individual finger of my hand. My voice did not come out as strong and nonchalant as I wanted it to, and David heard it to. He glanced up to look me in the eye, his lips still against my hand.

He seemed to understand more than I thought he could. "You have nothing to fear from me," he said as he dropped my hand back into my lap and pulled away. "I will never touch you in anger again."

I had nothing to say to that. Half of me believed him completely, utterly. The other half was skeptical. When I didn't answer him, he took that to mean I didn't believe him. Sure, that was partly true, but it wasn't why I was hesitant to answer him. I was hesitant to answer him because I had absolutely no idea what to say.

He dropped his gaze from mine as he turned to walk away, but I caught a glimpse of the pain in his eyes before he did. His pain brought tears to my eyes. "David," I said on the verge of tears. He heard me, I could see the tightening of his shoulders, the slight hesitation in his movement, but he kept moving away from me. I reached out and grabbed his hand, the only thing I could still reach without falling off the countertop. He paused and looked up at me. "Yes," was all I whispered. As soon as I did, my heart was racing again. What the hell did I just do?

"Yes?" he asked. His voice was heavy with grief, which made my chest tighten. My body didn't know how to handle an emotional rollercoaster to this degree and my hands started shaking.

I dropped my voice to just barely audible. "Yes, I will…marry you." I wasn't sure what to call it. I refused to call it a pledging, it made the whole thing sound vaguely like I was becoming his possession. That was not at all the case. 'Marry' was the only semi-appropriate word I was comfortable with.

He just stared at me, stunned. I could hear my heart thudding against my chest, I was sure he could, too. "Say something," I begged. If he didn't do something soon, scream, cry, throw me across the room, kiss me, just something, I was going to pass out. Or scream myself.

He moved slowly, deliberately, back toward me. He took both of my hands now, kissing the back of them both before he encircled my waist with his arms. At least he was smiling again, I guess. Even though I felt like I was going to be sick, as long as he was happy, it was OK.

He held me to him as I tried to calm down. "I love you," he whispered as he ran his hands down my back.

I shuddered again as he kissed me neck, but for a completely different reason. It took me a few seconds, but I managed to respond, "I love you too." Something surprised me. I meant that. Every word, I meant it, completely. He had practically torn my heart from my chest and shattered it, and I still loved him. Somehow, I knew everything was going to work. Somehow, David and I would make it work. I smiled into his chest.

I weaved my hands around his back and pulled him even farther into me. I wasn't feeling horny again until I felt him against my body, then my libido snapped back into place. I rubbed my chest against his as I tucked my fingers under his belt. "I thought you feared I would hurt you again because you and Cian had sex," he whispered.

I pulled back from him and looked him in the eye. He smiled mischievously. "You smelled of him, but now you smell of me," he said as he tightened his grip on my back, pressing my entire body against his.

"You're not mad?" I asked. Color me confused.

"I thought I would be, but I am not." He kissed my cheekbone then my chin before laying a gentle kiss on my lips. "If he is what you want as well, I am willing to share."

I put one hand on either side of his face so I could study it, looking for any sign of deceit. I didn't find one. "Really?" I asked.

He smiled before kissing me again. "After what I have done to you, I find it impossible to deny you anything you may want."

I smiled back. "I know the feeling," I answered before I kissed him back gently, almost hesitantly. "I feel the same way about you."

He kissed me again, more urgently this time, and I responded. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his hips. I kissed him until I was ready for him to take me upstairs and let him have me. "Your subjects await us," he whispered into my mouth. I pouted and he laughed. It was a happy, carefree laugh that I hadn't heard from him in a long time. If male vampires could be giddy, that's what I'd call it. A giddy laugh. "I love that you want me."

"You're a buzzkill," I whispered, smile on my face. I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, like if David let me go, I'd float to the ceiling.

"I will make it up to you," he whispered seductively as he pulled my butt completely off the countertop, pressing me hard into his hard flesh. He knew exactly where to touch on my body and with what to make me melt, and that was one of them. I let out a gasping moan as pleasure shot through my body.

"Don't stop," I begged. As soon as I asked, he pressed my butt against the countertop and rubbed against me again, sending more pleasure through my body again. And again, I moaned. He kissed me again, deeply and passionately as he repeated the movement. It felt so good, I let out a breathy scream into his mouth.

He seemed to like that. Before I could think, David had the two of us on the wide, cold countertop, him pressed against me in all the right places. He rubbed his pants against mine as I pulled him down into me so I could kiss him. I kissed his lips, slipping my tongue into his mouth and nibbling on his lower lip. "Oh, yes," I mumbled as I felt an orgasm growing in my lower parts. "More, more!" I begged.

I let out a moaning scream as David shuddered above me, causing the orgasm to crash over me.

Of course, David wasn't short of breath, but I was gasping, panting beneath him. I wasn't aware that David had pulled my shirt from my pants and unbuttoned it to expose my black lace bra until he rolled off of me and pulled me into the crux of his arm in one swift motion. I threw my leg over and between his and tucked one arm around his waist. "Wow, I haven't done that in forever," I said as I took one last gasping breath.

"Neither have I," David answered. I could feel his fingers playing against my lower back as he entwined his fingers through my hair.

"Ahem," I heard from the double doors. "If you two can manage to keep your hands off each other for a few minutes, your first appointment is ready for you, Sloane," Emma said. I didn't have to raise my head and look at her to know there was a shit-eating grin on her face. I could hear it.

"Alright, alright," I said as I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. "Give us a minute."

I waited until I heard the door close to sit up. David followed, his hands immediately buttoning my shirt back up for me. I giggled lightly as I rubbed the red lipstick from his face and neck. After I smoothed his hair back into some semblance of neatness and he did the same for me, he helped me off the countertop. "How do I look?" I asked as I tucked my shirt back in.

"Happy," he responded.

I rolled my eyes up at him. "Seriously." I couldn't keep the smile off my face, though.

"You could use some more lipstick. Other than that, you look lovely." I took his advice and reapplied the red lipstick before we walked into the ballroom hand in hand.


	105. Chapter 105

Everyone and everything was exactly as it had been before, even down to Guinevere. Emma had traded her black sheath for a black skirt suit set, and Lee was in a sweater instead of a button down shirt, but other than that, they looked identical. Like the yin to the O'Hara yang, Guinevere was dressed head to toe in white, making the only color on her body her brunette hair and her startlingly red lips. When I looked over to her, she nodded to me. I could have sworn there was a smile on those red, red lips.

David lifted my hand and kissed the back before taking his seat. Most vampires would have guided me to the rug and offered me their hand to help me sit, but David didn't. He knew I was a big girl and could handle myself. "Alright," I said just a little louder than I would have if Cian were standing right in front of me. "Contestant number one, Cian."

Seconds later, Cian ushered a male vampire through the door. He had dark coloring, from his wavy black hair to his mocha latte skin. A cordial smile graced his lips and, surprisingly, reached his eyes. He bowed to Guinevere first, earning himself a nod from her, as well. Next were David and Emma in one all-encompassing bow. Finally, he looked down to me, sitting Indian-style on the plush carpet all alone, my hands clasped gracefully in my lap. I watched his eyes as he looked me over, spending an extra moment to look down my shirt. I shot a rather unfriendly look at Cian. He winked at me in response. When he was done checking me out, the vampire spoke. "The human queen," he said as a way of greeting.

He got a point for not trying to glamour me (yet), but that's the only point he got. "I prefer Sloane, or Ms. McIntosh," I said. I didn't offer a hand, obviously, which left me looking less than friendly myself.

"I apologize, Ms. McIntosh. I am Rafael."

"A pleasure," I said, although the pleasure didn't reach my voice. In fact, it came out way more sarcastic than I intended it. Rafael scowled a touch. I could feel David's amusement, which made me smile.

"You allow your human to speak to me this way?" Rafael asked above my head to David. I could practically feel his anger rolling off of him in hot sheets, like flames licking against my skin. For a split second before he regained his control, there was nothing human in his eyes. It scared me, but not enough to move. David had my back. Lee had my back. Hell, Cian had my back.

I had to stop myself from applauding David's answer. "She is your Queen, she can speak to you in any way she pleases. As for whose human she is, she belongs to no one, only herself."

More anger from Rafael. I wasn't surprised. "What is it you'd like to ask me, human?" he spat toward me.

I let the human comment go. "Nothing," I answered, just the slightest hint of a smile in my voice.

There was just a touch of confusion in his eyes when I answered, which took some of the anger from his face momentarily. Once he regained his angry veneer, he spoke. "You dragged me all the way to this God-forsaken state to ask me nothing?"

"No," I answered. "You came willingly. And now that you are here, there is nothing you can do to make me like you again, so you can save the both of us some time and just leave."

He looked like he was sputtering in his head. "I demand to be considered!" he yelled.

"Fine," I answered. Oh, I could feel the smartass surfacing. I couldn't stop it, but I could feel it. It was nice to at least know what was going to happen before it did, even if I couldn't stop it, instead of blurting something out and having that 'oh, shit' moment later. It was a nice, new position for me. "I consider you an idiot. Now leave."

Cian burst out laughing, which left David to defend me. Rafael charged faster than I could track, which was good that my visions were on the ball today. I didn't so much as breathe between the moments when my mind thought _move_ at me and when my muscles reacted. No, I just instinctually curled and rolled onto my side, ending up crouched, wide stance (even for my super-stilettos), about three feet from where I had been sitting. I was in the exact same stance Lee had taught me, the defensive one. When I finally focused on where I had been, I could see what was happening. David was holding Rafael to the ground by his neck and looming over him. I couldn't quite see from my angle, but I was willing to bet that he also had a knee on his chest. Rafael's entire upper body was suspiciously still. Cian was still giggling while holding down one hand, Lee holding the other.

"Why should I let you live?" David seethed at Rafael.

I don't think Rafael could speak. It seemed to me that there had to be some reason he wasn't sputtering on about what I could and could not say to him. He didn't strike me as the type to hold a silent grudge. A grudge, sure, but not a silent one.

When Cian produced a weapon out of nowhere, I stepped in. I stood above him, looking down into his face. David's grip on Rafael's neck was definitely impeding his ability to talk. "Let me give it a shot." I dropped to my haunches, flaying my knees out over his shoulders. I laid my hand on his cheek and closed my eyes without another word.

"Sloane, no," David said. "I do not want him to hurt you."

"I'll be fine," I answered as I searched through his future. The only information that got me was that anger seemed to be his first defense. From what I could tell, he was all bark and no bite. I searched until my thighs started to quiver and strain. "He won't try it again," I said as I braced a hand against David's back and pushed myself to my full height again. Cian placed a steadying hand on my hip as I wavered.

David's look alone told me that he thought Rafael had forfeited any right to safety and should be killed. In the back of my mind, I thought, _wait, that doesn't sound like something I'd think_, but I had to push it away for later consideration. Phrases like 'forfeited any right to safety' weren't something I'd think. I'd think something more along the lines 'dug his own grave'.

More than I wanted to must have been showing on my face. "Love?" David asked.

"Yea," I answered as I shook off that pit in my stomach. "Just get him out of here, he won't try again."

With one simple shared look, Cian, Lee, and David swiftly got Rafael to his feet and restrained. The second David's hand loosened enough for him to talk, he was talking, shouting idle threats. Surprisingly, it was Lee who leaned in close and whispered, "Never forget the face of the woman who saved your life tonight." At that, Rafael quieted and seemed to take another different look at me. I was only done with one interview and I was already tired of this shit.

Cian alone could drag him out of the room. He turned his attention to me as he shoved Rafael through the door and winked at me. He was very winky tonight. I smiled, albeit tiredly, and blew him a kiss. He grinned at me before disappearing through the door.

"Are you alright?" David asked, placing one hand on my lower back less for support and more because he just wanted to touch me.

I leaned back into his hand gently. "I'm already sick and tired of this shit," I answered after a long sigh. "How many more?"

"Five," David answered. "We can do this another night, if you'd like."

I seriously considered it, but I'd never really been one for procrastination. It just wasn't in me. "No," I finally answered. "Next, Cian." With a harrumph, I lowered myself back into a sitting position on the floor.

The next woman Cian ushered in looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it. Dark, shaggy hair, equally dark eyes, but a look that still screamed European. She was also tall, almost as tall as Cian, and very thin. I had a feeling that when she was turned, her look would not have been considered beautiful, but now, in this day and age, she was striking.

My concentration must have shown on my face, because her own smile faltered. "Is there something the matter?" she said as she walked in, hurrying from Cian's side so she could approach me.

"No, no," I said. "You just look familiar, that's all."

She seemed to be relieved. "I am told you have spent some time in our fair Louisiana, perhaps we met there."

"Maybe," I answered.

"May I sit?"

"Sure," I answered. As soon as she folded herself to the floor, I introduced myself. "I'm Sloane McIntosh."

"Gabrielle Mont Blanc, or Gabby for short."

She was beyond pleasant. I smiled at her. "Where in Louisiana are you from?" I asked.

"New Orleans," she answered. "I was one of the few of Sophie-Ann's vampires to be spared." She looked and sounded like losing Sophie-Ann weighed on her more than just as the loss of a Queen. She spoke of her like she had lost someone she loved. "Did you know Sophie-Ann?"

"No, I never got the pleasure," I answered.

She smiled, but it was a pained smile. "She would have liked you, and not just for your talent. She was always attracted to strong women."

I smiled at the compliment, but I couldn't help the tiny flash of fear that went through me, too. I was done with being wanted by other state's monarchs. I have as much monarch as I can handle right here at home. "She sounds nice," I said finally.

"Forgive me and my questions, I am here to answer yours," she said, as if she'd forgotten we weren't just a couple of girls doing girl talk. "Is there something else you'd like to know of me?"

I couldn't really think of a good question to ask, so I just held out my hands. "If you don't mind, I'd like to hold your hands for a while."

She looked beyond pleased; it was the same look David gives me when I'm about to let him do something very private to me. She scooted closer, close enough that our knees were touching, and laid her hands in mine. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes while she intertwined her fingers with mine. It took a few seconds before she pulled her hand and mine up to her lips and laid a light kiss on the back of my hand. I twitched. It wasn't that I was necessarily afraid of her, in fact, it was just the opposite. She put me at ease. It's just that I'm not used to being kissed like that by a woman. But I did not want to start another fight. I could handle a few well-meaning kisses if it got me through the night. After all, I was the one that offered her my hands. When she turned my hand over and kissed the inside of my wrist just below my bruises, I just decided to pretend it was David's, or Cian's, or, hell, even Moose's lips that were on me. As soon as I could forget that Gabby was the one that was kissing me, the visions started to flow.

She had a human girlfriend who seemed to think the world of her. It took me a second to recognize Gabby in the visions I was getting, her lover definitely did not see her the same way I did. In her lover's eyes, she was more beautiful than striking. She looked more like something you'd want to cuddle with than some force of seduction. And she loved Gabby. That won her points in my book. She truly loved her, which meant she couldn't be all bad. Even if Gabby was currently tracing light kisses up my arm. Maybe they had an agreement that they weren't monogamous. Hey, I wasn't one to throw stones.

"Jess," I whispered. That was her lover's name. The kisses stopped abruptly for a second, but I could feel her breath as it warmed the shirt sleeve above my bicep.

"You know of Jessica?" she asked.

"I do," I answered. "Now."

"I will leave her, if it is what you want," she said. She sounded so sad when she said it, I frowned. I was just glad my eyes were still closed and I couldn't see the hurt in her eyes.

"Of course not. She loves you and you love her."

I could feel her pull back from me a little, but seconds later, her breath was warm against my neck. She was the first vampire I'd ever met with warm breath. Come to think of it, her hands were warm, too. "I am confused as to what you want from me."

My heart broke for her. I did not envy a life where she automatically thought I wanted something from her in return for my consideration. "Sweetheart, I don't want anything from you," I said as I opened my eyes. She had leaned forward so she could lower her face into my neck, so she settled back into her place when it was clear she didn't owe me anything.

"Sophie-Ann wanted things. King DeCastro wanted things." From the tone in her voice, it was clear the 'things' they wanted were sexual. "Even Victor Madden expected things."

"I don't," I said with a smile. With that, she smiled at me one of the most beautiful smiles I'd ever seen. I had to fight myself not to raise my hand and caress her face.

Suddenly, I realized where I recognized her from. She had been at a party Sookie had attended a long time ago, when Sophie-Anne was still in power. The night had not ended well. I tried to suppress the small shiver than ran up my spine. "Thank you, Gabby," I said as I pulled my hands from hers and set them in my lap.

She frowned. "Was I too forward? I thought I was here to answer your questions."

"You did," I replied.

"You barely asked me any." She wasn't mad, she was merely confused. I seem to do that to people.

"My Sloane is precognizant," David said. "She was reading your future as you held hands."

Quite a few emotions flickered across her face. First was recognition. She understood what David had said. Then was understanding, shortly followed by surprise. Then there was awe with just a twinge of surprise. "What talent did you think Sophie-Anne would have liked?" I assumed Gabby knew about me and thought Sophie-Anne would have wanted to collect me like she collected Sookie. I must have been wrong.

"Whatever it is that has the northwestern hemisphere's most eligible bachelor wrapped around your finger."

David's amusement pushed along the bond through my defenses. I blushed. "Oh, stop your snickering back there," I said without turning to look at him. I knew exactly what he face would look like without having to look at him. Nothing like Cian's, who was grinning from ear to ear at Gabby's back. "You, too."

"Have I said something wrong?" Gabby asked. She looked seriously concerned.

"No, no," I said. "I just don't like the shit-eating grin on David's face right now."

"My apologies, my Love." It even sounded like he was grinning. Dammit.

"Thanks, Gabby." I winked at her, and she smiled back as she rose to her full height.

"As you wish, Majesty."

.

After the next three contestants, I was exhausted. I laid my head down on one of the plush pillows strewn around the rug. "Next," I said barely above my normal speaking voice. I sounded tired.

"We may take a break, if you like," David said before Cian ushered the next and last one in.

"No, I'm good." At least, my eyes were open. That was at least a good start.

Cian had saved the best for last, at least in his mind. Eric proceeded Cian into the room, walking slowly, almost strutting. "Good evening, Sloane."

"Are you the last one?" I asked.

"I am," he answered.

"Good. Then I'm ready to make my decision."

He was more controlled tonight. "Are you dismissing me because of our past?" he asked.

I sighed. "No, I just can't think of anything to ask you."

"You should go through the motions, Sloane," David said at my back. "It will not look right if you spend almost no time with him after spending several minutes with all the others."

"Not true, I didn't spend a lot of time with Rafael." Even after I said it, I knew I should at least spend some time with him. "Fine, fine," I said before David could object. "Give me your hands." I didn't move to sit up, I just reached for him.

He gave me a look before lowering himself to his knees and taking my hands.

It didn't take long at all for the vision to hit; I was too in tuned with Sookie for it to take too long. But I was seeing myself through her eyes. Through her, I looked impossibly small, almost frail. I also looked about ten pounds lighter than I thought I looked. Even though she saw me as small, there was also a sense of impossible strength. I turned to look at her, and even my face looked different. My eyes were larger, as were my lips. My face looked thinner. It was still me, unmistakably so, but it wasn't at the same time. "Hey, Sook, what are you still doing here?" I said with surprise.

There was an odd moment in my head when I hugged myself with Sookie's body. I don't care how many times I see that happen, I'll probably never get used to it. Trust me, it's weird. My body, my physical body, shivered with the oddness of it.

"Sloane?" Eric asked outside the vision. It takes a lot of practice to be able to tell what's only happening in your head and what the reality is, and that line was blurring for me. I was just too tired to keep them separate anymore.

Sookie's body hugged mine in the vision, but because I was in lab and wearing gloves, I didn't return it. Instead, I gave her a big smile. "You brought Sookie?" I said. I was pretty sure I said that out loud, as in, to Eric. Pretty sure.

"She insisted on coming," Eric answered. Unless Eric cold read my mind, then I had said that out loud. Good for me.

The image automatically flipped to another location. Luckily, I wasn't in this vision. It makes it easier for my mind to keep things straight. I sighed heavily, at least in my head I did, as I took in my surroundings. Sookie was now standing in her front yard. A small, fierce looking woman stood in front of her, obviously less than happy. Sookie wasn't so much afraid as she was cautious. There was something in the back of her mind that was convincing her that this woman would not hurt her. That's always a stupid assumption.

"Run, Sookie," I whispered in my head. But she didn't run. She just stood her ground. Almost instantly, faster than I've ever seen anyone shift before, a wolf replaced the woman. The wolf was snarling. "Run!" I yelled this time.

Before the Were woman could attack, the vision switched again. For a split second, I was relieved; so much so that I allowed my body that I hadn't realized had bowed from the floor fall back down. But then I noticed the surroundings. Eerily familiar. I'd been here before, either in a vision or in person. I don't know how I knew, it was just nature and woods as long as the eye could see, but there was something familiar about it. I also knew that fear. The tenor, the taste of it was familiar.

"Sloane, Love, talk to us. What do you see?" David asked. He was quite close, probably hovering right above my body. Of course, I couldn't see him, but I could feel him there, smell his subtle cologne. He was carefully not touching me.

My back had bowed again, my hands pressed against the rug beneath me. I had let go of Eric's hands, but I still couldn't let go of the stream of visions. The woman in my vision started to run furiously through the woods. She was running from something, someone, but I didn't know what. She fell and immediately pushed herself back up without regard for the pain that ran through her leg. Suddenly, when a large, black wolf appeared in front of her, I recognized why I remembered this place. I'd had this vision before. The woman screamed, and so did I, as the wolf pounced and the vision faded.

The next vision was about to start, but David laid his hands on me, holding me to the rug. By some force of his will, the vision faded. Before I could even see again, I sat up, gasping. "I have you," David said as he gathered me into his lap.

"You told Sookie to run," Eric said. "From what?"

I was too shaky to talk. I looked past Eric to Cian, who was standing on his Master's right side. Emma had also moved closer to me during the vision, but it was Cian who I wanted to see what I had to offer. With shaky hands, I lifted my pant leg to the knee, exposing a long scraped gash up my leg. David moved me so he could see the gash.

"She's seen this vision before, when she was with me," Cian said as he took a few steps toward me. "If I remember correctly, she was running through the woods away from a wolf, correct?"

I nodded. Speaking was still beyond me, so I sat shaking while David held me. I just needed a little bit of time to recover.

Emma kneeled at my side and took my leg gently in her hands. "May I?" asked. I simply nodded. She stuck her tongue out and licked up the length of my leg, cleaning the blood from my skin and the wound at the same time as she healed me. When she pulled back, her lips were pinker. Not bloody, but pinker, like she'd been making out for a while.

I finally managed to stop shaking, so I tried out my voice. I had to clear my throat twice before I managed to speak. "Eric's King."

David went very still as he held me. Eric and Cian just stared at me. I was in no mood to put up with it. "Take me upstairs, David," I asked as I leaned my head against his chest. If I thought I was tired before, I was wrong. This was tired. Big visions always took it out of me.

"You must announce your decision to all of them," David whispered.

I sighed. I didn't have the energy for it, but I wanted to get it over with. "Fine." David helped me get to my feet. I swayed, but managed to keep upright. "Bring them in, please."

Cian left the room while David and Emma took their seats again. I could tell David did not want to leave my side what so ever, but he needed to. It was my decision, my enemies to make. I had explained it to him in no uncertain terms before the vampires from Arkansas even got here.

It took seconds before all six of them where congregated where they needed to be. Eric stood in the middle, hands clasped behind his back, almost scowling. I had no idea what he was so pissy about, didn't I just tell him he was king? Isn't that why he was here? I shook my head slowly, gently, as not to throw myself off balance, and spoke. "Eric Northman is by far the most qualified of you to rule. He's king."

Several of the vampires gave no reaction. Gabby looked surprised, and then pleased. I'm not sure I'd ever understand her. Rafael had a very predictable look for him: anger. He was really angry. I was not impressed. I don't understand how he could still think he was in the running after his little show. Maybe he really was an idiot.

But he was an angry idiot. Always be wary of angry idiots. My mind, my gut, my intuition said _duck for cover,_ but my body was too tired to follow the directions. Rafael took one step toward me and backhanded me faster than the eye could follow. He hit me hard enough that I had a moment to think, _hey, am I airborne?_ before my back slammed into the wall, followed shortly after by my head.

I slid down the wall and fell onto all fours while black crept into my vision. One of my elbows faltered, spilling me onto the floor as the pain started to develop. You know it's going to hurt later when it doesn't hurt right away. It's your body's way of letting you know you're fucked.

There was screaming and yelling around me, but I couldn't understand any of it, just that it was noise. When the noise started to fade into deafness, I knew I was in trouble. I tried to reach out of the pair of boots in front of me, boots I knew to be Cian's, but I couldn't reach. Black was creeping in. I tried to fight it, but I was losing. When I started to taste blood, I closed my eyes. Now was not the time to be nauseous; I had too many other problems. But closing my eyes wasn't helping, either. Unconsciousness used what little leverage my closed eyes gave and pulled me under.


	106. Chapter 106

I was unconscious for a little over two days, just long enough to scare the living shit out of everyone. Apparently, I still wasn't completely healed from the first concussion, and when my head smacked into the wall, I'd gotten another one. The effects of the combined concussions had Emma convinced I was going to be a vegetable for the rest of my life. She was just happy I was breathing on my own. Shortly after setting up David's bedroom as a makeshift triage center, stabilizing what she could and making me as comfortable as possible, she fell into Lee's arms. Lee was forced to carry her out of David's room and away from me because he thought that seeing me was making everything worse. She was still there, cuddled with Lee in their bedroom, still crying, when I woke up. The effect was…not pretty. She hadn't eaten, she hadn't moved on her own in over two days. Almost her entire face was covered in bloody tears, but beneath that veneer of red, was a very, very pale vampire. Her skin was almost papery, her lips the same pale paper color. Normally, on a live person, you'd expect dark circles under the eyes to accompany a look like that, but not on a vampire. Probably something about being low on blood, but the look made you think _ghost_ more than _human_ or_ vampire_.

The second I woke, I knew I was in David's arms. He had managed to not let a single tear drop until I opened my eyes and whispered his name. Then the dam opened. "Say it again, say my name again," he asked as one bloody tear fell from each of his eyes.

I tucked my head into his neck and whispered, "David."

When Lee carried Emma back into the room, and I got a look of that face, and she saw that my eyes were open and I was smiling, she pried me from David's arms. She held me tight, almost too tight, against her as she petted my hair. "Sister, Sister," she murmured as she rocked me, petted me.

"You're going to put me back to sleep," I whispered. She had wrapped herself around me so tightly that my forehead was tucked into her bloody neck, my hand resting on her stomach, my hips in her lap. She held me like a mother held a sick child.

"Come, Sugarplum," Lee said. "You and she both need to feed."

"No, not yet," Emma said as she tried to hold me tighter.

I whimpered. "You're crushing me," I said, my voice hoarse from being unused.

"Sorry, sorry," she whispered. She did let up on the death grip a bit, though.

It took some coaxing, but Lee managed to tear Emma away from me long enough to have her feed and me take a bath. I was still feeling light headed and dizzy, so standing was probably out and so was a shower. I didn't mind the bath, though. It was unusually soothing.

Five minutes in, there was a knock at the door. "May I come in?" asked David's voice through the door.

"Sure," I answered.

David cracked the door open and peaked his head in, careful not to look directly at me. "Emma requested that I check on you every five minutes. She is afraid of a relapse."

I rolled my eyes. "She worries too much. Come keep me company."

David closed the door behind him and leaned against the cool marble countertop. "I love you, Sloane." He left the statement hanging, like there was a 'but' waiting to be said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I love you too," I answered skeptically.

"Sometimes I fear I love you too much."

I just stared at him. I had no idea what to say to that. I feel like I sat there in the warm water watching him, unable to say anything, do anything for hours. Finally, when a coherent thought burst through my head, it burst through my mouth, too. "What?" I asked.

"Emma feared you were…lost, so I did as well. I thought about what it would mean; that I would no longer be able to hold you, watch you smile, kiss you. The thought was…unbearable."

I noticed how he couldn't bring himself to say 'dead'. As if just saying it would hurt him too much. "David," I said, weight heavy in my voice. I tried to push myself from the tub, but I was still feeling stiff like I hadn't moved for two days because I hadn't. Without even thinking, David pushed himself away from the counter and grabbed my hand, helping to steady me. Without even having to ask him, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me. We barely got it tucked securely before I wrapped my arms around him. "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say."

He returned the favor, letting my tuck my wet head into his chest without a complaint. "There is nothing to say, and there is definitely nothing to apologize for. You make my heart beat."

I smiled, but I just couldn't let the smart ass comment go. "Your heart doesn't actually beat."

"You are impossible," he said, slight twinge of a smile to his voice.

"Why am I so shaky?" I asked after being held for a minute. I thought once I was standing, the rubbery feeling in my legs would go away, but it hadn't.

"You haven't eaten in three days." He said that like it was obvious.

Well, it wasn't so obvious to me. I had to think about if I was actually hungry or not. When I decided I wasn't, I told him. "I'm not really hungry."

"Water first, then juice, then something heavier." He lifted my legs from the ground, but I refused to release him from this hug. It probably wasn't easy or comfortable for him, but he made it feel (and probably look) like second nature for him to carry me this way.

Usually, when he micromanages me, it pisses me off. Right now, I didn't mind. I was still feeling slow. The fact that it never occurred to me that I might be weak because I hadn't eaten irked me. I was just glad that he was there to think of these things for me.

"I feel stupid," I said into his chest.

"You could never be stupid," he answered as he set me on the bed. I didn't want to let the hug go, and neither did David, but we did it anyway. David glanced at the door suddenly and couldn't quite keep the exacerbated look from his face. "Cian would like to see you."

"Like, now?" I asked.

"Yes, now," he answered. "You should dress first."

Yes, yes I should. Even as slow as I was feeling right now, I could remember how I reacted to him tonight—no, two days ago. My mind kept saying it was a bad idea, but my body didn't care. I wasn't sure there was another man that could make me act so…reckless. It's like he short circuited my good sense, or at least my body's ability to act on it. I needed every angle I could get if I was going to make it through tonight without ending up screaming his name again. "Agreed," I said.

David looked slightly triumphant all the sudden, like something pleased him to no end. I just had no idea what it was. Knowing me, right now, it was probably something glaringly obvious. For the first time in a long time, I just let myself wonder. I didn't want to know bad enough to make myself look like an idiot for the second time in as many minutes.

David pulled a one of his button down shirts from the armoire and slipped it around my shoulders. This was one of my favorite of his shirts. It was just a plain white button down shirt, but it was old. Quite old. The cotton was worn and comfortable and the collar wasn't too stiff anymore. Even better, it seemed like no matter what happened to it, it always seemed to smell like him. When we had been together, this shirt lived at my house. Even after I washed it several times, it never lost that David smell.

I smiled at him, one of those you-sly-little-bastard smiles, and buttoned it up. He kissed my forehead in response and handed me a set of boxers. Black cotton. David didn't have many cotton boxers; many cotton boxer-briefs, and many not-so-cotton boxers, but few cotton boxers. "I am out of underthings for you, Love. You may wish to wear these instead."

I slipped them on without a fight. After I tucked myself in to the bed (with David's help), he kissed the back of my hand. "Would you like me to go, or stay?" David asked.

"You need to go eat and make sure Emma's OK, but come back soon." He was extremely pale, as well. Not nearly as bad as Emma had been, but not quite healthy. At least his lips and eyelids had a touch of color to them.

He kissed my lips very gently before pulling back. Before I could stop myself, I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him back down toward me so I could plant a more substantial kiss on his lips. It was obvious he was stunned when he did nothing to respond to my kiss for a split second. I couldn't help but smile as I sucked his lower lip gently. I had finally stunned him. When I pulled back, he was searching my face with his eyes, looking for some sort of cue. I smiled and kissed him one last time. "I will be back as soon as I can," he said before disappearing out the door.

One second I was lying on my back, the next I wasn't. Cian had scooped me from my position and rolled on the bed so he was lying beneath me, the only thing holding me to him was his grip of steel. "You're not dead," was all he could say.

"Nope," I answered as I tucked my head into his neck. It was obvious I was going to be here for a while, and holding my head up was only going to put a crick in my neck. I may as well get comfortable.

He was rubbing my back and petting my hair as he mumbled in a language I didn't understand. All I knew was it is one of those languages that I've never heard Emma or David speak. Minutes passed; my whole body relaxed into him. When my eyes started to shut and my breathing deepened, I had to fight not to fall back asleep. I had just spent two entire days sleeping, for God's sake. I shouldn't be tired.

I was just about ready to give in to sleep when another voice came from the doorway. I jumped, but Cian tightened his grip on my waist and held me to him. I recognized the voice that was speaking in the same language as Cian had been murmuring in for what felt like hours. It was Eric's voice.

"Jesus, Eric," I said without turning my head to look at him. "You scared the shit out of me." I settled back into Cian's arms. I hadn't noticed when I was about to fall asleep, but now that the blood was circulating again, I noticed. "I'm cold," I whispered into Cian's neck. He had pulled me from the covers when he lifted me from my comfy spot, and now I was open to the freezing temperatures of the O'Hara complex in the equivalent of shorts.

One of his arms let me go long enough to pull the corner of the giant bedspread up and around the both of us. Cian answered whatever Eric had said in the same foreign language as he did.

"Is this true, Sloane?" Eric asked after a short discussion with Cian.

I shifted in Cian's arms so I could comfortably flip my head and look at Eric. My wet hair didn't make the transition as smoothly as I would have liked, but Cian was there to fix it, pulling my hair out of my face for me. "Is what true?" I asked, trying to hold off a yawn.

"Would you like me to order Cian to let you up?" he asked.

I shrugged. "No, he'd let me up if I asked." I laid my head comfortably down on Cian's shoulder to make my point. It wasn't exactly where I wanted to be, but it wasn't bad. And I was comfortable. And Cian was being such a gentleman. It's always good to reward good behavior. And, best of all, it seemed to irk Eric. This was like a triple win for me.

A look I didn't recognize the thought that crossed Eric's face for a split second before he recovered to his usual stoically annoying face. The look was almost smug. If I hadn't had so many of Sookie's memories in my head, I would have hated Eric more, but he was a completely different person when he was around her. He was gentler, kinder, warmer. Almost human…almost. As he acted around me, he was borderline unbearable. Why did I get the cold shoulder?

I was about to ask him exactly what was up with the difference when David walked through the door again. He didn't even flinch when he saw me in Cian's arms, he just set a bottle of water and a glass of something that looked suspiciously like apple juice on the bedside table. Well, color me confused. I could barely get the I-am-so-not-drinking-apple-juice look on my face before he smiled softly at me. "It is called white grape juice. Emile says it tastes nothing of apples." I remembered Emile, she's taken care of me before. She was a conundrum, that one, which was probably why David and Emma preferred her over some of the other fangbagers that hung around. She was almost painfully cheery. She always had a smile and a nice word to say. I liked her.

"Thanks," I said as I pushed myself out of Cian's arms. He resisted a little, but finally let me sit upright in the bed to down the entire bottle of water in one fell swoop.

"You are most welcome. When you finish those, I will have the kitchen bring you something."

I smiled. He had that voice that said, clearly, he was worried. And the only thing for him to be worried about was me. "I'm fine, David. Go and eat before you start to look like your sister."

He took the empty bottle from me and kissed me lightly on the lips. "Speaking of Emma, she has picked out a book if you would like her to read to you."

I glanced at Cian to see how he took David's kiss. They either both hid their emotions well (with these two vampires, not very likely), or they seemed to have come to some sort of understanding while I was out. "Sure," was all I said. Usually, it would be Sydney that would read to me.

Oh, right, Sydney. I had completely forgotten about her. "Where's Syd?"

"In one of the guest rooms, finally sleeping."

I didn't have to tell him to let her sleep, I just nodded. "I guess I'm ready for Emma."

.

Emma ushered all the men out of the room before shutting the door and climbing onto the bed with me. I leaned against the headboard but kept the blanket pulled all the way up as she started reading the Anita Blake, vampire hunter series. She stopped to giggle at the absurdity of the book periodically, which made me laugh. She admitted it was the most accurate when it came to vampire culture, but the rest of it was sheer ridiculousness.

"Hey, Em?" I said drowsily.

"Yes, Sister?" she responded as she put a bookmark in her page. We'd only made it a few chapters, but I was already starting to feel like a nap might be a good idea. I stretched to wake myself back up before cuddling right back into the same position I had been in.

I wasn't quite sure how to phrase the question. After a second of waffling, I just blurt it out. "Did David kill Rafael?"

"No," she answered. The surprise must have shown on my face, because she continued. "Death would have been too quick if he had truly killed you."

I shivered, I didn't want to think about that too much. "So…OK." I answered.

I thought my comment obviously said that I didn't want any more information. Apparently, Emma didn't understand that. "Do not worry, he is beneath the house, secure in chains. What there is left of him, at least."

I just let that comment float into the nothingness, not giving it too much consideration. I learned that sometimes, it's better not to pay too much attention to the details when around vampires. If I did, I'd spend way too much time either nauseous or vomiting, not to mention I might not be able to sleep for the rest of my life. No, sometimes, vague is good.

I decided a change of topic was probably my safest bet. "I told David I'd do the whole pledging thing."

That got her attention. She tossed the book onto the far corner of the massive bed and pulled me into a hug. "Oh, this is fantastic news! I knew he was so worried about how you would answer, but I knew. He loves you, and you love him, so your answer was obvious, at least to me." OK, Emma was babbling. I just patted her on the back as she clung to me, her grip getting progressively tighter and tighter as she did. It was getting harder to breathe. She continued to rant about how wonderful it will be to truly be sisters when I had to stop her.

"Em," I gasped. I was also starting to lose feeling in my fingers, which made hugging her back harder and harder.

"Oh," she said as she loosened her grip to something even I would consider light. I took in a gasping breath. "I forget my strength around you tonight."

"It's OK," I said as I clenched my hands, trying to regain the feeling. When my mind wasn't panicking because I couldn't breathe, my mind gave me a whole new reason to panic. "Did you say party in there somewhere?"

"Of course I did!"

_Oh, shit_, I thought. Of course, on the outside, I made myself smile. "Small party?"

"Oh, no, no, we need to introduce you to the whole state. I'm thinking we could use the ballroom here, but I'd have to check the capacity again. The last time we threw a ball for every vampire in the state, there were many fewer of us to accommodate…" OK, now I was panicking. I do not do well in the limelight. I don't like it, I don't need it. Shouldn't Emma know this by now?

David must have been able to tell how I was feeling, because I could feel disappointment, then curiosity through the bond. _David, save me from your sister_, I begged. I knew he couldn't actually hear the exact thoughts, but I hoped my desperation showed through in my emotions. I interrupted her planning. "Didn't we already do that? Last year? Introduce me to the state, I mean," I asked. My voice was starting to sound shaky. She didn't seem to notice.

"That was the sheriffs, Dear. Perhaps we could invite some of the other Kings and Queens, as well. Of course, if we do that…"

My pulse skyrocketed. When David opened the door, the look on my face must have been priceless, because he grinned wide. "Perhaps we should let her rest, Sister," he said with one hand out.

Emma reached out, taking David's hand as she stood. "She told me the good news!" Emma said as she wrapped her arms around David's waist.

He started to laugh silently as he hugged her back. "Did she?" David said. At least he made the words sound merely happy and not like he was laughing at me, her, the two of us, who knows.

Emma pulled back and took both of her brother's hands in hers. "Do you think we should invite the other monarchs to the party?"

"We'll talk about it later, let's allow Sloane to rest. Perhaps you could pull together some options for Sloane to look at." He pulled Emma to the door and let her out gently, closing the door behind her. "I know," he said as he turned back to me, before I could even take a breath and talk to him.

"Know what?" I said.

"You do not want a party. You do not want the attention."

I let out a long breath. "Thank God. Please tell me you can talk her out of this?"

He toed off his shoes, unbuttoned his shirt, and took off his belt. "I am her maker. I can talk her out of anything."

I was momentarily sidetracked. God, he's gorgeous. I had forgotten how chiseled his abs were, how perfect his chest. My eyes traced the black hair of his happy trail that ended beneath his pants. If I didn't pull my gaze away soon, I don't think I would ever be able to. Was I crawling on the bed toward him? I looked down, finding myself closer to the edge of the bed than when I started. _ Get a hold of yourself, Sloane_, I said to myself. I froze where I was.

"If I knew it was this easy to sidetrack you, I would spend every night shirtless." He stalked toward me slowly, making use of every one of those fantastic muscles as he crawled onto the bed. I couldn't stop myself from reaching out and stroking the perfect line of his back.

"Stop distracting me," I whispered as I traced my hand around front, letting my fingers skip over each of his individual ab muscles.

He didn't respond out loud, instead he ran his hand up my side, pulling my shirt up as his cool fingers brushed up against my skin. I had to close my eyes to stop myself from jumping him right then and there.

"Not fair," I whispered. I could feel my lips brush against his has I spoke, meaning he had leaned in impossibly close.

"What is it that is not fair, my Love?" he whispered pack, peppering in light kisses on my lips, cheeks, and nose between the words. I let him support me as he slowly lowered my back to the bed, continuing to kiss me on the way down.

"You know exactly what," I responded. I knew where this was going, and I wanted it badly. I wanted it so bad, I couldn't think of anything else. But my body overruled me. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I yawned. A long, deep, sighing yawn. Now that was just frustrating. "I cannot be tired."

David's lips on my neck curled into a smile. "You are healing still," he whispered. His lips played along my skin as he held me, his fingers kneading lightly into my back and hip. "So you should rest."

He started to pull away from me, but I grabbed his hand before he was completely out of reach. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"I am allowing you to rest." He paused where he was on the bed, but made no move to get any closer. It wasn't until I tugged pretty hard on his arm that he fell onto his side beside me on the bed.

"Rest with me," I said. David automatically opened his arms as I scooted toward him, nestling myself against him and tucking my head into the soft spot between his ribs and clavicle. I fit into his arms like an old glove, molding my body to his as I tucked my leg between his. I was short enough that raising my knee just a little bit rubbed the middle of my thigh against something that made him squirm. When I did it again, he let out little happy sounds. I smiled.

It was surprising easy to fall asleep in his arms.


	107. Chapter 107

**EPILOGUE:**

I woke up in the middle of the day with a start, when David was dead to the world. The adrenaline from a nightmare I couldn't remember was still coursing through my veins, making my heart beat fast. It took me a while, but after rummaging around the O'Hara complex for an hour, I came up with a very old charcoal in the top drawer of a very old console and a large pad of white paper in David's desk. Well, this would get me started.

I stepped out of David's office, goodies in hand, and almost walked right into a small man. It took me a minute to recognize the man. "Oh," I said as I looked up into his eyes and backed away. Yes, I said he was short, but I was shorter. Even a short man was several inches taller than me. "Oh, hi Jeremy."

Shock covered his face for a minute before he recovered. "Ms. McIntosh, hello." He was carrying what amounted to a small briefcase, which did not at all match his jeans and t-shirt ensemble.

"Please, call me Sloane." I'd told him that several times, and I would continue to repeat myself until he finally listened. "What's up?" I asked. I wasn't very good at small talk.

"Just dropping off the invoices from Rum Runner's liquor deliver this morning." He fidgeted where he stood. He obviously was as bad at small talk as I was.

I took pity on the two of us and broke first. "Well, I'll let you get back to…your day." I wasn't quite sure what a vampire's day person actually did all day, but I couldn't imagine it was much. It's got to be, like, less than a part time job. A few hours a day, maybe? For all I knew, the next thing on his list was a nap. It really was a great job for a student like Jeremy.

"Thanks. Is there anything you need?"

"No, thanks," I said automatically. When he weaved his way around me and toward David's desk, I remembered why I was roaming the proverbial castle. "Oh, wait, can you get a sketch pad and a set of colored pencils?"

He took a small pad of paper from his back pocket and jotted something down. "Anything else?"

I actually thought about it. I usually don't let people I barely know run my mindless errands for me while I lounge around. In fact, I usually don't just lounge around aimlessly all day either, but after the few days I've had, I think I earned it. No, I'd more than earned it. "Pepsi and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream?"

He nodded lightly as he added those things to the list. "I'll be back in about an hour with those."

"Thanks, Jeremy," I added. "I'll be in David's room." I pointed just down the hall to the door that was slightly ajar. I have a feeling that if he had the credentials to get this far into the house, David wouldn't mind him knowing where he died for the day occasionally. "That one."

He simply nodded and turned back to David's desk. He set a think file on the blotter, took a piece of paper from a notepad, left a note, and turned to leave. I did the same. When I turned to close myself back in David's room, I caught a glimpse of Jeremy on his way out.

.

I spent several hours sketching the vision I had seen. First I did a close up of the Were woman I'd seen attack Sookie, then farther away so you could see where in Sookie's driveway the woman stood. Those two weren't incredibly hard only because I had spent a couple of weeks perfecting my ability to accurately draw human faces. The one of the charging wolf, however, took forever. I had never drawn a wolf before.

There was a knock on the door before I even had the swiping claw finished on the attacking Were. "Yea?" I said automatically.

"It's Jeremy Sota. I have your things."

"Come on in," I said. He walked in a little unsure of himself. He took a long minute to look at David, dead and limp on the bed next to me before his eyes rose to meet mine. When he noticed that I noticed he'd been staring, he had the good grace to at least be embarrassed.

"Um, where do you want these?" he asked as he looked down to hide the subtle blush that had developed.

I just held my hand out, forcing him to walk closer to the bed and closer to David.

"Doesn't that bother you?" he asked as he nodded to David's dead body.

I followed his gaze, quickly glancing at David before meeting his gaze again. "What?" I asked.

"He's…dead. Like, really dead." He handed me the bag of goodies and quickly stepped back.

I shrugged. "I guess not."

I guess he didn't have anything else to say. I wanted to ask why he was a vampire's day person if vampires freak him out so bad, but he didn't give me the chance. He left in quite a hurry. I shrugged and started to color in the first two drawings. I needed a break from the incredibly frustrating wolf.

.

I was just jumping out of a long, hot shower when my cell phone started to ring. I wrapped a towel around my body and hair before scurrying back into the bedroom to grab it. I had to climb over the bed, and therefore over David to do it, straddling him as I reached for the phone on the nightstand. This position put my very naked nether regions up close and personal with his very hard nether regions. It felt so good it brought a gasp through my lips.

"Hello?" I said breathily.

"Sloane? Thank God you're awake," said Sookie in her sweet southern voice.

"Yea, what's up?"

I wiggled against David some more, which made my gasp into more of a pant. God, he was dead and he still felt so good. A fleeting though of necrophilia came to mind, but I didn't let it bother me. He'd feel this good when he came to life tonight, too. I almost salivated at that thought.

"Are you OK? You sound…breathy."

"Fine, I just had to run to catch my phone." True and a lie, all in one. "Are you guys still in Michigan?"

"How'd you know…oh, of course you know I'm here. Yea, we are."

I smiled. "Want to get together? I just jumped out of the shower at the O'Hara's, I can be at Cian's in…20 minutes."

"Now who can read minds?" she joked. "I'll be waiting."

.

It took me a little more than 20 minutes to get to Cian's place, where Eric and Sookie were staying. I could have made it in time, except I couldn't find myself any clothes. I stood in Emma and Lee's room for ten minutes debating with myself whether or not it would be weird for me to borrow some of Emma's underwear while simultaneously trying to ignore the two dead vampires on the bed behind me. It was a very uncomfortable situation for me. Finally, I decided that no, I could not wear her underwear. Clean or no, it was weird. I'd have to remember to wash and pack up all the clothes I had stolen from David's and the O'Hara's place and return it all. I didn't want to have to do this again.

I decided on a lovely sage colored Victoria's Secret dress. If I wasn't wearing underwear, I would rather not be rubbing against jeans all day, which left a skirt or dress pants. I wasn't feeling dressy enough for dress pants, so I chose the skirt. Another perk: it had a built in bra. I could go completely without underwear and still have a semblance of support.

I left a note on Emma's desk telling her I borrowed the dress and a pair of flats (and promising to return them) before scrunching some curl cream in my hair, dabbing on some light makeup, and leaving the place. I didn't need much in the way of makeup; once I really took a look in the mirror, it was obvious David had fed me plenty of his blood. My hair gleamed ambery red, even while wet, my skin shone pale and perfect, and my eyes sparked a more brilliant color of green, somewhere between an emerald and a grassy field.

I rode with the top down, so by the time I got to Cian's, my hair was a wild, wavy mess. I parked in the driveway this time and finger-combed my hair out, trying to calm is down. I didn't have a mirror in my purse, so I had no idea how I did.

Sookie answered almost immediately after I knocked. "Wow," she said. "You look great!"

"Thanks," I said as I blushed. "The dress is Emma's."

She didn't say anything as she grabbed her purse from the console table in the foyer. "Do you mind if we get out of here? I'm going stir crazy."

"Sure," I said as I dangled my keys. "Where do you want to go?"

"You're from around here, where do I want to go?" she asked.

I wondered what we could do for the day, and I got a vision that answered that exact question. Moose was going to call, and once he got over how happy he was to hear I was awake, he asked if I wanted to go swimming. "I'll feel better when I see you," he actually said. "Matt wants to hang at the pool, so do you want to come?"

"Moose is going to call in a half hour or so and ask if I want to go swimming. That sound good?"

"Swimming? Pool or beach?"

I giggled a little. Yes, in Michigan, you are never more than 80-some-odd miles from a great lake, but Lansing was about as far away as you could get from a major lake and therefore a major beach in Michigan. Beach was out. "Pool."

She grinned. "I can work on my tan."

"Before we go, I have something to show you." I had grabbed my sketches before I left and showed her the newly-colorized close-up of the woman I had seen attack her. "Recognize this woman?"

She studied the face. "No, did you draw this?"

"Yea," I answered as I handed her the other two pictures. "I had a vision," I explained as I watched her face. It was immediately apparent that she recognized where the second drawing took place, her face tightened slightly into a sterner line. The third picture was still unfinished, but it was obvious it would be of a wolf at some point. When I got frustrated enough that I threw the charcoal pencil across the room, splitting it in half, I quit trying to perfect wolf's tensed hindquarters as it pounced and decided to try it again later. Much later. Still the wolf's head and snarling muzzle was obvious, as was its claw that was slashing forward.

"Show me," she said as she flipped back from the third picture of the charging wolf to the second. I replayed the vision in my head, showing it to Sookie. When the wolf changed and attacked, she let out a girly yip. "I don't recognize her, but there are a lot of new members to the Long Tooth pack. Between college and the air force base, they have some high turn around."

"Want to call Alcide? He'll know if she belongs to his pack or not, that will help narrow it down." She nodded as she shuffled through her purse, finally producing a cell phone. "Wait, use my phone. We can send him a picture of my drawing with my camera."

She showed me the phone number and I dialed it. "Good morning, this is Alcide Heveueax," said a smooth, masculine, southern voice.

My phone was on speaker so both Sookie and I could hear and add to the conversation. Since this was technically her problem and she knew Alcide better, I let her take the floor. "Hey, Alcide, it's Sookie."

"Hey Sook. How are you? Whose phone are you using that has a Lansing, Michigan area code?" Some phones, my iPhone included, immediately told you where an incoming call originated from via area code.

"It's my phone, Alcide," I said. "Do you have the new iPhone?"

"Who's that?" she asked.

"Sloane," I answered.

He sounded really happy to hear from me. "Hey, kiddo! How are you?"

OK, maybe he was several years older than me, but for some reason, the 'kiddo' comment bothered me. I decided to pick my battles and ignored it. "I'm great, but we have something you need to see."

"OK, can you email it to me?" he said.

"Do you have the new iPhone?" I asked again. "The one with video chat?"

"Yea, just got it."

"Good, let's video conference." I pressed the button to turn on the video option and angled the phone so he could see the two of us. "We need to know if you recognize this woman."

There was several seconds of silence on the line after I turned the focus to the first picture, the close up. "That's Annabelle," he replied. "She's one of my pack. Did you draw that, kiddo?"

I let the kiddo comment go again. "Yea," I answered. I shuffled to the next picture, showing Annabelle standing in the middle of Sookie's driveway.

"Is that your place, Sook?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered. When she switched to the next picture, the unfinished one, I felt the urge to explain I hadn't finished it yet. It was obvious, though. Instead, I stayed silent and watched his face as he saw the attacking wolf. Several emotions fluttered across his face, but he finally decided on rage.

"When I finish it, it'll show Annabelle attacking Sook."

When I couldn't take the silent tension on the line, I switched the focus back to Sookie and me, so he was looking at the two of us instead of a traitorous pack member. "When did you see this?" he asked. Fantastic how I didn't need to explain how I knew what to draw. Sometimes, it really does pay to hang out with the equally weird.

"Last night…no, three nights ago? Two nights ago?" I stopped and tried to think about it. "Three nights ago. Sorry, I've been out for a couple of days, and it's messing with my internal timeline."

"You're just telling me now?" he said. Rage started to build in his voice, which was mirrored on his face.

I shoved as much force into my voice as I could when I told him to settle down. "I was knocked unconscious mere minutes after having this vision and have been out up until a couple of hours ago."

"She scared the hell out of us," Sookie said.

I held the phone steady, but moved to look at Sookie. "I'm harder to kill than I look, apparently."

She turned to match my gaze. "You had convinced a doctor with more years of medical experience than most people will have of life experience that you were gone. You scared us."

I dropped my gaze. "Sorry."

"What the hell happened?" Alcide demanded.

I told him the shortest version of the story that would convey exactly what was happening without being too cumbersome. Even the short version of the story still took fifteen minutes for me to tell. "So that's how I came to get two concussions in two days," I finished.

"You made Eric king?" Alcide asked suspiciously.

"Trust me, he's the lesser of the evils."

Alcide was silent for a few minutes. Sookie took the phone from my hands, so I pulled the charcoal from my purse and continued to work on the wolf. Sookie fidgeted uncomfortably next to me. "Why is Eric 'honor bound' to protect you?" Alcide finally asked. He was using the words that I used to explain why Eric had to kill his king.

I sighed, but I didn't look up. I knew there was still a shadow of a flinch when I thought about that night, Alcide didn't need to see it. "Long story. It's his punishment."

"Punishment?" Alcide asked. I just nodded. Ah, video chat. I should do this more often.

"For?" Alcide asked. Persistent little fucker, isn't he? I was going to tell him so, but it would just be easier for me to tell him.

"Biting me without permission while hoped up on fairy blood." I didn't have to look up, I could feel Sookie flinch next to me.

"Sook?" Alcide said finally.

"Yes?" Sookie said. Her voice was so controlled, but I could hear the pain in it. After a year of listening to the subtle emotions in David's voice, I'd gotten better at it. I'm sure she fought for it to be subtle, but to me, it was like being hit by a freight train.

Alcide seemed to sense it, too and dropped the topic all together. "Well, what do you want me to do about it? I can't punish her for something she hasn't done yet."

"Nothing," Sookie and I said in unison. I glanced up at her and she down at me. Gracefully, I bowed out and let her handle it. It's her problem, after all. "Knowing who it is helps narrow down motive. If it was some unknown person not affiliated with your pack, I'd be a lot more worried. Since it's someone you know, it will be easier to control."

A moment of silence. "Moose will be calling any second, Sookie," I said, my head still bowed over my drawing.

"Thanks, Alcide. I'll see you when I get home," Sookie said.

"Bye," I added.

"Goodbye," Alcide said to the both of us. He was the first to hang up, forcing Sookie to hand my phone back to me. She wasn't sure how to turn it off without breaking it, so I got to do the job.

My timing was impeccable. Moose called seconds after I hung up the phone. Without even saying hello, I informed him that Sookie and I were on our way over, and we'd be there in ten minutes. Cian's place was on the south side of Bath, and Moose lived on the north side of East Lansing. The two practically lived on top of each other. I had actually left a bikini at Moose's place the last time I was there, so there was no need to backtrack and go back to my house. So, in a matter of minutes, Sookie, Matt, Moose, and I were laying on lawn chairs around a gleaming pool. Perfect.

.

I dropped Sookie back at Cian's place just before sunset and raced back to the O'Hara complex. I had a few minutes to spare before David woke, so I checked in on Sydney. She was awake, and finally looking like herself again. She had tarot cards in hand as she sat on the floor in the guest room. As soon as she saw me, she jumped to her feet and launched herself at me. "Pony!" she screamed. It took several minutes, but I finally convinced her to let me go. It was almost full dark, I reminded her, and she didn't want to be wrapped around me when a very horny vampire rose for the night. Just remembering that he was that hard and ready sent a shudder down my body to my core.

"Don't wait up," I said with a smile. "We might be a while." She was giggling behind me when I jogged down the hall toward David's room. I had just enough time to strip off Emma's dress and shoes and straddle David's hard body before his eyes shot open. I wouldn't trade the look on his face for the world.

*****Next up: part 8*****


	108. Chapter 108 Part 8

**Part 8:**

I was sitting in the sole class I was taking this semester, CSE 943: Bioinformatics. For those who aren't in the science field (and maybe for some of you who are), bioinformatics is what happens when you marry biological science with computers. When I signed up for the class, I was thinking there would be an equal number of biologists and computer engineers in the class. I was wrong. Not only was I the only biologist in the small class, I was also the only female. Apparently, computer engineering as a profession doesn't attract a whole lot of women. Even the professor was male; a young, relatively down to earth guy who liked to wear snarky t-shirts and jeans. Very laid back.

He preferred to go by Titus, not Dr. Brown, but Titus was not his first name. My first question was this: how bad was his first name that Titus was an improvement? Well, I looked it up. His first name was Charles. Yes, I suppose Titus Brown was better than Charlie Brown. What the hell were his parents thinking?

"Hey, Sloane," he said as he came in the door. I had taken an early lunch, making it so I could make it to class really early. If I wanted my favorite seat in the back near the electrical outlet (all the better to plug in my laptop), I needed to get here early. So, when he arrived, I was the only student here. Also, I was the only student whose name he could remember. Probably because I was the only girl.

"Hey, Titus," I answered. "How are you?"

"Just fine," he answered as he passed by. The class only had eleven students in it, yet it was held on a large kiva in the engineering building. And yes, I sat in the back. I was that student. "Why don't you move up front here," he said. "I don't smell, do I?"

I smiled. "There's no plug for my laptop up there." I lifted my laptop a few inches into the air to make my point. "But don't worry, I can hear you just fine."

He shook his head as he trudged all the way to the front of the classroom and started setting up his own nicer laptop. Professors get all the coolest toys.

I fell back into the conversation I was having with Sydney on AIM effortlessly. Truthfully, this is what I spent the majority of my time doing in this class. I feel like Titus spent most of his time trying to explain the simplest biological processes to the computer scientists, information I obviously already had. This class did not need the whole of my attention, so Sydney and I would chat. She informed me that the Handels were having the house painted, and therefore she and the kids would be hanging out at our place for a few days. Fine by me, I answered. I contemplated taking the afternoon off lab work and going home to hang out with them, but decided against it. I was making good progress in the lab and I should save my free days for when the shit hits the fan. Plus, she said they'd be there all night. I'd be cooking for at least four tonight, five if Moose came over. He loved playing with those kids. Someday, he'd be a great dad. I just wish Sarah could see him with them. She'd be impressed.

Yes, Moose and Sarah were still together and going strong. I was so happy for both of them.

I didn't notice when the only wolf in the class slid into the seat next to me. There was an entire kiva of empty seats, and he took the one right next to me. "Hi," he said.

I looked up and smiled at him. "Hey," I answered. The first day of classes, which was a couple of weeks ago now, I had almost done a double take when I saw the man that now sat next to me. I could have sworn the man next to me was Alcide's little brother. They had the same wavy black hair, the same strong facial structures. They were even the same height. The only thing that distinguishes them were the softer, younger lines to this man's face and his eyes. His eyes were grey on the outside, melding into green near the pupils and so light that they almost had no color at all. They were captivating from a genetics prospective.

You know you have too much man on your plate when you look at one of the most gorgeous men you've ever seen and think _hm, that's an interesting genetic makeup he has. I wonder where he got those eyes?_

My mind momentarily flipped to thinking about David and Cian and our odd relationship when he spoke again. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember your name. I'm Alec," he said as he extended a hand.

I took it, giving it a hearty shake. He shook my hand well, not like he thought I was breakable. Points for him. When I looked down to our hands, I automatically added a few inches to his prospected height. His hand completely engulfed mine, showing only the tiniest bit of my nails coming out the end. "Sloane," I answered when I looked back up. "Your last name wouldn't happen to be Herveaux, would it?"

He gave me a puzzled look. "Bourdain," he answered. "Why?"

I shook my head. "You look like a younger copy of someone I know. Just wondering if you're related."

He smiled and gave a sheepish smile as he dropped my hand. "Not that I know of."

"Bordy," someone called as more people shuffled into the room. Alec turned toward the call and waved. "Making friends?" the short, blond man asked. He was nondescript in every way. His eyes were blue but not very pretty. His hair was blond but dull, which matched the dullness of his skin.

"Hey, RJ," Alec said. He did not sound particularly happy to be interrupted, but was polite in that man sort of way. "This is Sloane."

"Hey RJ," I said, waving at him.

Seconds later, Titus started class.

.

"Alright, guys and gal," Titus said as he nodded to me. "See you next week."

Every male in the room stood at once, ready to sprint out the door. Every one, except for Alec. He simply sat next to me, waiting for me to pack my laptop back up. He waited patiently as I zipped my backpack up before clearing his throat. "Have you eaten? I was going to stop by The Dairy Store…"

Michigan State is first and foremost an agricultural college, meaning the main campus is surrounded by farms of every kind. Of course, hundreds of head of cattle need to be milked, and that milk is used by the food sciences department to make the most delicious homemade ice cream right on campus. That ice cream is sold only at The Dairy Store. Just thinking about it made my mouth water. Sure, I knew he was trying to flirt, and asking me to accompany him to The Dairy Store was probably the beginning of something I didn't particularly want to start, but still, "I could use some ice cream…"

His eyes lit up. "Ready?" he asked. I simply nodded and followed him out of the large kiva.

I got a small Buckeye Blitz ice cream and he got a grilled cheese sandwich. It was the middle of September, meaning it was still nice outside, so we opted to sit on the benches to eat. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look old enough to be taking graduate courses."

I laughed. "Oh? How old do I look?"

He blushed then shrugged without meeting my eyes. "Twenty?"

I laughed again, harder this time, and licked another line up my ice cream cone. "Twenty three, almost twenty four."

"Wow," he said after another bite. "Must be good genes."

Actually, a large chunk of my genetics came from Fae blood, a people who age very, very slowly. I could tell him that, but I doubt he'd understand. Not everyone knows about the Fae, even among the supernatural community. Instead, I just answered, "something like that."

"I bet you still get carded."

I laughed and nodded. "I do, all the time."

There was a few seconds of awkward, heavy silence as he took the last bite of his sandwich and I licked my cone. "Do you have any plans for the weekend? Date with a boyfriend?" he asked nervously.

I tried my hardest to not laugh, but I failed. A small giggle escaped. "No, no real plans. My roommate's a nanny, and she'll have the kids at our house all weekend. I'm not sure what they're going to want to do." I was actually really looking forward to it. I had spent the better part of class going over the possibilities of what we could do with Sydney.

And yes, I was aware that he just subtly asked me if I had a boyfriend, and I knew I did, but I still let him think I didn't. I mean, when you have two boyfriends, how do you explain that to someone? 'Oh, yea, I have someone. In fact, I have two someones, but don't worry; they're completely cool with sharing me. Oh, and they're both dead during the day so if you want to meet them you'll have to wait until the sun sets.' Yea, that conversation isn't going to end well.

"Wow, that sounds like fun." He balled up the paper wrapping that was around his sandwich and held onto it, seemingly thankful for something to hold on to. I didn't answer, I just waited for him to say something else. He was done eating, but I was only halfway through my ice cream cone.

I pulled my phone from my back pocket when it buzzed, indicating I had a text message. It was Moose. _Who's the guy?_ he asked.

Woah, creepy. I looked up, searching the faces around me for Moose. Finally, I saw him just inside the door, grinning like a fool. I smirked at him and texted back, _jealous?_

_Of course I am_, he responded.

I must have been giggling without my knowledge, because Alec noticed. "What's so funny over there?" he asked.

I shook my head, as if to say nothing. "A friend of mine is about to come out here and grill you."

His eyebrows shot up. "Yea?" he asked.

"Are you going to introduce me?" Moose asked, smirk on his face. As soon as Moose got close enough to smell Alec, his smirk hardened into a concerned glare. I looked over to Alec; he looked mildly shocked as he studied Moose's face.

"Moose, Alec, Alec, Moose," I said.

Moose shoved a hand in Alec's direction. "Nice to meet you, man. How do you know Mac?"

"Mac?" Alec asked as he looked at me.

"My last name's McIntosh, some of the guys in the lab call me Mac."

"Oh," he said. "We're taking a class together." He answered smoothly. It was obvious at this point that neither of the two-natured in my presence trusted the other. I did not at all understand why. I'd ask Moose later.

"That bioinformatics class?" Moose asked. "How is it?"

I shrugged; a movement Alec mirrored. "I take it you two work in the same lab, then?" Alec asked. Now he was just probing for information. He wanted to know how close Moose and I were.

"Yea, we work in the same lab." Moose's eyes narrowed as he studied Alec's reaction. "Hey, you bringing the kids over this weekend for swimming? Syd called and asked if it would be OK."

And that was Moose proverbially rubbing his head against my thigh, claiming me as his. He may be in human form, but I recognized the animalistic tendencies when I saw them. "Sure, that sounds like fun," I said. He might as well have just scented me, though. It wouldn't have been any more obvious.

"I have to get back to my own lab," Alec said as he stood to an impressive height. He towered over Moose, making him look tiny. Moose was not a small man, but Alec made him look it. Come to think of it, he would probably tower over David, too. I added a few more inches to my estimation of his height now that I had someone else to compare him to. He was now at six foot five. Wow.

"See you Tuesday," I said as he tossed his empty wrapper into the trash can next to me.

"No, I won't be in class Tuesday," he said as he shoved his massive hands into his pocket. "Family thing. I'll be back Thursday, though."

"Thursday, then."

Moose plopped onto the bench next to me as I watched Alec walk away. He moved so gracefully, it was probably why I initially pegged him as being shorter than he was. He just didn't move like he had any mass to him. "Yea, family thing," he gaffawed.

"What?" I asked.

"Monday's the first day of the full moon," Moose said.

"Oh," I said, finally catching on. He wouldn't be at a family function, he'd sleeping off his night spent howling at the moon. "So why don't you like him?"

I've meet the new recruits of the Bloody Claw pack." The Bloody Claw pack was the pack that most MSU students join while they're here. There are enough students in the area that MSU has their own pack separate but affiliated with Lansing's pack, the Long Nose pack. Patrick Lupe was the packleader of the Long Nose pack. "He's not one of them."

"So?" I asked. So he didn't join a pack yet. Maybe he's just waiting until he decides on one. It's only been two weeks.

Moose shook his head. "The first thing you do when you move to a new city is look for a pack. He's been here, what, three weeks probably, and he still hasn't joined up? Makes me weary." OK, maybe three weeks. I was losing track of time again.

I just cocked an eyebrow at him, telling him without any words that I thought he was being silly then dropped the subject. "See you in lab."

.

Alex, Carter, Sydney and I were all sitting on the living room floor playing Monopoly when I felt David getting closer. Alex was sitting in my lap as I sat cross legged on the floor. She didn't want to play if she had to play alone, so Alex and I were a 'team'. A moment of panic ran through my body, my body tensing without my permission. Alex felt it and turned to look at me. I forced myself to smile down at her. "A friend of mine is on his way over," I said as I shot a significant glance as Sydney. "What do you think, you guys want to meet him?"

Alex was more than excited, hopping up and down in my lap. "Yay!" She repeated with every jump. Like most adorable little girls, she loved meeting new people. They were just more people to adore her. Carter, on the other hand, was more weary. He gave me a look I haven't had since I was fifteen and broached the subject of going on a date to my dad.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Carter asked suspiciously. Sydney laughed silently.

"Yes, he is."

He nodded seriously, a look that didn't quite match his young face. "I suppose I should make sure he's OK."

It was my turn to laugh. "Great, he's almost here." I lifted Alex off my lap and stood gingerly. My joints aren't what they once were, and my hips had locked up while we played. Alex, not to be forgotten, instantly begged to be pick up once I was at my full height, so I lifted her off the floor and balanced her on my hip. Just was I was walking through the foyer, there was an uncharacteristic knock at the door. David didn't knock, he just came in. I paused for a minute, unsure of if I should answer the door. I probed the bond one last time, finding that yes, it was David just outside my door, and he was amused. If he was amused, then I guess everything was OK.

Alex tightened her grip around my neck as I opened the door. "Good evening, Love," David said as he leaned down for a chaste kiss.

"Hi," I said. If Alex weren't in my arms, I would have fallen into that kiss, but I had fifty pounds of squirming reminder that we weren't alone attached to me. "David, this is Alex. Alex, this is Mr. O'Hara."

David seamlessly lifted Alex from my arms and perched her on his own hip. She seemed happy as a clam in his arms. "You can call me David," he said to Alex as he bounced her.

"David! David!" she squealed. He laughed at her enthusiasm and grabbed my hand, wrapping his long fingers between mine. I looked up at him as he talked to Alex. He was good with children. I'd been with him on and off for over a year, and I had no idea that he was good with children. My fascination must have shown on my face, because he just winked at me.

"And who is this?" David asked as we approached the living room. Carter was now standing, arms crossed over his chest. He was trying his best to look stern, but he missed the mark. The look he got was at best described as constipated.

"David, this is Carter, Alex's older brother."

David pulled his hand from mine and offered it to Carter. "Nice to meet you, young man."

Carter harrumphed. Sydney laughed again. "I want to be on David's team!" Alex squealed.

"Alright," I said, fake pouting. "I know when I've been replaced."

David settled into where I had been sitting, Alex on his lap like she had been sitting in mine. She looked like she fit better in his lap then mine. After all, she was rapidly approaching my size. Carter wasn't even a teenager yet and he was my height. "What are the rules to this game?" David asked.

"You've never played Monopoly before?" Carter asked. He looked at David like he'd grown a new head.

"Games were not a part of my childhood," David said. He didn't sound sad or pained about that; he only sounded like it was merely a fact.

I curled onto the floor next to David and explained the game to him. "We're the dog, and it's our turn. Roll the dice." He rolled the two dice and moved seven steps forward, landing on Park Place. "We already own that." I picked up the Park Place card and showed it to him. "So now you can put a hotel on it or do nothing."

He considered his options and decided on putting a hotel on Park Place. "This is hardly fair," Sydney complained. "It's like playing scrabble with a living dictionary."

I giggled. She had a point, running a business was kind of David's thing.

Carter rolled next and was sent to jail. Maybe this was unfair.

.

Alex fell asleep in David's lap before the game ended in a stalemate. He effortlessly lifted her up and carried her into the guest room, laying her on the top portion of the trundle bed. It took Carter another hour to fall asleep on the couch, half way through Wall-E. Again, David carried him upstairs, putting him just below his sister. Sydney didn't last much longer, but managed to drag herself upstairs and into bed without David's help. That left the two of us cuddled on the couch for the end of the movie. "I didn't know you were good with kids," I whispered as he rubbed circles down my arm.

"I am a man of many talents." He kissed my hair before whispering, "I have asked Mustafa to come over and protect you tomorrow."

My head shot up. "Why?"

"The council has set the date for the auditions for Nevada. It is not for a few weeks yet, but I believe this will…light a fire, so to speak, under Victor. He knows he has no chance at being selected for King, but if you were to die before you could make a decision…"

I stopped him before he could continue. I knew I was better dead than alive to Victor. "Are you saying I have twenty four hour protection detail for the next few weeks?"

"At least until we can kill Victor." He said that so nonchalantly, but it still stung my ears. There are some things you should talk about with more feeling, and killing someone is one of them.

I shook that I'm-dating-a-sociopath feeling off with a sigh. "Should I be worried? I mean…"

"Let me worry for you," he interrupted. "Now that the children are asleep…" he murmured as he single handedly lifted me so I was straddling him. In a matter of seconds, he switched from business to pleasure, forcing me to switch with him. "Let's take this off." He slipped his thumbs under my shirt and lifted it above my breasts, giving him better access.

I pushed my shirt back down. "David, the kids are right upstairs!"

"And?" he asked, pushing my shirt right back up. His face was immediately pressed into my breasts, kissing and licking them.

"What if they wake up and come down here?" I didn't try and push my shirt back down because his lips felt so good, like the touch of cool silk against my skin. He knows exactly what buttons to push to whittle down my will power to nothing.

"I will hear them coming," he whispered into my chest.

I moaned as he pushed my bra to the side and took my nipple in his mouth. "What if I scream?" I may have still been fighting him, but I'd already given in to him and we both knew it.

"I'll keep you quiet." In the matter of a second, he flipped me onto my back and stripped my shirt off of me. I moaned into his mouth as he kissed me hard and rough. God, he felt good between my legs, pressed up against me hard. I wanted to wrap my legs around him but he held me off, using one hand to peel my jeans off of me. As soon as my jeans hit the floor, however, I wrapped my legs around him and used my leverage to pull him down on top of me.

He pulled away from me, lifting my butt off the couch in the process. I was being particularly persistent tonight, and he had to peel my legs away from his body to put the distance he wanted between us. Laying on the couch in my pale pink lingerie set, I pouted. Pale pink was never really my color, but the lingerie set had enough brown in it that it didn't make my skin look jaundice. Sloane: 1, Sloane's pale skin: 0.

"Patience, Lover, I want to taste every inch of your skin first." David stripped his own shirt off and nuzzled himself between my breasts again, using one hand to hold my wrists so I wouldn't get handsy and using his other hand to massage his way from my breasts down to my backside. I bucked up into him as he worked his way south along my body painfully slow. The farther down he went, the more I wanted him, and the more sensitized my skin got to his every touch. By the time he got past my ribcage, I was practically orgasming with every touch.

I giggled. "Did you just call me 'Lover'?" I asked. I tried to wrap my legs around his back as he worked his way down, but he straddled over my legs to keep me put.

"I did," he smoldered into my belly button. God, his touch was simultaneously torture and ecstasy. Someday, I'd repay the favor. Planning my revenge as David held me steady just added to the pleasure for me.

"You and Eric have been spending too much time together lately," I breathed. I was inches away from hyperventilating, his every touch raising my blood pressure and quickening my breath.

He looked up at me and smirked as he pulled his fangs down. Even just seeing the length of his fangs protruding over his lower lip sent shockwaves down my body into my core.

"Jesus Christ," I whispered as I threw my head back into the throw pillows. He waited until I looked back down my body at him to continue, tearing—no, shredding—my panties from my body with those sharp teeth. "Oh, God, yes David," I moaned for him. I was struggling against his body, trying to get my wrists free of his hands or my legs free to wrap around him. I wasn't sure when I started to struggle, but now that I'd started, I couldn't stop.

My struggling seemed to excite him more. His eyes went wild with desire, his pupils dilating until the beautiful mosaic that is his eyes was almost completely gone. He shifted his body above me, allowing me to open my legs for him slightly before pressing himself against my shins, pinning me against the couch in a more vulnerable position. He moved quickly, not giving me any time to contemplate what was coming next. All I knew was one second he was looming over me and the next, his tongue was probing inside of me. I couldn't help it; I let out the beginning of a scream before David's free hand clamped down over my mouth and stifled it.

My struggling lessened as I concentrated on David's tongue in me. I was so close to that perfect moment, I couldn't help myself but to concentrate. Apparently, he didn't like that, because he started moving faster, harder in me, working his gentle licks into a frenzied sucking.

He got his desired effect; my legs tried to kick, my body bucked against him as a ragged and stifled screamed followed my orgasm. I felt like roll after roll of orgasms rocked me until I was left weak and breathless. "Jesus Christ, David," I said breathlessly when I could finally speak again.

He grinned as he righted my legs on the couch, obviously pleased with himself. "Yes, Lover?"

I giggled lightly again. "When did you learn to do that?"

"Many, many years ago."

"Jesus Christ," I repeated. "Do that again."

He laughed, and after collecting all of my clothes and setting them on my lap, he lifted me from the couch to carry me upstairs. "Not tonight, my Love. I cannot take that much blood from you in one night." He used the hand tucked under my knees to curl my thigh to the side, showing me two neat puncture marks. I hadn't even noticed he bit me. When did that happen?

I wrapped my arm around his neck and mentally counted each step as he took it. Thirteen steps. As soon as he set me down on the bed, he hurriedly covered me with the blanket and pulled his shirt back to rights. "One of the children is awake. I will handle it." He slipped out the door, shutting it noiselessly behind him. I could hear his soothing voice on the other side of the door. "What is it, sweetheart?"

"I have to use the potty," said Alex's high pitched voice.

There was a moment of confusion through the bond; I had to laugh. "Bathroom," I said no louder than a whisper. I knew he'd hear me. I instantly regretted it; I really would have liked to hear him ask a five year old girl what 'potty' meant. I probably would have enjoyed the explanation better, though.

"Ah," he replied. "Come with me."

I could hear her noisy elephant footsteps move down the hall toward the staircase. David's steps were silent, but children always seem to make more noise than seems possible, at least for their size.

I hear the door open and shut at the end of the hall. I was glad he had her use the guest/Sydney's bathroom; I don't know what I would have done if he paraded a child in here while I was ass naked. Especially when it wasn't my child. I could imagine the phone call from her mother and shuddered.

"I'm thirsty, Davie," she said as the door opened again, intensifying the sound of flushing water. I don't know how she got away with calling him 'Davie', but he let her. Maybe I'd try it.

"Let's go get you some water, then."

"I want soda," she whined back. I could hear he elephant footsteps find their way down the steps, and I had no doubt that David was right there with her. Normally, I would trust a five year old to find her own way down the stairs, but not when the stairs were narrow and that five year old was tired. He needed to hold her hand right now.

I could hear his laugh descending down the stairs at the same rate as her elephant footsteps. "Maybe in the morning."

_Oh, thanks_, I thought. When morning came around, he's be safely tucked into his bed or coffin or where ever he was sleeping the day away and Sydney and I would have to deal with the temper tantrum that would follow. I could hear it now. 'But Davie promised!' she'd say between sobs.

By the time Alex and David were done getting a glass of water and David tucked her back into bed, I was falling headfirst into that place just before sleep where your breathing slows, your heart quiets, and you have trouble following any particular train of thought. In the corner of my mind, I was aware that David was back in my room. I was even more aware of it when he pressed his now naked form up against my back. I sighed restlessly; he helped me roll over and tuck my head into his shoulder in response. "David," I whispered.

"Yes Love?" he responded, barely whispering.

I was asleep before I could respond.


	109. Chapter 109

The next night was Cian's night. I thought I had a rough teaching schedule when I taught the three PM Friday class, but I'd been wrong. Cian taught the 10:10 PM Friday class. Strangely, it seemed wildly popular, mostly among the ladies. I wondered why.

And yes, you did hear me say 'Cian's night'. I was aware that, as it stood now, it was the equivalent of shared custody between David and Cian. I had explained why I thought this arraignment was…well, odd, but they both looked at me with eyes that said, 'any better ideas?'

That's why I was sitting in on a psychology class at ten PM. I was a little early, and Cian had made it obvious he was planning on being a little late every day, so there was currently very few people in the lecture hall. I'd sit in the front row, off to the side and watch him lecture for an hour as he periodically shot me seductive glances. When he was done lecturing, I wait around for another half an hour or so while the particularly eager girls in the class came up with stupid questions to ask just so they could get some one-on-one time with Cian. OK, maybe that was being overly skeptical, but hey, I'm a cynic.

The lecture hall was nearly halfway full before Cian made his entrance. He did always believe in an entrance. He was dressed particularly deliciously tonight in a dark grey suit and black v-neck t-shirt underneath. His black shoes gleamed. A few of the women in the class muttered things like 'wow' and 'my God'. I had to agree. My voice caught in my throat.

He set his briefcase down on the table closest to me and winked at me. I scowled back. I was in jeans and a tank top. OK, they were nice jeans and a low cut tank top, and I'd put on stilettos under the jeans, but still, I wasn't dressed to his caliber. It made me wonder what we were doing tonight and why he didn't warn me about the dress code.

"Tonight's lecture is about a strange, unpredictable emotion," he began in his smooth British accent. More women sighed behind me. Was it just me, or was he playing up how gorgeous he is tonight, from his debonair outfit to his irresistible accent? I glared harder at him. He grinned back. "Jealousy."

Murmurs covered the crowd as pencils hit paper. "I will require the assistance of another tonight to make my point." Before he even finished the sentence, every female hand behind me went up. I didn't have to turn around to know it, all I had to do was look at Cian's face. He looked more than pleased with himself as he let out a hearty laugh. "I am sorry, ladies, but I have already picked my helper." He turned to me. Oh, I was going to be his helper? Oh, hell no. I started to shake my head no at him, but he extended a hand toward me and smiled. "Sloane, if you could join me, please."

I scowled at him for a split second before plastering a hesitant smile on my face. I stood, and after setting myself to rights, walked the twenty feet to him. "Now," he said once I finally got there. "How many of you want me?"

Again, every female hand in the audience went up. Even a few women in the front row were mouthing naughty little promises to him. I looked at him and rolled my eyes.

"How many of you hate Sloane?"

Two hands went up. I cocked an eyebrow; that seriously surprised me. Cian pointed to the first girl that had her hand up. "Why do you hate her?"

"She's pretty," she answered without hesitation. If a professor asked me that in a class of this size, I would have hesitated. Hell, I wouldn't have raised my hand. I guess that's the difference between the two sciences.

"And you?" Cian asked as he pointed to the other girl.

"She's up there with you," she answered. God, these women made no sense to me. I just watched her curiously.

Before I could think, Cian's arms were around me and he was dipping me. I got the beginning of 'Hey!" out before his lips found mine. He kissed me deep and passionately. My every doubt or concern melted away until it was just me and him. I snaked my hands up his shoulders and around his neck. When I was just about ready to start pushing that suit jacket off of him, he pulled back and winked at me.

He kept one arm around my waist, but righted the two of us until we were upright again. I was beet red, I knew it. "I feel like I should reintroduce you, Cupcake," he said loud enough so the entire class could hear but quiet enough that it could be a conversation between just the two of us. I finally got a good look at the women in the crowd. Facial expressions ran everywhere from surprise (probably mirroring my face) to anger to lust. "Class, this is my girlfriend and lover, Sloane."

"Hi," I whispered as he squeezed my side gently. I didn't need a bond to know how amused he was at this situation. It practically rolled off him in sheets.

"Now, let me ask again. How many of you want me?" Cian asked. Again, every female hand went up. "And how many of you hate Sloane?" Most of the hands remained up, only a few dropping. "That, class, is jealousy at work. It can seed emotions that would have no other basis. Most of you, if not all of you, have never met Sloane before, yet you hate her. Is it because she is a horrible person? Is it because she has wronged you in some way? No. It is because she has something you are jealous of: me."

My eyes narrowed as I watched him talk. He caught me by surprise when he turned to me. "Thank you, Cupcake." He kissed my cheek then my lips before gently guiding me back toward my seat. All I could do was simply watch as he continued on with his lecture as if nothing had happened.

.

I was daydreaming when he finally ended lecture. "That is all," Cian said as he slid his coat jacket off, revealing rippling biceps that were barely contained by his t-shirt. Chatter started up and, as always, the ever hopeful few approached Cian for their pointless after-class questions.

One girl saddled up in the chair next to me. She was what I would immediately label as 'fake'. Her hair was bleached a color somewhere between copper and blonde, her face heavily made up. She was only wearing jeans and a tank top, but it looked as if she spent hours in front of a mirror deciding on exactly which top to wear. There were plenty of girls at State that tried to hard like this, but few were in majors as difficult as psychology. Most were third year undecided freshman. Cynical, I know, but true. Probably.

"Is he really your boyfriend?" she asked. Straight to the point, at least I liked that about her. Her doughy brown eyes watched me intently for any unintended cues while I answered, her body and face both completely open. There wasn't malice or hate on her face, only a willingness to understand. The deep, intellectual pools in her eyes did not at all match her exterior.

"Yea, unfortunately," I answered.

"Oh," she said. Something finally clicked behind her eyes, like everything that had ever happened to her finally made sense. "I've been trying to get him to sleep with me since the semester started," she said blankly. She didn't sound like there was regret or shame in there at all, just the bare naked truth. "He kept saying he had a girlfriend, but I thought he was just trying to blow me off. Sorry."

I shrugged. "Not a problem." She stood and gathered her bags without another word. Just as swiftly as she came, she left. I've met some odd ducks in my time, and she was one of the oddest.

I watched the odd duck walk away with fascination. There are some people I will just never understand. "Cupcake," Cian said, pulling my attention back front and center. There was a small gaggle of girls behind him; two in particular were scowling.

"Hey, ready to go?" I said as I stood. I obviously couldn't match Cian's height, no matter how high the heels I was wearing, but I had at least one of the scowling girls beat. I'm not used to being taller than someone. It was an odd feeling. Another of the women, however, still towered over me and seemed to want to use that height to make me feel small. It didn't work. I just smiled up at her pleasantly.

"Not quite." He motioned behind him to the gaggle, particularly the two women scowling to his right. "These two do not believe you and I are dating."

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. "So? Are you going to fuck them?"

I had caught the scowling pair off guard; their scowled faltered slightly. Cian, however, grinned wider. "Not unless you've changed your mind." Internally, I cringed. When we first started this ménage a trois, David, Cian and I, I made it clear that I do not share, which meant no 'dating' other people for them, only for me. Hypocritical? Yes. Totally, utterly me? Also yes. Sure, I felt guilty about it, but I just couldn't handle sharing them. I told myself I'd work on it.

"Nope," I answered.

"Then no, I am not going to fuck them."

"OK, then. I trust you." I picked my purse up off the floor and intertwined my fingers between his.

He waited until we were a few steps away from the group; far enough away that he could whisper in my ear and not be heard. "Please, for me, make it obvious we are dating. I tire of their constant hounding," he said as he pulled his hand from mine and burrowed his hand in my hair. I'm sure to the group behind us it just looked like he was whispering sweet nothings in my ear. I leaned into him and giggled before returning the favor.

"They have to come out this door, right?" I whispered, making an obvious movement of licking his ear as I reached down to tuck my fingers in his back pocket. I was suddenly glad I wore the heels. I wouldn't have been able to whisper in his ear without the extra height.

"Indeed, Lover," he leered in his normal speaking voice.

As soon as we were out of the door, I pushed him onto the vinyl-covered bench. Anyone that came out of that door might walk right into us of they took too sharp a right turn. I grinned mischievously as I straddled him, digging my hands into his dreadlocks and pushing my chest out toward him. "And what are you going to do for me in return?" I said seductively as I ground my pelvis into him. He wasn't hard when I climbed on top of him, but he was getting there now.

Cian grinned back at me. His cobalt blue eyes lit up as he wrapped his arms around my back and held me to him. "For this, anything."

I would have much rather curled into his body, tucking my head into his neck and wrapping my arms around him in turn, but I could hear the girls coming. I leaned down for a kiss and he buried his hand in my hair, pressing my face to his. He deepened the kiss as the voices got louder. As soon as the first girl rounded the corner, he pulled his fangs down, causing me to jump.

He finished the kiss and turned to look at the small gaggle of girls. They stared back, a myriad of expressions on their faces. I followed my earlier urge, tucking myself into his chest and wrapping my arms around his waist. I managed to plaster what I hoped looked like a hand-in-the-cookie-jar look on my face as I smiled up at them. "See you Monday, ladies," Cian said to the group before turning his attention to me. "Let's take this up to my office," whispered into my hair loud enough that the girls could hear him.

Cian lifted me into the air and threw me over his shoulder effortlessly. I yipped and grabbed on to the back of his shirt for support. This position was eerily familiar. "Wait," I said as he started toward the staircase. "My purse." When he turned around to grab my purse, my shoe fell off. I laughed as he sighed. "And my shoe. I don't think you can pick it up without dropping me."

"Would I do such a thing?" he said, false shock in his voice.

"You better not," I said, grin on my face that only the scowling women could see.

He pulled the shoe that was still on my foot off before effortlessly lowering himself to the ground and picking the fallen shoe off the floor. I was close enough to the floor that I could have easily reached out and touched it, but I didn't. I kept my grip on the back of his shirt to steady myself.

I could feel his back muscles flex and work as he rose back up to his full height. It wasn't that he struggled to lift me, it's just that those muscles would have worked even if I hadn't been thrown over his shoulder. It reminded me exactly what bounty was under that shirt. He had spent however many years he had been alive perfecting long, strong, defined muscles. He was quite a treat under all those clothes.

As soon as we were in the enclosed staircase, he lowered me to the ground and pressed me up against the wall. His strong hands dropped my things and started their assault on my body; one hand went underneath my tank top while the other forced itself under my jeans, cupping my ass. "Mmmm," I moaned as he kissed me deeply. When I pulled myself away to breathe, I gasped. "A quick one before office hours."

He held office hours right after class, from eleven to midnight Mondays through Fridays. For the first week of class, his office hours were packed. Now, however, things had slowed down. Usually, I spend the time resting. Tuesdays and Thursdays were David's days, Wednesdays and Fridays were Cian's. Needless to say, by the time Friday came around, I was exhausted. I had usually stayed up all night with my guys, and getting up early in the morning for work was not helping me get the sleep I needed. Also, to add to my list of problems, I was generally dangerously low on blood by the time Friday rolled around. I was trying to remember to eat more red meat on Thursdays and Fridays to keep my iron count up and drink lots of water to promote red blood cell counts, but it didn't seem to be working that well. Cian still complained I tasted hazardously anemic when Friday rolled around. I was sure David could taste the difference in Thursday as well, but he knew better than to complain.

Cian lowered his face to my neck, licking a long line from my clavicle to my earlobe. "Yes," he growled.

One second I was standing in a hallway, the next Cian was dropping me onto his couch. "Take these off," he growled at me as he stripped me off my jeans and panties. As soon as they came off (hopefully in one piece), Cian unbuttoned his own pants and dropped them. Sometimes, there were no preliminaries, no romance with Cian. He wanted what he wanted and was way too impatient to wait for it. I could relate.

Again, I was off the couch and in Cian's arm. "I want you on my desk," he said into my ear, voice low and heavy with want. I wanted him so much in return that I couldn't speak. All I could do was grunt in approval as he bent me over his desk. First one finger, then two probed into me, causing me to cry out in appreciation.

"Yes, Cian!"

One hand clamped over my mouth just before Cian shoved into me, my scream muffled by his hand. He pumped into my hard and rough. In no time, only just a few minutes, Cian's hand reappeared over my mouth. I hadn't been aware I was about to lose control and start screaming again, but he did. As soon as he covered my mouth, a deep, wet orgasm rocked through me, causing me to scream Cian's name. Seconds later, before I was completely done with my own orgasm, Cian drew my tank top to the side and bit down, triggering his own release. I screamed all over again, this time no one to stifle it for me.

Cian insisted I dress quickly, but I was too weak to do much of anything. He rolled his eyes at me and helped me first into my panties, then my jeans before dressing himself at the speed of light. "Did you remember to eat meat today?" he asked.

I labored to lie down in a comfortable position on the couch. "Yes," I mumbled. I had a philly cheese steak for lunch, thank you very much. My limbs felt like they were made of lead; just heavy, useless attachments to my body.

Cian helped me get comfortable on the couch at a hurried pace before covering me with a blanket. "Someone is coming," he said as he straightened himself out.

I made sure the bite marks were covered and closed my eyes. My world swirled when I did, but I kept my eyes shut, gripping the blanket instead to anchor myself to this reality. OK, maybe this wasn't normal, even for a Friday night. I'm usually not dizzy, just tired.

There was a knock at the door. "Dr. O'Smythe?" said the annoying voice I now recognized as his teaching assistant.

"Yes, Cassie?" he said, his voice quiet. "Please keep your voice down, she is finally asleep."

Oh, that must be me. I didn't have far to go to act asleep; I just slowed my breathing, deepening it to make my chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm.

"Sorry," she whispered. "Did you hear someone scream? I swore I heard it come from this direction…"

I put everything I had into not laughing; struggling to keep my face slack and my breathing rhythmic. "I did hear it also," Cian said quietly. "I believe it came from farther down the hallway. Perhaps in the stairway?"

"Maybe," Cassie said. There was some shuffling of papers coming from Cassie's direction before anyone spoke again. "Here's the most recent homework, all graded." After another few seconds of shuffling, she whispered, "And here's the answer key. Is that all?"

"Yes," he said. "Have a good night."

"You too, Dr. O'Smythe."

When the door closed, I fought to open my eyes. "David drank from you ask night, I assume?" Cian said as he stood from his desk chair.

"Mm hm," I grunted, confirming his suspicions.

He opened a small mini fridge and handed me a bottled water. "Are you cold?"

"No," I answered. He was trying to determine if they'd taken too much in too short a time. If I was cold, then we had a problem, but since I wasn't cold, I was most likely fine. But then again, dizziness didn't mean 'fine'. Dizziness meant problems.

I drank the water and scooted back on the couch, giving him space to lie down next to me. If after an hour of sleep I wasn't feeling better, I'd tell Cian. Right now, it'd just worry him. If there's one quirk Cian had picked up from David right away, it was his incessant worrying.

Cian slipped onto the couch without a word, tucking his arm under me and lifting me up until most of my weight was resting on him. The couch wasn't overly deep, and since Cian had a wide set of shoulders, I had to lie on him for the most part when we cuddled on his couch. He'd promised to get a larger couch the first time we tried it, but I wiggled on top of him until I found my comfortable position and said, "Don't you dare. It gives me an excuse to be really close to you."

I tucked my knee between his, took a handful of his shirt, and was asleep before he could give me his usual goodnight kiss.

.

I was mildly aware of voices. "Sorry, Dr. O'Smythe, I know it's not office hours anymore, but I was hoping to catch you in your office anyway. If this is a bad time…" said a male voice.

"Please, come in," Cian whispered. I could feel the words rumble through his chest as he said them, giving his words an odd stereo effect. "I hope you don't mind, but I believe I am stuck where I am for the time being."

"Oh, no, that's fine. I just had a few questions." The male voice moved through the room, finally ending up perched on a chair facing the couch.

I dozed in and out while the voice asked his class related questions and Cian answered them. From what I heard, they seemed like intelligent questions. Points for him.

"May I ask you a personal question?" the male voice asked.

"I am surprised it's taken you this long to ask," Cian answered. I suppose if you went to ask your professor questions about the homework while his girlfriend was asleep on his chest, you'd have some personal questions, too. "Ask away."

"That's your girlfriend, right?"

"Yes," Cian said. His chest jumped as he tried to suppress a laugh. "It would be odd if there was a woman asleep on me that was not my girlfriend."

"Human?" the male voice asked.

Cian hesitated, but in the end decided on, "Yes." With all the information I had now, I would have hesitated at the same question. I had considered myself human my entire life because I barely knew differently. I don't have an animal form; I don't drink blood every night, so I have to be human, right? Well, maybe not.

"Is it hard…I mean, your schedules…" The male voice stumbled on his words, trying to find the right way to ask his question before a long sigh left his lips. "When do you find the time?"

"As you can see," Cian said, "we find time when time is available."

"Is it worth it?" asked the male voice. The farther they got into this odd excuse for male bonding, the less sure and secure the male voice sounded.

"Absolutely," Cian answered without a pause. "I would not trade her for anything."

There was a moment of manly, amiable silence before the male voice spoke again. "Thank you, Dr. O'Smythe." I followed the footsteps as they left the way they came, the door closing behind him.

I sighed and stretched my limbs out. Hey, at least they didn't feel like lead anymore. That was a good sign. "Hey," I whispered. "What's the plan for tonight?"

"I had planned on taking you dancing," he answered quietly as he stroked my hair. When Cian says 'dancing', what he means is 'clubbing'. The first time he asked me to go clubbing with him, he asked, "Come to the disco with me." I about died laughing; I had never heard it called a 'disco' before. Now he refuses to call it a disco, even when I ask him to, but he also won't call it clubbing on the same principal. Therefore, he calls it 'dancing.' Personally, that's just fine with me. "But I seem to feel…lethargic tonight. Ostensibly, so do you." Ostensibly? He's always pulling out words I wouldn't think to use.

"Do vampires get lethargic?" I asked. It seemed to me that they just regained life when the sun went down and went about their night. As far back as I could think, I've never really seen David have a grumpy day, at least not any grumpier than the rest. Cian seemed particularly immune to being tired. He was always ready and rearing to go do something, anything, like my own fanged Energizer bunny.

"Generally, if they are not healing some grave injury, no. Neither sleep nor food truly power us; magic does."

Sadly, I understood what he was talking about. A year ago, I would have scoffed at the idea of magic having any real basis in the real world, but after almost being killed by magic twice, I was a willing believer. Passive, but willing. Amelia had tried to talk me into studying the craft, but I turned her down. It is too close to a religion for me. "So, what would make you feel tired?"

"I am unsure." He lifted my chin with his free hand, putting his lips mere centimeters from my own. "Perhaps a round of hot, passionate sex would help to energize me."

I rolled my eyes and kissed him. "I'm not even sure I can move yet, Cian."

I settled my head back onto his chest while he responded. "I am not sure I want you to."

*****I have some bad news. I will be out of town for the next week and am unsure as to what my internet situation will be. You guys may have to wait an entire week before I can post the next chapter. Don't worry, though. I'll continue to work on the story while I'm out of town and will get right back to posting come August.**

**And, as always, I heartily thank all my reviewers for their kind words. I keep writing for you guys!*****


	110. Chapter 110

****So, my hotel has internet! I know you're all excited, but try and contain yourselves. Sloane needs your support.****

Cian and I cuddled in his office for another hour or so before my stomach growled at me, at which time Cian thought he should take me home. He insisted we drive through McDonald's, even ordering for me: Chicken McNuggets. He likes to watch me lick the honey from the bottom of the container, so like a grandparent to their only grandchild, I indulge him.

I woke up the next day to my bed rustling. Cian must be worming his way back into my bed. I cracked one eye open just enough to check the time on the digital clock across the room, but never got far enough to actually notice the time. Sunlight was streaming through my open windows. I immediately put two and two together, realizing that it did not equal five. Whoever was worming their way into my bed, it wasn't Cian.

I stopped moving, my heart pounding. It could be one of the kids, they were still here. Of course, they were out cold when Cian and I got home last night, but I vaguely remember screaming around nine this morning. Kids climb into their parents' beds all the time, right? Does it ever happen to the roommate of their babysitter?

It could even be Sydney. I had actually woken up to her in my bed a few times in the past couple of weeks. Human (and sometimes not so human) contact helps to keep the nightmares away, so Sydney will climb in bed with me if I'm having a particularly bad night. She might just have climbed in bed with me so I wouldn't scare the kids. That could be it.

I gripped the blanket as a body pressed itself against my back. It was way too large to be a kid and way too male to be Sydney. Male, and very happy to see me. My breath caught in my throat. I could not think of a good reason for any male to be pressed up against me in my bed during daylight hours. Trust me, I tried to rationalize my fear away, I did. There just wasn't any rationalization that made any sense.

It wasn't until his very warm arm snaked its way up toward my face to scratch his other arm and I could smell his warm skin that my racing heart slowed a little. He smelled warm and woodsy, like honey-roasted pine trees. "Moose?" I whispered.

"Go back to sleep, Mac," he grunted.

Even now that I knew who was bunked up with me, I couldn't figure out why. I even gave my brain a few extra seconds to work before asking the obvious question, but it didn't help. I still had no idea. "Why are you in my bed?"

"Because you were screaming and I'm tired. Please go back to sleep; I can't sleep while I'm on duty unless I know for sure you're OK, and I only know you're OK when you're right next to me."

Oh, I had been screaming. Maybe the screaming I heard this morning was my own? No, the screaming was too high pitched to be my own. Alex's, probably. A horrible realization dawned on me, causing my heart to drop into my stomach. She was probably screaming because I was screaming. "The kids?" I asked, wondering if I'd traumatized them.

"Outside playing with Syd."

I let out a huge sigh of relief. I couldn't traumatize them if they couldn't hear me.

"Can we go back to sleep now?" Moose asked impatiently. Wow, he was Mr. Grumpy-Pants today.

"OK," I answered. I pulled Moose's arm down slightly until it fit perfectly into the curve of my neck and he tucked the fingers of his other hand up underneath my ribcage. I was strapped to him, stuck to him in every way, but it was a comfortable stuck. A stuck my body remembered with vivid detail. This felt warm and comfortable like an old pair of sweatpants. "You better hope Sarah doesn't find out about this," I joked. I felt his breath push against my hair when he grunted a solitary laugh as his knee forced the line of my knee up just a little higher.

Once we were both comfortable, it took no time at all to fall back asleep.

.

When I woke up again, there was a nine year old boy staring at me, eating popcorn. Behind him, I could see the beginnings of a fantastic sunset through my bedroom window. When you date vampires (yes, plural), you start to keep tract of the time of day more stringently. "Carter, what exactly are you doing?" I asked.

He didn't answer my question. "I thought that David guy was your boyfriend," he said. He did his best to cock his eye in an interrogative way, but he ended just shy of his mark. I didn't bring it up; his facial expressions would get better with age.

"He is," I answered. I tried to sit up, but Moose was still wrapped around me like a lifeline. It was probably for the best, though. I remembered what I felt asleep in, but Cian was a crafty little fucker. If he wanted me naked, he usually could figure out a way to make it happen. It wouldn't be the first time I woke up ass naked after falling asleep fully clothed.

For a second I remembered that Moose was wrapped around me, and if I were truly naked, that might make this more awkward than it already was. I shook myself a little and shoved that away. Another problem for another time. Right now, I needed to deal with the inquisitive boy in front of me. "Then who's that?" Carter asked, extending his arm fully to point at Moose.

"His name is Moose. He's my…" _Friend. Bodyguard. Ex-lover._ "Teddy bear." Seemed oddly appropriate enough. Hey, maybe he could even turn into a bear…

"Won't David be mad?" Carter asked. His attempt at an interrogative look faltered even more, falling into pure curiosity. His facial expressions were better when he wasn't trying for something and just let them come as they please. Sooner or later, he'd figure that out.

I thought about his question. Would any boyfriend be mad to wake up and find his girlfriend in bed with another man? Yes. When the girl is already dating another man with the boyfriend's blessing, and the guy she's in bed with is paid (presumably) to protect the woman? Questionable. Then again, this was David, and he sure as hell has been surprising me lately. "I really don't know," I finally answered. "If it makes you feel better, David knows he's here."

"He looks dead," Carter said. "Is he a vampire, too?"

Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. I concentrated for a second, and yes, I could feel Moose's chest rise and fall behind me. If he was breathing, he wasn't dead. Dead to the world maybe, but not actually dead. "No, he's human, he's just asleep."

This twenty questions was getting old. I needed to pee and I could definitely use a shower. "I'm going to ask again. What are you doing in here, Carter?" I asked as I peeled Moose's arms away from my body. When I could finally sit up, I stealthily glanced down at my body. Fully clothed.

"Sydney says dinner's ready."

Uh oh, Sydney cooked? This was going to be…interesting. Carter must have seen the look on my face, because he said, "she ordered pizza."

"OK," I answered. "We'll be down in a few minutes."

I waited for Carter to leave the room, closing the door behind him before I climbed out of bed. I'd been sleeping all day, but I still felt like shit. After stretching my arms to the sky and cracking my neck, I still didn't feel any better.

Moose was doing a horrible job at protecting me. I had already started the water for my shower before he woke up and realized I was no longer in bed with him. "Mac," he said worriedly.

"Here," I answered from the open bathroom door. "Syd says dinner's ready. Go ahead and get some and I'll be down in a few."

"I'll wait," Moose said, stretching his own muscles. He'd taken off his jeans and his button down shirt when he climbed in bed with me, leaving him in a set of bright yellow boxers with bulldogs on them. I had to turn away before I full-on blushed. Sure, I'd seen Moose shirtless several times since we'd broken up; it's hard to go swimming effectively with a shirt on, but when he wasn't wearing pants the effect was somehow more. Something low in my abdomen tightened.

_Oh, don't you start,_ I thought to my libido. I closed the bathroom door without another word.

By the time I was clean and out of the shower, Moose was fully dressed again and lounging on the bed. "Why am I so exhausted?" he asked after a yawn when I came out of the bathroom wrapped in only a towel. I padded gently across the room in my bare feet to my underwear drawer and started pulling out items. I didn't even think to pull out a matching set, I just did. When I expect to be in nothing but my underwear in front of company more days than I'm not, I guess it just becomes second nature to match the set.

I pulled on the navy lace thong, clasped the matching bra, and dropped the towel. "Are you getting sick or something?" I asked as I turned toward him. I didn't even realize that I was practically naked in front of him until I looked at his face. I was so comfortable with him, I completely forgot he wasn't just one of the girls. His eyes were simultaneously unfocused and honed in to every detail of my body, his lips parted gently. He was gaping. "Sorry," I said as I hurried to pull a pair of jeans from the drawer.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," he replied automatically. I turned and bent over to pull a pair of jeans from my bottom drawer when he spoke again. "Except for those," he said. I grabbed the top pair, whatever they were, and quickly shook them out while he hopped off the bed and walked toward me. He gently grabbed my arm and spun me so my back was to him. "I don't remember these," he said as he ran his finger over the long, horizontal scars across both of my ass cheeks. Only a few of them remained, but the ones that did stuck out like a sore thumb as raised, white gashes. At least, to me they did. I don't know how noticeable they really were without looking for them.

Well, I guess now I did. "Filipe deCastro," I explained as I hastily pulled my jeans up over my hips. I didn't want to talk about my many imperfections. They were a sore spot for me in more ways than one. I leaned back down, taking some time to root through my sweatshirt drawer. It was still a bit too warm for a sweatshirt, but it gave me an excuse to not look at Moose for a few second while I gathered myself.

He seemed to need the time, too, because he took a few seconds before saying, "I'm sorry, Mac, I had no idea."

I still didn't turn to face him while I threw the top of the sweatshirts over my head. Once the sweatshirt was on, I shrugged. "No big deal."

Before I could walk out the door, Moose pulled me into a hug, pressing me hard against his chest. "Yes it is, Mac, it's a big deal. Did he do this when you killed him?"

I was pressed so hard into his chest; I could speak, so I just nodded. I wasn't sure I'd trust myself to speak anyway. The only way I'd been able to move on from most of my crises was by burying the problem, the ordeal, away and never thinking about it again. Moose was forcing me to drudge up old painful memories. It was something I'd rather not do.

"Jesus, Mac. He kidnapped and beat you, and as soon as you come back home, Syd and I yell at you. Jesus, I'm sorry."

I tried so hard to suppress it, but the first tear betrayed me and fell down my cheek anyway. Dammit, I had promised myself I was done crying over spilt milk. Not without great struggle, I packed the tears back in and broke free of Moose's grip. "It's fine," I said as I bee-lined it for the kitchen. I just wanted to eat and I wanted night to fall so someone not so talkative could take over watching me. I hadn't hoped this in a long time, but I really hoped it was Idi's night. I could use some nice, silent companionship tonight. Oh, I knew I wasn't going to get it, but I wanted it so bad.

Moose chatted eagerly with the kids, maybe a bit too eagerly. I sat silent and picked at my pizza. I just wasn't that hungry, which was odd for me. Usually, after my men have a combined four-day blood binge, I do some binging of myself. Tonight, however, I wasn't in the mood for food.

Moose kept glancing my way as he chatted with the kids, his face getting more and more worried. If I wasn't in the mood to talk about my feelings, I definitely wasn't in the mood to be emotionally babysat. I'd come to terms with the bodyguards. I still was not willing to have someone follow me around hiding razors and pills.

I was sitting outside on the front porch when Idi walked up. I said a silent thank you prayer to the powers that be, then realized that David probably knew what I was feeling tonight. He'd been thoughtful when he picked my guard. I wanted to cry all over again.

Moose and I said our short goodbyes. With a backwards glance, he left me in Idi's very capable care. "Let's go for a walk," I said to Idi. Without waiting for an answer, I just started off the porch and down the driveway. That's one of the nice things about Idi. There were no unnecessary comments, no idle chat. If he didn't think it was a good idea, he'd have told me, but otherwise, he was going to stay silent.

I was thankful for the sweatshirt when the temperature started to drop. Sometimes I forgot how cold autumn nights can be in Michigan. I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, so when I finally looked up and found myself outside of Patriarch Park, I was shocked. We'd walked several miles in amiable silence.

I looked up at the night sky. Patriarch Park was a wash of forest, like Lansing's version of a less settled Central Park. Wilderness in the middle of the city. There were miles upon miles of walking trails, biking trails, streams, rivers, and caves to explore. That amount of wilderness desolation dissipated the light pollution of the city, allowing you to see—really see—the night sky. It was beautiful.

I turned to smile up at Idi, but his face made my smile falter. He was searching the woods, eyes darting back and forth. His face was scrunched into serious lines. There was something out there I couldn't see, couldn't hear. He knew it was there, though. But it wasn't the fact that there was something out there that bothered me. Patriarch Park had several pack of animals that lived within its borders. I would be more surprised if there was nothing here. No, what bothered me was that Idi didn't seem to know what or where it was. Whatever it was, it was out-stealthing Idi.

All he said was, "Miss Sloane." But no one could pack more meaning into so few words. It was a threat, and those words were his warning, his instruction. He pulled my arm, saddling me close to his left side. This left his weapon arm ready, already with battle axe in hand.

Laughing. I heard laughing, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. "Dead child," said a sing-song woman's voice. "I mean no harm."

"Show yourself," Idi responded. There was no anger, no malice in his voice, only resolve.

A small white figure glided gracefully from the tree line, hands out showing that she had no weapon. I gripped Idi's arm harder. She was nothing I'd ever seen before. She didn't glow, so she wasn't Fae. There was no black fog around her, so she wasn't vampire. She wasn't two-natured because there was no ghostly animal form. No, her aura, for lack of a better term, was like a candy-apple red fire emanating from her every pore.

Her white cotton gown swished as she walked, showing periodically that she was barefoot. The Elizabethan collar on the gown was crisp white lace, which dated the dress to at least as far back as the mid 1500's. I'd never met anyone that old that meant me no harm. "I only wish to talk to the child," she said, her eyes fixed on me. I guess I was the child.

"Talk," I said. My voice wasn't shaky or uncertain, although that's how I really felt. I felt like running away screaming.

She took a step forward and Idi brandished the battle axe at her again. "You little toys cannot harm me, Dead child," she said, more malice to her voice. "I wish to touch her."

"You will not touch her," Idi responded without dropping the axe even a little bit.

She took another step forward. At this point, I took one back, side stepping until half of my body was behind Idi. "I will," she responded.

She was close enough that she could reach out and touch Idi. I felt Idi's body tense, as if he was going to swing the axe and end her long life, but before he could follow through, she laid a hand on his forearm. That's all it took, a simple touch, and he collapsed to the ground.

I stumbled backwards. "Don't touch me," I said. My voice was starting to get the shaky edge to it, like just before you scream.

She smiled sweet, warm smile I'm sure she perfected with hours in front of a mirror. "Let me touch you, Child, and I will let you take your vampire and go."

I was starting to back up faster and faster; moving as fast as I could go backwards without risking falling on my ass. "No," I answered. When her grin faltered, falling into an angry scowl, I turned and sprinted.

I ran through the trees as fast as I could, dodging tree branches as I flew. Somewhere along the line, my flip flops disappeared, probably flying off my feet when I ran. I could hear her behind me, following closely. As I flung myself through the woods, I could tell she was playing with me. Still, I couldn't stop running.

I tripped over a log, scratching my knee to hell in a very familiar way. My mind flashed back to the vision I had several times, but I couldn't make sense of it. It was the same terror, the same frantic running, but I wasn't running from a wolf like I had in my vision.

I'd lost track of the woman's laugh just long enough to think, _oh, shit_, before she appeared before me. It wasn't that she moved vampire fast and just seemed to appear in front of me. She actually just appeared from the mist.

I was frozen where I was, unable to do anything but watch her reach for me. I wanted more than anything to run, scream, fight, anything, but my body wasn't moving as fast as my brain was. When she touched me, just the barest, gentlest touch across my cheek, everything went black.


	111. Chapter 111

**SYDNEY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

"Is this Sydney Mets?" asked a deep female voice on the other end of the line. I vaguely remembered the voice, as if it was someone from my past that I'd forgotten about. Then again, it could just be someone whose voice I could recognize in person, just not over the phone.

"This is she," I answered.

"Blonde young woman, used to come in to Triple Goddess all the time? Best friend is a…is special?" the woman asked.

I paused, suddenly suspicious. I looked over at the two kids watching their cartoons and moved a little farther away. "That describes me; who is this?" I asked quietly.

"Marnie? Marnie Fletcher?" I knew that name. "I own Triple Goddess?"

Oh, that Marnie. I scowled at the kitchen cabinets. "OK, hi Marnie, where did you get my phone number?"

"411. Would you be able to set up a meeting with the vampires? The King and Queen?"

Emma and David? I suppose I could. I mean, if by setting up a meeting she means call Rum Runners and tell them she's coming. "I guess I _could_," I answered.

"Would you be willing to come with me? They aren't my biggest fans."

_Neither am I_, I thought. She did try to kill my best friend, after all. Intentional or not, that tends to leave a bad taste in one's mouth. "Why, Marnie? I need to know why."

"I have information on a threat that I fear is already here. It pertains directly to your friend, the seer."

My heart started beating faster. Sloane and Idi just left on a walk about a half hour ago. If there was a threat coming that scared Marnie, I had a feeling Idi wasn't exactly equipped to deal with it. "Is she in trouble now?" I asked quietly. I did not want to have the kids hear there might be trouble on the horizon. It took me way too long to calm Alex down after hearing Sloane's screams this morning. I didn't want to upset her again.

"I don't know, I hope not," she said. "But we need to do this soon. Please, make the arrangements." Her voice sounded pleading, like she felt her own impending doom coming, not just Sloane's.

I looked at my watch. "Alright, meet me at Rum Runners in…one hour. I've got to find a replacement babysitter for a few hours. Wait outside the door for me when you get there."

"Thank you, thank you." She hung up the phone before I could even say bye.

My next call was to Moose, who promised to come back over as soon as possible as long as I filled him in on the problem in detail when I got back. After that, I called Rum Runners.

"Rum Runners, dance club and dueling piano bar in one," said a perky female voice.

"Hello, can I speak with Emma, please?" I said.

"Master Emma is very busy right now. May I take a message to her?" she said, her voice not dropping one iota of perkiness.

"No, this is urgent. It is about Sloane." I had no idea if any of them knew who Sloane actually was, but I was hoping they did. I didn't have time to explain everything several times, I needed to leave soon.

"Master David's woman?" asked the voice. Her voice dropped a little at the mention of Sloane, from perky to irritated.

"Yes. Please pass the phone to Emma."

"One moment," she said with a sigh. I could hear the ebb and flow of noise as she travelled through the bar. When the noise fell away, I knew we were getting close and Emma was in her office.

"Good evening, this is Emma O'Hara," Emma said in a tired voice. I'd never heard her sound tired. Happy plenty of times, sad more times than I care to remember, even angry. Never tired.

"Emma, it's Sydney." I explained my earlier phone call from Marnie. "She's meeting me there in fifteen minutes."

"We will be waiting," she answered.

.

Marnie was pacing back and forth in front of the glass doors to Rum Runners to the side of the line that was gathering. I'd completely forgotten it was Saturday while class was in session. Of course the clubs would be packed. At least Emma was expecting me.

Marnie's long, grey hair was tied back in an intricate French braid, which pulled it back and out of the way. When her face wasn't framed with so much grey, you could notice that her face looked years younger than I thought her to be. Light brown eyes sparkled with tension until they saw me. Her long, gauzy dress in shades of purple swayed around her as she hurried to me. "Ms. Mets, thank Goddess."

"Marnie," I said quietly. I took her arm and pulled her to the front of the line where a large bouncer was holding back the line with his sheer size. "Emma's expecting us," I said to the bouncer.

"Name?" he asked as he pulled a sheet of paper from his back pocket. I guess there were plenty of people who tried to bypass the line this way. It was frustrating and unnecessary in my eyes, but he was only doing his job. No need to get angry at him.

"Sydney Mets, Marnie Fletcher," I answered.

He scanned his list before saying, "Go ahead."

I pulled Marnie into the club before the next group in line could start complaining. I didn't let go of her until I'd weaved the two of us through the crowd to the hallway that leads down to the bathrooms, and farther down the hall, Emma's office. There were two large bodyguards outside the door that led to Emma's office. I paused for a second, hesitant to go any farther, when the door opened. Cian stood in the open doorway and waved us over.

"Why are you here?" I asked Cian. At first, I thought he was wearing all black, but as I got closer, I could see he was wearing tight dark wash jeans that hugged his every curve. I can see someone has broken him of his baggy cargo pants for good. Thank God, I was about to sneak into his house and burn those things.

If I had been the jealous type, I'd be jealous of Sloane. Vampires aren't really my thing, but Cian was right up my alley, looks wise.

"It's my night to make an appearance and enthrall the vermin, as Eric would say," he answered.

I let Marnie take the small couch; I stood in the corner, leaning against the wall. Cian mirrored my position on the other side of the office. I had called Emma to set up this meeting, but it was David who was sitting behind the desk, in the position of power. An emerald green sweater accented the green in his eyes, making him look slightly more like his sister, who was standing on his right side. She was wearing a cream colored sheath dress that blended right into her skin color, setting off the brightness of her hair and eyes. On David's left, Lee stood dressed in his usual black pants and white button down shirt.

"Speak, witch," David said.

She glanced at me, looking for support. I half nodded half shrugged back at her. I had no idea how this was going to go; Sloane was better at the vampire politics than I was. In fact, this was my first official foray into it. I was here mainly to observe.

"There is a force of evil in this area." David, Emma, and Lee just stood or sat there, watching her as she paused. "I started feeling it yesterday, like someone was siphoning off my magic energy little by little. I've talked to some of the other practitioners in the area, and they feel it, too."

"I was told this pertained to my Sloane," David said, his hands tented above the desk. He glanced quickly at me, where I gave a shrug equivalent of don't-look-at-me.

"I contacted a fellow practitioner in Maine to ask her advice. A similar set of events happened there, as well. She works for the King of Maine, you know."

"Richard," David said. "I know him. Go on."

Marnie nodded. "Of course you do. Well, a few days after she started to feel it, some of the other vampires in the area started to feel their power draining, too. Almost a week after the evil presence arrived, a friend of the practitioner I was telling you about went missing."

David sighed. He didn't need to breathe, so the sigh was more to let Marnie know he was losing patience with her story than for himself. "The woman that was taken was a rare fire starter."

That finally caught David's attention. "How rare?"

"Less rare than your psychic. In the states, I know of four other fire starters. Sloane is the only psychic I know of."

"What happened to the woman?"

Marnie fidgeted. Whatever the news was, it wasn't good. "She was found ritualistically murdered. Her body was laid across and alter, her heart cut out." I shot a worried look at Cian. He returned it.

"You believe this evil presence is here to do the same to Sloane?" David shot one single look up to Lee, who nodded and left the room just as he did everything: silently.

"Yes," Marnie answered.

"To what end?" David asked.

Marnie shook her head in frustration. "I don't know."

Lee came back in with Idriis trailing close behind. They both opened a large armoire. I had to glance around Idriis' large form to see what was inside: weapons. Lots and lots of weapons.

"I should warn you," Marnie said quietly. "The King of Maine sent someone out to hunt for the evil. None of the vampires he sent out came back."

"Thank you for this warning," David said. "I have been feeling…lethargic lately. At first, I believed it was just Sloane's weakness I was feeling through the bond."

"I've been feeling weak, too," Cian added.

David stood suddenly, concentration clear on his face. "I feel her; she is terrified. She is southeast of here, maybe ten minutes by car. Three if we run." He grabbed a set of large swords from the cabinet, but before he could slide a sheath that looked a lot like Sloane's over his shoulders, he dropped to one knee. It looked like something knocked the wind out of him. When he looked up, he was panicked. "She's gone, I don't feel her anymore."

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Saying I woke up would not be accurate; waking up is a fully body activity. What I did was regain awareness more as an entity outside of my body than someone trapped within a body that wouldn't function. I tried to move my arm, but nothing happened. I had just as much of a chance of moving Sydney's arm just by thinking it. It was as if my consciousness was inside a body, but the body wasn't mine, didn't respond to my whim. I couldn't even feel my body. I knew it was raining because I could hear the heavy raindrops fall onto the leaves that surrounded me, and I was aware of the fact that the rain was also hitting my skin, but I couldn't feel it hitting my skin. I knew I was cold, but it was more of a primal knowledge than a logical leap from nerve endings to brain. I was also aware that I lay exactly where I fell, but I couldn't see my location. I just knew. This, I assume, is what an out-of-body experience is like.

The only thing that kept me from a complete panic attack was the knowledge that someone is most likely looking for me. David, for sure, was honing in on me with his own personal GPS right now, riding to my rescue. I tried to open up the bond, to urge him to move faster, but I couldn't. It wasn't that I couldn't, but that there was no bond to open. I have been completely split from David. I never thought that having complete freedom again would terrify me quite so much.

**SYDNEY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I felt like my knees were going to buckle out from under me at any point. "What does that mean?" I asked.

David had completely sunk to the floor, kneeling on all fours. I assumed that if he needed to breathe, he would be gasping for breath at this point. "I do not know," David answered. "It's as if the bond just disappeared, like it never existed in the first place."

"Is she…" I started. I couldn't finish the sentence; just thinking about Sloane being dead made my knees buckle. Idriis stood idly next to me, watching as I slid down the wall until my butt hit the floor.

"I don't think she's dead," Marnie said. She turned to David and said, "The fire starter's heart was taken while she was alive. If it is the same evil, and that evil has a rhyme to their reason, then the evil will probably stick to the same ritual."

Both David and I looked at her with horror on our faces. "What I mean is," she continued, backing away from both of us until she found the end of the couch. "There would have been more pain. We need to find her before the evil gets their hands on her."

"She and Idi left for a walk an hour and a half ago. The headed south."

"Idi is not answering his phone," added Idriis.

"I will go to the house and track her scent," Lee said. "Cian, Idriis," he ordered.

"I am coming," David demanded.

"So am I," I added.

"No," Lee said to the both of us. "My King, you are weak and disoriented. Ms. Mets, you are no more than another hostage."

Without another word, Lee, Idriis, and Cian loaded up with weapons and left.

.

David, Emma, Moose, and I were in my living room waiting patiently for word from Lee. Emma and I sat on the couch, Emma rubbing my back, and David pacing the living room from French doors to the unused dining room and back again. Moose sat in the solitary chair across the room trying not to look like his heart was being cut out. He was failing.

Lee, Idriis, and Cian burst through the door. Idriis was weighed down, his brother's limp body in his arms. Lee dropped to one knee in front of David and dropped his head. "I am sorry, my King, but there is no sign of her. Her scent tracks to Patriarch Park, where we found Idi unconscious. Then her scent simply disappears."

Cian joined Lee on the ground, lowering his head as well. "We searched the entire park, but there is no sign of her."

I was crying so intensely I couldn't see. Emma's pale, cold arms encircled my shoulders and pulled me into her. _I can't lose her again_, I thought. _I can't_.


	112. Chapter 112

*****Home, sweet home. Enjoy*****

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I was starting to lose all hope. I'd been following the emergence of the bullfrogs and crickets to mark the passage of time; it had been three days since I had collapsed where I still lay. I could even start to feel my body dying around me. Three days of no nutrition had taken its toll, making me feel weak and sick. I was dying slowly, ever so slowly, and all I could do was lie here and let it happen, watch it happen.

Fear ripped through my consciousness when I heard leaves rustling to my left. I willed my eyes to open, and surprisingly, they did. Control of my body was coming back. Fantastic! I'd try the rest of my body later; right now I needed to focus on the sniffing noises that I could hear coming from just out of my view. I tried to will my head to shift, just enough so I could see what was causing all the noise, but my body was seemingly done following my instructions.

It was large, that I could tell. _Please God, don't let it be something that will tear me apart_, I thought. I couldn't think of a worse way to die than to be torn apart and eaten by a wild animal.

It was the middle of the night, but even in the deep darkness, I could see large, yellow eyes come into view. Logic immediately took over for me; I spent the few seconds where I would usually be completely freaking out to analyze the animal's size. The eyes were maybe a foot from my face and very, very large. Larger than human eyes, for sure. My grandmother used to have a mastiff the size of a small bear, oddly named Pinky. These eyes looked about on par with the size of that dog.

But these were not a dog's eyes. They were yellow, and while they have the same shape as a dog's eye, the...innocence, the friendliness wasn't there. These eyes were smarter, more understanding; like this animal had a deep intelligence.

A large, wet nose poked itself into my face then my neck as the animal sniffed me. Small mewling, whining noises came from the animal as it sniffed its way down my body. It circled me a few times, never making a menacing move toward me. It moved as if it were more cautious, more thoughtful. I would have thought that the animal wouldn't have hesitated to make food out of me. After all, I was helpless. It would have been so easy to just kill and eat me.

When the wolf circled again, I got another good look into its eyes. I saw something else I wasn't expecting: concern. The animal was concerned for me. It wasn't until then that I put two and two together. It was Monday night, the first night of the full moon. The animal wasn't acting like a true animal because it wasn't. It was a shifter. I simultaneously felt better and worse about my situation. Now I just hoped that they were friendly, honorable. Hopefully, they'd have the peace of mind to help me find the help I needed. Whatever help that may be.

When the animal circled a few times and I could finally get a good look at the animal, I could finally tell it was a wolf. A very large wolf. The reason I was having trouble seeing it before because it was almost completely black, the only white section being a harlequin on its chest. The animal finished its circling and curled its body next to mine. When I could move again, I was going to hug whoever this animal turned out to be. I could already feel the animal's body heat seeping into my body, warming my frozen bones. I was finally warm, comforted in the fact that there was someone there to watch over me, protect me. Sure, they were in animal form, but still. They were mobile. That was more than I could say for myself.

.

I woke to a cold nose pressing itself against my neck, whining noises coming from the animal. When I opened my eyes, the animal seemed encouraged, hopping up to a stance that looked more like he was ready to pounce. And yes, I said he. Now that the sun was rising, I could tell this animal was most definitely male.

When I didn't pop up with him, he leaned back down and nudged my shoulder. Again, I didn't move. I tried to, but I couldn't. The biggest movement I could manage at the moment was opening my mouth to moan lightly.

The animal whined again before running off at full speed. I wanted to scream _No, don't go! Don't leave me!_ but I couldn't. All I could do was watch the animal, my possible savior, gallop off into the distance. A tear fell from watch of my eyes, landing with a slight splash on the leaves beneath me.

I waited in quiet despair for my body to disintegrate around me. I had convinced myself while the wolf kept me warm that I was saved, safe. Now I had that horrible feeling of despair again, and it stung more the second time around.

"Yea, come get me," I heard coming at me fast. "And bring my blanket; just grab it from my bed. You are not going to believe this, RJ."

I could finally put a human body with the voice, with the animal that kept me warm. It was Alec who trotted into my view wearing nothing but a pair of warn, grey sweatpants and a pair of flip flops. His upper body was bare, revealing a nice chest. Not that I was looking to add to my men or anything, but I could still appreciate. Even in my current screwed condition, I could appreciate. The only thing that marred the beautiful view was the cris-crossing of scars across his chest and down around to his lower back. They were older than my own, much older, but put my scars to shame. Then again, I was willing to bet he didn't have a powerful vampire to help him heal his wounds. Not like I did.

He dropped to his haunches in front of me, holding the cell phone taut between his shoulder and his ear. "I don't know, man, I don't know. Just hurry."

He dropped the cell phone into his hand and shoved it into his pocket. "Sloane? Can you hear me?" he asked as he threw his zip up sweatshirt around my upper body. I wanted to scream at him, _Yes, yes I can hear you!_ _Help me!_ but I couldn't. All I could do was look up at him and try to convey that information in my eyes. "Fuck," was all he said before lifting me from the ground.

He carried me through the woods as if I weighed nothing at all. When we finally emerged, I could see where we were. There was a small maintenance drive to the back of Patriarch Park that kids often used for necking. Not that I ever did as a kid. Nope, not as a kid.

Alec folded himself onto the ground just off the trail and set me in his lap, folding as much of me as he possibly into his lap. "Fuck, you're cold," he said as a shiver rippled down his spine. I just think he was cold. After all, he wasn't wearing a shirt. I was finally warm, for the first time in three days.

I could hear the rumbling engine of the old truck before I could see it. When the maroon truck finally arrived, the non-descript blonde man from class hopped out of the cab. "What the hell, Bordy?" he said.

Alec lifted me from his lap seamlessly and carried me into the truck. "She was just lying there, man, just lying there in the woods."

RJ looked over Alec's shoulder, meeting my eyes with his own dull blue ones. "Are you alright?" he asked me.

"She won't speak, she just looks at me. She doesn't smell alive, man. She doesn't even smell like anything. It's like she's not even really there. It took me a while to realize what I was seeing was actually a person, and longer to realize that person was alive."

RJ didn't respond, he just opened the passenger side door for Alec. Sitting in the passenger seat was a large blue comforter. Wasting no time, RJ unfolded it and wrapped it awkwardly around my body, tucking it in where my body met Alec's to hold it in place. As awkwardly as RJ tucked the blanket around me, that's how gracefully Alec climbed into the passenger side. After making sure my feet were clear of the door, RJ closed it, hopped into the driver's side, and peeled out.

We were just pulling on to the main road when RJ spoke. "Where the fuck am I going, Alec?" he asked as he hesitated. We sat idling at the intersection as RJ waited for Alec's answer.

Alec had leaned his head against the headrest, obviously exhausted from the night's festivities. "Back to the house, I guess," he answered.

"Shouldn't we take her to the hospital? I mean…Fuck, I don't know what I mean."

Alec finally lifted his head from the headrest and looked at RJ; the movement jostled my head just enough that Alec was forced to tighten his grip on my body. "And say what? 'Hey, I found her in the middle of the woods last night. Why was I in the middle of the woods? Well I'm a Werewolf, you see. Can anyone corroborate my story? Well, no, I haven't picked a pack, so I was running alone last night. Yes, officer, I'd love to accompany you down to the station.'" He sighed and leaned his head back against the headrest. "Besides, I'm not convinced she's actually hurt. What could a hospital do for her?"

"She has blood on her jeans."

Alec shifted me in his arms so my leg was more available to him. "It's just a scrape," he said after peeling back the blankets and rolling up the leg of my jeans. "It's already scabbed over, anyway."

We were driving through a small neighborhood with lines upon lines of World War II houses that matched my own. "Anything else?" RJ asked as he pulled into a driveway.

"Nothing obvious," Alec said as he pushed the passenger side door open. He glanced from side to side cautiously, looking for onlookers, before lifting me from his lap and quickly carrying me inside the small A-frame house.

He carried me into a small living room, seemingly filled to the brim with large furniture, followed closely behind b y RJ. He set me down on the large couch and straightened himself out to walk away. Illogical panic rocketed through me. I was in a strange house, with no real idea of where I was, with one man I barely knew and another I didn't know at all, and on top of that, I couldn't move. _No_, I screamed through my head. _Don't leave me!_

He must have seen the panic in my eyes. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to grab you a pillow."

He was back in a second with a pillow he must have stolen from his own bed. For a man whose height I was now estimating at six and a half feet, he was surprisingly agile, moving with almost cat-like grace. He tucked the pillow gently under my head and leaned in close. "Can you talk?" he asked.

I obviously didn't answer. I wanted to scream at him, but I just couldn't make the action happen. He must have read my eyes, because next he said, "Blink if you can understand me."

That I could do. I blinked at him several times, not stopping until a small laugh escaped his lips. "OK, OK," he said. "I get it. Are you hurt?" he asked next. "Blink once for yes, twice for no."

Oh, this was just ridiculous. I rolled my eyes to convey that before blinking twice. Beyond being trapped in my own body, no I wasn't hurt. "Good," he replied. "I don't suppose you could make those expressive eyes tell me what I should do with you? Or what's wrong with you? Or why you were laying in the middle of the woods just waiting to be eaten?"

The answer to that question was no. I looked up at him, watching the concerned lines in his face soften as he watched me. "Right, OK. Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" he asked next.

I thought about that one. Personally, yes, I feel like I stood a better chance in a hospital, but logically, I knew that wasn't true. Nothing was actually wrong with me. Sure, they could give me fluids and keep me alive, but I wasn't sure it was worth it yet. There would be too many questions for both me and Alec. With all the times I've been in to the hospital under less-than-normal circumstances, those questions would come at us hard and fast. Finally, I blinked twice. No.

He took a long sigh of relief. "Good. I wasn't sure how I was going to explain this." He curled himself onto the floor next to the couch, getting comfortable for our conversation.

"Bordy, I gotta go to class, man. Are you going…" RJ asked. The question seemed to die in his throat.

"I'll stay here with her, go ahead," Alec said.

RJ dropped his head as if he were ashamed. "Text me if anything changes," he said as he grabbed his backpack and headed out the door.

When Alec looked back down at me, he seemed to notice something. He cocked his head as he turned mine away from him, bearing my neck in the process. "You have a vampire bite," he said as he touched the two perfectly symmetrical holes in my neck. He turned me to face him again. "Did vampires do this?"

I blinked twice.

His eyebrows pulled together, as if he just thought of something that really upset him. "You're not one of those fangbangers, are you?"

Another hard question. Am I dating one of the fanged? Yes, technically I'm dating two of the fanged. Do I consider myself a fangbanger? No. I guess that all depended on what he considered a fangbanger. I went with my definition and blinked twice.

"Good." He took my hand in his and settled in. If he planned on sitting on the floor and watching me all day, it was going to be a long one.

.

If I could move to yawn, I would have. My body didn't feel tired (my body didn't feel much of anything), but my mind was exhausted. The emotional rollercoaster that had been the last few days was starting to take its toll. I promised myself I was going to close my eyes for a second, but that promise never seems to work for me.

"Hey, hey," he said as he shook my shoulder. When he gently laid a hand on my face, I opened my eyes again, but not without great struggle. "Jesus Christ, you scared me," he said as he placed his free hand over his heart. "I thought you were dying or something."

That's funny, I thought he was asleep sitting up with his head resting right next to mine on the pillow, his hand still tucked in mine. How did he see my eyes close? HIS eyes were closed.

My eyes started to close again. I needed to rest. "Wait, stay with me," he said as he rubbed my cheek with his thumb. "Just a few more questions. Are you dying?"

I would have laughed if I could have. I never thought I'd hear that particular question asked of me. I always figured that if I was dying, it'd be brutally obvious. Slowly, tiredly, I blinked twice. No, I wasn't dying. Well, not _this instant_, I wasn't dying.

"Are you just tired?"

Finally, an answer I could blink yes to. I closed my eyes with every intention of opening them again. That didn't happen.

.

I woke to voices. "She's got a vampire bite on her neck, but she says it wasn't the vampires," said Alec's voice. He unconsciously rubbed his thumb on the inside of my wrist as he talked about me.

"She's talking?" That was RJ's voice. He must be home from class.

"No," Alec answered. "But she can blink."

"Blink?" RJ asked. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "So what are we going to do? With her, I mean. She can't stay here forever."

"I know," Alec answered. "Whatever happens, it needs to happen quickly. She hasn't had anything to eat or drink all day, which makes me wonder…"

"How long has it been since she had anything? That question crossed my mind, too."

There was a long moment of silence that was just a bit more than my curiosity could handle. I opened my eyes to find them both staring into nothingness. "You said she had vampire marks?"

"Yea," Alec said.

RJ noticed my eyes had opened. "Are you friends with the vampires?" he asked me.

Alec turned to look at me as I answered. One blink: yes.

"That's a yes," Alec translated. "Do you want us to take you to them?"

I blinked once again. I would have blinked more as a more emphatic yes, but I was afraid they wouldn't understand.

After I blinked yes, I had a horrible thought that made me hesitate. I'd assumed that when they said 'vampires', they meant David. It didn't occur to me when I said yes that they weren't the only vampires in the state. Hell, they weren't even the only vampires in the city. I couldn't imagine that all the vampires in the city knew who I was or would be loyal enough to turn me over to David and Emma. They could be literally delivering me to certain death.

Shit.

Alec checked his phone for the time before a worried look crossed his eyes. "It's only three," he said. "Sunset's in what, five, six hours?"

"Something like that," RJ answered.

Alec shook his head. "I don't like this plan, man."

"Hey, don't look at me," RJ said as he held his hands to the sky. "It was your idea."

"It was a stupid one," Alec said. "I can't take her to them for the same reason I can't take her to the hospital."

RJ looked stumped. "I doubt they'd involve the cops, Bordy," he said.

"That's not it!" Alec said. His grip on my hand got tighter and tighter; enough that I was simultaneously glad and angry that I couldn't make a peep. Sure, I didn't want him to inadvertently break my hand, but I also didn't want to bring his attention back to me. I was done being in the path of rage-blinded males. It's too easy to remind me I'm breakable. "What do you think they'll do when they find out that I'm skirting on the outside of their packs? Trust me, that's going to be a huge nail in my coffin, no matter what I say."

His grip loosened just before a tear fell from my eye. God, that hurt, even when I could only feel my body in bits and pieces. "We'll figure something out, man. I'll take her in there if I have to," RJ said. "But don't break her hand."

Alec seemed to remember that I was attached to him, looking down at our joined hands. He didn't seem to like what he saw, letting go of my hand all together. "Sorry," he mumbled to me as he burrowed both of his hands in his hair.

I tried to make my eyes look sympathetic. If anyone knew what it was like to be forced to stand on the outside looking in, it was me. I didn't know all the details, but I understood.

"Look, we'll figure something out," RJ said again. "Go take a shower and get some sleep. I'll stay here with her, and we'll talk about it again when you're not exhausted."

Alec just nodded, not even bothering to lift his head far enough from his knees to make eye contact. He kept his eyes down as he pushed himself up to his feet and ambled out of the room without a word.

RJ sat in the Lazyboy recliner and turned on the TV. "Don't mind Bordy. He's always pretty grumpy after his runs. ESPN?" he said as he automatically turned the TV on to the useless drawl of the sports casters. Was there something on my forehead that read, 'I love SportsCenter'? Why is it that ESPN is the only channel everyone I knew with phallic genitalia watched?

I just closed my eyes and willed myself to fall back asleep. If I heard Tony Reali's voice one more time, I might scream. If I could, that is.

.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

A couple hours of sleep really did do wonders. I had a moment of pure panic as I woke up, trying to remember why I had no blanket and no pillow. _Oh, that's right_, I'd thought. _There's a borderline comatose girl on my couch. That's where my blanket and pillow are._

Shit, what the hell am I going to do with her? I ran my fingers through my hair; hair I still wore long, even though the reason was no longer valid. _That woman did a number on you_, I thought to myself as I tried to fix the now wavy mess with my fingers. I shouldn't have fallen asleep with my hair wet, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer after I got out of the shower. I was too tired to even get dressed before I fell onto my bare bed and passed out.

_Tomorrow_, I thought. _Tomorrow I'm shaving my head. Take that, Jules._

I threw on a pair of boxers from the drawer and picked a pair of jeans up off the floor. Once I shook them out, they weren't too wrinkled. They'd do. I grabbed a black t-shirt from the closet and walked into the living room.

RJ was sitting in the recliner, as always. He turned his head, but when he noticed me, he went right back to paying full attention to the TV. "Feeling better, Sleeping Beauty?" he asked as he piled another potato ship into his mouth.

I didn't dignify that with an answer. "How's she doing?" I ran my fingers through my hair one more time before walking into the small kitchen. So hungry.

"Been asleep for hours. Don't worry, I checked. She's still breathing." I could hear RJs voice getting louder as he moved through the house after me. "So, what's going on, Bro?" he asked when he joined me in the kitchen. I had buried my head in the fridge, even though I knew very well there wasn't anything in there. Thanks to Jules, I'd never learned how to grocery shop. She didn't want me self sufficient and I was too googly-eyed for her to notice what she was doing.

"What do you mean," I asked after a long sigh. _You can do this, Alexander James Bourdain_, I thought as I felt the first tendrils of panic burrow themselves into my chest. _It's just grocery shopping. We'll do it tomorrow._

"With the girl, with Sloane," RJ said. "It's not like you to care like this, not since…"

I was thankful for RJ not finishing that sentence, even if I knew what he was going to say. Not since Julie is what he meant to say. And it was true. It had taken a lot for me to break free of her; another state and a low profile to be exact. And I was about to put all that on the line to help a woman I barely knew.

But I couldn't explain it to him. For some reason, I was just pulled toward her. It's like she was the sun and I was the Earth. It was impossible not to gravitate to her. That self-confidence she had in herself. That quick wit. That beautiful smile.

_Dammit, stop thinking like that_, I chastised. I can't believe I approached her in the first place. What the hell had I been thinking? I was not ready for another woman in my life, no matter how seemingly perfect. "It's hard to explain," I said finally when I noticed RJ's eyes boring holes into me. I'd been silent, contemplative, for far too long. "She's like the flame, and I'm the moth."

"Wow, man. That was close to poetry coming from your mouth."

I shot him the look that comment deserved. We'd been friends since childhood, and the look needed no accompanying words. He knew that the next words out of his mouth, if not chosen carefully, would be his last for a while.

He decided on business. "OK, then. I did some research while the two of you slept." He cowered a little bit, hoping that was an appropriate change of topic. When I made no move to beat the living shit out of him, he continued. "I figured I'd look in to the local vamp population. Turns out, the vamp king lives in town."

I cocked an eyebrow. "What did you find out about him?"

"He's…different, from what I can tell." RJ never had the kind of experiences I did with vampires, but he'd heard enough of my own troubles to be more the weary of them. It wasn't just Julie that I was running from. A shudder ran down my back when I thought of what was waiting for me back home.

RJ didn't seem to notice, he just kept explaining what he'd found. "He rules with his honest-to-God sister, like sibling sister. She's married, has been for a hundred years. They just got remarried this past winter." He pulled a picture out of his back pocket of three vampires, one female and two males. She was beautiful; vibrant red hair, probing green eyes. She looked dwarfed standing between the two males, one large with the same heart-shaped face as her and the other of obvious Asian descent. I imagined that's what Sloane would look like standing between them. "David O'Hara, Emma O'Hara, and Lee Wong," he said as he pointed to the corresponding vampire in the picture. Not that there'd be any mistaking them. "They own a bunch of properties, but I made some calls. Looks like they spend the majority of their time at a club called Rum Runners. It's hot with the fangbanger crowd."

So we had a plan.


	113. Chapter 113

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I squeezed Sloane's limp body to me almost painfully as we sat in RJ's truck in the service alley behind Rum Runners. I knew what I had to do, I knew what RJ was about to do. Still, I didn't want to let go of her. It was irrational. Was I being fucking_ protective_? Of Sloane? I barely knew her…

Besides, I knew this was her best chance of surviving. Still, I'd feel better if I was going in there with her. But I couldn't, not without risking both myself and RJ. I just kept reminding myself that RJ's life was in the balance, as well. _He helped to hide me_, I kept thinking. _It's just as good as a death warrant in my world._

"Ready, man?" RJ asked.

I couldn't tear my gaze away from Sloane's face. Her eyes were closed, still sleeping soundly. I could feel her heart beating strongly under my palm, or else I wouldn't have been able to tell she was alive. Her chest barely rose with each breath. She still didn't smell like _anything_, not even that subtle scent of fruit I'd noticed the first time I'd talked to her. Not even woods. Hell, after how close I'd been to her all night and then all day, she should smell like me. But she has no smell.

"Bordy?" RJ asked.

I finally tore my gaze from Sloane's face. "Yea?" I asked. I can't even remember what he'd said.

"Are you ready?"

I shook my head no. "This feels wrong," I said as I turned my attention back down to Sloane. It just didn't feel right to leave Sloane helpless at the back door of the club, helpless against anything. At least here, I knew I could protect her. After all, that's what I was good at.

"She'll be fine. You'll be watching her, remember? From right here. She'll be at most twenty feet away." RJ placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'll go in, make sure they know she's here."

RJ opened the door and put one foot on the ground before turning to look at me. "Damn, Bordy. What did she do to you?"

At this point, I didn't know who 'she' was supposed to be, Sloane or Julie. I just opened the passenger side door and lifted her back into my arms silently. _This is how it has to be_, I thought. _At least I know who to come after if I never see her again_. I stopped short. The thought I'd never see her again made my heart stop. _What the fuck is wrong with me?_

RJ disappeared around the front of the building as I gently set Sloane on the ground. She was unconscious, and therefore probably couldn't care less how I placed her, but I fussed over her, making sure she was comfortable. I shook my head to myself as I retreated into the far alley, blending in seamlessly to the brick building. When I finally picked a vantage point I was happy with, I looked down toward Sloane. From where I was, I could see everything in the alley and was only a mere thirty or so feet from her. Also, I was a story above the ground, making it harder for anything to sneak up on me.

It didn't take long for someone to come out the back door. And he was a monster. Huge in a way that probably inspired eons of scary stories about monsters and boogy men, skin made of black marble. Long tendrils of hair snaked down his back, only tied out of the way with a long leather strap.

As soon as he noticed Sloane, he produced a weapon seemingly from thin air. He had training like mine, which made me instantly weary. Nothing good ever came from men like that. Especially for fragile, unconscious women. No, men like that are dangerous for women like that. _Except for me_, I added.

He scanned the alley thoroughly before sliding the weapon back into the hidden sheath. When he bent down over her, he tucked two fingers against her neck, feeling for a pulse. When he got one, he lifted her from the ground as gently as I laid her there and swept her inside. A shot of panic ran through me when I couldn't see her anymore. I had to fight the undeniable urge to sneak inside and do some recon. Surely another college-aged kid wouldn't look out of place.

RJ came jogging back into the alley, breaking me out of my contemplation. "Alec," he whispered as he looked around. "Bordy, man, where'd you go? We need to get out of here."

I hopped down from my second-story hiding place mere feet from where RJ stood. "Gah!" he said as he jumped. "Would you stop that shit? Jesus Christ, scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry," I mumbled as I climbed into the passenger seat. "Let's get out of here."

**EMMA'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Idriis barged into the otherwise empty office, back first. I was happy for the momentary company, even if it was the usually silent Idriis. David hadn't left his condo since we…lost Sloane, wallowing in his own sorrow, and Lee had vowed to continue to look for her for him. I wasn't used to being the only one in the office. I hadn't felt so alone in over a hundred years.

"Good Evening, Idriis," I said as I looked back down toward my paperwork. His urgency made me think there was something wrong in the bar, and I did not want to deal with it.

"My Queen," he said, his voice excited. I'd never heard Idriis sound excited. The change in his behavior made me look up.

I hopped out of my chair before I could stop myself. "Where did you find her?" I asked as he set Sloane down on the couch. I took a deep breath through my nostrils, trying to get a sense of what was wrong with her. I'd been using my advanced sense of smell to help me diagnose disease for decades now, and tonight would be no different. But when I took my deep breath, I didn't smell anything. It's like she wasn't even there.

Idriis backed away, giving me better access to her. Her eyes were closed peacefully, her heart beating strong. If it wasn't for the absence of smell, I would have thought she was just asleep. That, and the hollow, almost skeleton quality of her cheeks.

"A man came in speaking of a package left at our back door. When I investigated, she was there."

She was emaciated, but my first instinct wasn't to heal her, to get her nourishment. My first instinct was to heal my brother's heart. "Call my Lee, tell him we have found her," I said as I effortlessly lifted her body from the couch. "Tell him to please meet me at David's. And please alert Cian that she is alive."

"Yes, my Queen."

I easily balanced her body as I ran the small distance to David's condo. I didn't even bother with the elevator, taking the stairs up to the top floor instead. I balanced her body awkwardly as I opened the unlocked door to his condo.

"Please state your name," the electronic security system chirped.

"Emma O'Hara," I answered.

"Voice sample confirmed. Welcome, Emma."

"Leave me alone, sister," David said from the couch. He didn't turn to look at me at all; he barely moved. He sat alone in the dark in the same pants he slept in. Chances are, he hadn't moved in three days.

"But I brought you a gift," I said with an uncontrollable smile on my face. I could forget the fact that Sloane was unconscious for a minute as I anticipated my brother's happiness at seeing her. I would give anything to see him smile again.

"I do not want it," he replied.

I walked through the foyer, through the kitchen, and stood behind him on the couch. "Oh, I believe you will," I said before circling the couch to stand in front of him, Sloane still in my hands. He didn't look up at me, he just kept his gaze steadily on the floor. "But if you'd like, I can take her back home with me. You are not the only one who missed Sloane in her absence."

David glanced up, his face starting off in an angry grimace. When he noticed who I was carrying, his eyes lit up and he shot to his feet. "Where did you find her?" he asked as he pulled her from my arms.

"A good Samaritan dropped her at Rum Runners. How they knew to bring her to us, I haven't the faintest idea, but I am glad they did."

David lost balance with her in his arms and the two of them fell back onto the couch. He shielded her body from any harm that may come as he took the majority of the fall on his back. He was weak; too weak to carry Sloane.

He needed to eat, now.

I heated two TrueBloods for him and carried them both back for him. Somehow, I knew they were going to be completely ignored unless I stole Sloane back from him. Maybe even then. "I thought…" David started as he stared down into her face, thumb rubbing a gentle circle around her cheek. "I thought when…if I ever found her again, and she was in my arms, I'd be able to feel her again."

"You are speaking of the bond?" I asked carefully. I didn't want to go too far; David's face wore that fragile, shattered look that I'd gotten too used to seeing over the years. I lowered myself into the closest chair, sitting on the very edge so I could hop up at a moment's notice.

He nodded his response slowly, still not taking his eyes from her face. "I feel almost empty without her roil of emotions running through me. I feel strangely alone without her constant companionship. When will she open her eyes?" he asked as he spared a glance for me.

I could feel my face soften under that glance. I wished, more than anything, I had an answer for him. Maybe I should have waited until I had tended to her before bringing her here, before involving David. "I do not know," I answered.

His glanced dropped back to her as he traced her lips with his finger, running his thumb down the ledge of her nose. "_Is she well?_" he asked in our native language.

"_I have not had a chance to properly look her over, but it seems as if she is just in a deep sleep_." I answered in that tongue. "_Perhaps a bit malnourished. Like you, dear brother._"

David ignored my comment by continuing to ignore the two TrueBloods sitting in front of him. "_Wake up, my treasure, come back to me,_" David said as he shook her lightly. When she didn't respond, he tried harder, repeating the sentence louder and shaking her more fiercely. Were she nearly sleeping soundly, she would definitely be awake at this point, probably cursing at David for shaking her so hard. No, her slumber was deeper than it appeared.

David's frantic eyes looked up at me. "_Do not let her wither and die, sister. Please, not when I just found her again_." He was rocking her now, and my heart bled. What if I had just teased him with something I couldn't deliver? What if Sloane was beyond what I could do for her? Personally, I didn't even know where to start.

"Reconnect the bond, brother," Lee said from behind me as he gently laid his hand on my shoulder. We had shared enough blood throughout the century that he knew every little iota that passed through my psyche. Usually, I tried to block most of the unpleasant emotions from him, aware of how much more sensitive to heartache I was than him. But tonight, I must be slipping. After all, I didn't hear him disengage the security system. I was spacing, as they say.

David didn't hesitate. He shredded his own wrist with his impressive fangs and gently opened her mouth, dripping the thick, deep red blood into her gaping mouth. When the wound closed and there was no change in Sloane's condition, he opened his wrist again, more savagely, and pressed his wrist hard into her mouth. Desperation filled his eyes; Lee's hand squeezed my shoulder in support and as I subtle reminder that, should I need him, he was there.

"Complete the bond, bite her," Lee prompted.

Again, without hesitation, David bit a gentle hole in her neck and sucked down her blood. And they both screamed.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

My body was not having a good couple of days. As if the soreness of not moving and the weakness from malnutrition wasn't enough, it felt like I'd been shoved into an electrical outlet. My entire body tingled like an electrical shock, but the only sensation that really filled my body wasn't pain or fear. It was relief. When I opened my eyes, I was looking up at David.

Had that been a scream I heard come from my mouth? Did that mean I could talk again? I didn't want to take it too fast and jinx this miraculous recovery, but I had to know. I took a deep breath and tried something easy. "David," I whispered.

Oh, thank God. I was no longer trapped in my body, on the outside looking in, unable to communicate. I didn't care if I never moved again; I was saved. I was safe, cared for by the man who loved me.

I sobbed.

.

David held me and let me cry, whispering encouraging words as he kissed me from forehead to shoulder. When I felt strong enough to try, I tried to push myself out of his arms. He didn't want to let me go, holding me harder to him. That didn't matter, though. I wasn't even near strong enough to try getting to my feet yet.

Emma forced bread down my throat small piece by small piece. When I felt like I'd finished half the loaf (even if it had only been a slice or two), I tried again. David clenched his arms around me again, but I felt stronger this time. I could do it this time. And I really needed to use the bathroom.

I cleared my throat and spoke with a scratchy voice that wasn't my own. "I have to pee, David."

"Let her up, dear brother," Emma said as she kneeled at our feet, bag of bread still in her hand. "While she uses the facilities, perhaps you could take more care of yourself?" She thrust and untouched TrueBlood toward him.

David didn't let me go. "David, you can carry me to the bathroom, I don't care, but somehow I'm getting to that bathroom."

It didn't take a genius to see which option David would choose; pick me up and carry me or let me walk on my own. He slid one arm underneath my knees, and with his other arm already supporting my weight from the back, he lifted me from the couch.

He seemed shaky, which he was never shaky, never when carrying me. I threw my arms around his neck and supported some of my weight on his torso which seemed to help, but he still was far from steady. He stumbled as he set me down outside the door to the bathroom. When he set me down, it was clear he wasn't the only one that was feeling weak.

He braced himself against the door jamb when I pulled his face down to my level, laying a light kiss on his lips. "Eat something, honey," I whispered as I leaned my forehead against his. "You're scaring me, and I need you strong so you can take care of me."

The corners of his lips curled up in a gentle smile. "You always were the smart one."

.

For some reason, I knew the second the front door was slammed open that it wasn't a threat coming for me. After all, that would be my usual response to the amount of noise coming from David's foyer. Instead, I flung the comforter off of myself and flew out of David's bed before David could reel me back in, launched myself through the kitchen, passed the living room, and into Cian's arms before the security system had a chance to start up.

"Please state your name," the security system finally chirped.

"Sloane McIntosh," I said. I refused to let my grip on Cian's neck go, which seemed perfectly fine to him.

"Voice sample confirmed. Welcome, Sloane."

"Yes," Cian finally said. "Welcome back. I came as soon as I got Idriis' message."

"I know," I said. I could feel David approaching through the bond, and if I hadn't been able to tell he was still just elated, I would have loosened up on Cian. I still wasn't comfortable enough with the two boyfriend thing to be this intimate with one in the presence of another. But David didn't have it in him to be jealous right now and I just needed to hold Cian.

I think Cian felt the same way I did, but he forced himself to lower me back to my feet when he saw David round the corner. "I am sorry, my King. I know it is your night to be with her, but I just…I needed…"

"I understand," David said, cutting him off. "Please, hold her. You both need it."

Cian gathered me back up. I had inside information on David's state of mind, and I was still shocked to hear that come from his mouth. Cian, however shocked he might have been, didn't miss a step. He lifted me back into his arms, forcing me to wrap my legs around his torso, and buried his head in my hair. "You no longer smell of you."

"So I've been told," I said.

"You are well?" he whispered into my ear. "What happened? Where have you been? Who did this?"

I felt David's chest pressed against my back before I felt him lay a gentle kiss on the cheek opposite to the one Cian was whispering in. "Answer his questions, my Love. I have a few phone calls to make."

Cian carried me to the leather chair in the corner and sat me down on his lap. As I had done with David and Emma, I told him everything I remember, leaving everything with Alec and RJ out of it. After all, he seemed to desperately need it. After Alec took care of me all night and all day, it was my turn to take care of him. "I remember lying in the woods, resigned to the fact I was going to die out there, then I woke up here."

"I searched every inch of those woods for you," he said as he fingered my hair. He was staring at something and nothing all in one, his eyes not focused as he talked. "But if you had no smell…I had not anticipated that. I should have looked harder."

I wrapped my arms around his neck even tighter and kissed his cheek. "It's OK," was all I could think to say to comfort him.

He stared into nothingness for a little while longer before he came back to the here and now with me. When his eyes focused again, he took a long look over my body. "But you are well? You look…ill."

I smiled wide, trying not to laugh. "Wow, you really know the way to a girl's heart." He gave me a hard look. Obviously, he wasn't in a joking mood quite yet. "I have a scrapped up knee," I said as I pulled the leg of my jeans up, "and I'm really, really tired, but other than that, I'm fine."

He eyed the scrape identical to the ones he'd seen on my skin before. "Are you sure it was a woman?" he asked. It was my turn to give him a hard look. Yes, I was aware that when I'd had the visions that gave me that scrape, the chaser to my chasee hadn't been a woman. It'd been a beautiful wolf. But I'd be willing to bet that if she…whatever she was…knew what she was coming after, she'd have been powerful enough to protect herself from my talent. After all, it's taken only a simple touch to almost kill Idi and me. Since he had no bond to reconnect, Idi, for all intensive purposes, was still on his way toward being forever dead. My heart cried again as I thought of him, still unconscious in the royal mansion, guarded and cared for night and day.

If only there was someone who he had a bond with, he could be saved like I'd been saved. But Idi himself had told me that the woman who had turned both he and his brother had died years ago, the same night she released them from their servitude to her. Apparently, they didn't appreciate their treatment while in her care. The only bond Idi had left was a brotherly one.

A eureka moment dawned on me as I shot out of Cian's lap. "They're brothers," I said as I stared back at his stunned face. "Brothers!" I repeated as he stared up at me. His face melded from surprised to confused as I stumbled over the coffee table on my way to David.

When I barged into David's office, he looked up from behind his desk, concern on his face. He still held the phone to his ear when I said, "Idi and Idriis are brothers."

"Excuse me a moment," he said into the receiver. After pressing a button on the phone, he set it back into its cradle. "I am aware of that," David said.

"Twins," I amended.

David glanced over my shoulder at Cian, who had followed me. "Again, I am aware of that."

"Identical twins," I said. I couldn't keep the excitement out of the voice, which only served to confuse David and Cian even more. Was I the only one that got this? I couldn't be the only one that caught on to this by now. "You said that if Idi had a bonded, someone he shared his blood with, they could try what we just tried, right? Well, he doesn't have a bonded, he has an identical brother." I stared at them, waiting for comprehension to filter over their faces. It didn't happen. Gah! "An identical twin with and identical genetic makeup."

They still weren't getting it. I stomped my foot in frustration. "They share the same blood! They don't need a bond like ours, they've had theirs from birth!"

Finally, comprehension. And it was good, too, because if they still didn't get it, I was going to hit someone.

"I will finish this phone call and talk to Idriis in a moment," David said, proud-PaPa smile on his face.

"I knew I was attracted to you for a reason," Cian said as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"And what reason is that?" I asked.

"You're brilliant."


	114. Chapter 114

I spent the rest of the night sandwiched between two vampires. I was exhausted and tried to sleep in David's bed, but I couldn't fall all the way into a dreaming sleep without jerking awake, afraid that I was on the forest floor again. I couldn't actually fall asleep until I had both David and Cian touching me. I was beyond embarrassed to ask them both to join me in bed. It felt like I was speeding way too close to a true ménage a trois with the three of us in the same bed at the same time. But my men handled it well. It was mildly awkward for a while, my head resting on David's shoulder and Cian's hand wrapped around my waist, but not for long. Once I was safe between both of my men, I was out cold in just a few minutes.

Cian dropped me off at home just before dawn. All I wanted to do was climb back into bed, but I was afraid to. Again, I didn't want to have another forest floor nightmare. Luckily, Sydney was asleep in my bed, curled in a tiny ball around my pillow. I pulled back the covers and gently climbed in, wrapping myself around her back. Again, I fell asleep with my head in a nest of her hair in a matter of minutes. I didn't wake back up until she did well into the afternoon, when she practically suffocated me with a hug.

As it was now, I was sitting alone in my room the next day, Thursday, procrastinating going to class. I would have much rather curled back into bed and laid there until David showed up tonight. I was just about to toe my shoes off and climb under my covers when Sydney burst into my room. If the fact that she burst into my room without knocking didn't tell me something strange was up, her face would have. She looked jazzed and scared at the same time. And she was panting, on the fringe of hyperventilating.

"There are two men…just appeared in the kitchen…asking for you."

I cocked my eyebrows at her. "They just appeared?" I asked.

She nodded her head vigorously. "There was a 'pop', and there they were."

I had a feeling I knew who at least one of them was, but I had no idea what Niall would be doing here. "OK," I said. After pushing myself off of my bed and sliding my feet back into my shoes, I led Sydney down the stairs and into the kitchen.

It was Niall who was sitting at my kitchen table, making the whole place look more regal. He leaned back into the spindle-backed chair, his ankle crossed over his knee, one hand on his walking cane. He would look just as right sitting on a throne as he did sitting in my kitchen. As always, he looked wonderful.

The man behind him took my breath away. His hair was long, longer than mine, and so white it gleamed with a silver twinge. His silver gray eyes matched the same silver twinge in his hair as they bored holes into me. But beyond the beautiful symmetry to his eyes and hair, his face was just downright lovely. A long slender nose accented the sharp curve of his mouth, which further accented his strong jawline. But the strangest thing wasn't his physical appearance. It was his metaphysical appearance. Where Niall's subtle glow was tinged in blue, the stranger's glow was pure white. And he had honest-to-God ghostly wings protruding from his back. Wings with an easy 6-foot wingspan. _Holy shit_.

Niall stood from his makeshift throne and embraced me. "My niece."

"Hi, Niall," I said as I hugged him back.

He pulled out of the hug and looked me over head to toe. "Magic hides your scent."

"I know," I answered. I was actually getting tired of being told that. Each time I heard it, my mind flashed back to why I had no scent, and fear gripped me all over again.

I tried to shake the feeling by changing the subject. "Not that I don't love surprise visits from family and all, but what are you and Mr. Wings doing here?" I asked as I nodded to the silent stranger standing in the corner. "I have to leave for class soon."

Mr. Wings' eyes shot up. "She sees me for what I am," he said in a heavily accented voice. What that accent was remained beyond me, but it was definitely there.

Niall smiled and rubbed his thumb across my forehead. Left to right, left to right, repeatedly. "The vampire contacted me. He said that you were in need of protection that he could not passably give, and so I am here to provide protection."

I rolled my eyes and shot Sydney a look, who was watching from a safe distance. "Is that so?" I said.

He smiled wider as he stopped rubbing my forehead, seemingly happy with himself. "And you shall need it. The magic that hid your scent was strong." He tucked me under his arm and turned the both of us to face the winged stranger. "This is Achrann. He is a great warrior and will protect you well."

"Hold up, now," I said as I backed away from Niall, putting a palm toward each of the men. "I can protect myself just fine, thank you." OK, that was lie number one. I couldn't, but some inner feminist in me that refused to go away just couldn't handle the fact Niall and David both thought I couldn't handle myself. What's even worse was that they brought in some massive slab of roman marble to protect me. If it was Ms. Wings instead of Mr. Wings, would it still bother me so? Probably not. Probably. Oh, hell. I don't know.

I silently shook away my doubts. "Also, I don't know you and I don't trust you. No offense."

"I take no offense from you, human," Achrann said, nonplussed. I didn't know whether or not to take offense at his comment. Human? First of all, I have a name. Secondly, I wasn't so sure about the human part at all. How much 'other' can you have in you and still be considered human?

"I trust him and therefore he is trustworthy," Niall said.

He braced his hands on each of my biceps and kissed my forehead. "You are protected and you now smell of my kin again. I must go, beloved niece. Should you need me, I am but a phone call away." He produced a business card identical to the one he gave me in Louisiana and tucked it into my hand. "Do not hesitate to call for any reason." With another kiss, he was gone with a loud pop.

"Uh, Pony?" Sydney asked. I had completely forgotten she was standing in the corner of the room watching the whole show. Boy, did I have some explaining to do. I wasn't going to make it to class on time.

"Yea, hun?" I said after a long sigh. I started to rub the bridge of my nose as David does when I exacerbate him. I smiled, then frowned. This was his fault, too.

"First of all, take the help. Secondly, what the hell was that?"

I opened my mouth only to close it again without saying a word. When I tried to start my explanation again, I still couldn't say anything. "Uhh," finally came out. "That was my long lost Uncle Niall. He's, uh, Fae," I started to explain. How do I explain this to her without causing some sort of mind bending psychosis in her? I've done enough damage to her psyche already, she didn't need this, too. "I guess I'm not all human, after all."

Sydney gave me a look that said everything she wanted to. The look said _duh, I'm not an idiot_, and_ I'd love you even if you were part green tree frog_ all in the same span.

When I walked over to her, she gathered me into a hug. "Are you going to class?" she asked. That was her subtle way of telling me that she may have asked, but she didn't really care what the answer was. Not anymore, at least.

I glanced at the clock on my microwave. "Probably not, I'm going to be wicked late." I turned toward Achrann and jutted my head toward him. "And how am I supposed to go on with my normal life when I have Mr. Wings following me around?"

"Why are you calling him Mr. Wings?" Sydney asked.

I just looked into Achrann's eyes as he tracked the conversation. "Go ahead," I said to him. "Let them out."

He nodded with just a slight incline of his head and immediately stripped his white leather weapons holster of two gleaming silver guns, setting them on the table. Next, the holster slid off his shoulders and fell around his knees, holding on to him only because it was also looped through his white leather belt. Do you see a theme here? Without all the hardware, his head to toe white outfit combined with his white hair and silver eyes made him look almost angelic. And the ghostly wings…maybe he was an angel.

Who just happened to pack some serious hardware.

Right.

When his fitted white t-shirt came off, it showed an expanse of beautiful alabaster skin, paler than mine or maybe even David and Cian's. Now I could see how perfectly he was built. Wide, strong shoulders were crossed with strong, prominent muscles. The perfect curve of his pectorals led down to the slim, strong line of his waist. And it was obvious he spent plenty of time making sure his abs were 100% perfect. And that strong, defined 'V' that snaked down, under his pants. If I didn't have the beauty of David and Cian to compare to, I might have been rendered braindead. As it was, I was speechless.

As was Sydney. At least until Achrann uncurled a large set of wings from his back, stretching them to their full potential. Then she gasped.

His wings were even more beautiful than his body. Layers upon layers of white feathers gleamed in the overhead lights as he did the equivalent of a wake-up stretch with his wings. They stretched out almost painfully far, shuddered, and returned to a more comfortable-looking angle while still being fully extended. Thanks to the previous owner's knack for home renovation, my kitchen was a large, open concept idea that always felt open and roomy to me, but with Achrann's wings extended like that, we may as well have been in a broom closet.

Then something completely unexpected happened. Sydney fainted.

I was so stunned at Achrann's, well, beauty, I didn't even notice that Sydney was going down until she made a 'thunk' sound on the ground. "Shit," I said as I dropped to my knees next to her. She was out cold. After grabbing a pillow from the couch and tucking it under her head, I looked up at Achrann. "Just going to watch over there?"

He folded his wings back behind him like a bird. I could still see the beautiful feathers fall down to his mid-calf as he shrugged, making not only his shoulders, but the huge mass of feathers move as well. "What would you like me to do?"

I sighed in frustration. What would I like him to do? Sydney was already on the ground, so he couldn't cushion her fall. She was already out cold, and unless he had some uncanny ability to wake up the unconscious, there wasn't anything he could do there, either. She might have been more comfortable on the couch, but she was probably already horribly embarrassed. She didn't need him to have to lift her from the floor, too.

The least he could do is bring her some water. "Glasses are in the cupboard to your right. Bring me some water."

Sydney moaned and opened her eyes as he handed me a glass full of water. "What happened?" she moaned as he brought her hand to her head. She was probably going to have one hell of a bruise. Before I could answer, she eyed Achrann and said "Oh. I remember."

I handed her the water. "Good. You OK?"

She took a minute to push herself into a sitting position before taking a sip of the water. "Yea, don't know why that happened."

I couldn't help but smile. "I've got an idea."

I swore silently to myself when I glanced at the clock on the microwave. Way more time had passed than I thought. And I really did need to go in to campus today. I'd missed two days worth of class; it was definitely time to check in with my professor. "Look, I've got to run into my prof's office before he leaves for the day. Are you sure you're OK?"

She struggled, but finally pushed herself up onto the couch. "Really, I'm fine. I guess I was just overwhelmed or something. I just need to sit here for a minute." I cocked an eyebrow and asked again silently. She winked at me. OK, she was fine.

"Love you," I said as I stood to my full height.

"Love you too. What are you going to do with him?" Of course I knew who she was talking about. The silent menace at my back.

I glanced back at him, still shirtless. "I definitely can't take you anywhere like that. I'm going for normal." Almost as quickly as the wings were revealed, they folded back into him, hiding in his skin. "Better. But you're not going anywhere with those," I said as I pointed to the guns on my kitchen table.

"Why not?" Achrann asked as he pulled his shirt back over his head. Oh, his muscles danced when he did that. Oh, God. He was…Jesus.

He caught me staring and smiled. It was the first time I'd seen him smile. And it only made him more gorgeous. _No, you absolutely cannot keep him, Sloane_, I thought to myself.

I cleared my throat. "A couple of reasons. First of all, this is a state university. Guns are illegal unless you're a cop. And you're not a cop. Secondly, because you look anything but normal while toting those things around under your arms. And lastly, because if you really need those to protect yourself, I don't need you."

I could tell he was listening to the words that were coming out of my mouth, but he still slid his arms through the holster and slid it back into place. Then slid the guns back into their homes. I glared at him. "Do you have a gun safe?" he asked.

"No, I have a sword safe." David, of course, had insisted on one. It was in the back of my closet.

Achrann looked impressed. "You're not the only one with shiny toys," I said with a smirk.

"It may do," he said. Well, well. He was actually going to listen to me. I smiled again as I led him upstairs into my room, pulling my clothes to the side and opening the case for him.

He surveyed not only the safe but the weapons in it. "This is quite the collection," he said as he fingered one of the katanas. Yes, I said 'one of'. Lee had been slowly but surely adding to my collection. Now, not only did I have the two silver katanas, I had the daggers that fit into the wrist, two Damascus swords, several machetes, and some other odds and ends. "And they are small."

"I'm small."

He pulled the guns from their holster and tucked them into the bottom of the safe next to a set of throwing stars that Lee insisted I have. I don't know why. I can't hit anything, despite the amount of work he'd put into me on the topic.

I closed the safe door. "I will need the combination, in case I need my weapons and you are not around."

"Syd has it," I said as I walked out of my bedroom. I wasn't giving a man I didn't even know the combination to my weapons cache. Not even close.

.

I'd gotten Achrann to take off the holster as well, and without the hardware, he was just simply gorgeous. As we walked through the engineering building, female (and some of the male) heads swiveled as we passed, not sparing a glance at me until they'd completely drank him in. And the looks I got were not lustful. They were more along the lines of _I wonder what he's doing with her_.

I stopped short when I saw a familiar pair at the far end of the hallway. Tall, powerful shoulders, framed with wavy black hair walked away from me, sad set to that large, broad frame. Next to him, a smaller dirty blond walked with his hand on his friend's shoulder, talking in low tones to him.

I was running toward the pair at the end of the hallway before my mind could tell my body to move. I could hear the loud clap, clap, clap of my flip flops hitting the floor as I sprinted down the hallway, pushing my way past the other people in the hallway. People turned and flattened themselves against the wall just in time for me to pass, but I had a feeling it was less to do with me and more to do with the fact Achrann was following after me at a quick jog.

Alec and RJ both turned toward the noise of my shoes at the same time. He had just enough time to recognize me and drop his jaw before I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and my leg around his.

"Oh, God," Alec whispered as he wrapped his arms around my back, supporting my weight with his strong arms. "God, I thought…when you weren't in class today, I was sure I'd done the wrong thing."

"Thank you," I whispered. I had wrapped my arms around his neck so tightly that our cheeks were pressed together, my mouth just beside his ear. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

He tensed, the muscles in his arms and back contracting to sharp points. Slowly, he lowered me to the ground and simultaneously pushed me behind him like a pro. He was protecting me from something. "You cannot take her, Avenger," he said in a low growl.

I peaked my head around him only to find Achrann standing seemingly relaxed, but obviously ready to pounce. "She will come with me, Garou," he answered, his face turned into a lovely snarl. Even full-on pissed, he was pretty. God dammit.

"You two better not be talking about me," I said, side stepping Alec's protective stance and standing between them.

I glanced at Alec first. His eyes glowed amber (which was not his natural eye color) as he stared at Achrann with pure hatred in his eyes. When he noticed I was protecting Achrann, his eyes returned to their normal color and confusion bled into his face. He couldn't seem to understand what was going on.

I glanced back at Achrann. He was leaning against the wall, blank nothingness on his face as he looked down at me.

"Better," I said. "Now, I take it you two've met?"

Achrann inclined his head without breaking eye contact. "In a matter of speaking," he answered cryptically.

I turned to look at Alec. "Something like that," he answered.

Fine, I guess I wasn't going to get answers. Finally, I glanced at RJ. He looked terrified standing behind Alec. His hands trembled, his eyes were wide and white.

I was going to get it out of them one way or another, but here and now was not appropriate. Too many people.

"OK," I said in a low voice. We were starting to draw a crowd, one that wanted a show. We were not going to give it to them. "I see you two have some sort of bad history, but you're both going to have to suck it up for a little bit. I'm going to go see Titus, then we're going to find somewhere private and you're going to explain what the hell just happened."

They both looked at me like there was no chance in hell that was going to happen. I glared back at both of them. "Right?" I prompted.

"Yes, Ma'am," Alec answered.

"Of course, Ga Binne Ri," answered Achrann.

I pointed a finger at Achrann in malice. I wanted to know what he just called me, but I didn't want to ask in front of Alec and RJ. And we needed to get out of here.

"Now play nice," I said as I stalked past Alec and toward Titus' office.

.

Titus had been both surprised and happy to see me. And after seeing the three men come in the door behind me, he had the good grace not to ask why I was in such a pissy mood. Alec and Achrann…well, at least they weren't full on brawling. That's all I could ask for.

I stalked back toward my car in the same poor mood I'd been in. I had planned on going in to lab for a while, you know, get some stuff done, but with the testosterone storm that was now following me around, that wasn't going to happen. And I sure as hell did not need to add Moose to the situation.

I unlocked the car and slid the front seat forward. "You're in the back, Achrann," I said as I held the seat forward for at least one of them to climb in. "Alec's up front with me."

"I should be in front, with you," Achrann said. He was not going to climb in.

I snapped. I hit the end of my rope. I'd had it completely. Whatever you want to call it, I lost it and turned toward Achrann, stalking toward him. When I was within inches (and noticing how good he smelled), I pointed a finger back up into his face. "Alec has saved my life before. You haven't. In fact, you're the only one in this happy little family that hasn't saved my life. So he's earned the front seat in my opinion. If you don't like it, I don't give a shit. So either you get in the back fucking seat, or fly home." Shock filtered over his face for a split second. When he didn't move, I pointed back at the open car. "Go!" I yelled. Finally, he complied.

RJ chose the seat behind me. Personally, I thought it was mighty trusting of Alec to allow Achrann to sit behind him. And he managed to not turn around to look at him even once. Sure, he was keeping an eye on him in the side mirror, but he never turned around. Points for him.

RJ leaned forward as I was stopped at a light at the precipice of Lansing. "I think I love you," he whispered into my ear as he leaned his chin on my seat.

I glanced in the rear view mirror and looked at his face. He was grinning from ear to ear, obviously enjoying the tongue lashing I'd given Achrann. I was lucky I was at a stoplight, because I burst out laughing.


	115. Chapter 115

The four of us sat at the kitchen table in tense silence. Well, Alec and Achrann were staring at each other in tense silence. RJ sat between them, watching a conversation that wasn't happening like a tennis match. I sat opposite RJ fuming.

"Fine, you know what? I'm going to do this the hard way," I said as I slammed my hands on the table. "Just, if something happens to me, no hospitals, OK?"

I looked to RJ, who was confused at my statement, but complied with a nod. Good. Because I wasn't trusting Alec and Achrann to not go for each other's throats as soon as I wasn't there to moderate.

First, I grabbed Alec's hand before he could pull it away. When he tried to tug it out of my hand, I used both of my hands to keep my steady grip. "Don't make me come over there," I said as I closed my eyes. I wasn't going to lie to myself. I was slightly terrified of encouraging visions at the moment. I had no idea what that woman had done to me. What if she messed with my little quirk with the same touch that leveled me? What if I was a ticking time bomb, and I was about to shorten the fuse?

Shit.

I shoved all those doubts out of my mind, said a quick mental goodbye to those I love, and opened myself to the visions. And it didn't take long for them to come barreling at me. Dozens upon dozens of snippets of fighting and training. The face of a woman lying on a pillow, her black hair flayed out around her head. He and RJ sitting in the moonlight, skipping rocks over a pond in silence. Finally, when the flashes stopped and I could focus on one vision, I was staring at a scarred older man with about a dozen other children. This was a long time ago; I could tell because of Alec's age. He was ten, maybe twelve years old, as were the rest of the children.

"The Garou clan has always been a pack of wolves superior to all other packs. Because we are the chosen ones, we have a responsibility to those weaker than ourselves. To protect those weaker than ourselves," the old man started. "You, my children, will grow up to be advanced fighters. I will teach you everything I know because I want you to succeed. I want you to survive." The old man paused, taking the time to meet each one of the children's eyes. When he met with Alec's eyes, my eyes, there was an overwhelming sense of calm. "We start now. Pair up and show me what you've got."

As that vision faded, another came into the foreground. Alec was older now, larger, more able. He was lying on a bed in what only amounted to a barrack listening to the other men sleep. He was waiting for something, that I could tell, but I couldn't tell what he was waiting for until there was a knock on the window above his head. Slowly, as not to alert the others to what was happening, Alec climbed out of bed and opened the window. A story down, a younger version of RJ was standing with a handful of pebbles. He smiled and waved Alec down.

Like a movie preview, that vision ended as the next one started. This was fairly recent vision, which was good. I needed to be working my way toward the present. I knew what Alec was, but I didn't understand his animosity toward Achrann yet. Hopefully, that would come out soon.

He was arguing with a Were woman; the same woman who's eyes I saw staring up at him from a pillow. "You have to go, Alec, it's who you are. Are you going to turn your back on us? On Father? On me?" she screamed.

"I never wanted to fight. I never wanted to kill," Alec said back calmly.

"But it's who you are now!" she screamed back.

"Remember our initiation day, Jules?" he asked as he took a step toward the menacing woman. "Father said we would be protecting people. Saving the weak. Tell me, have we done any of that? I surely haven't. Our target may be an enemy, but they are no soldiers. I, for one, refuse to kill any more innocent bystanders. And I want you to come with me."

In the blink of an eye, the woman, Jules, shifted into a large black wolf with white paws and charged at Alec. Just as the thought _Oh, Shit_ was going through my head, his body was already reacting to her attack, spinning out of the way with undeniable grace. She just barely missed him, but wasn't the last swipe she'd take. And Alec refused to attack back. He crouched into a defensive stance and watched her recover, waiting for her to attack again. If there was one thing he knew, that I knew, it was that she wasn't going to stop attacking until someone was dead. It was drilled into her, after all. It was drilled into him. But he was stronger than to be just the puppet of Father's. He was his own man making his own decisions.

She lunged at him again, and this time he wasn't fast enough to get out of her way completely. He turned to the side as she swiped at him, allowing her to only catch him in the side. But it was painful. God, was it painful. As the vision faded, he looked down to see four scarlet red stripes down his chest, starting from just below his heart and moving across his side to his right hip, then down his lower back.

I pulled my hands away from Alec as the here and now reformed in front of my vision. At some point I had gotten to my feet, and I was now standing in front of him. Searing pain was radiating from my chest to my hip and down my back. _Not this shit again_, I thought. And I was exhausted. No, I was beyond exhausted. I was just-ran-two-back-to-back-marathons-uphill exhausted. While pulling two full kegs of beer. In one hundred degree weather. Under the blazing sun.

I couldn't form words right at the moment. No, if I opened my mouth, it would probably be to moan in pain. So instead, I just kept my mouth closed and my eyes trained on Alec's while I gave myself some time to come to terms with the pain. Intense pain is like that. It really does get better when you just accept that yes, it hurts, take a few deep breaths, and move on.

Alec was still sitting, staring slightly up at me. I didn't notice how close I'd gotten to him until my eyes dropped to his lap. Our knees were almost touching. "Are you OK?" he asked.

All I could do was nod. Yes, for the most part, I was OK. At least my heart was still beating. In my book, that was OK enough.

"Sloane," RJ asked. "Is that blood on your sweater?"

Shakily, I unbuttoned the summer weight cardigan. The light gray tank top I'd been wearing below the somewhat baggy cardigan was drenched in blood right where everything hurt. Which would be the entire right side of my torso. And yes, that was a small splotch of blood on my sweater, right at my hip. Small, but getting larger.

Blood. My blood. Now, on top of in pain and incredibly tired, I was dizzy. Great.

"Fuck," Alec said as he lifted the hem of my tank top. When I looked down, I knew I was losing it. My first thought was, _Wow, those are deeper than I thought they'd be. Definitely not superficial. I wonder if they hit my heart? No, I don't think I'd still be standing if they hit my heart_.

Yup, I was losing it.

My knees gave out as RJ was saying, "What the hell?" Yes, what the hell indeed. My knees were almost on the kitchen floor when Alec caught me, swiping my legs off the ground and landing my body squarely in his lap. Achrann cleared everything from the surface of the kitchen table with one swift swipe of his arm.

Alec laid me down on the kitchen table, my legs hanging over the side. "I'm OK," I said shakily.

Alec gave me a hard look. "The fuck you are, you're bleeding out. What the hell happened?"

Blackness was creeping in as my ability to make sense of the words coming out of my mouth crept out. Instead of trying to form complex sentences, I didn't try to explain. With weak, shaky hands, I lifted Alec's blue t-shirt and traced the identical scar down his chest. And then it all went black.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

My heart was beating out of control. At first, it'd been nice. All she'd done was hold my hand and close her eyes. I could feel her subtle heat against my skin; her slow, steady heartbeat in her wrist. And she had that smell that was 100% her back.

But then her forehead furrowed into a deep scowl as she shot to her feet. I reached out to her with the hand she wasn't holding, but I couldn't bring myself to touch her. I just let my hand hover mere inches from her waist. And then she gasped in pain and opened her eyes. And all hell broke loose.

"Holy shit, man, you're twins," RJ said as I held my t-shirt up. I'd wanted to see what Sloane was doing, running her slick, warm fingertips across my chest. Her bloody fingerprints traced the exact line of an old scar. It was true; the largest scar on my body was traced down Sloane's torso, as well. Only mine was healed up and hers was still bleeding out.

I dropped my shirt back into place and lifted her from the table. "She needs to get to a hospital." And I sure as hell was going to take her there. I remembered what happened to me when I got that scar. I didn't know why we now had matching scars; that was a question for another day. First and foremost was her safety. Sure, I'd gotten several more scars after I'd gotten that one, in fact, my entire right side was torn to shreds, but I was stronger than her. And even I'd coded on the operating table.

RJ shot around the table and tried to pull her out of my grasp which, of course, was not going to happen. Sloane was MINE to protect. MINE. I snarled at him, baring my teeth as I felt them lengthen into the long canines of my inner wolf. I would bet my eyes had changed to a golden glow, too.

He held his hands up in surrender. "She said she didn't want to go to the hospital, remember?"

Achrann made his first intelligent comment of the afternoon. "I am trained as a medic. Lay her here, and I may be able to stop the bleeding."

The bleeding. Her wounded side was pressed against my chest, and I could feel her warm blood seeping into my shirt and dripping down my body. Either way, we needed to do something fast. She was going to die right here in my arms if we didn't do something quick.

I laid her back down on the table and prayed. I had no idea how to save a life. I knew how to take them. Luckily, Achrann looked like he knew what he was doing. He stripped off the pristine white shirt and held it to her bleeding chest. "I need your shirt," he said as he held a hand out toward me.

I looked down at my shirt. The lower half was covered in blood.

"Now," Achrann added.

I stripped it off and handed it to him.

.

RJ had been pacing fervently as Sloane's color had faded and her blood pressure dropped. Thanks to Achrann's quick thinking, a bottle of water, several teaspoons of salt, some tubing, and a needle, Sloane was looking better. While miles better than she had been, she was still out cold, though. RJ had exhausted himself pacing around the living room while Achrann worked, so he was now passed out on the couch. That left only Achrann and I alone. I was sitting next to Sloane, holding her hand and watching her breathe while I'm pretty sure Achrann was meditating. Three inches off the ground. It was unnerving as hell.

"I don't understand why you're here," I said to him as he floated there, eyes closed and legs crossed in front of him.

"I am a protector. Her protector," he said without opening his eyes.

"But you're an Avenger, right? I mean, you certainly look like them." It had been one of the first things we were taught at camp. White hair; grey, almost white eyes: that means Avenger. Apparently, after they take some sort of oath or something, their color starts to fade until there's no more color to them. From what I could tell from Achrann's lack of pigment, he'd been an Avenger a long, long time.

He sighed, lowered himself to the ground, and opened his eyes. "By the name you were taught, yes, I am an Avenger. However, the translation of what we call ourselves is more akin to 'guardian angel'."

Oh, bullshit. After a loud harrumph, I just said, "Right. From the stories I've heard, you're more like assassins."

He frowned. "I am unfamiliar with this word, assassins."

"A…contract killer. You know, someone that's paid to kill people."

"Ah," he said finally. "No, we merely protect the innocent. It is most often that you, the Garou, are the assassins."

"I'm not Garou anymore," I blurt out quickly. "And I never did that."

He studied my face for what seemed like an eternity. God, it made me uncomfortable; uncomfortable enough to fidget in my seat, which is hard to do. Usually, I have nerves of steel. "If you have truly left the Garou, then you are a noble man."

I blinked at him a few times. "Uh," I said finally. "Um, thanks."

He responded with a simple nod of the head and went back to his meditation.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

"I hate when that happens," I mumbled before opening my eyes. I had been awake just long enough to take a feel of my surroundings before I said anything. You never want to give away the element of surprise when it might help you. God, I'm jaded. Or maybe that's just smart at this point.

As far as I could tell, I was lying on something hard, most likely a table, since my legs were dangling off the edge. A very warm hand completely enveloped mine, the attached thumb making slow circles on my inner wrist. It felt familiar; familiar and safe.

I'd bet anything that hand belonged to Alec. I remembered what happened before I lost consciousness; I'd had a vision that decided it wanted to come to the here and now with me. It had been Alec's past, which is probably why he was the one attached to me at the arm.

"Sloane?" he asked. Another large hand palmed my forehead, gently rubbing my hair back. I opened my eyes. "You shouldn't be awake; in fact, you should be dead. What the hell happened? How are you alive?"

I smiled and offered him my other hand. I wanted to sit up, but I had enough experience with these particular visions to know that moving on my own was going to hurt like a bitch for a while. "Help me up," I said.

"No, you should stay prone," Achrann said as he appeared in my vision. "You should not disturb the wound, as it may begin to bleed again."

I rolled my eyes. When are people going to start listening to me? "I'm fine, check it out," I said as I pushed myself upward with a subtle grimace. Oh, yea. That hurt. But it gave me a chance to pull the makeshift bandages away from my body to reveal only a set of raised pink marks down my stomach and around to my back.

Did I mention someone divested me of my shirt? Men.

"Holy hell," Alec said. "They're almost completely healed. I figured you were something special to have an Avenger…sorry, 'guardian angel' here to protect you, but damn….what are you?" Finally, that she's-a-freak look appeared in his eyes. I was wondering how long that'd take.

"Well, that's a complicated question with a complicated answer, isn't it?" I said as I looked at Achrann. He just gave me a slightly interested blank stare back. Very helpful. I glanced down because I surely did not want to see the fear and horror on Alec's face when I told him I was a freak. I wasn't sure why I cared, but I cared. "I guess the best answer at this point in time is that I'm clairvoyant, and that was a vision. Of your past. And sometimes those visions like to follow me home. I'll be completely smooth again in an hour or so and sore for maybe another three or four hours." Absentmindedly, I rubbed the silver-dollar sized scar in the middle of my stomach. "Well, not completely smooth."

"You have got to be kidding me!" he said excitedly. Well, that wasn't what I was expecting at all. "Can you see the future?"

"Yes," I answered as I finally looked up to him. His face was just as jazzed as his voice was.

I heard the door unlocked from the outside a second before I heard Sydney's voice. Oh, this was going to be awkward. I was sitting in the kitchen with two men, neither of them my boyfriend, and none of us were wearing shirts. Another shirtless male was asleep on the couch. Oh, and the kitchen table was covered in dried blood, as was I. Goody. "Hey, Pony, guess who….oh my God. _Oh my God_."

"It's OK, Syd, I'm fine," I said as she dropped her shopping bag and ran into the kitchen, practically attacking me. "Just a vision."

"You sure you're OK?" she asked as she took a good inventory of my body. She was completely ignoring the men at my back. It was only after I assured her for the umpteenth time that I was perfectly fine that she turned to the now three men behind her. "OK, I know you," she said as she pointed to Achrann. "But I don't know you two. I'm Sydney, Sloane's roomie and best friend," she said as she thrust her hand out.

Alec and RJ introduced themselves appropriately. "How do you know Sloane?" Sydney asked.

Alec glanced over Sydney's shoulder and at me. I just shrugged at him. Whatever he wanted to tell her was fine with me. After all, he was the one that seemed overly sensitive about what people knew about him. "We actually are in the same class, the three of us."

"Oh," she said, finally getting a good look at him. I could tell the second she noticed that not only was he shirtless, he was ripped and huge. And handsome. Her body stiffened for a split second and her eyes glazed before she cocked a hip. "What are you two doing tonight?" she asked, including both Alec and RJ in the question.

They both shrugged. "Nothing," and "Not much," they said at the same time.

She turned to me and grinned. "Awesome; you're coming out with Sloane and me. This is going to be perfect."

"Syd?" I asked, threat and a question in my voice. I wanted to know what she was getting me into.

"As I was saying as I walked in the door, you'll never guess who I ran into today."

I had a feeling I didn't want to know, so I just said, "who?"

"Sarelle." I groaned. Sarelle had been the bane of my existence in high school. She was the beautiful, perfect, perky blonde that every guy wanted to get into, where I was the awkward kid. And she never let me forget that fact, either. She was always bragging about how perfect her life was; how she was captain of the pom-pom squad, how her rich daddy had just bought her a brand new convertible, how she was dating the varsity quarterback of the football team or the starting point guard of the basketball team or the lead scorer on the soccer team, depending on the season. I'd always secretly wondered what she did for a date during the summer, when there wasn't a class hero to be dating.

Needless to say, I had hated her for her cruelty to me. At one point, she'd spread a rumor about me that the only reason I was two years ahead in the class is because I'd slept with the principal for the honor. What she didn't know was not only was I a virgin at the time, but I'd have killed to be with the kids my own age. But my parents, with the full backing of the school, had decided I was too smart to be in those classes.

"I know," Sydney said before I could bitch and moan. "But now's the perfect time to get back at her. She wants to get together with you and me and Tiffany and our boyfriends. Apparently, she's dating some hoity-toity guy and thinks she can rub one more thing in your face."

"How does she know either of us are dating anyone?" I asked as I lowered my feet to the floor gingerly. Oh, I was going to be sore for a while.

"She didn't even ask, which makes me think she thinks that we don't have anyone and we'll show up dateless and pathetic again."

I rolled my eyes. Actually, that sounded exactly like something she'd do. "You didn't tell her we'd be there, did you?" I asked.

"Of course I did. She even suggested we meet at The Sapphire. Drinks and dancing." The Sapphire, or Saph as it was starting to be called, was David, Emma, and Lee's newest club. More exclusive than any other nightclub in the Lansing area, they had a cover charge that would quickly rack up into triple digits and a dress code that required brand name clothing. And I don't mean Abercrombie and Fitch. I was talking about designer suits and thousand dollar shoes. I did not at all understand why the club was so fucking popular. I guess people really did like to flaunt money.

I was about to complain again when Sydney pulled out her patented puppy dog eyes. "Come on, please? I've been dying to get sweet revenge for how she treated you in high school since, well, high school."

Alec spoke first. "I'm in. I don't know why I'm suddenly invited, but I'm in."

"Dude, me too," RJ added.

"Thanks, guys, but I wouldn't ask you to put up with this woman. She's…awful," I said.

"But I'll need a date," Sydney said.

Before Sydney could even ask, RJ piped in. "I'll do it," he said eagerly. When he realized what he did, he blushed. "I mean, if you want."

Sydney blushed herself as a wide grin crossed over her face. "Thanks," she said shyly. "I'd, ah, appreciate that."


	116. Chapter 116

Alec and RJ took my car back to campus to get their own car and to go get ready. Achrann, unhappy about the ordeal ("It will be harder to protect you in a crowd," he complained), poofed out of my living room back to where ever it is he came from when I threatened to just go without him. After all, he needed to change too. Well, he at least needed a shirt.

Sydney had spent more time picking out my outfit and blow drying my hair and applying my makeup than she spent on herself. She really was going for the full effect here. I was still less than enthused. "Why are Alec and RJ coming, again?" I asked for the umpteenth time.

"Because one, I need a date, and two, the more gorgeous men you surround yourself with, the more jealous she's going to get," Sydney answered as she pulled an outfit for herself out of her closet.

"But I'm not dating Alec. Isn't he supposed to be going as a date?"

"How about just as a friend?" Sydney said.

"Whatever," I answered after a sigh. For the third time in a minute, I glanced out the window. The sun was almost set, meaning that David and Cian would be waking up any time now.

I smoothed the designer high-waisted pencil skirt that Sydney had picked out down the front of my thighs again. "I'd rather just cuddle in bed," I said.

"You say that now," Sydney said after she puckered her lips and applied one last layer of lipstick. "But when you see the devastation on The Megabitch's face when she sees that you have more than her, I think you'll change your mind."

I glanced at myself in the mirror. I did look fantastic, and that would be enough to piss her off. I was decked head to toe in designer, thanks to Emma's taste, in the black and silver Laboutin pumps that I love, a designer pencil skirt, and a silky black halter that was tucked into the high waist of the pencil skirt, giving it a billowy effect. It made me look downright busty. Even more than I was. Busty up top, and tight as a model through the waist and hips. I looked like I stepped right off of a pin-up poster in this outfit. My hair was done in soft finger curls down my back and parted on the extreme side, meaning my hair matched the theme. With the bright red lips, I was approaching sex symbol hot. All thanks to Sydney's magic.

There were only two additions I wasn't sure about. Large, emerald teardrop earrings and a matching necklace hung from my ears and neck, respectively. I thought they were too much. Sydney disagreed. I was deferring to her expertise, at least for now.

I felt the second David woke up. "He's up," I said as I dialed the phone.

"Hello, my Love," he said as he answered the phone.

"Hi David," I said. "First of all, did you call Niall?"

I could feel the slight twinge of anxiety through the bond before he answered. "I did."

I sighed. I was too tired and too worried about tonight to fight with him on this. "OK."

He paused. "No fighting?" he asked.

"Not tonight, I have bigger problems."

"Oh?" he asked, his voice suddenly serious. "Do explain."

I explained my entire day, because that was the easiest way I could figure to explain everything. I explained the simplest version of who Alec and RJ are, my vision, and Sarelle and how completely awful she was to me in high school. "So Sydney said we'd be there, so can you make it?"

"Anything for you, Dearest. Where and when am I to meet you?"

"Saph, and take your time getting ready. We're about to leave, but Sydney wants to leave you and Cian as a special surprise."

"Ah," he said. "I understand. As always, Sydney is cunning beyond her time. I shall meet you there in an hour?"

"Sounds good," I answered. "Love you."

"And I love you."

Next up was a call to Cian. Cian was older than David, so it was a safe bet that if David was up, Cian was also awake. "Good evening Cupcake," he answered. "I was not expecting a call from you tonight. It is Thursday, correct?"

"Yea, it's Thursday," I answered.

"Is my King switching nights with me again?" he asked. He was always ever hopeful that was the case.

"Uh, not quite," I answered before I told him everything.

I'm pretty sure the short silence that came after I finished my explanation was his anticipation. "Oh, I shall enjoy this. I will see you there."

.

When we walked up to Saph, my palms were sweaty and my heart was pounding. RJ and Sydney were holding hands, as were Alec and I. Of course, RJ and Sydney were doing it to look more like lovers. I was holding Alec's hand because if I didn't, I was liable to turn and sprint back toward my car. I did not want to do this at all. Probably sensing I needed another deterrent from running, Achrann was looking mighty fine in a white suit as he brought up the rear.

Saph is in the ritzy part of Old Town, sandwiched between two art galleries. There was less of a line and more of a mass of people waiting to get in to the club, regardless of the fact that it was still relatively early and Thursday. I hadn't seen Sarelle since graduation, but I could still instantly pick her out of the crowd. Her hair was on the yellow side of blonde, a color that you'd most likely call golden, and pinned up in a chignon. The part that made her most recognizable, however, wasn't her golden blonde hair. It was the air with which she and the man standing next to her were arguing with the bouncer. It was her signature arrogance, and from the looks of it, her man had it too.

"You have to get to the end of the line," said the bouncer, Awesome. Yes, his name is Awesome. Well, at least his nickname is. He found out the hard way that no matter how big you are, no one takes a bouncer named Ashley seriously. So his name was Awesome. That's even what his nametag said.

"Do you know who I am?" asked the man with Sarelle.

"Unless your name's on the list, I don't care who you are. Even the President of the United States would have to wait in line." Awesome was losing it with those two, I could tell. On the outside, he looked like the epitome of cool, calm, and collected. On the inside, he was about to hit someone. Probably Sarelle's date.

I could have waited and watched Awesome lose it; actually nothing would have made me happier, but I didn't want Awesome to lose his job. Which is definitely what would happen if he cold cocked someone. "Sarelle," I said when I was about two feet away.

She turned to see who was calling her name. There was a complete absence of recognition until she noticed Sydney behind me. "Sloane? Sloane McIntosh?" she asked.

"Yea, hi," I said as I returned her half-assed hug.

"Wow, you definitely grew up!" God, she's so condescending, now I wanted to hit her. Alec squeezed my hand as a subtle reminder. No, I should not hit her. "Who's your friend?" she asked, eyeing Alec like he was a juicy stake and she was a starving pitbull.

"This is Alec," I said as I introduced him. "But let's get inside before this mob grows any bigger."

"We'd love to," said Sarelle's friend, "but the bouncer here says we have to go wait in the line." Now that I was looking at him, the guy looked someone familiar. But I couldn't place from where.

"Don't worry about that," I said as I sidestepped Sarelle and smiled up at Awesome. "Hey," I said as I lightly smacked him on the arm.

He pulled back an honest-to-God velvet rope and let us through. "Hey, there, little lady," he said.

"Our table open?" I asked. Just like at any of his clubs, David had a table that he preferred. One that allowed him to see the entire place, far from the front door, and far from the bathrooms. Seclusion, that's what he wanted in a table.

"If it isn't, come get me and I'll make it open." With a wink, he let us pass and turned back toward the ambling crowd.

I led the way back toward David's favorite table. It was a large table that had booth seating around half of it and chairs sitting around the other half. Luckily, it was empty. Sarelle and her man slid in to one side and Alec and I slid into the other, Sydney and RJ as an obvious buffer. Probably for the best, though. I would want to throttle someone because they said something irritating, which is one of Sarelle's biggest talents.

It didn't occur to me that I hadn't explained exactly what was going to happen tonight to Alec until he grabbed my hand and settled our joined hands in his lap. In fact, I hadn't even really explained that I indeed had a boyfriend, well, two boyfriends, both of which were of the undead variety.

When I leaned up as far as I could to whisper into Alec's ear, he bent down to meet me halfway. Which was good, because unless I was part giraffe, that wasn't really going to happen. "You know you don't have to play boyfriend," I whispered as I pressed my cheek against his and completely hiding my face in his soft hair. Damn, he smelled good. "David will be here any minute." And Cian. But David would get here first.

As we switched positions so he could whisper to me, he braced his hand on my opposite hip and leaned almost completely across me. With his size, that would hide me almost completely from view. "I realize that, but you look like you could use an anchor in the meantime. This David guy a vampire? The one that gave you the marks?" Because it would be too difficult to chance positions, and I was hidden enough as it was, I just nodded yes. "I hope he treats you well. I don't know many vampires that treat humans well."

"He does," I whispered. When he tried to pull away to end the conversation, I grabbed his face and pulled him back in. "He's the one you gave me back to. And if you let me tell him about you, about how you saved me, he'd take care of whatever problem you have in return."

"I trust you, but I find it hard to trust a fanger," he whispered before he pulled back.

"Sloane," Sarelle said. "This is Rick DeVos, my boyfriend." Ah, that's where I know him from. He's a DeVos. In Michigan, that translates to old political money. Was it his das or his uncle that just lost a bid for governor? I'd have to look it up later.

I would have extended a hand, but as it was, he was sitting across a seven foot table from me. There was no way I'd be able to reach. Instead, I just waved as I said, "Nice to meet you, Rick."

"Likewise," he replied. "So what is it you do that gets you past the line at one of the hottest clubs in town?" he asked.

"I'm a doctoral candidate," I replied. "Molecular genetics."

He looked surprised then confused. "You must be one smart girl," he said. I don't know if I was just roaring to get angry at someone, but that comment really pissed me off. First of all, he doesn't know me, he has no right to call me girl. Secondly, up yours, Dick.

Seemingly sensing that I was about to explode all over her parade, Sarelle spoke up. "So what does your boyfriend, Alec, was it? What does he do?"

She was asking me? One, he wasn't my boyfriend; two, he's sitting right here and perfectly capable of speech.

"I'm also a doctoral candidate. Computer engineering," he replied before I could explode again. "But I'm not her boyfriend."

A waitress fluttered up to the table before she could ask any obvious questions. "May I get you something to drink, Mistress?" she said as she looked right at me.

I had a moment to think _why the hell is she calling me mistress_ before Sydney cleared her throat, urging me to answer. "Screwdriver, please. Tall and heavy."

"Absolutely, Mistress. And for the rest of the table?" Alec murmured a drink order, followed by RJ, then Sydney, and then the devil couple.

When the waitress left to fill our order, Rick was looking at me funny. I was not in any way, shape, or form, comfortable with his stare. It was…well, it was disconcerting. "Is your friend going to join us?" he asked as he nodded to Achrann.

I glanced behind me. A beautiful piece of roman marble stood stock still off to the side with his back to the booth, watching the entire establishment. Even at the mention of him, he didn't budge. The only thing that reminded me that he was alive was the subtle glow pulsing from him. Oh, and his ghostly wings. They were the only thing that moved, fidgeting their translucent form every so often. "He's welcome to, but he won't."

"Why not?" Sarelle asked. I didn't answer; I just shrugged. No need to parade the fact that I'm not capable of protecting myself.

All the sudden, I felt like I really needed to get out of here. Not in the way that a vision usually feels; it was more if I didn't get out of here soon, I was going to scream. I just needed some space. "I have to go to the bathroom," I said as I slid farther out of the booth. "I'll be back." _Although I don't want to be_, I added in my head.

Sydney made a move to follow me, but before she could volunteer to go too, Sarelle spoke up. "I'll keep you company," she said cheerily as she pushed her way out of the booth as well.

_Great_, I thought. _Just what I wanted_.

"Stay here, please," I said to Achrann as I passed. He nodded once in response. It must have been horribly obvious I was not happy Sarelle was coming with me when I stalked toward the bathroom walking a good foot and a half ahead of her. And after the run in Achrann had with me earlier today, I was thinking he was just going to give me my way for a while. At least until my mood improved.

When we went into the bathroom, I didn't even bother with faking it like I actually had to use the restroom. I walked straight up to the sink and reapplied my perfect lipstick.

"So, you're really just friends with Alec?" Sarelle asked. She never really was one to beat around the bush. If she was going to be a bitch to you, it was from moment one.

"Yup, just friends."

"Sloaney-Pony's a single girl, huh?" Sarelle said as she leaned in and copied my movements, reapplying her lipgloss on her thinning lips. She had a body that screamed anorexic, and her lips were obviously what her body cannibalized first. "Can't say I'm surprised."

Oh, that Bitch. After a deep breath, I answered, "Not single, just not with Alec." I was aware that I was gripping the marble countertop like a lifeline, but it was either that or punch the daylights out of Sarelle. And I wasn't so far gone yet that my mind actually thought that hitting her would be a good idea yet, only my body did. My body was starting to make a compelling argument, though.

"Oh? Then where's this boyfriend you supposedly have?" God, she sounded condescending. Maybe she didn't think that I had a boyfriend (after all, the last time she saw me, I wasn't quite there with the guys yet), but she didn't have to be a bitch about it.

I was about to turn around and scream at her when I felt David. He was here, and he was close. Maybe on the other side of the door? Fine, if she wanted to play, we'd play. I sent my anger and frustration at Sarelle through the bond to David, and he responded with what I could only describe as an evil smirk. He had something planned.

"I'm sure you'll meet him soon," I said as I straightened my skirt out and refluffed my top. "Real soon."

When I turned and opened the door, I was suddenly no longer on the ground.

"Lover," David's low bass growled in that irresistible Irish accent. It wasn't all for play; as he held me against the wall, I could feel how much he wanted me pressed against my hip in all it's delicious glory. Suddenly, I didn't care that Sarelle was a Megabitch. I just wanted to shove David into the bathroom and lock the door.

"Hi, sweetheart," I said breathily as David traced a line down my neck with his tongue. Oh, God. He felt so good. And smelled good. And I'd bet he looked just as good, too.

"Ahem," Sarelle said.

Slowly, David turned his attention to Sarelle without taking his hands off me. I gasped as his thumb brushed over my already hard nipple. Without my permission, my body bucked into his, garnering a bit of a reaction from him, too. "Do you like to watch?" David asked seductively.

I rolled my eyes at him, but couldn't help the shit-eating grin on my face. "David, this is Sarelle; Sarelle, this is my boyfriend, David."

David stopped groping me just to pull me into his side and tuck his arm around me. I returned the gesture as David inclined his head. "A pleasure," he drawled.

I turned my attention from righting my clothes to Sarelle's face when she didn't answer. She was looking somewhat awestruck as she stared up at David. When I finally took a good look at him, I knew why. He looked…wow. He'd eaten before he came, which gave a subtle glow to his cheeks. His hair, which was usually the equivalent of a well planned bad hair day, was combed back, held in place by just the slightest touch of gel. Only one singular wave escaped, which framed his gorgeous multicolored eyes.

And he knew how to dress to accentuate every last piece of his God-given beauty. A tailored black suit accentuated the perfect wave of his hair and the slim line of his body. A crisp blue button down shirt both pinkened his skin by comparison and lightened his eyes. And, as usual, he wasn't wearing a tie. He thought of them as stuffy, and refused to wear one. Which, of course, gave him just the slightest hint of a bad boy air. And that made me positively want to jump him.

"Sarelle? Are you alright?" David asked with a slight smirk.

She seemed to snap out of it as she heard her name. "Y-yea, I'm OK," she answered. "We better be getting back to the table. Wouldn't want Rick to wonder what we've been doing," she said with a playful twinkle in her eye. For David.

"This Rick, he is your man?" David asked in his saturated accent. Usually, he hid the thing like an ugly red-headed stepchild, but tonight he brought it out for its full effect: to drive Sarelle (and me) crazy.

"Yea, he's my boyfriend," Sarelle said as we started to walk.

When Sarelle was in front of us, I tugged David's hand, urging him to lean down so I could whisper in his ear. Instead, he lifted me from the ground all Rhett and Scarlet-like and held me up close to him. "Yes, my Love?"

"First of all, you know you're driving me crazy, right?" I whispered into his ear. Not so much as for effect but because it's the automatic response my body had when he carried me around like this; I kicked one foot out a touch and wrap my arms around his neck. I imagined we looked like a couple straight out of the last scene of a romantic comedy movie.

I could feel his smile against my cheek. "I am aware of that, yes."

"You're a devious bastard, but I love it," I replied with a smile. Now, back to business. "Also, Niall's guard is standing by the booth, see him?" He nodded and cuddled me into his body just a touch more while still being careful that I wasn't flashing the room. Not that the skin-tight pencil skirt was loose enough to flash anyone, but he was always the gentleman when it came to my modesty. Ha.

"And there's a friend of mine with us, Alec. He's a Were. Be nice," I tacked on. Always good to warn the undead when there are Weres coming to the party.

"Am I not always nice?" David said just a touch louder as we approached the table.

I couldn't help myself but blush as he set me down. I didn't usually let him carry me around like an invalid in public, only in private, and the looks on everyone's face but Sydney's was a great reminder as to why. Sydney looked like she always did when we were around each other. She was happy, but there was that ever-present hint of worry in the back of her mind that was also present on her face, like she was just waiting for it all to fall apart again. I wanted to hug her and tell her it was all OK.

RJ looked impressed and a touch surprised, and nothing more. Alec, who was staring up at us the most intently, had a look I couldn't place on his face. Anger, maybe? And possessiveness? And a touch of lust? But I wasn't sure.

Rick looked as pleased as the cat that ate the canary. What bothered me was I had no idea why.

Sarelle's face was the one that made my day. When she turned around to introduce David to her man and found him carrying me around, she got pissed. It was only there on her face for a split second, but it was there. Her plan was falling apart and she hated it. I loved it.

Before I could introduce David to the table, Rick spoke up. "Is that _the_ David O'Hara?" he asked with pleasant questioning in his voice. "Darling," he said as I motioned Sarelle to sit next to him, "this is easily the most cunning businessman in Michigan. I believe you own half of Lansing at this point, correct?" he asked David jokingly.

David could play this game. With a little nod, he replied, "Don't forget the properties in the surrounding areas."

Rick feigned embarrassment. "How could I forget about those? This is one of yours, right?" he asked as he motioned to the club around him.

David finally slid into the booth, pulling me down on his lap as he did. It took almost no effort what-so-ever to work myself into a comfortable position on him. "It is. Do you like it?"

"I do. But tell me, how does the Vampire King of Michigan find the time to run all these properties?"

David hid his shock well. Sure, vampires were out in the public, but there were several things about vampire civilization that humans didn't know about. For example, very few humans knew that there was a vampire hierarchy. Fewer knew that the leaders were divided mostly by state in the US and that those leaders were called Kings and Queens. Almost none knew which vampire ruled each state.

But this one did.

"I find the time, do I not?" David replied as he turned to me and kissed my lips gently. Which just ramped up my libido one more notch. Oh, hell, I wasn't going to make it through the night at this rate.

Apparently, David didn't like the pair at the end of the booth any more than I did, because he put his shoulder to them and basically shunned them out of the conversation. "And you must be Alec," he said as he extended a hand. "I'm David."

I couldn't believe he extended a hand, and apparently, neither could Alec. He just stared at the outstretched hand for a split second before looking to me. I just dropped my mouth into a big, gaping o.

RJ nudged Alec in the back, smacking him out of his stupor. "Hey, nice to meet ya," Alec said.

After David introduced himself to RJ and greeted Sydney, he turned to Rick again. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

I don't know if David didn't actually recognize him (hey, I didn't either), but the hint that he hadn't pissed Rick off. "Richard DeVos," he said as he used every last inch of his smooth politician's demeanor to smother the irritation in his voice. "Maybe you've heard of my father? He just ran for governor."

"No, I am sorry," David said. "I never cared much for human politics. Although, now that I am with Sloane, perhaps I should start."

Rick didn't like that answer, either. Which made it as good a time as any for Cian to show up.

He was coming up behind me, but I knew he was coming in the way that Sydney's body and face tightened. There was something that just screamed _here he comes_ in her posture. It was halfway between bracing for the shitstorm to hit and steeling herself against her now racing libido. It was a unique combination.

I raised my cheek for him to kiss, but he wasn't having that. He slid his arms around my stomach and pulled me from David's lap, pressing my back against his chest. "Good evening, my Cupcake," he leered into my ear before nipping his fangs at my neck. My back arched at his touch, throwing my head back against his shoulder. "My sweet, delectable treat."

I glanced at David. He'd shut the bond down hard, so he didn't want me to know what he was actually feeling, but his face definitely told a story. His fangs were down as he leered suggestively at the both of us. My waist was still squarely in his hap, and he used that proximity to run his hand up my thigh. At this very second, I could actually imagine having the both of them at the same time. And it was beyond hot. And only mildly embarrassing.

"Oh my God," Sarelle mumbled. And finally, the part of the night that made everything worthwhile. Sarelle lost control of her face, letting her anger seethe through her facial expressions. Sydney was right; it was fantastic.

I craned my head to give Cian a quick kiss and pushed myself out of David's lap onto the bench beside him. "Alright, boys," I mumbled as Cian slid into the booth next to me. I'm sure I was bright pink at this point. "That's enough of that for tonight."

David took my hand to his lips, laying a light kiss on the back of it as Cian kissed my cheek. I blushed harder as the awkward silence continued. This was going to be a long night.

****This chapter and the next one were originally one chapter, but it got so long I had to split it. Which, incidentally, is why this chapter took so long to get out. Sorry about that. The completion of this chapter to follow shortly, after I finish up the last few tweaks.****


	117. Chapter 117

It took a long time for the conversation to start back up, but it did eventually. Sarelle's uberpissed expression never left her face, even though Rick was starting to catch on to it. I had a feeling he was starting to realize he'd been used in a way, and wasn't happy about it. But he was determined to use what he'd been given: an opportunity to make connections with the most powerful vampires in the state. Even if neither David nor Cian were having it.

As Cian told stories of his life as a young vampire a mere six-to-seven hundred years ago, one of the waitresses approached the table. "I'm sorry, Master," she said as she bowed to David, "but there is a matter that needs your attention."

"Excuse me," David said to the table. Cian and I had to slide out of the booth to let David free and before he disappeared, he leaned in and gave me a kiss that was completely just for me. "I will return," he whispered in my ear.

Before I could slide myself back into the booth, Cian pulled on my hand. "Dance with me."

Oh, thank God. There is nothing I would like more than to not talk to the devil spawn and her date anymore. "OK," I said as he pulled me toward the elevated dance floor. It looked like the dance floor had originally been designed as a stage, and it had been. David had thought that if the club showed to be successful, then they might want to host some local jazz and blues bands who would appreciate an actual stage instead of just a cleared out corner of the bar. I think it was a great idea, personally. It doesn't always have to be used as a stage; in this configuration, with the DJ set up in the corner and dancing near the front of the stage, it functioned quite well as a dance floor.

Cian helped me up the stairs to the side of the stage and onto the almost barren dance floor. There was only one other couple on the stage swaying to the slow beat with their arms around each other. The way they looked at each other, I'd assume they were newlyweds. It's as if the rest of the world had melted away, and all that was left were the two of them dancing together. For a moment, I was insanely jealous. I wanted to be carefree enough to have that feeling. But with everything I'd been through, I wasn't sure I had it in me to be completely enthralled in one singular object. I was always too afraid of what else was coming at me.

Cian led me to the center of the stage and spun me once before swaying us both with the music. As his hand inched down my body lower, I smiled. His hand wasn't working its way toward my ass because he was showing off for Sarelle. He just genuinely wanted to touch me there. The reason I knew that was twofold: because of the fact he did this every time we went out dancing regardless of who is watching and because I could feel how much he wanted me pressed against my upper hip as he held me close.

"The range of emotion that has flickered across your face in the last few seconds makes me wonder what you're thinking," he said quietly. We weren't crowded on the dance floor, but even if we were, there was no chance at anyone else hearing this conversation.

"Nothing important," I responded with a smile as I rested my head against his shoulder. If I was just a few inches taller, I'd be able to perch my chin on that shoulder. That way, I'd be able to see anyone coming at Cian's back as we danced. We'd have the full 360 degrees covered. If only.

"You will not tell me what is on your mind?" he said as he swayed us back and forth. He held me close to him, enough that I was pressed against his body from shoulder to knee.

"Really," I answered. "Nothing's on my mind."

He stayed quiet and altered our rhythm to match the beat of the next song. As he turned us slightly so he could watch the room over my head, I heard the subtle click of his fangs coming down. "You are not biting me on the dance floor," I said without pulling my head from its place on his chest. He felt so good, so safe, I could feel myself letting go of all of my tension as he swayed us back and forth.

When his voice came, it was not the seductive, leering, smooth accent I was expecting. It was his shut down, ready for business, here's-the-battle-plan voice he used when something was upsetting him. "You mentioned that the Were was only a friend."

I looked up from my special spot on his chest and studied his face. He was looking at something over my head, a touch of a scowl on his face. When I moved my hand from his and pressed it against his chest, I could feel a slight vibration. Was he growling? "He's barely that; I've known him for all of a few days. What the hell is wrong with you?"

His eyes softened as he looked down to my eyes, his fangs retracting. I had stopped moving to the beat and distanced myself from him just a touch and he didn't seem to like that. With one smooth move, he pressed me right back into him, right where I had been, and started moving again. It was almost as if the whole exchange had never happened. "I do not like the way he is looking at us."

I would have liked some eye contact with Cian, or at least to see what he was talking about, but he'd made it quite clear I wasn't to move from this position. I had a feeling that if I'd tried, he would have used his strength to put me right back where I was. "And how's that?" I said with mild irritation in voice. When he didn't answer, I tacked on, "Don't make me knee you in the balls, Cian. Because Lord knows I will. What the Megabitch thinks be damned, I _so_ will knee you in the balls."

His chest jumped as he laughed. "I love when you talk dirty to me."

"Cian," I said as I started to resist our rhythmic sway. "Answer me."

He pulled me into him even harder, forcing me to move with him as he put his back to the room again while simultaneously blocking my view with his broad shoulders. Damn him. "He looks very possessive."

My first thought was _he's allowed to be possessive of me_, but I could not understand the thought even as it ran through my head. Instead, I just said, "Cut him some slack."

That stopped Cian cold. He pulled me away from him and forced me to look up to him with a hand on my chin. "Why?" he asked when he studied my face. "I want the whole story. Now."

I probably would have stammered like an idiot and blown Alec's cover if Cian hadn't added that last little part. I don't do well with orders, and that last one pissed me off enough to clear my head. As I glared up at him and stood my ground, I said, "Because he saw me almost bleed out on my kitchen table today without a clue as to why. That's bound to fuck with your head. Now let me go, fuck you very much." It was only a partial lie, right? Or was it?

As I pushed away from him, sending myself unbalanced and into the wall, a subtle buzzing that I'd felt in my body since night fell amped up into a full-fledged vibration, rattling my bones from the inside.

Cian was stunned for a second as I made my way down the staircase, weaving like a drunk person. This vibration was really throwing me off, to the point my vision dimmed just long enough for me to misjudge the distance to the next step. My vision returned just in time for me to catch myself on the banister and recover without twisting an ankle, but now there was no denying I had a problem. And Achrann and Alec, both of whom had been watching me like a hawk, knew it.

I needed to get out of here. I needed some semblance of privacy. Instead of turning left and going back to the table, I turned right and made my way down the long hall that housed not only the bathrooms, but also David's office and the storage room. There was a sharp turn at the end of the hall that led to an exterior door and behind it, the back alleyway. That's where I needed to go.

Achrann was the first person to make it to me, followed shortly by Cian, but Alec was the first to talk. The intense vibrating was working into a sharp pain all over my body, and the only thing that kept me upright was one of my arms braced around my waist and the other supporting myself against the wall as I walked. But it wasn't my body the vibration was after. I could feel the barriers between my mental disability and the world around me crumbling. That scared me more than the pain. "Sloane? What's wrong? Talk to me."

I shook my head slowly as I tried to make it back to the back door. I couldn't spare any of my concentration to answer him, I needed it all for walking. As pain ricocheted through my body, I just kept telling myself _one foot in front of the other_, giving myself a small pep talk each time I managed a step without landing flat on my ass.

"Is this another one of your visions?" Alec asked in a hushed voice as we passed David's office. I could hear the voices inside the office, or else I would have just landed myself in there and let myself go. It was private enough.

Apparently, my non-answers were very concerning to him. "What do we do?" Alec asked no one in particular, panic on the tip of his tongue. I was actually thinking the same damn thing.

The vibrating in my body hurt so much; I was convinced it was trying to tear me apart from the inside out. Instead of screaming, though, an action that would no doubt garner some unwanted attention, I clamped my mouth shut and leaned heavily against the wall. I promised myself it was a short break, just long enough to gather my strength to keep moving. After all, I was soo close. Just a few more steps and I'd be at the bend in the hall. Just a few steps after that, and I'd be outside. Outside, but not alone. Not anymore.

I had resorted to taking deep, rapid breaths to handle the pain as I took those last few steps. As soon as I turned the corner, my legs collapsed and I fell down the wall, landing on my ass on the floor. My head felt like someone was splitting it with an axe, my chest feeling like someone was slamming me up against the wall at a rate of several hundred times a minute.

"Don't," I said with tight lips when Cian reached out to help me. "Don't touch me."

I could barely stand the heartbreak on his face as he shied away from me. If I'd had it in me, I would have told him I wasn't mad at him, the only reason I didn't want him to touch me was because I was afraid of a vision ripping through me and adding to this nightmare, but I didn't. Instead, I just kept panting.

I was starting to curl into a rigid ball on the floor when Alec tried what I'd just told Cian not to do. "Don't," I repeated.

Alec wasn't as easily deterred as Cian was. He stayed crouched almost over me in a protective stance while managing to not touch me at all. "Tell me what to do for you. What happened?"

I shook my head. Those questions were too complex for me to answer right now. But I needed to give him some sort of answer after all this. "It hurts," I managed after what seemed like half an hour.

"OK, OK," he said as he nodded his head. "OK, what hurts?"

"Everything," I gasped.

He frowned as Achrann spoke. "Clear out your King's office discreetly," he said to Cian, who was still lingering in the back with that pained look on his face. "We will need the privacy. Garou, go back to the table and distract those remaining."

"Fuck that," Alec said as he finally drew his attention away from me. "I'm not leaving her."

"As you wish." Achrann turned and peeked around the corner. When he was satisfied, he turned back to Alec and said, "We have to move her."

"No," I gasped as Alec moved to touch me again. He didn't learn too quick, that one.

"I know you don't want me to touch you for some reason," he answered, "but we need to move you. So either let me pick you up or tell me who you'll let carry you, because you obviously can't walk there on your own."

God, he was a pain in the ass, but he had a point. I couldn't stay here. I forced myself to all fours and started to crawl toward David's office.

I didn't make it far before Alec swept me off the floor and over his shoulder. "Not a chance," he said as he jogged back into David's office. As soon as the door closed behind him, he gently laid me down on the large leather couch and I proceeded to curl back into a rigid ball, tucking my head and my knees into my chest.

David was up out of his chair before I could wipe the falling tears away. "Don't," I sobbed again as he went to hold me. Again, there was that pained look on David's face that only made the tears fall harder. Or maybe it was the vibration that was cracking each and every bone in my body that was causing the tears to come faster.

"If I may, Vampire," Achrann said as he approached me. "Let me."

David stepped back, letting Achrann at me. I laid there, trying to remember to breathe in, out, in, out, as his glow flared.

Alec gasped. "Holy shit."

"A spell covers her," Achrann said. When I looked up into his eyes, they were not longer eyes. They were just glowing orbs of white light. "I believe I can divert it, but it will only be temporary."

"Do it," David and Cian said in stereo.

I tried to fight Achrann, but as soon as he laid his pale hand on my upper arm, his glow went nuclear and the vibration and the pain all but disappeared. My entire body relaxed as the pain melted away and the tears dried up. And as the pain disappeared, my mental barriers started to come back.

Achrann gritted his teeth as my eyes started to close. God, I never thought being pain free would be such heaven. I also couldn't help the stupid, happy grin from covering my face. "It is done, but I must continue contact in order to divert the spell."

"What's the spell supposed to do?" asked Cian from the corner. He sounded more than somber, maybe even a little pouty over there. When I opened my eyes to look at him, he looked pouty, too.

"I do not know, perhaps to cause pain?" Achrann added. "The practitioner that cast this spell is very skilled; he or she no doubt covered the reason for it."

"It's to break down my barriers," I said, contented smile still on my face. "I didn't want anyone to touch me because I couldn't keep the visions out."

"And now?" David asked.

"Back in place," I answered as I sat up slowly then decided I was stable enough to stand. "Quit pouting, both of you, and come give me a kiss."

Achrann's hand slid down my arm to my left hand, his fingers sliding between mine. David was the first to approach, and as he did, I gave Achrann's hand a light squeeze as a thank you. I had a feeling it was not easy or painless to do whatever it is he did to free me from the pain, and he did it without complaining. That earned him at least some sort of gratitude.

David palmed each side of my face gently and laid a light kiss on my forehead, then my nose, then my lips. "I was not pouting," he said.

I just rolled my eyes at him. "Right. Uh huh."

Next was Cian. His face was set in stoic, almost Eric-like lines, but it was his eyes that gave him away. His eyes looked like a kicked puppy's eyes.

I was the one that stood on my tippy toes so I could reach out and kiss him. In no time, his arms were around my waist, pulling me off my feet and into his body. "I am sorry," he just managed to get out of his mouth. I could tell the apologizing just about killed him, but he did it anyway.

"It's OK," I whispered.

"Ahem," David said when Cian refused to let me back down to the floor. "I'd hate to ruin this moment, but there are a few questions that need to be answered. How would we undo this spell? Should I call the witch?"

Cian set me back on my feet gently and took a few painful steps backward. I had to agree; the distance from both of my men was almost painful. Now that I felt human again, all I wanted to do was curl up between them and cuddle for the rest of the night. "The practitioner must actively cast it, meaning when he or she tires, the he or she will be forced to break the spell to rest," Achrann explained. "That is also why I must continue contact to divert it."

"Should I call the witch or not?" David asked again.

"No need," Achrann answered. "I can best this spell." Well, as long as he was touching me, that is. And if I go back out to the table holding Achrann's hand? Oh, that is going to tip Sydney off to the fact something's off real fast. But if I don't go back out there, Sydney isn't the only one that's going to figure out something's going on; Sarelle and Rick will figure it out, too.

Shit. Rock, meet hard place.

"We need to get back out there before Syd notices I'm gone and freaks out," I said.

Both David and Cian were on the same page on this one. "No," they said in unison.

I clenched my teeth to give myself some time to convince my temper that screaming never gets you anywhere. "Any better ideas? Because when Syd freaks out, she's officially your problem," I said calmly as I stared directly at the two vampires in front of me.

They both knew I just outmaneuvered them, and David was the first to break. With a wide, sweeping gesture, he pointed to the door to his office. "Go be charming, then," he said sarcastically. "I will be out as soon as I can."

"After you, Princess," Cian said, equally as sarcastically. I may have won, but it was a hollow victory. Because that meant I needed to go back and face Megabitch.


	118. Chapter 118

*****Sorry this chapter took so long for me to get out. I've been working on it steadily, but the beginning of the semester is looming. That means the students I had last year are starting to come to me complaining about grades (a month and a half after there's anything I can do about it), my new students already have problems even though classes don't start until Wednesday, and on top of that, the PCR Gods hate me, so I've been repeating experiments like a chicken with my head cut off. But, hopefully, things will calm down soon. God, I hope so.**

**At least it's a long one for you. Enjoy, and if it takes me another week to get the next chapter out, you're all allowed to yell at me.*****

I am a horrible, horrible person. As I emerged from David's office, hand in hand with not only Achrann but also Cian, Sarelle saw her plan just completely blow up in her face. And when her full blown, infantile, red-faced temper tantrum got both her and Rick tossed out of The Sapphire, all I could do was smile. A large, unabashed, gleeful yet evil smile. So, yes. I am a horrible, horrible person to have enjoyed Sarelle's pain. But sometimes it's just too much fun to watch karma wield the bitch stick, is it not?

Sydney was enjoying it just as much as I was, if her matching grin was any indication. "I was not expecting that," she said, barely reigning in some serious giggles. The other patrons of the bar were still watching our table with horror and I couldn't tell if that made it better or worse for Sydney. For me…well, I'm never really one for attention, but the fact Sarelle's breakdown was so public? Priceless.

"Neither was I," I said as I slid into the booth, Cian on one side and Achrann now sitting next to me on the other.

"So was it worth it?" Sydney asked. All I could do was nod. Yes, sadly, it was completely worth it. After all the years Sarelle had tortured me in high school, it was strangely cathartic to watch something not go her way. It was childish, true, but so worth it. "Good. Now you can tell me what's going on with you." She spared a slight glance at Achrann before focusing right back on me. God, sometimes she's like a pitbull with a bone. You can distract them with loud noises or shiny objects, but never for long. After a minute, they're right back where they started: focused on that bone.

That didn't mean I couldn't play coy. "What makes you think something's wrong?" I answered. I used ever single iota of my hard-earned ability to keep what was going on in my head from showing on my face. Instead, I covered my face with innocent misunderstanding.

But Sydney's smarter than that and knows me too well. "Because Cian looks worried and you're holding hands with your bodyguard," she said with a cocked eyebrow that clearly said 'cut the shit'.

Damn, caught. I realistically knew that Sydney was going to catch on, but a girl could dream. "OK, I might have a small cursed problem again."

Sydney's eyes got wide and white, fear draining the color from her face. "Don't worry, this isn't like the last time I was cursed," I added quickly. "I'm fine as long as Achrann's touching me, I guess."

"Wait, whole story," Alec said. He had been sitting silently at the end of the booth opposite Achrann and I, but when mention of my past curses came up, he scooted further in to the table, practically sitting on RJ's lap in the process, and leaned in. "What other curse?"

I was just about to explain when Cian piped up for me. While he explained how fast I'd gone from fine to coma while in London and Sydney explained what had happened last October, a slight buzzing was starting to rumble through my body again. I got a touch of my own fear going strong as my heart rate spiked like my the muscle was done with this body and trying to make a run for it. I looked up to Achrann's face, taking in the subtle furrow in his brow and strong set to his mouth. He was concentrating hard. "Hey," I said quietly to get his attention. "Are you OK?"

"Yes, all is right," Achrann said.

I didn't quite believe him but was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. I took one deep breath to calm down my nervous system, then another, and finally another until I couldn't feel my heart playing drums against my ribcage. "We need to get out of here. Where'd that waitress go with the bill?"

Cian was already pushing me (and therefore Achrann) out of the booth impatiently. "We'll stick David with it."

As the buzzing got slightly louder in my body and my panic started to become not just and interior emotion but and exterior one as well, Achrann braced his other hand against my wrist. As soon as he did, the buzzing dulled to nothing but background noise. I nodded goodbye to Awesome on the way out the door and got a worried look back from him. Either that panic hadn't completely disappeared from my face or he didn't like the fact I was leaving so early. Usually, when I came to any of David's clubs, it wasn't because I was into the club hopping scene. Usually, it was because that's where I could find David. And leaving early? That usually meant trouble. And tonight was no exception.

As soon as we were clear from Awesome's concerned gaze and the growing crowd ready for some high-priced debauchery, I wrapped my upper body around Achrann's arm. As soon as I did, even the small roar that had been going on in the background disappeared, returning me to normal.

"Your place?" Cian asked impatiently. The keys to one of his toys-on-wheels were already in his hands. That man definitely appreciates his motor vehicles.

"We will retire to her home, yes," Achrann answered while still gritting his teeth. "You and the other vampire should keep your distance. I am finding it more and more difficult to mask my Fae essence from you and protect Ga Binne Ri from the spell cast on her."

The internal struggle was plainly visible on Cian's face; the drive to not let me out of his sight warring with the drive to protect me. And the fact he wasn't going to be the one protecting me? That ate at him like a cancer. After several seconds of agonizing over his options, his smartass relented. "So that's no on the ménage a trois?" he said with a sad smile on his face.

How could you not laugh at that? "Um, no," I said between giggles.

He leaned in for one fleeting kiss, lasting no longer than a split second. His nostrils flared in response to something I couldn't detect as his eyes locked on to my throat. His stare continued long after what would be considered appropriate, even for a vampire, causing me to fidget. I'm not really one to shy away from a long set of fangs, but the way Cian was looking at me was starting to make me nervous. He was entirely too fixated; it was the kind of look that people usually get before you find them completely drained in an alleyway.

Cian seemed to notice his lingering gaze, too. He shook himself as he pried his body farther away from mine. "Call or text to let me know you're safe." And then he was gone.

I looked off in the direction he'd run in. _What if this was the last time I see him?_ I theoretically posed to myself. I don't know what possessed me to think so morbidly, but the thought did its job without any rhyme or reason to the question. That thought froze me in my tracks as the sudden urge to run after him took over.

I must have taken a step in that direction, because Alec was the one who latched on to my free arm. "We can call him if things change, but right now I think I'm going to agree with your bodyguard. No vampires until they stop looking at you like you're the prime cut of steak to their starving lion, OK?"

I nodded silently. If I planned on living until morning, that was probably a good idea. Not that I didn't trust either Cian or David explicitly, but there was something in Cian's eyes…

Sydney pulled up to the curb in my car, RJ riding shotgun. "Someone call a cab?" she asked.

Alec climbed in first. I wasn't sure how he did it, but he somehow managed to get that massive body not only into the backseat of a two-door sports car, but all the way across to the opposite side, too. Because Sydney was hoping to be able to see out her rearview mirror, I was next, tucked awkwardly into the middle seat. And trust me, getting even into the middle seat in that car is a challenge when you're wearing stilettos and a skintight skirt. I don't care how small you are. There's a lot of scooching and wiggling involved. Finally, Achrann climbed in equally as awkwardly, never taking his hands off of mine.

It wasn't even eleven yet, but the night had cooled down significantly; enough that Sydney had turned the heat in the car on for the first time ever. As the car tried to remember what that button meant, I was acutely aware I was wearing a silk sleeveless top without a coat. A cold shudder ran down my back.

Alec noticed, scooching closer to me and settling his arm across the back of the bench seat, effectively tucking me under his arm. "Better?"

I nodded and said, "thanks," just before a yawn escaped my lips. I was surprised the exhaustion that usually follows a bone-numbing vision took so long to come on but what it lacked in immediacy, it made up for in power. Once I was warm and nestled between Achrann and Alec, I was suddenly fighting to keep my eyes open. "The exhaustion just hit like a freight train," I mumbled as my head rolled onto Alec's bicep.

"She always needs to sleep after big visions," Sydney explained. "What's with the time delay?"

As my eyes slid shut, I couldn't quite muster enough to form much more than an unknowing grunt. Maybe it had something to do with Achrann's jury-rigged IV or the stress of facing off with a nemesis of sorts, who knows. Frankly, I was too tired to care.

.

I woke up in my own bed and, as usual, I was not alone. Only instead of a very horny Cian or David saddled up against me ready for more, my head was resting against Moose's lap and my leg was wrapped around his ankle. Across the room, Achrann was sitting in my desk chair, alert but zoned out at the same time.

Moose had a book in one hand, pen tucked behind his ear, and a pad of paper sitting on my bed. "What are you doing here?" I mumbled as I stretched out for the morning, er, afternoon.

Moose glanced down from his book with a smile for me. "I got twin calls from O'Irish brothers last night," Moose answered. "O'Smythe was…upset because you hadn't called him. O'Hara doesn't trust the new guy. No offense," he shot in Achrann's general direction.

Oh, shit, I completely forgot to call either of them. I had planned on calling David when I got home, but…I don't remember getting home. Or going to bed. What did I remember? I thought back as hard as I could, starting from my conversation Cian outside Saph and going forward. We got in the car and I was cold. Of course, being the perfect gentleman, Alec warmed me up and…I passed out cold. I didn't even wake up when I was moved up into my bed and—oh, God—undressed. I took a quick, unassuming peak at my wardrobe: panties I wore last night and my sleep tee. Great.

Achrann came back to the here and now for the sole reason to answer, "Trust seems to be a problem in this realm," before returning to his blank stare state.

"Sure," Moose shot back at Achrann. When he turned back to me and rubbed my back, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

I had just finished my subtle body check only to be mildly confused. "Fine, why?"

He bookmarked the textbook in his hand with his pen and checked his watch. "You've been asleep for sixteen hours. A record, even for you."

"Oh," I answered. That was a bit longer than usual for me. "Wait, they didn't pull you out of bed to come over here and check on me, did they?"

"Nope, Sarah and I were on a date."

"Moose!" I chastised as I sat up against my headboard, tucking my comforter up against my chest to hide any errant skin. I wasn't concerned with Moose seeing anything; after all, he's seen everything there is to see anyway. I was more worried about Achrann catching a glimpse. Not that he was looking at me anyway. "You shouldn't have come if you were busy! You're allowed to have a life."

"I was worried about you," he answered. "And Sarah was mad at me anyway. She said I wasn't 'all there' with her on our date."

"I'm going to tell you something about girls. The way back into their good graces does not include running to your ex's house after a bad date."

"But it was better than sitting at home worrying about you."

Well, he had a point there. And if Moose rushing over here eased some of my men's anxieties, then I'm grateful to Moose for doing it. "Thanks," I mumbled as I scooted closer and tucked myself up against him. "Where's Syd?"

"Last I checked, downstairs with her cards," Moose answered as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Hungry? Because I saw the ingredients for my famous everything omelet in the fridge earlier…"

Moose's everything omelet was as described. It had everything in it: three eggs, spinach, mushrooms, onion, green and red pepper, sausage, pepperoni, bacon, potato, and American and cheddar cheeses. It was truly a monstrosity. And on top of that, Moose liked his with ketchup. The thought of stomaching that made me shudder. "A bowl of cereal's good for me. And I can go get it myself."

"Your loss," he added as he hopped out of my bed and stretched. He was almost out of the door when he turned to Achrann. "You want one?"

"No, that will not be necessary, thank you," Achrann added.

I waited until I heard Moose's feet land squarely on the wooden floor in the foyer before I turned to Achrann. "So, what happened last night?"

Achrann gracefully stood from the chair he was less sitting in and more hovering over in the corner of my room. "Let me show you," he said with an outstretched hand.

He wanted me to go round two with the visions? "No thanks," I said. "I'm going to take a hiatus from visions for a while if I can help it. They're too unpredictable sometimes."

"I can focus your gift to show you only what I want you to see," he said, hand still outstretched. "There is no risk involved."

I eyed him for another second. Did I trust him that he thought there was no risk involved? No. Sure, he'd been mighty helpful last night in stemming whatever it was that was coming for me, but that didn't mean I trusted him implicitly. I mean, there are some things that even a guardian angel, in all his infinite wisdom, couldn't know. However, did I trust that he had the power to control my visions for me? Oh, 110% I trusted that. He could dematerialize and pop into existence where ever he wanted, he glowed like a radioactive Russian journalist, and he could misdirect spells with just the touch of a hand. Controlling my 'gift' was probably child's play to him.

He didn't appreciate my indecision. "Please," he added impatiently.

"You know what?" I said as a buried my hand in the blankets. "I don't want to know that much, sorry. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I'd rather not tempt fate if I don't have to. Now, I'm going to get out of bed. If you haven't seen me with this little on before, I'd appreciate if you'd look away. If you have, well, I guess there's really no point now is there?"

I waited a second for him to turn away. Of course, he didn't. Which meant that either he had been the one to undress me last night or he was present throughout. Lovely. This whole bodyguard-client relationship between the two of us was quickly becoming more and more complicated. Not that I wanted or needed a bodyguard in the first place. OK, maybe I needed him, but I didn't want him. It's not that I didn't want him to be bitchy, I just didn't think I needed a bodyguard…oh hell. I kicked that train of thought to the curb with a sigh and threw the covers back to hurry into the bathroom for a quick shower and to get dressed.

.

I felt markedly better once I was back in my usual uniform of jeans and a t-shirt. I piled my wet hair on top of my head (no worries about freezing my head into an ice ball in September), threw my laptop into my backpack, shoved a bowl of cereal down my throat, grabbed a Pepsi for the road and was off.

"Hey hey now," Moose called after me, his plate still clanging from being tossed into the sink. "I go where you go." He swallowed the last bite of his enormous omelet and caught up to me at the door. "So where to?"

"Lab," I answered as he wrapped his arm over my shoulders. Truthfully, I was kind of glad Moose was tagging along. It made spending time with Achrann a little less…awkward. Not that spending time with two men who've seen you naked should be easier than spending time with one man who's seen you naked…

"Are you following in your car or riding with me?" I asked.

"I'll drive myself." He opened the door to the comfortable fall breeze. As soon as I took a step onto the front porch, however, something didn't feel right. My spidey senses were tingling, if you will. I paused and glanced around, looking for the obvious dangers: people waiting in idling cars, shadowy figures hiding in corners, the loud cracked of a fired gun. There was none of that. Instead, a rather harsh looking woman stepped out from behind my car. She was tall (but, compared to me, so was everybody), maybe about five and a half feet, with stick straight brown hair and matching brown eyes. She was what I've heard the guys refer to women as a 'butterface'…her body was banging, but her face was not up to par. Perfectly sized hips met with long, shapely legs on the bottom and a tight, cinched waist on the top. Connected to her waist was a pair of tight and high breasts, neither too high or perky to look fake but just enough to make them perfect. But that face…her lips were thin almost to the point of being nonexistent and she had a nose that was an inch too long for her face and had obviously been broken a couple of times. Her cheekbones and her chin were both harsh, sharp lines, which is incredibly odd-looking on a face as round as hers. On top of all that, eyes that should be warm like milk chocolate were more like a mud puddle: cold and slimy.

Achrann moved to step in front of me as soon as he saw the woman, but it was obvious she was no threat. She had no gun in her hand; instead, she held a camera. A nice one. Tucked into her back pocket was a manila envelope. I laid one hand on his forearm to let him know we were all OK while shooting Moose a look that hopefully said, 'doesn't look dangerous, but stick close'.

"Can I help you?" I said as I took the two steps off my front porch and onto the sidewalk.

Her voice did not at all match the body it was trapped in. Hard and raspy, it sounded like this voice should be in the body of an aging chain smoker. "Can we speak in private?" She rested her thousand-dollar camera on the hood of Sydney's car and pulled the already visible manila envelope from her back pocket and fanned it in front of her.

"This is as private as it gets," I said as I held a hand out for Achrann. Moose I could feel right behind me, ready to pounce if anything he didn't like happened, but as far as I could tell, Achrann had disappeared from the face of the planet. But reassurance came with his fingers quickly found mine, wrapping themselves around my hand and practically hiding my whole hand from view. With Achrann on my right (we were holding hands so his dominant hand was free to pull the throwing stars I'd given him—no guns on campus for any reason) and Moose on my left, I felt mostly secure. Add to that the two katanas strapped to my back beneath my boyfriend sweater and the daggers tucked into the waistband of my jeans, and I felt downright cozy.

"I want you to deliver something for me," she said as she handed me the ominous manila envelope. "I think your boyfriend would like to see these." OK, she definitely had a smirk on her face when she said that, which made me think I wasn't going to like what was in the envelope.

Regardless of the butterflies that had taken up residence in my gut, I put my bored face on and ignored the envelope she'd held out for me. "I'm not a delivery service."

"Just take a look at what's in here," she said, fanning the envelope out for me again. "I think you'll do pretty much anything I want to keep these from getting out."

I rolled my eyes for dramatic effect and took the envelope out of her hands. Inside was a stack of letter-size photos, all obviously taken with some sort of specialized lens. The first one on the stack was of Cian and me. We were obviously in a movie theater because of the giant tub of popcorn in my lap and the few people sitting behind us, but there was absolutely no indication of what we were watching. Overall, though, it was a cute picture. We were holding hands like adorable newlyweds and he was whispering something in my ear which was making me giggle. The next picture was probably taken just a few seconds later, my face still smiling from whatever it was that Cian had said that made me giggle. I was turned forward, watching the screen, but Cian wasn't. He couldn't have cared less what was on the screen. He was watching the joy on my face with some of his own. Something I had no idea he did. "Aww, this one's sweet," I said somewhat sarcastically even though I meant every word. "Can I get a copy of this? Maybe without the date on it? I want to frame it."

She didn't like my nonchalance at all, and I didn't blame her. She'd come here, I believe, hoping to extort something out of me. Instead, I was nonplussed. "Keep going."

I shrugged and flipped to the next picture. This one was only mildly concerning, but not for me. It was Moose I was worried about in this one. It was dated the day before I'd met the Wicked Witch of the Midwest, when he'd been sent to watch over me. We were both in bed (which was also slightly concerning that someone had a picture of me in bed without my knowledge), Moose's bulky frame wrapped around my body. My eyes were open, which meant that I was obviously awake. Moose's eyes were closed but his mouth was open like he was talking to me. In the next picture, we were in much the same position, only I had my hand on his arm. I remembered this. I was readjusting our position so I'd be more comfortable. After I'd finished looking at those two pictures, I decided to go with nonchalance again. I wanted her to get so pissed that I wasn't pissed that she blew a bit more information than she'd planned. "Glad to know someone's watching over me while I sleep," I said as I tucked those two at the bottom of the stack along with the two pictures of Cian and me. "Moose, you need a haircut, my man."

"I was going to go get one today, actually," he said equally as nonchalantly. But I knew it was just a face for him, too. I could feel the rigid line of his body that usually meant worry for him. He was worried that those pictures were going to find their way to Sarah. And I couldn't blame him. He'd have a hell of a time explaining that. At least, not without downright lying to her, which is something he never likes to do to anyone.

The would-be blackmailer's face got even harsher as she went from angry to pissed. "Keep going," she spat at me.

I shrugged and flipped to the next set. I didn't know what she was thinking with this set; maybe she was going for volume, not raunchiness. In this set, it was a series of photos of me running toward Alec. The first one was me running at him while his back was still toward me. The next was me leaping into his arms and practically wrapping myself around him. OK, that didn't look good and David wasn't going to like this set. But tough shit, basically. Alec and RJ had saved my life, and I owed him everything. Of course, David didn't quite know that…

The next picture was of Alec, Achrann, and I, with me standing between the two obviously less than happy men. I knew what this argument was about and it still looked to me in this picture like they were arguing over a girl (me). Damn, pictures can be deceiving, can't they?

Again, I went for nonchalance. "Hey!" I proclaimed as I pointed to Achrann in the photo. "There's you!"

"There I am," he replied calmly and almost without any inflection what-so-ever.

"Keep going, there's more of you in there, blondie," the would-be blackmailer hissed.

I shrugged once again and kept going on this photographical field trip. This last set was the set that wowed me the most and it wasn't because I was scared of being caught in the act. No, this one wowed me because of who was doing what. This set was taken last night from the same vantage point the set with Moose had been taken from. In the first picture, Achrann is just walking in the door to my bedroom with me curled up in his arms. I had a content look on my sleeping face as Achrann looked down at me. In the next photo, Achrann's hands were working their way up my ribcage as he stripped me of my black halter top. Next, he was sliding my skirt down my otherwise bare legs, leaving me in the sexy underwear I'd put on for Cian. Or David. Or maybe both of them (at the same time). The last picture, however, stunned me for some unknown reason. Achrann's back was to the camera as he lay on his side on my bed. Because of the extreme angle of the picture was taken at, you can just barely see that I'm curled into his bare chest as he pressed me against him almost frantically. I leaned into him with a jut of my elbow and flashed the picture at him. "I didn't know you knew how to be sweet," I said with a questioning tilt to my eyebrow.

The pseudo blackmailer seemed to take my questioning tone toward Achrann as proof that she'd caught me. Not true, but I may was well let her think it. After all, arguing the fact wasn't going to get me anywhere but farther into a hole. "Before you think about tearing those up, that's not my only set."

I cocked a small smile. "Sure, sure, blackmailing one-oh-one," I said. "And in return for the safekeeping of these photos, you'd like…"

"I want you to forecast for me." She said it with a straight face, but her voice gave her away. She was skeptical. So I played dumb.

"Sorry, I'm not a meteorologist, but I hear that the Weather Channel's website is pretty accurate. Personally, knowing the weather doesn't change it, so I don't much pay attention."

"That's not what I mean and you know it."

I tucked the photos back into the envelope and handed the whole bundle to her. "I'm sorry, I really don't know what you're talking about. I expected you to ask for money, but that would be stupid because as a student, I can't afford anything above a double-digit amount. Not that I'd pay you anyway. Sets a bad precedent and all. So…I guess do what you will with those photos." I tried my very, very hardest to look nonplussed as I hit the unlock button on my car. The subtle twinge of fear each time I did that was still with me, like I was expecting another car to up and explode on me. I guess in my life, you never know.


	119. Chapter 119

The ride to campus with Achrann was tension-filled to say the least. "So…I feel like I should ask why you undressed me and curled in bed with me, but I'm not sure I want the answer." At least in that last picture I'd still been wearing a bra. And hopefully panties.

"The curse continued to gain strength throughout the night. Skin-to-skin contact was my only way of protecting you from the pain and I needed as much skin as possible."

I tried to look at the answer objectively. At least it was logical, and it went along the lines of what I already knew about the spell that had been cast on me. "How long did it last?" I asked in a surprisingly steady voice.

"The second the sun broke into the sky, the spell receded."

I pulled into a parking space close to my building and turned off the car. "Could this be a vampire doing this? I mean, when I had my run-in with her, she didn't look like a vampire, but then again, she didn't look like anything I've seen before."

"Describe what it is you saw," Achrann said as he let himself out of my car.

"Uh, darkish hair, small, wearing an old-school nightgown like you see in period films. And her aura was like a flame. Bright red and just pulsed with heat," I said as we waited for Moose to park and meet up with us.

I didn't look over to Achrann when he hadn't said anything for a good while. "What?" I asked. I didn't like his look or his silence. He was way too contemplative.

"I may have heard of this creature," he said. "And if it is she, then she is no vampire. She is darker."

"What is she?" I asked as Moose finally approached. Now that the three of us were all together, we started walking into the large building side by side.

"She is the true basis of your human story of Hell. She is the mother of all vampires." Moose and I both stopped outside the large glass doors into the building and waited for him to continue. "I will tell the story, only we will do it inside."

.

Luckily, lab was empty. I don't know if it was because it was the afternoon on a Friday and most people had given up for the week or because unseasonably warm weather has meant low rainfall which, at least for my lab, translates into low sample volume, but I welcomed the solitude. For one, I could get more done without competing for lab materials with the guys. Also, that meant Achrann could say whatever it is he needed to say without worrying about, well, sounding normal.

"Legend tells of a woman—a Fae Goddess—who was cast out of the Fae world because of her inherent evil. This was of a time when Fae blood was so pure, there were not only Princes like your kin, Sloane, who ruled over those like themselves, but also Gods and Goddesses who ruled over every aspect of Fae. This woman, however, looked down on the lesser species of your world and sought their destruction. For this, the other Gods and Goddesses cast her out of Fae. For their treachery, she used her magic, which was tied to the cycles of the moon, to create a race of parasitic creatures that would feed upon and draw numbers from the human race. Vampires. Only the magic backfired. In the act of making her parasitic children, she became a parasite herself, forced to feed on the magic of others to survive. The Fae council hunted her for several decades, but when there was no sign of her, they must have assumed she had died and quit looking. Only she must have been biding her time. The full-blooded Fae population is now too low to protect the Fae world, let alone the human one. Vampires have been building in population since the Great Revelation. If ever there was a time to mount an offensive, now would be it."

I lowered myself into a lab chair and stared up at him, willing myself not to shake. I had a former Fae Goddess after me, who was apparently strong enough to create an entire race. Going by how old some of the vampires I know are, a creature that is several thousand years old, if not more. "How do we beat her?"

"She holds dominion over the moon and the night, as well as all creatures tied to it. You vampires will be a liability, not an asset when fighting her. The two-natured as well, but to a lesser degree because their power is drawn not only from the moon, but also from the life of the animal they become," Achrann answered.

"So we attack during the day?" Moose asked. He was slowly inching closer to me, whether he knew it consciously or not. I didn't mind. I could use the moral support.

"Yes. We find her lair and attack during the day, when the sun is highest in the sky. Her power will be weakest then."

.

It had taken me a few minutes of staring into space before I could function normally. In that time, where I was not here in this room, or even on this planet, Moose had gotten a phone call from I could only guess to be Sarah. It was not a happy conversation.

Moose's eyes shifted to me as I watched him pace back and forth. "I'm in lab, Sweetheart. You know better than anyone that sometimes you just can't get away." There was a long pause as Moose let out a slow, controlled breath. "Of course Mac's here. She works in this lab, too." Another pause as he paced back from the door toward the industrial freezers. "I don't see where all this is coming from. You knew my best friend was a girl before we got together, and girl or boy, if one of my friends needs me, I'm going."

With one swift movement, I stole the phone mid-sentence as Moose paced past me again. "Sarah?" I said into the receiver.

"Uh, Sloane?" she responded as her brain tried to catch up to what's happening.

"Look, I'm sorry for pulling Moose away from your date; David, my boyfriend, is going to get an earful from me about that later. Anyway, I'm sending him up to your lab now. Don't punish him because he was being a good guy, OK?"

"Why did you call him? In the middle of the night, too…I hope you can understand how that looks to me."

"Oh, I do, trust me, and I didn't call him, David did. He worries about me and trusts Moose, so that's why he got the call. Moose will explain everything once he gets his ass up there." Without letting Sarah get another word in edgewise (I really never was one for the girly girly feelings-fest), I hung up the phone and shoved Moose out of the room. "Get, I'll be fine," I said as I shoved him toward the staircase. Sarah's lab was just two floors up (same floor as Cian's office), so he wouldn't be far away. I could probably yell and he'd be able to hear me if there was a problem. "Cian's office is probably empty if you need somewhere private."

I watched his internal struggle. "This is a bad idea. What if you need me? And I have no idea what to tell Sarah."

"Tell her the truth, Moose. If this is going to be a long term thing, and I hope it is, then she needs to know. As much as I'd like it to be different, my life if a free fire zone and those people in it are going to be at risk. She needs to know what's going on so she can protect herself. If you don't want to tell her about you, fine. But you have permission to tell her about me."

"Sloane…" he said, unable to finish the sentence on the first shot. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I can't tell her your secret."

"Yes, you can. She's important to you so she's important to me." With a squeeze to his hand, I turned back and walked into the lab. "Go. Now."

He left.

"Just the two of us, Wings," I said as I closed the lab door and activated the electronic lock. "Are you going to help or watch?"

"Watch," he answered as he set up vigil in what I guess was a prime location. Just close enough to the door so that he could watch both me and the door at the same time and placed just right so that anyone coming in would have to get past him before they got to me. I shrugged, pulled on a pair or latex gloves, and pulled my samples from the fridge.

.

I had just finished the first steps of the procedure and placed my samples in the lightcycler to cook when I got a bad feeling. I pulled my gloves off and tossed them in the trash as I glanced around the lab. Safety hood was off, all hot plates were off, not an exposed chemical in sight. I wasn't going to inadvertently start a fire: electrical, heat, or otherwise. I checked the electronic locking system: still engaged. Still, my hand itched to reach for my katana. "I have a bad feeling," I said to Achrann.

He was instantly ready for a fight, tucking me behind him and pulling the throwing stars free. "When?" he asked.

"I don't know." It wasn't a true vision, just a feeling like I used to get. The further I tried to pull the feeling to the top, the more it refused to come, until my head hurt and I caught myself forgetting to breathe. "I can't channel the rest of the vision; I'm just getting the bad feeling."

I felt the urge to duck behind the lab bench just in the nick of time, pulling Achrann to the floor with me. I hadn't even hit the ground before the room exploded with light and sound. Wooden shrapnel ricocheted against the shelving above my head and rained down onto the two of us. The metal door to the lab was leaning against the opposite wall, now in a handy L shape. My hands had automatically moved to cover my head to protect it from falling debris, so grabbing my katana was a quick movement, leaving me on my feet and armed in a matter of a split second.

This was lucky because the first of bumbling idiot through the door had his daggers already drawn. If I had had to pull my weapon _then_ stab him though the gut, he would have gotten to me first and it would have been my blood on the floor. Weres are just that fast. Instead, it was a massive wolf dressed in black that was staring at me, astonished, shocked look on his face as he dropped to his knees. Blood pooled beneath him as he collapsed onto his now opened stomach. I waited for the nausea to hit at the sight of blood, but it never did. Sloane: 1, weird phobias: 0.

I didn't have too much time to gloat, however. I spared a glance in Achrann's direction. He was fighting hand to daggers against two men, blood already seeping from a wound in his shoulder. But he wasn't the only one that was bleeding. One of the men threatening him with a deadly weapon had a throwing star protruding from his leg and his forearm. Achrann was way more accurate with those things than I was.

I tossed him my katana as I attempted to pull the second one from its sheath at my back. It was halfway free of its leather binding when the force of a small wrecking ball connected with my chest, slamming me against the wall and knocking the breath out of me. Only it wasn't a wrecking ball. It was another wolf.

"Do not kill her," said a familiar female voice. I glanced over The Hulk's shoulder toward the voice as a hand clamped over my throat and squeezed. The Wicked Witch of the West strode through the now-missing door. She was the perfect antithesis to her attack force; small and dressed in a white suit, dark hair up in a high French twist. Where everyone that was currently fighting was covered in dust and debris, she didn't have a touch of dirt on her.

I couldn't focus on her if I wanted to get out of here alive, so I purposely pushed out of my mind and focused on the Were attempting to kill me. I struggled to pull the last inches of the katana out of the sheath as blackness crept into my vision and my lungs screamed. I needed air. I needed air now.

There was only one way I could guarantee myself air immediately. I brought the now-freed katana up from my side where it was dangling uselessly and shoved it through the bicep of the arm that was clamped around my neck. There was a sharp grunt of pain as the hand around my neck loosened instantly. Without the support of The Hulk's hand, I collapsed to the ground panting.

I started to crawl away as fast as I could as I hacked. Black spots were still dotted across my vision, making it difficult to see where I was crawling to. It also made it impossible to see when large back combat boots appeared in my vision until it was too late. The muscled arms that belonged to those boots lifted me from the floor and quickly shoved a wet rag into my face. I tried not to breathe; I'd seen enough movies that I knew what was supposed to happen, but there's only so much control you have over your lungs when they're already starved for oxygen. As soon as my lungs expanded, consciousness slipped away.

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Sarah was alone sitting in the lab when I jogged through the door. "I'm sorry," I said quickly. I was sorry for a lot of things: bailing halfway through our date to go hang out with another girl, lying to her about my basic nature, bringing her so close to the danger that follows Mac around like a giddy school girl.

"I know," she answered. When she looked up, I was surprised to see that tears were falling from her eyes. While we were on the phone it didn't sound like she'd been crying, but it also didn't look like it was something that had just started. Trust me, with the estrogen I grew up around, I'd know.

She melted into me as I wrapped her up in my arms. "Don't cry," I said before kissing her hair. Tears fell for another few minutes as I held her and let her get everything she needed to out. When she finally pulled away and dried her eyes, I kissed her lightly. "I'm going to explain everything." I laid another kiss on her lips, this one more urgent. "But first," I said, lying another kiss on her lips, then her chin. When I laid one on her neck, she let out a wanting gasp. "We're going to make up the right way."

She took fistfuls of my hair and pulled my lips towards hers. "Where?" she asked breathlessly. Where…where could we have enough privacy so no one would accidently walk in on us, but we'd be close enough so we could get naked _now_? "We both share offices," she whispered as I kissed a trail up from her chin to her earlobe.

An office! Like the one on this floor inhabited by the undead. I grabbed her hand from inside my shirt and pulled her along. "I know of somewhere."

We barely made it to the couch in the vampire's office before I had her wrapped around me in every way.

.

Sarah and I were still in the buff, lying on O'Smythe's super plush couch under a cashmere throw blanket. He knew how to furnish in style. He was not going to like the ever present scent of sex in here, but I didn't much care. After all, he owed me one.

"Whose office is this?" Sarah asked.

"Mac's boyfriend, _Dr_. Cian O'Smythe," I answered. I ran my hands through her hair from root to tip. It wasn't nearly as soft or as thick as Mac's hair, but it had a certain water-like quality that I liked nonetheless.

"I thought her boyfriend's name was David," she said, pulling her head off my chest so she could look me in the eye.

"It is," I answered after another light kiss. "She has two boyfriends."

Her mouth formed into a tight little 'o' of surprise. "Do they know about each other?" she gasped. If there was something that I didn't like about her it was her penchant for gossiping. A talent that made me a little hesitant to tell her all of my and Mac's secrets.

"Yea, they're…friends, I guess."

"Wow," she breathed into my chest as she settled back in. I wrapped ringlets of blonde hair around my fingers to entertain myself as I listened to her breathe for another few moments. "That name sounds familiar, Cian O'Smythe, but I can't place it. Is he in the cell bio program?"

"No, psych department," I answered.

"Wait," she said as she shot into a sitting position, moving so that not only did she have a good look at my face, but I had a full frontal view that I was having trouble pulling my eyes from.

"Hm?" I mumbled as I stared at her exposed chest.

"You said you were going to 'explain everything'. So explain."

"OK," I said as I matched her nude yet sitting position. "What do you want to know?"

"Why'd you have to rush over the Sloane's house in the middle of the night?" Her eyes dropped to look at her hands clasped in her lap as she asked, which is something that Sloane does when she's not looking forward to the following conversation. As I paused to gather my thoughts, she looked up to me with such fiery hate in her eyes. "You don't want to tell me because you were _with_ her. I'm right, aren't I?"

"No!" I said quickly. "I'm just not sure where to start. I went over there because O'Hara and O'Smythe both called me to go watch over her for them. I'm not sure why they couldn't do it themselves; they're much stronger than I am, at least at night, but I'm sure they had a good reason. They don't leave her unprotected when there's trouble for just any reason. Anyway, she has a new bodyguard her uncle got her and neither of them trust him because he's not…" I was going to say human but thought better of it at the last second. I was going to try to rock her life view as little as possible after then date we'd had…or hadn't had. "…we'll, he's odd. But she was asleep before I even got there. Which was another reason Cian called me; she was supposed to call him as soon as she got home, but didn't."

She just looked at me for a few moments, probably trying to decide if I was full of shit or if this story was so ridiculous that it had to be true. When I didn't flinch under her appraising stare, she nodded. "Why do they think she's in trouble?"

I laughed. "She's always in trouble of some sort. This time it's because she's…unique." She just cocked an eyebrow at me as she waited for the rest of the story. "Look, that's her story to tell you, but I can tell you that she could be very useful to a bunch of people and she doesn't want to help them willingly." I threw the last remnants of the blanket from my hips and walked the distance to where my pants had landed near the door.

She watched me pull my pants on as she thought about what I'd said. "If she needs you as a…what? Bodyguard against her bodyguard?"

I laughed again. "I prefer babysitter."

"Fine. If she needs you as a babysitter, then why'd she let you come up and see me?"

I searched the room for my shirt. I was pretty sure I'd made it inside the door before that fell to the floor, but I could have been mistaken. "That answer's twofold: one, she hates babysitting duty. She thinks she can protect herself, and she can, but it still annoys her that David and Cian insist she have a man there to protect her. They're old school that way. Secondly, she wants this to work between the two of us. She likes you."

She was about to say something when the floor shook like a semi just rolled through the hallway. "What the hell was that?" she asked, pulling the throw blanket up to cover her chest completely.

I was rolling through the possibilities in my head before she even asked. Earthquakes were extremely rare in Michigan and when we did get one, you usually didn't feel it. Low-lying thunder could shake a building that much, especially this far off the ground, but it was sunny outside. When the fire alarms started screeching, warning everyone to evacuate the building, I put it together. Explosion.

Shit. Mac.

"Get dressed," I said quickly. No need to tell her twice. I was pulling my shoes on as she slipped her tank top over her head and buttoned her jeans, just tucking her underwear into her pocket. When she was dressed, I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the office. "That was an explosion. Stick close to me, OK? Stay behind me and stay quiet."

"Oh my God, an explosion? Like an experimental accident?"

"I don't think so," I answered just above a whisper. No, when dealing with Mac, always assume the worst.

.

What used to be the lab door was now a gaping hole, dust still flittering down from the ceiling. "Oh my God," Sarah gasped. When she froze in place, I sprinted through the former door.

"Mac?" I said instantly upon entering. I scanned the room quickly, but I didn't see her. I did, however, see a very dirty and very bloody Achrann in the corner and two someones I didn't know dressed in all-black, both lying face down on the floor.

"Ga Binne Ri was taken," Achrann grunted.

I rushed over to the fallen angel. "Here," I said as I helped him off the floor and to the sole remaining intact lab chair. "Sit. What happened?" He was bleeding from several cuts, about half of the visible ones looking pretty severe. It must have been a hell of a fight.

"Moose?" Sarah said shakily from the doorway. As soon as I stepped to the side and she could see Achrann, she skittered into the room, skipping over falling debris. "Oh my God, you're hurt."

"I will heal," he responded to Sarah. When he turned to me painfully, he said, "You must find them. Follow her scent to the lair." Which meant what, exactly? Shift into a bloodhound and track her not only _like_ a dog, but _as_ a dog? Considering the even stare he was given me, I think that's exactly what he had in mind. Oh, this was not going to go over well with Sarah at all. "Do not approach," he continued, "only locate. I will meet you at the home of the Prince's kin."

I considered how shallow I was being for a second; Mac had been kidnapped, apparently by the evil god herself, and I didn't want to help because I was afraid how Sarah would take it. After hating myself, I shook it off. "I'm sorry, Sarah," I said as I stripped off my shirt. I could hear the sirens coming, no doubt the fire department coming to investigate the fire alarm. If I was going to shift and get out of the building with a chance in hell of not arising any suspicions, I needed to do it before firemen stormed the building. Same goes for getting a bleeding guardian angel out of the building. "I know you're not going to like this, and I was going to tell you." I took my keys out of my pocket and handed them to her. "Can you take him to Mac's house?" I asked as unbuttoned my pants. She nodded, a bit unsure of what I was doing, but agreed blindly. I dropped my pants and before shifting, I kissed her. "I'm sorry, I was going to tell you." And I shifted.


	120. Chapter 120

****I know these are coming later and later, but I have another excuse for you. My computer is in the midst of a mental breakdown. I'm putting up with it just long enough to finish this chapter, then it's going to the computer psych ward. I don't know how long they'll have it, so please bear with me. It may even be a few weeks before I can the next chapter to you. I know it's kind of a cliffhanger—sorry.****

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Well, Sarah did not take that well. While backing out of the room in disgust, she tripped over a fallen ceiling tile and scratched up her arm. When she finally righted herself, she ran—no, sprinted—out of the room and away from me. And she still had my car keys.

I turned back to look at Achrann. There was no way he was going to be able to limp out of here on his own, and leaving him here to have the fire department find him was not an option, either. He seemed to read my mind, because he struggled to stand before saying, "Find her. I will be fine," and poofed right out of the room. Like, one second he was there, the next he was gone. Instantly.

I shook it off as just another one of those odd things you see when you hang out with fairies and sniffed the air. I knew Mac's scent by heart, of course. I knew how her scent changed when she was aroused or scared or happy (mostly aroused). So I instantly picked up on her scent. What I concentrated on was the other scents in the room. Most of them were woodsy, deep, musky scents that usually hinted either towards an avid hunter or, more likely, Weres or two-natured. Gauging by the two dead men on the floor, they had all been Weres. All except for one, of course. One scent was cotton candy sweet with just a slight undertone of age, like the carnival and mothballs. In all my years, I'd never smelled anything quite like it. Which meant if the owner of this scent had Mac, then following this scent would lead me right to her.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I sat in the office RJ and I shared in the Engineering Research Complex (ERC, for short) spinning in my chair and staring at my phone. I should have been working on my project, a computer program designed for local law enforcement agencies to help track computer hackers through their IEP address and their hacker 'signatures'. Hey, after all, if you want to catch one, be one. It was no coincidence that I decided to create this specific program after I'd started life at The Camp as their computer hacker. Hell, the only reason I was in State's computer engineering graduate program was due to my elite skills at hacking and creating data. You usually needed a bachelor's degree to get into a PhD program. Hell, you need a high school diploma. I possess neither of those. Legally, that is.

No, instead of working like I should have been, I was staring at my phone, wondering if I should call Sloane. I'd been going back and forth all day on the topic. On one hand, if I just called her and got it out of the way, I might be able to calm down enough to get something done. After the way things were left last night, I had a right to be worried about her, right? I could call, get in a quick 'how are you', and finally move on with my day. On the other hand, I didn't want to freak her out. She didn't exactly _give _me her phone number. I may have hacked my way into the MSU mainframe and found her home address, phone number, parents' address, transcript from her bachelor's (smart girl, by the way), employment history, and next of kin. Not that I needed all of that information, but I was curious.

"Bordy, if you don't just call her, I'm going to," RJ said from his workstation. He had a straw tucked in the side his mouth connected to a Monster Energy Drink sitting in front of him as he typed furiously.

"I don't want to freak her out," I answered. "Besides, she's probably busy in her lab, right?" Another address I got right off the MSU mainframe. They should really protect their students' information better. Only two firewalls? Childs play.

RJ glanced at his watch even though the screen he was staring at had the time in the lower right hand corner. "This late on a Friday? Who knows. It's not like she has a date, although she might not have even gone in today. How would you explain Mr. Blond?"

He had a point. I glanced out the window in the direction of Sloane's building. I couldn't see it, of course, but I could just imagine myself taking a little stroll over, maybe looking in the office window. She'd either be there, purple latex gloves on her tiny hands working away to the beat of music, or she wouldn't be there. In that case, I'd do a quick drive by on my way home, making sure everything looked OK, maybe catch a glimpse of her cooking dinner or reading a book.

_What the hell am I thinking?_ I asked myself. _I am not a stalker. Repeat, I am not a stalker. Leave her be and you'll see her on Tuesday._

But the thought of waiting until Tuesday to know if she's OK or not make my chest clench. That, right there, made my decision for me. "Fine, I'll call her." I was going to break down and do something eventually and making a phone call was infinitely better than stalking her to her home.

I dialed the number I'd memorized and waited anxiously for her to answer. One ring. Two. When it rang for the third time, I was starting to panic even though I knew the response was ludicrous. Just before I was about to hang up, a male voice answered.

It was the unidentifiable accent of Achrann. "Sloane McIntosh's phone."

"What, are you her answering service now, too?" I responded shortly.

"This is not the time, Garou," Achrann responded after a painful sounding sigh. "I do not have time for this."

My stomach sunk to the floor. "What happened? Is she OK?"

"She has been kidnapped."

I instantly snapped back into military mode, as I called it. I was alert, logical, detached. It didn't matter that I was freaking out about Sloane's safety just a mere minute ago. Now I could look at the situation with a seasoned eye. "Tell me what happened."

He explained everything up to the very second we were talking. "I am too injured to dematerialize very far."

"I'll come get you," I said before I hung up the phone.

.

Achrann was leaning up against Sloane's car, hidden from view on the top level of the parking ramp. He had slumped onto the dirty concrete, leaning his head against the front passenger side wheel.

I glanced back at RJ, who was still sitting in the driver's seat of his truck, engine idling. Even though Achrann had made it abundantly clear that he was not out to kill me or mine, RJ was still weary as hell of the Avenger. I guess old habits die hard.

_Kill him while you can_, my head pelted at me as I walked up to the injured angel. I did my best to ignore it. "Come on," is all I said as the angel looked up at me. I didn't notice a small pool of blood on the concrete until Achrann labored to push himself off the ground, using every possible leverage point he could. He even left a bloody handprint on the car next to Sloane's. "Shit," I said as I reassessed his injuries. He did not look good. "Do I need to take you to a hospital?"

"No," he answered as I reached out to help support him. With one of his arms leveraged over my shoulder and my free arm supporting his waist, he continued. "I will heal quickly on my own once I can rest."

Hm. That's not something Father ever told us. "Good to know," I mumbled.

I scooted him in to the center seat in the truck and glanced into the bed longingly. I would much rather be on top of my motorcycle that was currently hooked into the back securely than smashed into the cab of this truck with two other men, one of whom was probably still bleeding. "Please take me back to Sloane's home," Achrann said. Without another word, RJ took off.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

The first thing to punch through into my consciousness was the pain. My cheek throbbed, my throat was on fire. Even my chest felt sore and bruised. I flinched when I took a deep breath and tweaked something in my side, causing a sharp pain to ricochet though my torso.

I didn't try to understand my surroundings until I had a firm grip on the pain in my body. It's always good to make sure you're not dying. And as far as I knew, I wasn't dying. Yet. I was, however, lying spread eagle on something hard and cold. I was dying to open my eyes, to see where I was, but I didn't trust myself to do that yet. One, I didn't want to alert anyone that I was awake. Two, I needed to mentally prepare myself for waking up in a shithole again. Some things get easier with practice. Not freaking out when you're about to be gruesomely killed? Not one of those things.

Mostly I wanted to open my eyes to see if the sun was still out. I knew I was outside because I could feel a subtle breeze flow across my body every once in a while and I could hear the birds chirping. But none of that really told me what time of day it was. Luckily, I had another way to approximate time. I probed the bond between David and I; he was still asleep—dead. Meaning it was still daylight out. I guess that was good and bad. Good because the woman who had me needed the night to be at her most effective. Bad because the receiver to my internal GPS was still dead for the day. I was still debating if that was a fair trade or not when someone slapped me across the face hard. Then I decided it was not a fair trade. I wanted my vampires.

"She's awake," said a familiar gruffly, unhappy voice. "Now can I get payback?"

Uh oh. "What did you have in mind?" asked an equally familiar female voice. The gruffy voice I was having trouble placing, but the female voice I knew instantly. The Wicked Witch of the Midwest.

I tried my hands as subtly as I could without pulling attention to me. They weren't tied down. My legs, either. If I could just wait until I had my chance, there was a possibility I could get out of this all on my own.

"An eye for an eye," answered the gruffy voice.

Now I started to panic. I recognized that voice as belonging to the Were who's bicep I filleted earlier. As soon as the woman said, "I need her alive and conscious at midnight. Other than that, I do not care," my body was in full panic mode. My eyes split wide open and I rolled to my side before I was even aware of my surroundings. Which is why I rolled off whatever it was I was lying on and fell three or so feet to the floor where I hit with a loud thud.

"Get up," the Were growled at me as he yanked me to my feet via my hair. I had just enough time to realize we were in a dilapidated, forgotten barn before my eyes latched on to the dagger in his hand. "That knife of yours really hurt," he said as he lightly ran the blade down my cheek.

"You seem just fine," I said while moving as few muscles in my face as possible.

He smiled and tucked the blade into the back of his pants. I logged that piece of information into my brain for future use. "Feisty. We're not going to play until I beat the feisty right out of you." Without another warning, he punched me in the temple. Normally, I would have easily been able to dodge such a sloppy move, but he had a hold of my hair, effectively holding his target nice and steady for him.

The force of his punch knocked my hair free of his grip and sent me reeling to the floor. I had just barely recovered single vision when he was coming right back at me, his big body looming over mine, fist pulled back and ready to strike. I wasn't going to give him the chance. I planted one foot squarely on the floor and used leverage from both that foot and my shoulder blades against the floor to swing one good kick into his groin, connecting perfectly. He rolled over onto himself, singing soprano, while I rolled away from the action. I was just about to crawl toward the open barn door when a splitting pain ripped through my back, forcing me face first into the moss covered floor.

"You lose something?" asked another gruffly yet younger voice. Somewhere nearby, a piece of hard wood clanged to the floor.

"Shut up," demanded the first guy, voice still a touch higher than it used to be. "Hold her down for me."

I had managed to get my hands beneath me and push myself on to all fours when a boot landed square between my shoulder blades. I landed back on my stomach with a grunt and a thud.

I knew saying it was going to be futile, but I still couldn't help myself. "Let me go," came out of my mouth anyway.

The second Were's boot gouged deeper into my back as the first one finally got upright. "Alright, you bitch," he growled. The two Were's switched places seamlessly as the first Were flipped me onto my back. He was grabbing for my throat, but he never got there. My punch hit him square in the jaw, knocking him off of me just a little and bowling the second Were over in laughter.

"Dude, she's kicking your ass," he got out between gaffaws.

"Shut up!" the first Were yelled again.

I had already gotten to all fours and had started to crawl away when the second Were said, "let me show you how it's done." Just before I could get to my feet and start full on running, I was lifted from the ground and slammed down back-first on the slab I'd woken up on, knocking the breath right out of me. When I'd recovered the ability to breathe, the second Were was straddling my thighs to keep my legs steady and had both of my wrists pinned above my head with his one giant hand. "See? Now you can do whatever you want because you still have one free hand." He was demonstrating his free hand by roaming it up under my shirt.

I glanced out the missing barn door as a tear ran down my cheek. The sun was setting, meaning I had maybe five minutes until my vampires were awake. Maybe another hour before they regrouped and came for me. I was hoping I lasted that long.


	121. Chapter 121

****I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm glad to report that one hard-drive later, my computer is back on its feet…er, power cord? Now, after reading this chapter, you may think I've finally lost it. I am aware that I'm getting a bit more metaphysical than Charlaine usually gets. I've been rereading Anita Blake which is seeping its way into my consciousness, it seems. I'll try to keep the weird factor to a minimum.****

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Achrann, Mustafa, and I were all standing (or sitting, in Achrann's case) in Sloane's living room discussing the plan of attack. Mustafa had actually shifted into a bloodhound and tracked Sloane's scent to an old abandoned farm a couple of miles south of campus. As far as he could tell, two Weres and the woman were holding Sloane in the old barn.

"How'd she look?" I asked, unable to hold in the curiosity anymore.

"Unconscious, but solid," Mustafa answered.

Regardless of the remarkable progress Achrann had made in just a few short hours, he struggled to stand without the crutch of the armchair. I was keeping a steady eye on him; it didn't matter that I was working my way toward trusting him, he was still cleaning a high powered sniper's riffle with a military grade scope. It didn't matter who in the room was holding such a powerful weapon, it could be the Easter bunny. I'd still be weary. "I will imbed myself in the environment and eliminate all those I can see. I will be no use in hand to hand combat tonight."

I was still fondling the earpiece he'd given me, another piece of military grade hardware. Nicknamed the 'bone', this earpiece was nearly invisible when inserted. That was, nearly invisible in human ears. I wasn't planning on staying human. "You must describe everything you see, hear, and feel to me. Nailan will have weaved magic in that area, and some movements may trigger her magic in ways we do not want."

"Nailan?" I asked.

"Sloane's kidnapper, the Fae goddess. Her name was—is—Nailan," Achrann answered. He looked almost domestic in his blue sweater and jeans, something of David's (or Cian's) Mustafa had pulled out of Sloane's closet. He wasn't bleeding anymore, but he was still favoring his right side where he'd been stuck with a blade of some sort.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to shoot that thing with your arm?" I asked. Among other gashes, he had an impressive looking one on his right arm.

"I will be fine," he said mainly to dismiss me. He started giving more directions on what to do and what not to do, but I wasn't listening. I never was good at the planning process; I was always more of an attack and improvise kind of guy. So, instead, I was staring out the window. Which was probably why I was the only one that didn't jump a foot when both David and Cian burst through the door. I'd seen them arrive on the front porch only a split second before the door was practically ripped from its hinges.

"Where is she?" David demanded.

"Taken, kidnapped," Achrann answered. "I know you wish to go rescue her, but you cannot."

This was not a conversation that I wanted to be included in, especially considering the look in both of the vampires' faces. I quietly slinked out the door, pulling Mustafa with me. Once we were on the back porch and out of the vampires' line of fury, I handed Mustafa the earpiece. "I don't need this, I'm going as my wolf."

"No," Mustafa demanded. "I don't trust you."

"Why not? Sloane does."

"She doesn't know about you," Mustafa shot back, obviously frustrated that Sloane seemed to approve. Not my problem, if you ask me. Doesn't the guy have a girlfriend, anyway? One that _isn't_ Sloane?

"She knows more than you do," I shot back. Now we were just getting catty, but he started it. "What do you care, anyway? Don't you have a girlfriend?"

The fury in his eyes turned to pain in a split second. "Probably not anymore," he answered. "I shifted in front of her…she didn't take it well."

Oh, hell. Now I felt bad. "Sorry," was all I could think of to say to that. It's not an experience I'd ever had. My only girlfriend had turned into a wolf on the full moon, too. She obviously had had no problem with what I was. No, I had the my-ex-is-a-complete-and-utter-psychopath problem.

He bolstered his pain and shoved it back down where ever it'd come from. "Not the point. You're hiding something and I don't like it. I don't want you around her at all, but we need you. So until I can shift again, you're staying human, too."

I couldn't help but smirk. He had a point, the second I shifted, he'd know why I was different, what I was hiding. And I wasn't sure that I wanted him to know yet. I generally don't trust other shifters with secrets; they're too social. When one member of a pack knows something, the entire pack knows it. And that's too many people. Sloane and Achrann knowing were too many people.

"Just tell me," Mustafa said. "Why haven't you picked a pack?"

"I'm…I'm just different from them, OK? I don't belong in a wolf pack any more than you do."

Not a good enough answer for him, apparently. "How?" he demanded.

I squeezed my hands into tight fists in frustration. We didn't need this, not right now. "I just am, OK? I can't tell you how."

"Tell me how," he demanded again.

"No one can know, OK?" I yelled. I was losing my temper, which was never good for my wolf. I could feel him pacing inside me, reacting to my frustration and trying to get out. He wanted to fight Mustafa. "If it gets out what I am, and they find me…" I stopped that sentence before I finished it, battening it down inside me. No insecurities right now. I can't afford to have any insecurities going into battle.

"Who? If who finds you?" he asked, anger turning into concern.

"They, OK? Just they. If they find me, they'll kill me." They had to kill me. I defected. That's what the Garou do to defectors. In fact, that's what the Garou do to anyone that isn't on their side. They kill them all brutally. There wouldn't be anything left of me to identify. "Look, hate me if you want, let's just go get Sloane." I flung the door open to the two vampires and one guardian angel who were still arguing in the living room. David and Cian looked imposing, but Achrann was holding his ground. No vampires. "Let's go."

At least Achrann knew not to push any buttons on his exit, since he pushed them all with their entrance. He bowed to both of the vampires and limped out the door.

.

I begrudgingly shoved the bone earpiece into my ear as we shrugged behind an overgrown bush outside the dilapidated barn. I couldn't see Sloane, but I could hear her muffled grunts through the dissolving wall. But what I could smell worried me more. I smelled fresh blood. I shot Mustafa a worried look, who seemed to return it.

I jumped a touch when I heard Achrann's voice practically inside my head. "I can only see one Were and Nailan. You must reach Nailan quickly. Disarm but do not kill her. Understand?" I suppressed that part of me that didn't like to take orders. He was the one who knew exactly what was going on. I needed to take his direction, if only this once. I looked up toward where I knew Achrann was perched. I couldn't see him in the overgrown maple tree but 1) exactly where he was, and 2) he could definitely see us. I nodded. "Now," he said just before the telltale pop of a sniper rifle went off.

All hell broke loose when the one Were slumped to the floor. As soon as I whipped around and was able to see the layout I could tell why. Achrann had nailed the Were holding Sloane's ankles to the carving table in the back of the head. The other Were, who seemed to be enjoying holding Sloane's wrists above her head, and Nailan, who was chanting silently, lips moving but no sound, were the first to notice. Next were the two Weres in the corner. They were instantly ready for battle, pulling out guns from their waistband. I took those two, leaving the Were left holding Sloane down for Mustafa.

I had literally brought a knife to a gun fight. I had my switchblade, which I always had on me, and that was it. Achrann hadn't deemed it important we be carrying guns. After all, with the intel we had, there were only two Weres. Now there were four. I would have appreciated a weapon, but without going home and getting my gun, I didn't get one.

I tucked and rolled into the shins of the closest attacker. When he tumbled to the ground on top of me, I managed to wrestle for his gun while simultaneously keeping him between me and the other gun.

"No!" Mustafa yelled, pulling my attention away from the gun in my face toward the other shifter. Nailan had an ancient dagger held above her head, about to thrust it down into Sloane's chest. Everything happened so quickly. Cliché, but true. I only registered one gunshot, but at the same time that red blossomed in the center of Nailan's forehead, pain blossomed in my chest. I looked down, determined to figure out what had hurt quite so bad. All I saw was red. The second Were had shot me just above my left pec. The pain in my chest, the adrenaline from still being alive, the fear for Sloane's life…it all combined to be just too much for my beast to bear. He wanted to come out and play and I didn't have the mental capacity left to stop him. A split second later, I'd shifted into my wolf.

I could understand the flabbergasted look on Mustafa's face. I wasn't supposed to be able to shift that fast. I wasn't supposed to be able to shift when hurt. But most of all, I wasn't supposed to be this big. Most Weres, when they shift, they're average wolf sized, maybe a little bigger (depending on how big the human is). My wolf was huge, even when you take into account my almost seven foot human frame. I was almost pony sized as a wolf. And black as night.

**MUSTAFA'S POINT OF VIEW:**

My God. I had never seen anything like it. Alec had shifted in the blink of an eye. There was no painful transition for him; one second he was lying on the ground, bleeding from his chest, the next he was a wolf over four feet fall. And he wasn't bleeding anymore, at least not that I could see. Then again, all that black fur could hide a bullet hole pretty easily.

He looked me dead in the eye, almost challenging me before he turned his attention back to the two Weres in front of him. The Were I'd been grappling with didn't like Alec's display; he wiggled his way out from under me and ran as fast as he could. With Nialan dead, or at least slumped on the floor, that left just Mac and I.

But when I went to stand, Mac didn't look like she did before I was taken to the ground by the Were. She had been awake, terrified, fighting. Now she was still and motionless, eyes open but unseeing. I couldn't understand why. She didn't have any injuries that would kill her. A bruised neck and cheek, a split lip, and a knife wound in her arm, but other than that she was fine. That was practically child's play for her; she's survived much worse. So why was she dying now?

"Achrann…" I said as I looked off into the trees toward where he was perched. "She's not breathing."

I jumped when I heard Achrann's voice in stereo, one ear from the earpiece and the other because he was instantly standing behind me. "Nailan had already tied Sloane's magic to her own. Do you know CPR?"

No need to answer, I just jumped onto the carving table and breathed into Mac's mouth. It tasted like blood. While I was doing chest compressions, Achrann was rooting around the corpse that was in the process of flaking away. "I must transfer the magic from Nailan to Sloane before the body completely disappears. Knife?"

I pointed to the dagger Nailan had been about to impale Mac with lying beside her disintegrating body before breathing for Mac again. When I came up to do chest compressions again, he was nicking Mac's finger and dripping blood from Nailan's similarly nicked finger into the wound. "Is it working?" I asked between compressions.

Achrann was concentrating, but spared enough mind power to answer me. "I cannot separate Sloane's magic from Nailan's. I can transfer all the magic to Sloane, but I am not sure what that will do to her human half."

"Do it," I said. It was either that or let her die, and I was not going to just sit back and let her die. Alec seemed to agree; he let out a little yip in agreement.

"Move away," Achrann said. I followed direction hesitantly. If I moved away, how was I going to breathe for her? "Quickly."

I just prayed he knew what he was doing as I backed away. With a few quiet words and a couple of well-placed hand movements, Mac shot into a coughing fit, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the table. "Mac?" I asked as I placed one hand on her arm to steady her. "You OK, Mac?" I wanted to her look up at me, just so I could see that recognition in her eyes that would tell me she was still in there.

But when she did look up, my heart skipped a beat. Instead of the bright Kelly green on her irises, her eyes were completely white; no pupil, no iris, no color what-so-ever. "Well, this is interesting," she said.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

This was a strange feeling, that's for sure. My vision as I knew it was gone, replaced with something else. Instead of seeing a combination of light and dark, colors and absence thereof, I saw nothing but auras. I could see Moose standing in front of me, worry obvious as it would be if I could see his face. I could see Alec behind him, the subtle hint of animal that let me know he was in his wolf form. I could even sense Achrann behind me as a bright white orb. The only thing that was curiously absent to me was my own panic. I was, for all intents and purposes, blind. But that didn't both me. In fact, I was curiously rosy about my busted lip and still-bleeding arm, too.

"Mac? You OK, Mac?" Moose asked.

I looked up into where I thought Moose's eyes would be. "Well, this is interesting."

"Holy shit, Mac," Moose said. His aura changed from a subtle worry to full-on panic as he laid his hands on my cheeks, holding my face up to his.

"It's OK, I'm fine," I said. "Calm down."

"The hell you're fine!" he said, panic present in his voice, too. "You're blind!"

"No, I'm actually not," I said as I lowered myself carefully onto the floor. "Not completely." I may have been able to see Moose, Alec, and Achrann, but that's all I could see. I had absolutely no idea where the ground was, what might be in front of me, if it was day or night. All I had was auras in space.

Achrann's white orb moved to stand in front of me. "This is not permanent."

Alec was starting to get agitated while Moose got downright furious. Both of their auras flared with heat. "Both of you, calm down." After lowering myself to the ground slowly and carefully, I folded myself onto the floor sitting Indian-style and beckoned Alec toward me. He came like a good little wolf, lying down with his head in my lap. "You're hurt," I said as I scratched behind his ears. His response was a restless whimper as he fidgeted. I could 'see' the hole in his energy, I guess, where the bullet had hit him. In human form, it would probably have hit him in the lung. He probably had broken ribs, if not a collapsed lung. Still, his concern wasn't for himself, it was for me. "I'm fine, really, I've had way, way worse." I couldn't help the small smirk that covered my face at the next thought. "Are you OK to be my guide wolf or should I get Moose to carry you?" Alec answered by hopping up to his feet. I stood with him, albeit shakily. I needed more than a guide wolf; I needed a steady (if furry) shoulder to lean on.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Moose asked, concern still plaguing his aura.

"She now has more magic coursing through her than she has ever had before. She is merely 'riding the high'," Achrann answered. "Hopefully, it will wear off."

Come to think of it, I did feel a little high. "I do feel a bit loopy," I said as I followed Alec through the night. I didn't know if it was the 'high' I was riding, the fact I couldn't see anything, or possibly the blood loss or oxygen deprivation in my brain, but I spent more time weaving back and forth, bumping into Alec's furry side, then I did walking toward my end goal.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Moose asked after I weaved into Alec's side for the fourth or fifth time.

OK? The fact I had to stop and think about it said probably not. I stopped walking as I considered my condition, and even though I wasn't moving, I felt like the world was swimming around me. "I feel kind of light-headed." Light headed and like I drank an entire bottle of Nyquil. "Are we almost there?"

"Not really," Moose answered. "It's another five minute walk through the woods."

I let out a sigh that was apparently Moose's queue. He lifted me off the ground.

It felt like a two hour hike, but I was sure it was only ten minutes until Moose loaded me in the back of a two-door car. When Alec, still in wolf form, moved to climb in with me, Moose's aura shifted from worried to distrustful. "You can trust him, Moose," I said, my words slurring just a bit. The next emotion to flitter across is aura was stubborn will, but it only lasted a moment. He finally let Alec in the back with me where he curled into the smallest ball he could manage, hoping to give me at least a little bit of room. Once he was comfortable, I laid myself over him and rested my head against his shoulder blades. I don't even remember Moose starting the car.

.

I woke up when a furry Alec fidgeted beneath me. "Brace yourself, vampire. She may smell of Fae," Achrann said. The door to the car was open, letting a light, cool breeze run through the car, but it didn't bother me. Alec ran hot, making him the perfect heated blanket.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I realized was 1) that my vision hadn't returned to normal, and 2) the car was surrounded. I could pick out Alec's wolf form beneath me, obviously, and Achrann's white orb of light. Moose was nowhere to be found. The rest of the auras where vampire. I wasn't sure how I knew this, but I did. David was standing in the open doorway with Achrann behind him. Cian was just behind him. On the other side of the car were Emma, Lee, and Idi. I also didn't know how I knew to match the auras to the vampires, especially since I'd never seen them quite like this before, but it felt like second nature to me.

"Stop worrying about me so much, David," I mumbled as I pushed myself off of Alec. Maybe I was just assuming which vampire was which based on their degrees of worry. And I just assumed David was the one with the highest degree. I wouldn't have assumed Idi would have been that worried about me, though. "Tell Lee and Idi they'd be so proud of me, I kicked some serious Were ass."

"I think I worry and appropriate amount about you," David answered. "And Lee and Idi can both hear you." I could tell they heard me because of the amusement that flickered across their auras. David, however, his aura flipped into super-worried despair as he got closer.

"No, see, right now you are worrying way too much. I'm fine, really. Just be proud of me that I laid the smackdown."

"Is she drunk?" Cian asked from behind David, smile in his voice. I'm glad I was entertaining him.

I stumbled my way out of the car, leaning heavily on Alec as I did. "I prefer loopy, thank you."

"How does she seem to you?" asked Achrann. Always with the business, that one. He should lighten up. "How does she smell?"

"She smells like Sloane," said David. "What is wrong with her eyes?"

I didn't need this conversation again. It'll go away when it goes away. I patted my leg like I were calling a dog before I could even stop myself to think about that. "Come on, Alec, I think I have some of David's shorts that might fit you." The movement was probably incredibly insulting, but oh well. I'm sure he'd understand. "Emma needs to look at your chest."


	122. Chapter 122

**EPILOGUE:**

I stood in my brand new spic and span lab, making sure there wasn't anything else I could do. Of course I felt horrible about how the lab had faired the last time I had been in here. It'd been blown to pieces. Mostly I felt bad about the weeks of disruption I'd caused to my labmates' experiments. I could have pushed back some of my labmates' plan back a semester, but luckily, most people were able to recover fairly quickly. That is, once the lab was put back together. And Jeanne even got a whole new lab out of it, courtesy of Michigan State's property insurance. Everything was so new the entire lab smelled like a plastics plant.

No one knew I was the root of the problem, though. The official report from the arson investigator had been that there had been an electrical short coupled with a gas main leak…or something like that. Whatever the official line, it wasn't true. I guess the firemen on the scene had just never seen a magical energy blast before. Go figure.

It had taken me a few days to learn how to control the magic that was now mine, Achrann as my teacher. Apparently, the little glitches I'd been dealing with for the past few weeks were common among Fae infants. Handling your magic is supposed to be something you learn young, like chewing your food or potty training, but since I never had enough magic to cause I problem, I'd never learned. The real problem was my particular magic. Every Fae's magic is different, like a fingerprint. Achrann couldn't teach me specifics because his magic isn't tied to sight, it's tied to health. He could only generalize with me. Still, I was one of the quickest learners Achrann's ever seen. He attributes it to my being older when I had to deal with those problems, but I'm not so sure. I've always been quick to pick stuff up.

"It's fine, let's go," Moose said impatiently behind me. He just wanted to go tailgate. In order to garner more viewers, ESPN had decided to have a '24 hours of football' event, where they showed 24 hours of non-stop live football games. Of course, that meant that there had to be games at some odd times, and the Michigan State Spartans had gotten one of the oddball times. Our game against the Ohio State Nuts (sorry, the Buckeyes) was kicking the whole event off, starting at midnight on Friday night….or was it Saturday morning? Anyway, that's why he was anxious to go stand outside in the freezing dark with one hundred thousand of his closest friends. I wasn't so excited (at least not about the cold), but almost everyone I knew had been asking me to stop by their tailgate. So that's why I was going to go wander around outside instead of watching the game in the comfort of my own home.

"Fine, fine," I lamented. I mean, I like sports, mostly MSU sports, but I just didn't see the point of standing around outside and drinking. For starters, I don't really drink. Secondly, there wasn't anything here that I couldn't have in my house. And my house was warm. "Who are we dropping in on first?"

"We should do Jeanne's tailgate first. Then we can get drunk."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Alright, after you," I said after turning off the lights. Begrudgingly, I followed him down the stairs and out of the building. Jeanne's tailgate was right outside the building our lab was in, in a parking lot across from the MSU Planetarium. Convenient for going into lab on a moment's notice, convenient for being able to access a flush toilet (all the buildings were locked for tailgating, meaning you need the afterhours electronic passkey to get in), but not too convenient for going to the game. They weren't particularly close to Spartan Stadium. Priorities, I guess.

Jeanne spotted me before I spotted her. "Sloane!" she yelled, beckoning Moose and I over. _Here we go_, I thought. I'd been waiting for the accusatory glare or the stern word from Jeanne for a week now. I knew she knew I was somehow behind the explosion. She was too bright and knew too much to at least not suspect something. After all, I still had my split lip. When a woman of my size has a split lip right after an explosion, you'd have to assume. Right? Or was I just being paranoid? "How are you doing? That lip's looking better," she said after a hug.

I squinted at her under the glare of the streetlights. Despite the extra light, it was still dark outside, making my normal vision almost useless. Which made my 'other' visions want to kick into gear. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention. I had more 'filters' than the aura trick I'd first learned, and the rest of the 'filters' just came with freakier and freakier exteriors. Right now my X-ray vision would have been useful, amping my regular vision up on steroids. I could see _everything_ with that 'filter' on. And I mean everything. Have a blade tucked up under your sleeve? I could find it. Is there a sniper in that tree over there? He didn't hide well enough to hide from me. If I could flip into X-ray vision without tipping anyone off, I would have. I don't like squinting. But that would definitely freak people out. It made my eyes go black. All black. It's like the pupil takes over the entire surface of my eye. It scared the shit out of Sydney a few days ago when I discovered it.

"Thanks," I answered. "I'm good. Cold." I'd been outside for, what, all of a minute? Tonight was going to suck. At least I wasn't going to the game.

"Come over here," she said as she led me toward the inner sanctum of her tailgate. "Come warm by the fire. And drink this." She pushed me toward the small bonfire Ty had no doubt erected in a portable fire pit and handed me a steaming mug of brownish liquid.

"What is this?" I said, taking a sniff. It smelled like peppermint patties.

"Hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps," Ty answered. I was surprised to see him, not that I should have been. He liked football. He liked socializing. He liked tailgating. Why wouldn't he be here? Still, I was happy to see his salt and pepper hair that seems to be getting more salty every time I see him. Warm brown almost black eyes smiled at me. "What happened to your lip, girl? Moose beat you up?"

I lowered myself into a collapsible lawn chair and cupped the mug of liquid with both hands. "Hell no," Moose answered, smile on his face to match Ty's. "She'd kick my ass."

I laughed at the both of them. "Martial arts training gone wrong," I explained. At least that was the party line. And it was close enough.

"Oh, yea?" Ty asked. "You're taking karate classes?"

"Something like that." I wasn't sure it was actually karate that Lee had been drilling into me. After all, it wasn't like karate usually included a barrage of weapons, at least not to my knowledge. "A friend is teaching me."

"I told you about that, Ty," Jeanne piped in. "Remember? She was taking self defense classes from a vampire." She couldn't keep the dismay out of her voice as she finished that sentence. Oh, well. You can't always make everyone happy.

"A vampire, huh?" Ty asked.

"Yup." I may as well get all of my 'dirty laundry' into the air at the same time. "He's my boyfriend's brother-in-law. David's also a vampire."

Jeanne looked more chagrinned. Ty looked impressed. "You're dating one, too, huh? Well, when you do something, you do it big. Is he here?" After all, it was full dark. He could be here. And he was, somewhere. The 'vampire's tailgate' was a media stunt, but he'd enjoyed planning it. I had no idea what he and the other vampires he's talked into coming were going to do. The main events in tailgating were getting drunk and eating grilled food. They did neither of those.

"Somewhere, yea. I'm going to have to go find him soon."

"I'd love to meet him, make sure I approve of him for my only surrogate daughter." Ty thought of all of Jeanne's students as surrogate children, especially those that had been with her for a while. Just one of a million reasons I picked Jeanne over another professor.

I took a sip of the concoction in my hand, which was unexpectedly good, and pulled my cell phone from the pouch in my sweatshirt. "I'll tell him to meet us here, then."

I texted him one word. _Marco_.

Ty, Moose, and I chatted pleasantly while Jeanne glared at Ty for a few minutes. It was obvious that Jeanne did not approve of Ty inviting the vampires to her tailgate. After all, a lot of the other faculty in the department were at her tailgate. I guess she didn't want David to do something embarrassing? If the other faculty could even pick out he was different. I doubt they would.

I felt David coming through the bond at a fast clip. That was another change after the magical transfer. The bond was 1) easier to control and 2) much more intense at the same time. Every single nuance that flickered across his psyche was there for me to read, should I choose. I've even picked up errant thoughts from him as if I were reading his mind. I had not told him I could do that, though. Nor would I. "Polo," he whispered in my ear.

It must have looked like he appeared out of thin air, because both Jeanne and Ty jumped a foot in the air as he appeared. Even Moose jumped a little bit. "Hi," I said after he kissed me gently on the cheek.

"You beckoned, M'Lady?"

I smiled up at him as I snaked my hand down his forearm until I could wind my fingers between his. "I have someone I want you to meet. Be very afraid," I added as I winked to Ty. "Ty, this is David. David, this is Jeanne's husband, Ty. A surrogate father of sorts."

True to his vampire (for once), David bowed slightly before Ty instead of shaking his hand. "A pleasure," David added with a smirk. It's almost like he was just placating me like he would a child.

"Likewise," added Ty. Supposedly just to me, he whispered. "A gentleman. I approve." Of course, with David, no whispers were private.

"Well, good." At least Ty liked him. Jeanne, not so much.

.

"Moose, Deb's been texting. She wants to know where we are." We'd told her we'd stop by her tailgate about a half an hour ago. Instead, we were still at Jeanne's tailgate. David and Ty deep in conversation about the upcoming game. Jeanne had sneaked away to talk to some other professors in the department. That left Moose and me; me huddled around the fire pit and Moose manning the grill.

"Hold on, these ribs are almost done. You want some?" Did I want barbeque ribs? No. I don't like pork and I don't like barbeque sauce. I just gave Moose a look. "Oh, right. Picky eater. I could throw one of these hamburgers on for you."

"No thanks," I said.

"Excuse me," David said behind me, excusing himself from his conversation with Ty. "I must get back to my own tailgate before the media realizes I've left. It was nice to meet you, Tyler."

"Please, call me Ty," he responded as he awkwardly returned David's bow. "Nice to meet you, too."

David turned to me and left a light kiss on my lips. "Join me soon, and if you run into Alec, bring him along."

I gave him an inquisitive look before returning his kiss. "OK. Love you."

"And I you, My Everything."

"Mustafa," he said as he bowed to the grillmaster, and he was gone.

I waited another five minutes in front of the roaring fire listening to Ty tell me how he approved of David even if Jeanne obviously didn't while Moose finished cooking and eating his giant slab of meat. "Alright," Moose said as he patted his mouth clean. "Let's head over to Deb's tailgate."

Deb's tailgate was near the campus tennis courts, which was known as student central. She could have easily gotten a tailgating spot farther away near Linden Hall; something quieter and away from the mass of undergrads, but really, where would the fun in that be? The music, the revalry…even for someone like myself who didn't see the point in tailgating, it was an entertaining atmosphere. And I only got stopped by former students twice as we wandered through the mass of partying students. I'd call that a win.

"I wasn't expecting to see you out here tonight," Alec said as he snuck up behind me. I have no idea where he came from. After all, if we'd passed him, I should have seen him. There aren't that many seven foot tall guys tailgating here tonight. He would have stood out a bit.

"Why not?" I asked after turning to hug him hello.

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "I didn't figure you're the kind to like sports."

"Oh, I like sports," I responded as I scanned the crowd for Deb. It's harder than it sounds for someone my height to find anyone in a crowd. What I needed was a ladder. "I just don't see the point in tailgating."

"Are you looking for someone?" he asked after I studiously scanned the crowd for what felt like ever.

"What was the clue?"

"Is that her over there?" Moose asked as he pointed toward a leggy Amazonian with a Rastafarian-style hat on near the Football Training Facility.

"Uhh, maybe," I responded. From what I could see, the person he was pointing to was the right height and weight to be Deb, but didn't have the long, dreadlocked hair that she did. But there was always the possibility she cut it.

"Want a lift?"Alec asked.

"Please," I answered. It was obvious standing on my tip-toes wasn't getting me anywhere.

He kneeled down on the cold pavement of the sidewalk and tapped his shoulders. "Hop on," he said. He wanted me to sit on his shoulders. I was thinking it was going to be more of a piggy back ride and said as much. "You'll be higher up this way."

"That's what I'm worried about," I mumbled as I climbed on. I was never very good with heights. Maybe because I was used to being so close to the ground, maybe because of that traumatic experience as a child where I fell off the swing set…who knows. All that matters was I didn't like heights now. So when he braced my legs against his chest and stood easily to his full height, I already had a death grip on his hair. "Jesus, this is high off the ground." Not to mention we felt very top heavy.

"Your dad never carried you around like this as a kid?" he asked. "I thought all dads did that."

"No, he knows I'm not fond of heights."

"Do you see her?" Moose asked.

I took my eyes off the ground just long enough to scan the crowd. Once I could forget that I was way higher off the ground than I was used to, it was actually a great view. To think, Alec had this view all the time. "Yea," I said as I pointed off toward the White Courts. I couldn't see her, but I could see her boyfriend who also happened to be a vampire and I could see the very top of Sydney's head. "Now you can put me down."

"You're such a princess," Alec accused as he lifted me over his head and plopped me onto the ground. "Happy, your highness?"

"Yes, much better," I spat at him teasingly as I headed off toward where I'd spotted Devin and Sydney. "David wants to talk to you, by the way."

"About?" For the first time since I'd met him, Alec seemed nervous. I'd seen him be concerned, even frightened, but not nervous.

"No idea. Don't worry, he doesn't bite anyone but me."

"Pony!" Sydney yelled as she ran up to me. By the looks of the weaving she did on the way to me, she was halfway to plastered. "Try this! It's soooo good!" She thrust a plastic cup in my direction, sloshing a red liquid over the edge.

"What is it?" I asked as I took the cup from her. I wasn't really going to try the Kool Aid, but it was better than Sydney spilling it all over the both of us.

"Pirate pop!" she said. Oh, hell. Pirate pop is always a bad idea. Made of a mixture of vodka, tequila, pineapple rum, regular rum, with a dash or orange juice and a package of dry Kool Aid, pirate pop was a lethal mixture of high alcohol content and tasty sugar. It doesn't even taste like it'll get you drunk, but it will do it faster than any other drink I know.

"Great," I mumbled. It may not taste lethal, but it sure did smell it. I could smell the alcohol wafting up from the cup. Looks like I was driving Sydney home tonight.

"Ha!" Alec gaffawed. "Sydney's way more fun than you are,_ Pony_."

"She'll be asleep in half an hour, you watch."

"I will not!" Sydney pouted.

"Oh yes you will, Hun." I gave her a hug and proceeded father into the tailgate to mingle with the rest of the conglomeration of science graduate students that had gathered here. Deb was in the cell and molecular biology department, sure, but she was a social butterfly. She had friends in pretty much every department on campus. When you add in Devin's friends…well, there was quite the collection of people.

Speaking of Devin. The young vampire approached cautiously, eyeing my wide smile for him. "My Queen," he said as he bowed.

"Oh, stop that," I said, giving him a big hug as he rose to his full height. "I'm still just Sloane. How've you been?"

"Oh, thank God," he said with a sigh. "I'm never going to get used to this whole royalty thing."

"I can imagine it's difficult. It annoys the hell out of me and I'm just on the outskirts of it."

"Don't let King O'Hara know that I disrespected his queen, though, right?" He glanced behind me, then behind himself, as he said it.

"Well, luckily for you, you haven't. Emma's his queen, I'm just his girlfriend."

He gave me a puzzled look. "You're his bonded, right? You're going to be pledged?"

I shrugged. "I suppose so." I wasn't very good at the technical terms.

"Look, I'm new at this, but I'm pretty sure that makes you his queen." Well, that was news to me, and it seemed to show on my face. "Uh oh. Were you not supposed to know that?"

"Well, I do now," I said with a smile for him. "Don't worry, it'll be our little secret." Right until I tear into David for not telling me, that is.

He didn't believe me. Smart man. "You're not going to ask King O'Hara about it? At all? Seriously?"

"Of course I am," I answered truthfully. It's just smarter not to lie to vampires if you can help it, no matter how young. "I'm just not going to tell him who told me."

He started to panic. "He'll figure it out. He always figures this shit out when it comes to you."

"Shhh," I said as his voice started to get higher and higher. "I'll tell him it was a fangbanger. Calm down, he's not going to do anything to you. I didn't realize you knew him." At least, the way he talked about David, I assumed he knew him.

"I don't, not really. I mean, I had to go and talk to him after…after I was turned," he said. I'd never heard the story, but I got the impression that his transition was less than pleasant. So much so that the vampire that turned him was later hunted and killed for being 'a brutal and unscrupulous bastard that brought too much negative attention to the vampire cause'. For vampires to take out one of the own for the sake of their reputation as a whole? Well, he must have been one hell of a bastard. "But I don't know him. I'd be surprised if he remembered me."

"Oh, you never know," I answered as I eyed Moose approaching at a quick clip.

"Dude, Mac, we need to get out of here. Oh, hey Devin."

"What? Why?" I started frantically searching the perimeter. I didn't see anything particularly dangerous or curious. Why was Moose in such a hurry to leave?

Moose leaned in and whispered, "Sarah's here."

That whipped my head around to look him in the eye. "What?" I asked.

"Sarah's here," he repeated as if I hadn't heard him. That was not where the disconnect was, however.

"I heard you, I just don't understand."

He wrapped his strong hand around my arm and pulled me a few steps away from the tailgate. "Look, I just can't handle her right now, OK? I need to go."

"Alright, alright," I said, placating him. If he doesn't feel comfortable, I don't need to know exactly why. "Let me go get Syd and we can get out of here."

.

Moose was not happy that leaving Deb's tailgate meant that we were then going to David's tailgate, but given the option, he still chose the vampires over his ex-girlfriend. I just do not understand him at all. I'm his ex-girlfriend, too, right? So why isn't he like that with me? He never was, either. He switched seamlessly from boyfriend to friend that's a boy in the blink of an eye with me. With Sarah, however, it was like he was scared of her.

"Hey Moose," I asked as I linked my arm through his. My other arm was already linked through Sydney's; she needed the help with walking straight (and sometimes walking at all).

"Yup," he answered, seamlessly linking his step with mine. We turned the corner from the chaotic tennis courts where the students tailgated with reckless abandon to the almost deserted trail through west complex. David's tailgate was set up at Munn field, where week-by-week tailgaters could come and pay per the day instead of having to buy a season tailgating pass. Since this was the only week that the vampires would be able to tailgate, they only needed it for the one week. MSU had also decided that the wide-open spaces would also be best for the amount of traffic MSU's first vampire tailgate was supposed to attract.

"What's up with you and Sarah?" He didn't stop moving, but the set of his shoulders tensed slightly, letting me know he was less than happy with the new conversation. At least if he yelled outright at me, we weren't near anyone.

He played coy. "What do you mean?"

I rolled my eyes and leaned my hip into his. "You don't even want to be near her, and I don't understand it. You were never like this with me when I…when we broke up. What's the difference with Sarah?"

He let out a long, frustrated sigh and visibly tried to shake the tension from his shoulders. "It's just…it's not a big deal."

"Talk to me, Moose," I said as I lowered my voice. I wasn't really concerned about Sydney eavesdropping on us, she was just concentrating on one foot in front of the other at this point, but I still lowered my voice to almost a whisper.

I waited patiently as Moose hesitated. I knew, given time, he'd open up. But it was definitely hard. Curiosity killed the cat. "She dumped me because I'm a shifter," he finally answered.

I didn't know that mattered so much to him. "I'm sorry," I said as I leaned my head against his shoulder. Short of stopping him in his tracks and wrapping him up in a hug, this was the most moral support I could lend.

He leaned his chin against my hair in acknowledgement. "I'd never been dumped because of what I am before," he said as we approached civilization again. "I'd never even told a girlfriend what I was before, I guess because I was afraid of the reaction I'd get. I guess I'm just not sure how I go back to friends with her."

I really didn't know what to tell him. It's obviously not a problem I'd ever had before, although I could relate to being different. But with my…difference, if you didn't want to believe me, you didn't have to. Just ask my parents. It's hard to ignore when a full grown man turns into an animal. "You want me to look into it for you?" I asked, hoping he got my meaning. I was offering to use my newfound power to try and look into the future for him to see how it turns out. I'm not sure what that would help, but I thought I'd at least offer. After all, his predicament was all my fault again. If I hadn't gotten myself taken, he wouldn't have had to shift in front of her.

"No thanks," he said as he pulled his chin from my head. We were approaching David's tailgate and while I was pretty sure David wouldn't mind the contact too much, I didn't want to tempt fate. Not with David's temper. "What is he doing?"

I assume 'he' was David, and I had no answer to that question. Standing next to him was a pair of mousy-looking men, the only distinguishing factor between the two being how grossly overweight one of them was. The thinner but by no means thin one handed each of them a headset that looked like it might be capable of contacting alien life.

"Sister dearest," Emma said before laying a kiss on my cheek. If I wasn't getting used to her being incredibly sneaky, I would have jumped. "You look cold, didn't you bring a coat?" she asked.

"It wasn't this cold when I left the house," I answered. Excuses, excuses. But in all fairness, it had been day when I left the house; the sun had been shining, a warm breeze had been blowing. Once the sun went down, the other side of Michigan's schizophrenic weather reared its ugly head.

"Luckily for you, David brought an extra coat," she said as she wrapped it around my shoulders. I looked down at the warm wool that was being wrapped around me; it was actually one of mine. Had he stolen this coat from my house or had I left it at his place at some point? I had stopped keeping track what of my things were where a long time ago.

"Thanks. What is he doing?" I asked as I nodded in David's direction. Moose was weaving a drowsy Sydney through the massive crowd that was milling around, toward a chair near the inner sanctum of the tailgate.

"ESPN Radio interview," Emma answered. As if she could read my mind, she said, "Men."

I giggled at her. "This place is a circus. Has it been like this all night?"

"He's been doing interview after interview," she said as she nodded to David. "Even after I took a fair amount off his docket. It's wonderfully good publicity for the area vampires, but I wonder if the effort is ultimately worth it."

"I'm sure it will be," I answered just to placate her. Truthfully, I had no idea if this would work. Sure, I could check into it for them, but I was really trying not to spend all my time in the future. "Plus, I think he looks like he's having fun."

"Strangely," Emma said, "so do I. Let's listen."

David didn't see me until Emma and I approached the interview, coming just close enough to be able to hear the conversation but not close enough that the mics would pick up ours. He winked and blew me a kiss before turning his attention back to the grossly overweight man in front of him.

"This is Mad Dog here with you again on WHHX Radio," the man said. "I'm here on the campus of Michigan State University in lovely East Lansing to kick off ESPN's 24 hours of football. Now, for all of those women out there listening to the broadcast, do I have a special treat for you. I'm joined by Michigan's—and possibly the United State's—most eligible bachelor, vampire and successful businessman David O'Hara. David, thanks for joining us."

"Oh, my pleasure," David drolled in his limb-melting accent. I think my knees just went weak.

"That's not exactly your average Midwestern accent you have there. Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I don't mind at all, Mad Dog," David answered. "I originally hail from a small port town in Northern Ireland."

"How long have you been living in the states?"

David's face got contemplative. "Oh, let's see. Maybe seventy five years? After a while, you stop counting."

"Wow," added Mad Dog. "And were you a football fan before you made the move?"

"No, no," David said. "As you can imagine, American sports were not that popular in Europe. I hadn't even heard of the sport until I'd been living in Michigan for some time."

"But you're a fan now?"

"Of course!" David added. "I'm a huge sports fan; not just football. I've been following Michigan State sports since before your father was born."

Mad Dog laughed, obviously getting slightly nervous. Some people aren't comfortable with vampires who openly flaunt their age. Vampires, David in particular, can seem so normal until they mention they played stickball with Jesus. "So tell me: who do you have winning this game?"

"Spartans," David said matter-of-factly. "I do not believe the Buckeyes have an answer for the offensive trio of Baker, Bell, and Caper. And Nichol? He's a triple threat: smart like a quarterback but hands made like they're covered with glue. And he's quick. The Buckeyes are a great, mature team, but I just don't think they have an answer for our offense."

"Just one more question for you, David," Mad Dog said as he glanced in my direction. "Now, the women of Michigan voted you their most eligible bachelor for the third year in a row, but I'm pretty sure I just caught you blowing a kiss to a special someone. Is she a football fan?"

David smiled a wide, real smile as he winked at me again. "Guilty as charged; I am blissfully taken; sorry, ladies. And she's more into basketball, actually."

"Thank you for your time. That was David O'Hara: vampire, business man, and Michigan State Spartan fan. Once again, this is WHHX, I'm Mad Dog, and you're listening to ESPN Radio."

Davis stripped off the headset, and after handing it to the slightly smaller obese man and saying his goodbyes to Mad Dog, he headed for Emma and I. "One more interview," he said after a kiss, "and I'm all yours."

"Michigan's Most Eligible Bachelor?" I asked with a smirk. "Like your ego needs the boost."

"You are the only one that can boost—or burst—my ego." After another kiss, he disappeared behind a group of buzzing makeup artists. Obviously, his last interview of the day would be on camera. I wonder how long it'd take the makeup artists to realize there's nothing they could do to make him more attractive. Even his hair was perfectly tousled, his scarf perfectly disheveled. After a few seconds of careful review, the swarm of makeup artists and hair dressers buzzed away, letting him wait for his next interview in the director's chairs they'd set up for the occasion.

"This one should be interesting," Emma said quietly. "Kari's been trying to get this interview for years now. Ever since David was named businessman of the year about five years ago."

"Kari Kannon?" I asked. Kari Kannon was the host of a talk show broadcast from Detroit. The only reason I got it is because Sydney insisted on spending money on some cable package so she could watch soap operas all day long. I'd stumbled upon her show only a few times, and each time, I hadn't been impressed. She thinks she's going to be the next Oprah, but without the overblown budget, Oprah's really just a Maury with heart, isn't it? I mean, if Oprah couldn't give away a new house to a new downtrodden woman every week, where would she be? I'll tell you: she'd be Kari Kannon. I'm just surprised Kari Kannon's still on the air.

"Yes, the very woman," Emma said as the woman in question walked—no, sauntered seductively—up to the man I love.

"Wow, David O'Hara. I'm so glad you've finally agreed to talk to me," she said with a false smile. If she pursed her lips or her chest any farther toward him, he'd be motor boating her.

"It is always nice to reward persistence," David answered. I tried not to laugh too loudly.

The snide comment didn't deter her one bit. "If you don't mind me asking," she asked coyly, "why did you finally agree to talk to me? Is there something else you plan on getting out of this arrangement?" Wow, she couldn't have been more obvious if she just came right out and unbuttoned her top.

"Nothing like that," David answered politely. "It's merely good publicity."

"You're on in 60 seconds," said another woman as lights blazed to life, all of them pointing at the pair in the director's chairs. I think they picked out the lighting most likely to make a vampire look like a vampire tonight, but David was holding his own. Pale, sure, but there was some other quality, something unnamable, that made him seem alive.

Makeup and hair women buzzed around Kari Kannon until who I assumed was the producer counted backwards from five.

"Hello, and welcome to Kari's Korner with Kari Kannon." Someone went overboard with the alliteration. "Ladies, tonight I have a special treat for you. I'm here on location with David O'Hara, the man you voted Michigan's Most Eligible Bachelor three years running." Both of the people I've seen interview him have been obsessed with his good looks, classifying him not as a successful business man or leader of the entire vampire population of Michigan (although neither of those interviewers should even know about the later) but as Michigan's Most Eligible Bachelor. He was more than just a pretty face. "David, may I call you David?" David nodded amiably, but it was all for the cameras. Secretly, he wanted to tear her throat out. "David, thank you for joining us."

"It's my pleasure," David answered again. I wonder how many times tonight it's been his 'pleasure' to answer ridiculous questions.

"How many interviews is this for him?" I whispered to Emma. She held up five fingers in response. Five interviews. I probably would have lost it by three.

"First of all," Kari said as she pulled a stack of papers from her lap and waved them in front of the camera, "the instant that I announced you'd be joining us on camera, emails started pouring in. Now, these are just those emails with actual questions on them. I have a pile three times this big back at the studio full of marriage proposals from across the state that I could forward on to you if you like."

David laughed, leaving a large smile on his face. "I'm flattered," he answered.

"But do you mind answering some of these questions from the viewers?" She patted the stack now firmly in her lap.

"Not at all, fire away."

"Alright. Our first question comes from Anita in Lansing. Now it's obvious in your accent that you're not a native Michigander. She wants to know why you picked Michigan out all of the locales you could have to set down roots."

"Actually, Anita," David said as he looked directly into the camera, "I originally did not pick Michigan. My sister, Emma, actually was looking in to attending Michigan State's night school to get a law degree. She ended up deciding that three doctorates was enough, thank God, but I had already fallen in love with the state at that point. I might have originally followed Emma here, but it was all my decision to stay."

"Speaking of your Emma, who is standing just behind the cameras watching," Kari said with a wave for Emma. Emma returned it reluctantly. "Laurie from Mount Pleasant wants to know who's older, you or her and if you've ever gotten sick of each other after spending well over a lifetime together."

David laughed again. "I am older by two years. As for getting sick of my baby sister, not possible. I love her more every year. I couldn't imagine even a week without her. She brings…light to my life, if that makes sense for a vampire to say."

"Aww," Kari cooed. "That is quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever heard a man say. Ashley from Hastings has a question I'm sure are on quite a few minds at the moment. You've lived in Michigan for longer than I've been alive, but most Michiganders have never heard of you until a few years ago. Even then, after the nomination, you stayed out of the spotlight. Was the media shyness intentional and why the sudden change of mind?"

"It's true, I have been rather antisocial until lately, mostly because of personal preference. I am by nature a private person, but recently the vampire population in Michigan has been growing. It was decided that we needed a poster boy of sorts, someone to give the vampire community a public face. Emma, Lee, and I rather naturally fell into that role."

"Well, I'm sure I speak for all the women in Michigan when I say there's no one we'd rather hear from. Now, one last question. This one's from me. Would it be tacky for me to ask you out on a date on air?" My God, she actually went there. She blushed while she did it, proving she did have some shame, but she actually went there.

David handled it seamlessly. After a laugh, he answered, "I'm not sure about on air etiquette, but I'm quite sure my girlfriend would take exception if I were to accept."

Kari's mouth dropped. "Is that breaking news? Michigan's Most Eligible Bachelor—taken?"

"It's true," David answered.

"I hear hearts breaking all over the state," Kari said. "I wish we had more time to talk, I'd love to get the whole scoop for this breaking story. Would you and yours mind coming back on my show? I'd love to meet her."

I was shaking my head furiously. There is no way in hell I'm going on Kari's Korner. There's no way in hell I'm going on any TV talk show. "I will have to ask her if she would be up to it," David asked. "Assuming she is, we'd love to."

"There you go, you heard it here first. David, thank you so much for talking to me. I look forward to meeting your mysterious girlfriend soon."

"Absolutely," David answered.

As Keri signed off, David slid off the director's chair and swept me into his arms. "Done."

"I don't want to be on TV," was the first thing I said to him.

"Would I subject you to her?" he asked facetiously.

"You better not," I added. I wasn't so sure. Sure, right now it didn't get him anything but a headache from me. But was I so sure he wouldn't thrust me under the lights the second it became a winning situation for him? No, I wasn't.

"Never," he promised, three fingers in the air.

I narrowed my eyes and stared at him. "I'm pretty sure you predate the boy scouts, David."

"I'd have to check that," he responded as he put me down. "Have you eaten?"

"No," I answered. "You?"

"Of course not," he replied as he gave my hand a quick squeeze. "You are my only entrée."

"Miss McIntosh," said a familiar voice. I turned my gaze from David's face to see Roberto, Sheriff of Area…three? Four? Whichever one held Detroit. "You are looking radiant, as always. David, friend, are you finally done with the interviews?"

"Yes, I am," David answered graciously. "Can I come find you in a little bit? Sloane and I would like some time alone."

We would? Oh, yes. I suppose we would. I still needed to grill him.

"Of course, my K….friend. Take your time." David has said the vampires would be in casual mode, no royal treatment for the O'Hara's in front of the humans, but I suppose some habits die hard.

A quick bow later, David was pulling me away from the crowd and toward the way Moose, Sydney, and I had come. "If I ask you a question," I asked when we were out of earshot, even for the vampires, "will you answer it truthfully?"

That got his attention. He stopped our leisurely stroll so he could face me. "Of course, Love. I will always answer you truthfully. What is on your mind?"

May as well just blurt it out. "Am I your Queen? Technically?"

If he could he would have blushed. "Yes, Dearest. Technically, because you're my bonded and betrothed, you're my Queen. But the change in title doesn't have to mean a change in lifestyle for you. In fact, I have worked to ensure that nothing changed for you." He stopped to kiss my hand before laying a long one on my cheek. "I'm surprised you asked. Who slipped, so to speak?"

"No one," I lied. "A birdy told me."

He eyed me suspiciously. He could have been an asshole and reminded me of the no-lie oath he'd just taken to make me feel guilty and tell him, but he didn't. Even though it was obvious I'd gotten the idea from somewhere.

"Alright," he answered. "Now may I ask you a question?"

"Sure," I said suspiciously. I didn't like where this was going.

"I know it is a ways away, but I was wondering if you'd accompany me to a Halloween Ball this October. It's an important holiday for my kind and I'd like you on my arm."

I glared at him a little harder. "That's it?"

"That's it," he confirmed.

"Of course," I answered. "Do I need to get a costume or something?"

"I don't think so. Emma….you know." Oh, I know. Emma would like nothing more than to dress me up like her paper doll for the night. I was just about to protest when David answered, "I'll make sure it's reasonable." Well, that's good enough for me. If there was one person who could rein in Emma, it was, well, Lee, but David could always talk to Lee for me. I curled myself into David's side as he sprawled his long form on a nearby bench. I was content to sit here all night and watch time pass us by.

****Sorry this one took so long to get out…three weeks, right? Unacceptable. Hopefully, then next one will come quicker, but that will all depend on the semester. At least this is a long one for you.****


	123. Chapter 123 Part 9

**America lost one of its sons over the summer. Spc. Bradley Rappuhn, Army Ranger, died in after an IED exploded Afghanistan. He was a friend, a confidante, a coconspirator. May his soul rise.**

**Part 9: **

I was vaguely aware that 'I'm too sexy' was playing in the background as I furiously scribbled in my lab notebook. "Are you going to answer that?" asked Alec. As if Moose had handed off the Sloane babysitting duties to Alec, he was sitting with me in the large atrium of the BPS building, watching me scribble and munching down a giant blueberry muffin.

"Answer what?" I asked shortly. I just wanted to go home. Now.

"That's your phone ringing."

I glanced—OK, maybe glared—up at him. He was looking at me like I'd grown horns. When I glanced back down at my phone, which was sitting on the table next to me, it was ringing. And instead of my usual normal ringing phone, 'I'm too sexy' was playing. _Deep breaths, Sloane. Deep breaths._

"What?" I said shortly as I answered my phone.

"Umm...," said a familiar if slightly frightened voice. "Is this Sloane? Sloane McInstosh?"

I took a deep, calming breath to calm myself down. I could be fairly sure that the man on the line wasn't the one who changed my ringtone. I could be absolutely positive he was not the reason I was sitting in the Atrium at seven in the morning. No, that was my fault. Maybe if I hadn't skipped out of lab last night to stay and hang out with Cian until the sun came up, I wouldn't be here now.

"Yes, sorry, this is Sloane. May I ask who is calling?" I asked as Alec wiped his crumby fingers on his pants and jumped out of his barstool. I didn't know where he was going, but I was happy for the moment of alone time.

"Thad? You used to live across the street from me? Sorry, my mom got your number from your mom and passed it on to me."

Wow, I hadn't heard from Thad in a long time. We'd been almost inseparable as children, but as we grew up and I moved away, we grew apart even though his parents were my God parents. "Oh, wow, hi. I haven't talked to you in…fifteen years? How are you?"

"I've been better," he answered truthfully. "Do you think you have time for some coffee? I get off work at five." His request sent me reeling and momentarily silent. I hadn't spoken more than a word to him since elementary school and all the sudden he was calling out of the blue and asking to meet. I didn't need to be clairvoyant to see something was up. "Sloane?"

"Sorry, I'm not my best this early in the morning. Coffee tonight you asked, right?" Just wanted to make sure I heard him right.

"If you're free," he said, the confidence suddenly gone from his voice.

I could have easily made some excuse abut lab work or something else I had to do until I heard how shaken he sounded. But now, shutting him down was like kicking a starving puppy. "Sure. I should be able to get out of the lab by five. There's a Beaner's Coffee on Grand River Ave, right by campus. Does that sound good?"

"I'll meet you there at five," he said. As we said our goodbyes, Alec walked back up to the table and slid a blueberry muffin and a bottle of Pepsi in front of me.

"Stop being so grumpy," Alec said as he cracked the Pepsi open and shoved it into my hand.

I definitely am not my best in the morning, which could be seen by my inability to activate my brain-mouth barrier. "Are you fucking babysitting me or something? Because if you are, piss off."

His mouth fell into a shocked 'o' for a moment as he stared at me. I sighed again and dropped my head into my hands. "Sorry, I am grumpy," I said. It was the only apology he was going to get.

"Quite obviously," he responded. "What makes you think I'm babysitting you?"

"Why else would you be here at the ass crack of dawn eating a muffin and watching me work?"

"Guilty," he said. "Didn't David talk to you?"

Of course David was behind it. Who else would it be? That's probably who changed my ringtone, too. That fucker. Instead of being able to yell at David, I took a deep breath and cracked my neck to get rid of the tension and anger. "Obviously not. Spill."

"That's what David asked me at the tailgate. He offered to protect me from the Garou and in return I protect you during the day. Since I would watch out for you without anything in return, I'd say it's a fair deal."

So that's why Alec had seemed…I don't know, more carefree as of late. It also zapped the anger at David right out of me. That was actually very nice of him to do. He had to know he didn't have to take on Alec's issues in return for my protection.

"He offered to pay me, but I didn't feel right taking his money, too."

I was taking a swig of my Pepsi, gearing up to tell Alec I by no means needed a bodyguard at seven in the morning in my lab when the timer on the table beeped obnoxiously, making me jump. "Jesus Christ," I mumbled instead as I tuned off the beeper and gathered my things. Instead of telling him to leave as he followed me to the elevator, I asked, "how'd you know I was going in to lab?"

"Cian called me," he said dismissively. "Let's take the stairs you lazy bum, it'll get your blood pumping a little more and wake you up."

"No stairs for me," I said as I pushed the up button. "Doctor's orders."

The elevator doors opened. "Liar," he said.

"Unfortunately, no," I answered. I took another swig of my Pepsi and stepped in the elevator. "Long story short, I got dead flu. Then I was almost dead. End result: shitty lungs."

"But dead flu wasn't supposed to be anywhere near fatal for humans," Alec said.

I answered with an apathetic shrug. "Yea, well." If I had gotten treatment faster or maybe if I hadn't had so much of David's blood in me, things might have turned out different. But I can't change the past, so there's no point worrying about it.

I sighed and started walking as the elevator doors opened. Two and a half more hours of work before I got another two hour break. I almost didn't know which was worse: having to stand on my feet while dead tired and work, or the sitting and trying to stay awake while I wait for the machine to do its thing.

.

At some point in the two hours I had to wait for the PCR machine to multiply my DNA samples, I'd fallen asleep. No big surprise, but being jerked awake by a beeping machine always jars my nerves. "Dammit, how do you turn this thing off?" Alec said as he hovered over the machine.

I pushed myself out of the lab chair and roughly wiped the hair out of my face. "Open it," I said as I pressed the release button.

"It's like God is determined not to let you get any sleep," Alec said as he fished around in his pocket. "Sydney called for you three times, your mom called twice," he said as he produced my phone from the depths of his pants, "and two sales reps stopped by. I told them to wake you at their own risk."

"Bodyguard and secretary," I mumbled under my breath. "Thanks. Don't you have work you could be doing?"

He pointed to his extremely powerful laptop sitting on the lab bench. Not where I'd put it if he wanted it to stay clean, but it was his choice. There's not a whole lot of harm a stray fragment of DNA could do to a person, anyway…or a laptop. "Mobile lab," he said. As I started to pull my samples out of the machine one by one and place them in a block for freezing, Alec asked, "Aren't you going to call Sydney or your mom back?"

"In a minute," I said. It wasn't uncommon for Sydney to call me three or four times successively to ask me something like 'do we have any tomato soup?' so I wasn't worried about it too much. And my mom calling? I probably just missed a birthday or something. "Did you actually answer my phone?"

"No, I checked the caller ID." Good, because if my mom called this early in the morning and a man answered my phone that wasn't David…well, let's just say my life is a bit more complicated than my mom can understand. Her assumptions would be disastrous. "Why, don't you want me talking to your mom?" He figured out who I didn't want him talking to, too.

"Not this early in the morning I don't," I answered. "She'd assume…well, at this hour I'd still be in bed. And if a man that isn't David answers my phone… That's not going to get me anywhere."

I waited for his head to make the connection. When it did, his eyebrows about shot off his face. "Oh."

When my samples were sufficiently stored and I had started the second set of reactions for the day, I took my phone back from Alec and plopped into the lab chair. It was just about noon, meaning my mom would be on her lunch break, so my first call went to Sydney.

"Hey, Pony, where've you been?"

"In lab," I answered. "What's up?"

"Well, I couldn't get a hold of you…" she said hesitantly. I was pretty sure whatever came next wasn't going to thrill me. "So I just went ahead and did it. I have a surprise for you." Yup, I was right. That didn't thrill me at all.

"A surprise?" I asked cautiously.

"Don't worry, I _think_ you're going to love it." She knew me too well to 'think' anything about me, meaning that I probably won't know what to make of it, either. Great. Just what I needed in my life, another complication.

My silence seemed to speak for itself. "Just hear me out when you get home. If you don't like it, I can always take it back."

That sounded better, but not the best. "Alright, I'll try and keep an open mind," I said.

"And don't cheat!" She said. "I want it to be a surprise for real. No peaking." She meant no looking into the future to see what it is. Personally, I don't think I had the energy to focus my new talents that much anyway, so that wasn't going to be a problem.

"Alright," I answered.

"Love you."

"Love you too, hun. I'm going to be home a little late tonight. I'll see you around six?"

"Yup, I'll be here. Bye."

"Bye," I added.

I must have looked less than pleased when I hung up the phone because Alec asked the obvious question. "Is something wrong?"

"Syd has a 'surprise' for me when I get home," I said as I dialed my mom's number. "She's not sure if I'm going to like it."

"Which means you probably aren't?" he asked. I just shrugged. Who knew. "Can't you just look into it right now?"

I shook my head no. "I promised I wouldn't. And I'm too tired to focus."

As I pressed the send button and waited for my mom to answer (or not), I cracked the knuckles in the hand I'd broken. It tends to get sore after hours of dexterous labor.

"Good afternoon, this is Kendra," my mom answered.

"Hi mom."

"Sloane," she said, letting out a light sigh of relief. "I got a call from your Godmother this morning." My interest was peaked. While my mom and my Godmother kept closer ties than I did with my Godbrothers, they by no means talked every day. It was usually a call to convey information, not to chat. "I have some bad news."

This must be what Thad had called me about. "Theo?" I asked. Theo was Thad's younger and more adventurous bother.

"Yea, have you heard?"

"No," I answered. "Thad called me a few hours ago and wanted to go out to coffee. I put two and two together. What happened?"

"Well, you know Theo's unit was deployed again a few months ago, right?" I made a confirmatory grunt. Theo was some in sort of special forces unit for the government. He'd been deployed to the Middle East a few months ago for his third tour of duty. He didn't have to go, but he agreed because he loves his country. "Well, his unit was attacked. They can't find him."

I took a second to comprehend what she'd said as my heart sunk. "He's MIA?" I asked.

My mom didn't directly answer, which told me how bad it is. "They're working on the assumption he's not dead, just missing."

As far as I understood, 'not dead, just missing' was a euphemism for kidnapped. "Wow," I said because I had to say something. "How's Diane doing?" Diane was my Godmother, his mother. She hated being called Mrs. Blake, especially since she was no longer married to the man who gave her the last name Blake. The only reason she kept it was because both her kids had the last name.

"She's frantic. I'm going over to their place tonight to help out."

"That's nice of you," I said. "Tell her I send my best."

"I will. I love you, Pumpkin."

"Love you too, mom."

"Sorry, I was eavesdropping," Alec said. "Did I hear you say 'MIA'? As in 'missing in action'?"

I nodded yes. "My Godbrother. He's in the military."

Alec had just about as much to say about it as I did. "I'm sorry," he said after a long silence.

"At least now Thad's call makes more sense. Thad's Theo's brother."

Alec nodded knowingly. "You want me to come out to coffee tonight?"

I glanced up at him with a smartass stare on my face. "Like there's a chance I could get you to let me go alone?"

It was his turn to shrug. "I was going to be discrete and watch out for you from a distance, but if you need moral support, I can come with you."

I shook my head as I rolled my eyes. "You shouldn't have told me that."

He blushed. "Probably not."

.

I was keeping myself awake by watching Alec type away on his computer. I've never seen anyone with quite so many silent facial expressions while typing. After about 15 minutes of watching, I started making up stories in my head to explain the expressions that flickered across his face.

I slowly turned my head toward the door when there was a knock. Standing in the doorway was an almost sheepish looking Sarah, subconsciously hiding her body behind the doorframe. "Hi, Sloane."

"Hey, Sarah," I said. "You need something?"

"Uh," she said. "Have you seen Moose lately?"

I shook my head no. "Not yet," I added. Instead of leaving, she just stood there in the doorway and fidgeted. "Can I help you with something?" I would like nothing better than to have her out of my lab. There was no love lost between the two of us after what she did to Moose. And now she was seeking him out? I don't care if it's to apologize at this point; the damage to Moose is done. And it's clear who my loyalties belong to.

She finally took a step inside the lab and slowly sunk into the ratty chair beside me. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," I said before I could turn that brain-mouth barrier on. Alec snickered.

I'd discouraged Sarah for all of a split second before she went on with her plan. "Do you hate me?"

"Hate's a strong word," I said. I'd wanted to say 'yes', but I'd somehow gotten my brain-mouth barrier functioning. Just in time.

"Is it because of Moose?" she asked.

Obviously. Before she broke his heart and his confidence, I'd thought she was a sweet girl. Now, I know better. She was a shallow, self-serving, sheltered little brat. Or maybe I was just in a particularly bad mood today.

She didn't need my answer to read my face, apparently. To this she got defensive. "Do you know…what he is?" she practically snarled at me.

I wasn't going to make this easier for her. I was going to make her say it out loud. "You mean a sweet man? A brilliant man? A caring man?" I asked innocently. "Or did you mean a brother? A friend?"

Her frustration showed on her face as a red sheen. "You know what I mean, don't you?" she asked in an accusatory voice.

"I do," I admitted. "But I want to hear you say it."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I want you to realize that because he's not always a man doesn't mean he's not the best man you'll ever get."

"Well, then why aren't you dating him if you think so highly of him?" she shot at me.

I'm sure she meant that to sting, but I just giggled and looked at Alec. "Could you imagine David's and Cian's faces when I told them I wanted to add another man to my collection? They'd shit."

Alec smiled. "It might be worth it."

I turned back to Sarah. "Look. There's a love for everyone and Moose wasn't it for me. But that doesn't mean that I don't think incredibly highly of him. You have no idea what he's done for me, how he risked his life for me. Why? Because he's a good guy. He asked for nothing in return, he just wanted me to be safe because I'm his friend. And the two-natured thing? It doesn't make him less of a man; it makes him more of a man. Now, I don't know why you're here looking for him, but if you're going to do anything other than apologize profusely for your shitty behavior over the past few weeks, you can just go fuck yourself."

Both Alec's and her mouths dropped open in the split second it took me to realize what had just come out of my mouth. But my pride wouldn't allow me to apologize. Instead, I shot myself out of the lab chair I always sit in and walked toward the door. "Goodbye, Sarah."

Still in shock, she lifted herself out of the chair and walked past me, giving me ample space in the meantime.

When she was gone, Alec asked, "I know you aren't that mad at her. Why are you being so pissy lately?"

I had been pissy lately. Short tempered, impatient (even more than usual), snidely sarcastic. If there was anyone that was being a brat lately, it was me. Still, I couldn't seem to stop myself, no matter how much sleep or how happy I was. Achrann had warned me about sudden uncharacteristic behavior. "Shit, I don't know."

"She kind of deserved it, though," Alec added. I agreed, but I was too far in my own contemplations to think about it. I needed another opinion on my behavior. I needed Sydney.


	124. Chapter 124

I wasn't able to get out of lab in enough time to go home and see Sydney, or more importantly, go home and pass out for a few hours.

"We need to get out of here," Alec said as he checked his watch for the fourth or fifth time. "It's already five."

"OK, almost done," I said as I cleaned up the last of my materials. Man, I was dragging my feet. It was getting to the point I barely had the strength to pull the fridge open. To my credit, that door sticks, but still…I should be able to handle it.

When I flipped my back pack over my shoulders and turned off the lights, Alec couldn't look more exasperated. "How do you get anywhere on time?" I shrugged. To tell the truth, I've never had a problem with it before. At least, not when I was catastrophe-free. "Give me your back pack, it's making you slow."

No, that's not what was making me slow. Still, I slid the straps off my shoulders and let him take it from me. "You know, you don't need to go everywhere with me; I'm a big girl and you need some time to do your thing, too."

"I've got plenty of time for me," he responded as he tossed both of our backpacks into the backseat of my Mustang. I'm sure he would have insisted on driving, but he says my car is too small for him to drive comfortably. And it's not like I'm getting on the back of his crotch rocket, absolutely no way.

He buckled his seatbelt extra tight. "Are you sure you're awake enough to drive, over there? I'm too pretty to die in a car crash."

I tried my hardest not to be a snide little brat. It didn't work so well. "Fucking wolves," I mumbled and I gunned it.

.

Alec just about flew out of the car and kissed the ground when I threw it into a parking space outside of the Beaner's in question. "You're scary when you're mad," he said as he backed away from me.

"Oh?" I mumbled back. Personally, I was making a beeline for the counter. I needed a chai.

I could have punched the girl behind the counter for how chirpy she is. It's like someone mainlined espresso directly into her veins. "Good evening and welcome to Beaner's Coffee. Can I interest you in a Big Bear? It's a latte, but it's got caramel and brown sugar…"

"No thanks," I said, cutting her off. "I'm not a coffee drinker."

Before I could order, she piped right back in. "Oh, wow. We don't get many of those in here, you know?"

"I can imagine," I grumbled back.

"So, then, what can I get you? We have…hot chocolate. Or I could make you a smoothie…"

"Venti skinny chai with whipped cream, please," I said, cutting in once again. I have a feeling that if I didn't just cut her off every once in a while, I'd never get out of here.

She gave me a puzzled look. "I thought you didn't want coffee?"

My fists were rolling into tight balls. Alec took a step forward, putting himself within range to hold me back at a moment's notice. "I don't. I want tea."

"Oh, we have tea. I thought you said you wanted a chai."

_Deep breaths. Just take a few deep breaths_. "Yea. Chai is made of tea, not coffee. Black tea, milk, sugar, and spices. Can I just get my chai?"

I'd flustered her with my bitchy attitude. "Sure," she mumbled as she rung me up. "Anything for you?" she asked Alec.

"No, thank you," he responded as he gently pulled me away from the counter. I'd been slowly sneaking forward as I listened to the barista's exercise in stupidity. What kind of barista doesn't know what goes into a chai? Luckily for me, there wasn't any intelligence needed for a good chai—it was all in a premade mix that she poured into steamed milk. A monkey could do it.

"I'll have that right up," she said as she slinked behind the counter.

"Remember how you asked me to tell you if you're being an uberbitch?" Alec whispered in my ear. "Well, you are."

I took a deep breath and shook out my shoulders. "Sorry," I said to no one in particular.

I took the extra effort to thank my barista profusely, which only served to thoroughly confuse her. Apparently, my PMS-like mood swings were more than she could handle; she ducked back into the back room as fast as she could.

"Is he here?" Alec asked as he scanned the room. To the average person, his scan just looked like he was looking for the rest of his party seated at one of the many tables. To me, however, I noticed the slight recognition in his eyes as he noticed potential threats, the best strategic positions, and all the exits and entrances. The only reason I noticed it was because I would be doing the same if I hadn't been here a million times before.

He hadn't been here when we walked in, but I was too tired and preoccupied to have paid much attention since. I've gone soft since David insisted on giving me 24 hour protection. I glanced around again to check just in time to catch him running in through the door.

He saw me instantly, stopping dead in his tracks right in the threshold of the door for a moment before he realized he was letting all the cold air in. "Sloane?"

"Hey, Thad," I said as I walked over to him and held my arms out for a hug. Even though the last time I'd seen him was years ago, he looked exactly the same as I remembered him. Slightly long face accentuating his thinness; brown eyes with matching somewhat dull hair cut in a nondescript style; thick, red lips that widened into a lopsided smile. He was full grown now, but he was still Thad. If Theo had stuck to his childhood looks as closely as Thad did, then he was now a certified heartbreaker.

Thad slid his arms around my back nervously. "How are you?"

"Tired," I answered truthfully. I pulled away from the hug as Alec stepped into the situation. "Thad, this is Alec, a friend of mine from class. Alec, Thad's my Godbrother and childhood friend."

"Nice to meet you, Man," Thad said as he thrust a hand out. "Just a friend?"

"Yup," Alec answered with a smile. "Just friends."

After Thad ordered (grande coffee, black) and we'd settled into a lonely table near the back of the café, I started the conversation. "I know about Theo," I started.

Thad's eyes shot up from staring into the black abyss of his coffee. "How'd you hear?"

"The mom grapevine," I answered. "How are you doing?"

"I've been better," he answered. "I'm trying to be strong for my mom." He looked at me for a moment longer before his eyes skittered to Alec then back to his coffee. "I'm actually here for Theo."

I smiled just a touch before I answered. "I figured that. What can I do to help?"

"They say he's probably still alive," Thad said, not particularly answering the question.

"That's what my mom said, too."

He looked back up at me, his eyes no longer empty. Now they were full of pain. And hope. "He's still out there, Sloane, but his commander…they've been looking, but they're running out of time." I furrowed my brow in confusion as he searched my face. Finally, he pulled out a large piece of paper and started to unfold it. "You've always been lucky, Sloane," he said as he concentrated on smoothing out what turned out to be an elevation map. "You always seemed to know things. Remember when you said we shouldn't cross that old rickety bridge because the planks of wood were rotted out? And the next day the kid that lived down the street, Jay, fell through the bridge and broke his leg? You were always doing things like that!" Now that the map was completely smoothed against the table, he looked up at me. "Tell us where to start looking," he said. "Just point somewhere."

"Thad, it doesn't work like that," I said after I got over my shock that he ever noticed or even remembered my littler neuroses as I child. Back then, I didn't even know what was going on, but he seemed to recognize something was different about me.

"How does it work?" he asked, his face falling a little bit.

I glanced over at Alec, who simply gave me a shrug. Not too helpful. "Switch seats with me," I said to Thad, who had been sitting with his back to the rest of the café. I wanted my face blocked from anyone else who might be watching me without me knowing it. Without a question, he did so quickly, instantly focusing back on me as he settled into the chair that had formerly been mine. "Do you have my sunglasses?" I asked Alec. Just in case I couldn't control the little glitches in my vision, I didn't want to scare the hell out of Thad if I could help it.

"I have mine," he said as he pulled them from an interior pocket in his fleece jacket.

I slid them onto my face, darkening the café instantly. Of course, my x ray vision wanted to kick in immediately; at least I was already prepared for it, though. I let the vision slide so I could concentrate on what I was doing.

"Why the sunglasses?" Thad asked curiously.

"I don't want to scare you," I added as I pulled off my gloves. Whatever my answer meant to him, he took it without any other questions. "I don't know if this will work, I may need someone closer to it, but give me your hands anyway." That's not the only reason it wouldn't work. For one, I was dead tired. I might get something, but the chances of guiding the vision toward Theo were slim. Secondly, I subconsciously knew this had a good chance of being a painful vision for me. There was a reason I avoided touching servicemen like they were lepers. It wasn't because I didn't have any respect for them; it was because I was afraid of picking up something rather painful and having that pain transfer to me. Even if they injuries were only temporary for me, I'd rather not go through the pain and therefore subconsciously blocked those visions from coming.

As soon as I let my blockades go, my mind slipped into the first vision. A wedding. Thad's wedding. While sweet, it wasn't what I was looking for. I tried to sweep the vision away, allowing a new one to start, but it didn't work. My mind stayed stubbornly where it was, watching as a beautiful blonde walked down the aisle draped in white. "Crap," I whispered faintly, but not faintly enough.

"What?" Alec asked. He'd always been a trooper about the vision stuff, even from the beginning, but they still made him nervous. Probably because the first time I had a vision in front of him I started bleeding on my kitchen table. I must have scarred him for life.

"This is going to take forever," I said louder. "I can't shuffle through them all."

"Anything good?" Alec asked.

I shook my head. Out of pure curiosity and the fact I was still struggling with my mouth-brain barrier, I asked, "Is your current girlfriend a blonde, Thad?"

He stuttered for a minute. "Uh, yea," he answered. "Monica. She actually grew up in our neighborhood, you might remember her."

I did remember her, actually. Good to see she was still a tall, leggy blonde. She grew up beautifully, too.

"I do, actually. Thinking about popping the question?" I asked as I watched their first married kiss.

I could hear—not see—the smile in his voice. "Actually, I have been looking at rings."

I smiled for him. "She'll make a beautiful bride, I'm sure."

"I know she will, too," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I answered. "I guess I just pegged you for a blondes-man."

As the wedding faded, something a little more relevant popped up. Thad was meeting with a man in fatigues that in no way, shape, or form could be Theo at a local bar. I could tell it was soon not because it 'felt' soon, which is the normal way I tell distances in time, but because Thad had the same band-aid on his right thumb. It was definitely not normal for me; I haven't been this clueless during a vision since I started first having them in middle school. "IS Theo's commander here in town? Anyone from his unit?"

"One guy from his unit is in town. He got sent home to rehab after being shot in the leg."

Bingo. That's who I needed to read, right there. "I'm sorry, but I'm not getting what I need from you," I said as I pulled my hands back to my own lap. "Is there any way that I can meet him? He's closer to this."

The wheels behind Thad's eyes stuttered for a moment before he answered as he tried to figure out how to make it work. "Sure, I could give him a call. Just tell me when and where."

My place would be safest for me, but I didn't want a complete stranger knowing where I live. Especially if the vision turns into a fiasco, as they often do nowadays. Public locations were also out for all the obvious reasons. "How about give me a call and let me know when he's free and I'll think of something then. I need to get home and pass out before I fall over," I said as I stood and shrugged back into my coat.

Thad was already pulling his phone from his pocket as he swept me into a one-armed hug. "Thanks, Sloane. Thank you. I'll give you a call soon."

I was the first to disengage the hug and pull away. "OK, Thad. Bye." As soon as I turned away, he was dialing a number.

Alec commandeered my keys, apparently deciding that shoving himself into the driver's seat of my car was better than letting me drive again. "Are you really going to read a complete stranger?"

I answered simply as I slid into the passenger seat. "Yup."

"And expose your gift to someone you don't know? A military man, no less? That's not a good idea, Sloane…the military….they're not really about live and let live, you know? If they can't use it, they destroy it."

I closed my eyes as Alec pulled out of the parking lot. "I'd like to see them try."

.

Sydney's car was sitting in the driveway when Alec pulled up. Yes, I was still awake, surprisingly. As tired as I was, I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd passed out during the five minute drive home. But Alec decided that I must not understand how the military works. Oh, I understand, all right. But I also knew that because I'm small, a woman; whatever it is that makes me seem unassuming, they'd underestimate me. "Just promise me you'll be careful about it, please?" he begged as I pushed myself out of the passenger seat.

"Sure," I answered with a sigh. "I'll be careful."

"Thank you," he responded. "I don't mean to ruin any surprise, but I smell animal."

I was almost to the front door. Just inside the front door was the stairs to my room. My bed. I have to say, in hindsight, I should have been paying better attention to that statement. "Oh?" I responded.

The door shot open and Sydney was standing in the middle of it. "I got you something, Pony," she said excitedly. "But I want you to hear me out before I show it to you."

I stopped on the porch and smiled at her. Even in my worst moods, her excitement brought a smile to my face. Hopefully, she'd never grow out of that child-like fervor. "OK, I'm listening."

"Lately, you've been having more bad nights than good nights, you know?" She was talking about the screaming in the middle of the night. Something that was probably adding to my horrible mood swings during the day. I nodded. "Well, I'd do anything for you, but RJ and I are at the point where we want to start spending some nights together."

"Wait, what?" Alec said behind me.

Sydney's eyes shot open, showing mostly white. "Oh, crap, I forgot you didn't know," she said.

"Oh, RJ and Sydney have been dating pretty regularly," I said to Alec at my back. "I'm happy for you hun, I really am, and you don't need to worry about my sleeping. I'm sure David or Cian would be happy to fill in for you." I've found that I needed a 'happy' presence with me when I sleep. Recently, Sydney's happy memories of us together have overpowered the horrific visions I've been getting in my sleep, letting me sleep for longer than two or three hours at a time. Where Sydney counteracts the horrific visions with happy ones, vampires act as a lead box for my vision reception, blocking it out almost completely. For some reason, David worked better than Cian for this purpose, but I wasn't telling either of them that. I didn't need the macho pissing match that would follow that conversation.

"I got you something better than the vamps," she said with a giddy smile. "Zeus, come."

Sydney opened the door wider to show a massive black and tan dog with long hair. "Is that a German Shepherd?" I asked.

"This is Zeus, and he's a German Shepherd and Rottweiler mix. He's a former police dog, so he's completely trained." I held my hand out and Zeus, and after eyeing Alec for a long while, he sniffed then licked it. "That's why I got you the male dog. I knew a male dog would like you."

"I love it, Syd, I really do," I said as I knelt down to get eye to eye with the dog. I'd loved dogs ever since my grandparents' mastiff and rubbing Zeus' ears did somehow calm me. "But I'm not sure I have time for a dog."

"I do," Sydney replied. "I'll take care of him when you can't. I have to take care of Lola, after all. It wouldn't be that much work to add on another dog, do you think?"

I drew my attention away from Zeus and to Sydney. "Lola?" I asked.

"Well I couldn't get you a dog and not get myself one, too. Come inside and I'll show you."

I placed most of my weight on Zeus' back as I used him for a crutch to stand upright before following Sydney into the house. Like he knew who his rightful owner was, he followed me closely, always within range for a head rub. He only stopped to watch Alec out of the corner of his eye.

"What's with you and Zeus?" I asked Alec.

"I don't smell like I look," he said. "It's probably confusing him. He'll get used to me when he sees I'm not a threat."

When I turned the corner into the living room, there was what looked like a small mastiff lounging comfortably on the couch. "Lola, I assume?"

Sydney immediately started petting her head. "She's a boxer."

I just started laughing. I could barely take care of myself and all the sudden Sydney had added two dogs to the equation. Maybe it was a sleep-deprived hysteria that made me think it was so funny at the time, because I was sure it wouldn't seem that way after a good night's rest. But it Zeus could actually help me get one of those I'd be willing to keep them. I already wanted to keep them, but then I could justify the time expenditure to myself.

"Aright," I said as the giggles died down. "Let's give this a shot. Come on Zeus," I said as I dropped my purse, backpack, and coat on the floor next to the couch. "See you later, Alec. Don't razz RJ too much."

"I just can't believe he'd keep something like that from me. Why would he?" he asked no one in particular.

I just shrugged as Zeus and I started up the stairs. Sydney had started consoling Alec as I shut my bedroom door and stripped out of my jeans. I didn't have the willpower to actually get into my pajamas, but at least I wasn't wearing anything with buttons. I unstrapped my bra and pulled it out from under my v-neck t-shirt before I called Zeus onto the bed. "Come on," I said as I patted the comforter beside me.

He obviously hadn't been allowed on the bed before. He watched me for a minute to make sure that I was serious. When I called him up the second time, he finally, albeit hesitantly, jumped onto the bed, circled, and laid down with his head on my stomach. I wound my fingers into the hair on his head, let out a contented sigh, and fell asleep.


	125. Chapter 125

I was dreaming I was standing in the middle of a sunny field, surrounded by wild flowers of every color. The sun was beating down on my face as I smiled, my face up toward the warmth. I felt warm, inside and out, and although I had no idea where I was and couldn't see anything but flowers for miles, I was comforted. I felt free, open, able to run as I please. Even when I heard growling from beside me, I wasn't afraid, I was comforted by the protection and camaraderie that came with it. When I opened my eyes, I glanced down at the presence beside me. Zeus was right next to me, staring into the distance and growling.

"It's OK," I said as I patted the top of his head. Despite my comforting, Zeus continued to growl, the fur on the back of his neck and on his tail feathering out in his tough-guy impersonation. By the time I really looked into the distance to search for whatever it is that set him off, I felt my throat tightening. I gasped for breath, but nothing happened. I couldn't breathe just as Zeus started to bark viciously.

I had been in bad dreams before where pain was a constant. I just had to wait it out. Unfortunately, I still couldn't breathe, which panicked me even more. "Zeus," I tried to croak out at I dropped to my knees in my vision, but nothing came out. I was functionally mute.

The edges of my vision were starting to get fuzzy. I'd never lasted this long in such a painful vision without waking up screaming yet. My last coherent thought while in the vision was how this vision was somehow different. It felt more…real, almost. Almost instantly after that thought, the vision faded and my eyes flew open. This was different. This _was_ real.

When I opened my eyes, David was standing in front of me, squeezing my throat closed with one hand, the other grabbing Zeus by the scruff of his neck. Blood dripped down his chin from his lips. "Mine, you are mine!" he was mumbling as he shook the both of us. My feet, now useless as weapons, banged against the wall as David dangled me almost a foot off the floor.

"David," I mouthed, but I knew he couldn't see me. Sure, he recognized me as being in front of him, but I wasn't sure that he could really 'see' me, his beautiful eyes now a shade of blood red. For the moment, David was no longer David. At least his rational side had left the building. With the last of my energy, I forced my arms up, just enough so I could land my hands on his cheeks. Then I threw everything I had into opening the bond. The last thing I remember doing was mentally screaming for David to stop.

.

My throat hurt, my head was killing me, my body felt like jello, and off in the distance, someone was talking to me. "Please find it in your heart to forgive me, my Love," someone was saying.

"She's unconscious, brother. She can't hear you."

Ah, yes, I remembered where I'd heard that low, masculine voice before. That was David. "Perhaps," he responded. "But even if I used every breath for the rest of time, I couldn't apologize enough to her. I may as well start now."

The female—a voice I knew I recognized but just couldn't place at the moment—let out a long sigh. "What happened, David? What did she do to deserve this?"

Fingertips materialized on my skin, reminding me that not only did I have a body, but that body hurt. A lot. "I don't know. I don't remember. The last thing I remember, I had let myself in the door, knowing that she was asleep, then all the sudden I was holding Sloane's limp body and that rather unhappy dog in the air." Oh, yea! Zeus! Just as I was hoping he was alright, I felt fur rustle against my leg. "Will she wake up?"

I remembered the name that was attached to the female voice as she spoke again. Emma. "You asked me that already."

"Has your answer changed?"

"No," she said, obviously exacerbated with David.

The same fingertips that had landed on my temple before were now tracing across my eyebrows, down my nose, and across my lips. Zeus growled. "Good dog," David said as those fingers continued to troll down my chin. I flinched as they landed lightly on a very tender part of my neck. "Sloane, sweetheart, open your eyes."

It was almost as if my body was awaiting his permission to start functioning again. With a cough and a froggy groan, my eyes slowly opened but refused to focus until I'd blinked them a couple of times. A tear of blood ran down his cheek and landed on me. "Ow," I mumbled.

He quickly wiped away the tear as he let go of my hand and stood, shaking the entire bed in the process. "I had to see that you would live. I'll leave now."

David started for the door before I could grab his hand, forcing me to try and talk. "No," I was barely able to get out before a coughing fit.

David turned, confusion in his eyes. "No what, Love?"

My eyes flittered to Emma as I tried to sit up. It was too early for that, that's for sure. The room spun and faded to black momentarily. "For some unfathomable reason," Emma answered, "she doesn't want you to go. Lay back down before you lose consciousness again."

I can follow directions. I laid back down and closed my eyes, waiting for the spinning to stop. "Not your fault," I croaked.

When I felt up to opening my eyes again, David was standing next to the bed, his hands dangling at his sides, his shoulders folding in on themselves. I may not be able to sit up, but I sure as hell could roll, so I rolled toward him onto my side and reached out to grab his hand. "Zeus?" I wheezed.

"The dog?" he asked. I nodded. "He's here, at your feet."

I was all good with one word statements at the moment. "Dizzy." Even lying down, I was incredibly dizzy.

"I'm not surprised," Emma said, now behind me on the bed. "David bit you pretty savagely. It looks like you were attacked by an animal. And you lost a lot of blood in the process. And I have no idea how long you were without oxygen." I brought my free hand, the one that wasn't grasping David's hand like a life line up to the tender part of my neck. I felt gauze. "I'd say you're lucky to be alive, but you have a knack for hanging on."

A wave of David's sorrow flooded the bond as I flinched in pain, which is not what I needed. I needed the logical, thinking David, not the sad, self hating David. I needed the one that could help me figure out what the hell was going on with us. I sat up, using my frail state to my advantage and managed to swing my feet off the bed and onto the floor before the room was spinning. I pulled my hand from David's just long enough to push myself off the bed and in David's general direction, knowing full well that as soon as I was standing that something was going to give. And if it didn't? Well, then I was going to fake it.

I didn't have to fake it. Almost immediately after putting my entire weight on my own two legs, the room faded to black and the floor fell out from under me. Just like clockwork, before I started to topple over, David swept me up into his arms. But as soon as I was within reach, I wrapped my arms around David's neck as tightly as I could. If I couldn't get logical David, I'd settle for overprotective David.

It must be familial thick-headedness, but both Emma and David seemed to realize that I wasn't mad at the same time. Emma smiled as David kissed my forehead and settled the two of us back onto the bed. "Scared," I whispered. I wasn't bothering to try and talk loudly anymore; whispering was about all I could do.

"Of what?" David asked.

"Us." I was afraid of what we were becoming. I was afraid of the changes I'd seen in the last few months, ever since that Fae princess thought I'd be a tasty snack. I mean, little quirks like my X-ray vision and the tighter bond between David and me; those I could handle. At least I was still me beneath all of that. The same with David; at least he was still him. But now, I wasn't so sure. I was being the super bitch for some reason and David, well… Let's just say I've seen David angry, and what I saw tonight wasn't him. Someone or something else was in there.

He was slowly weaving circles on my back with his fingertips which was quickly working to put me back to sleep. "We will figure this out, Love. However, in the meantime you are not to be alone. I am not to be alone with you, either." Good. That was David's authoritative voice. That was the David I needed.

Emma piped up then, thinking that was her invitation to stay. "I'd thought you'd never ask, brother," she said as she scooted up the bed in her black strapless formal gown. She must have been at Saph before David called. "Sloane, you and I have business to attend to if you're feeling up to it."

Uh oh. I didn't really like the sound of that. I would love to put off any 'business' with Emma, but then I'd just be dreading dealing with it later. And I'd never been a procrastinator. I shrugged in response.

"Good. You need to decide what you and David are going to dress as for Roberto's party."

David must have felt my confusion through the bond. "The Halloween party we're going to," he supplied for me.

I was starting to feel not so great in ways not related to being drained and strangled. Nausea started to work its way into my consciousness. I elected to ignore it for now. "Costumes?" I whispered.

"In a fashion," Emma answered. "It's a masquerade ball. So you'll wear a ball gown and a mask regardless of what you choose to be." In that case, I didn't really care. I just shrugged. Emma pouted. "I was expecting more enthusiasm from you."

Well, enthusiasm wasn't in my list of emotions at the moment. I was currently trying not to throw up while simultaneously blocking David from knowing how much pain I was in. That took more concentration than I was willing to admit.

Something had to give. A cough snuck out of my throat, sending tendrils of pain down throughout my entire body. Emma wasn't being so selfish that she didn't notice the small grimace that snuck onto my face. "Oh, I'm being a horrible doctor right now. Would you like some pain medication?" she asked as she hopped off the bed. "And you should be drinking liquids. Do you think you could eat?"

Oh, God no. In no way, shape, or form could I eat. In fact, just thinking about it got me as close as I could to throwing up without actually expelling anything. "No food," I whispered.

Emma bent below the frame of the bed and started rooting through something that sounded suspiciously like her black bag. Just the thought of that bag sent dread from my head to my toes. When she came back up, she had a small bottle of pills. Thank God; no needles. "You can't have the Vicodin without eating something first."

The chai in my stomach was making another bid for freedom. I desperately wanted the painkillers, but there was no way I was going to be able to keep something down. "Please?" I begged.

"it'll make you sick, sister," she said as she set the bottle down on the bedside table. I wasn't sure if it was intentional or not, but either way, she was taunting me. "I'll go get you some water and something to eat." As gracefully as ever, she disappeared around the corner.

My stomach had about enough. I was going to throw up for real this time. "Sick," I whispered as I rolled off the bed towards my bathroom. I was quickly followed by two males; one vampire and one dog.

"Where are you going?" David asked as I dropped to my knees at the edge of the bed. I knew walking was going to be more than I could handle, but I was willing to give crawling a try.

"Bathroom," I whispered back.

It took a split second for it to sink into David's thick skull. "Oh," he said just before sweeping me off the floor. He set me down right in front of the toilet just before I started to heave.

God, that hurt. Shoving acid up your throat shortly after being strangled is by no means fun. Not to mention flexing those muscles in my neck that David tore through was painful. So much so that everything faded to black for a moment. Or, at least I thought it was only a moment. When everything came back, it was Emma, not David, taking up most of the space in my field of vision.

"Here, drink this." She shoved a bottle of water into my hands and opened it for me.

It wasn't until she stepped back that I could see I was still sitting in the bathroom, leaning against the tub. I took a quick sip to make her happy before leaning over, lying on my side in the fetal position on the bathmat. I would give almost anything for Emma and David to let me just lie here, on the bathroom floor, in pain but also in peace. But there's slim to no chance of that happening. Instead, as soon as I closed my eyes, Emma perched me back into a sitting position and reopened my water. "Drink," she said.

"Rather sleep," I croaked.

"You are a difficult patient," Emma said as she let out a sigh. "Half the bottle, then you can sleep for an hour." There was no compromise in her voice. It was her way or the highway. So I chugged half the bottle.

Not one of my smarter moves. As soon as it got all the way down it wanted to come right back up. And it did. As I finished heaving and curled back into a ball on the floor, Emma propped me right back up. "That'll teach you to be a smartass, sister. Now, finish the rest of the bottle, slowly this time, and then you can sleep."

I shook my head as much as I could. "Not the deal," I whispered.

I saw David's feet approach from beyond my bedroom. "Now, sister, let her sleep. It will be easier to get the IV started when she's unconscious."

A strange, dizzy numbness overcame my body as I realized I'd been outplayed. "Hate you both," I whispered as I tried to push myself up. When it was obvious I wasn't going to be able to get up on my own, Emma helped me to sit.

"I certainly hope not," Emma said with a smile. She knew she won, even though it was none of her doing.

"And eat this," David said as he put a plate down in front of me. I quickly closed my eyes before I could see what he was going to force down my throat. "Sydney said toast would be good for your stomach." I tried not to think about the actual toast but more the act of David making toast. I smiled. Wide. "What are you smiling about?"

"You made toast?" I whispered, my eyes still closed.

"Yes," David said, sounding quite proud of himself. "Sydney talked me through the process over the phone. She even told me how to make her special toast."

"Cinnamon," I said. It was her secret ingredient for toast, if there is such a thing.

"Yes, with cinnamon. I will be hurt if you don't at least try it."

I took two big swigs of water and opened my eyes. I could manage one bite. Before I could sufficiently think about it, I took a large bite. It tasted just like Sydney's. Sure, my stomach was protesting it a bit, but it tasted good. I took another bite before taking another swig of water. Before I knew it, the toast and the water were both gone.

She opened the bottle of the all-important pills and split one pill in half with her hands, setting one of the halves in my palm. I popped it in my mouth and swallowed without water before either of the vampires in the room could protest. "Good enough," Emma said as I curled back into a ball on the floor. "Wouldn't you like to sleep in your bed? You've earned it."

I could sleep on a bed of smoldering coals right now, that's how tired I was. The bathroom floor? Downright comfortable. More than anything, I didn't want to put any effort into trying to move. "Zeus," I whispered as my eyes closed. All I needed was my furry heating pad and I was perfect.

With a loud whistle, David called for Zeus. "Come, Zeus," he said as he lifted me off the floor. The telltale pitter patter of dog paws on wood floor followed Zeus from just outside the bedroom door until he jumped up onto the bed. David slipped me under the blankets.

David cuddled in behind me and started rubbing his fingers up my side while Zeus curled into my chest so he could keep a better eye on David. "I don't think Zeus likes me," David whispered into my ear.

My eyes closed as I weaved my fingers through David's then into Zeus' fur. Zeus immediately calmed down, sniffing my face then resting his head on my arm. Luckily, no words were needed; I didn't have the energy to form them.

I fell asleep between the warm comfort of Zeus' steady breathing and the strong silence of David behind me. And despite the abuses of the day, I quickly fell asleep.

.

I woke up to the gentle hold of strong hands on my hips, David's thumbs rubbing idle circles just inside of my hipbones. "This will not do, Love," he said as I turned to lie more flatly on my back giving him better access. I knew how this usually progresses; first its gentle caresses, then it becomes gentle kisses, and then it just snowballs from there. Before I know it, I'm naked, sweaty, and lounging happily on David's chest.

"What?" I gargled as I wiggled, widening my legs to better fit David between them. My throat was still raw, making me sound like an old smoker, but my body felt like new. Better than new, actually. I felt fantastic. Ah, the joys of painkillers. I could shove a pen through my palm and feel nothing.

"These bones here," he said as he kissed the tip of both of my hipbones. "And these," he said as he grazed his hands under my oversized t-shirt and up my ribcage, thumbs just barely touching each of my nipples in the process. My body involuntarily bucked toward him in response, making him smile.

I took in a sharp breath when David's hands roamed down over my breasts, just barely touching each of my nipples on their way back down to my panty line. "What about them?" I said, more breathy this time.

David was working his fingers underneath my panties and shimmying them down my thighs as he kissed a trail from my belly button south. I groaned as I buried my hands in David's hair, garnering myself a strange look from Zeus. He was still lying on the bed, curled in almost the same position he'd been in when I fell asleep. "They're too prominent," David said into my inner thigh. "Have you eaten today?"

"Yes," I answered automatically. With what David was doing to my core right now, I really couldn't concentrate on the question or the answer. So I assumed I had. "Yes," I whispered again for a completely different reason.

"Other than toast?" he asked just before slipping his tongue into me. We both groaned in ecstasy at the same time. He was still warm from drinking so much of my blood, but that wasn't what was setting my core on fire. He asked again when I didn't answer.

"What?" I asked breathlessly, concentrating less on what he was saying and more on what he'd stopped doing and how I could get him to start again.

He pulled away from me completely so he could look into my eyes. I pouted. "Have you eaten other than toast?"

"Sure," I said as I started working his sweater up his torso.

What I was doing was having no visible effect on him whatsoever. "What did you eat?" he asked. He must not believe me.

I sighed in frustration. This is not where I wanted this to go. I let his sweater slide back down his torso and went for the money shot: his khakis. I shimmied myself down the bed and unbuttoned his pants before slowly unzipping them. "Well, I had a blueberry muffin for breakfast this morning," I said as I slipped my hands in his boxer-briefs. He shuddered, but stayed exactly where he was: looming over me, one hand pressed into the bed on either side of my head. "And then Alec and I went to the International Center for lunch." MSU's International Center holds classrooms, a library, a support center for international students struggling with the change, but most importantly, it also holds a Panda Express, the world's best (and greasiest) Chinese takeout. I can't get enough of their chow mein and egg rolls.

He cracked as I gripped him hard while simultaneously rubbing his tip gently, his eyes rolling back into his head as his lips parted. Perfect. I used what little strength I had to push him onto his back and straddled him. "And I think I'll have this for dinner," I said just before wrapping my lips around his hard member.

He buried one hand in my hair as the other gripped the comforter. Words in his native tongue streamed out of his mouth. With one more lick, he'd had as much as he could handle. I giggled loudly as he flipped me onto my back and stripped down faster than the speed of light. "David!" I said between giggles. "What if Emma hears?" She had to be around here somewhere.

David shrugged the least of shrugs before descending on me, practically ripping my shirt from my body. "I've had to listen to her and Lee do things much more uncouth than what I plan on doing to you."

I smiled wider. "And what is that?" I asked as I wrapped my legs around his legs.

"Let me show you…"


	126. Chapter 126

I woke up to another early morning phone call causing my iPhone to dance across the bedside table. "Who could possibly be calling you at this hour?" David asked as he watched me try to un-burrito myself from the comforter without waking up Zeus in the process. As I turned 180 degrees on the bed, trying to free at least one hand, I noticed Lola was lying beside David, her head on his thigh as he lounged in his boxers. I rolled my eyes.

"I won't know until I look at me phone. You could be helping instead of cuddling with your new girlfriend."

David smirked at me as he rubbed behind Lola's ear. "Jealous?" When I stuck my tongue out at him, he reached over me and grabbed my phone right off the table. "Sloane McIntosh's phone," he answered.

I let out a frustrated sigh as I continued to struggle. How the hell did I wrap myself this tightly? I don't remember the sex being quite that…active. "She's all tied up at the moment," he said. "May I take a message?"

"Dammit David, give me my phone."

He smiled. "Please hold." He pulled the corner of the blanket out from under me, freeing my entire body, and handed me my phone.

"Hello?" I said. I probably should have looked at the number before I said anything.

"Sloane?" asked Thad's hesitant voice.

"Oh, hey, Thad," I answered. "Any news?"

"Uh, no, none yet. I got a hold of Theo's spotter though."

"Spotter?" I asked. Unless he was talking about a gymnast's spotter, I wasn't sure what he was talking about.

"Theo's the unit's sniper, so this guy's job is to tell Theo what to shoot. He's the one that's home on injured leave."

I paused a second, trying to get my head around it. I had assumed the sniper could figure that out himself, right? "Uh, OK. So when's good for him?"

"I was hoping now, but it sounds like it might be a bad time."

I glanced at my alarm clock. Six AM is generally not a good time for much of anything, regardless of who answers my phone. "No, now's good for me," I said anyway. "The sooner the better for Theo." I sent my mind scrambling for a place to meet until I glanced up at David. "Do you know where Rum Runners is?" I asked as I shot out of bed in search for panties…and pants.

"Next to the baseball stadium, right?"

"Yea," I answered as I grabbed a cable-knit sweater off the chair in the corner. "Meet me there in half an hour? Come knock on the back door."

I was shoving my feet in boots as David pulled on his khakis. "May I ask what you have volunteered my flagship establishment for at six in the morning?"

"I'm going to read an injured soldier."

David was completely dressed before I finished putting on one boot. "Why?" he asked.

"Because my Godbrother's been kidnapped and this soldier may hold the key to where he is."

I could feel David's hesitance through the bond as I pulled the gauze from my neck and wrapped a scarf around it. "No, Sloane."

I was halfway down the hallway when I wheeled around to look at David. "Excuse me?"

He must have seen his own death in my eyes, judging by the way he backpedaled. "Sloane, I am just looking out for your safety. Reading service men is too dangerous for you, and adding anyone else to the list who knows your secret is risky, too."

Emma appeared at the base of the steps. "What are you two arguing about?"

"No argument," I said as I threw my coat around my shoulders. "Coming?"

She took one look at David, and after reading his face, looked seriously at me, cocking one hip to the side. "Where to?" she asked.

"Rum Runners," I answered. She looked at David more seriously as I flung my purse over my shoulder. "Zeus!" I yelled up the stairs. I listened to the pitter-patter of dog feet run down the stairs. Two sets. Lola was following close behind. "Come on, guys. We're going on a field trip."

They had no idea what I was saying, but they followed along anyway as I stepped out into the cold. There was no need to put either on a leash.

David and Emma were both standing in my driveway, blocking my driver's side door. Emma had her arms crossed over her chest, while David was fingering my keys. The very keys I'd need to get into that car. I knew where this conversation was going before anyone even opened their mouth. He was going to do everything in his power to stop me from going, and Emma was going to help him. My vision went blurry as tears welled in my eyes. Theo was the closest thing I was ever going to get to a brother. Sure, I hadn't seen him in years, but that didn't mean I could even fathom a world he wasn't in.

"OK," I said as I let the tears fall, nodding my head to keep myself from completely breaking down. I hated that it came down to thinly veiled threats. "I see how this is going to go. But it only goes that way until the sun rises. I'll just postpone the meeting until nine."

I saw the panic filter onto David's face. For the first time in a long time, David's fangs made an appearance solely because of an emotional response. It was too painful to watch; I turned back for the house trying desperately to hold in the hiccupping sobs.

David closed the distance between us in an instant. "Sloane," he said as he ran his hand down my arm, showing me how fast he could get to me. He had been yards away when I turned, making no move to come to me.

I stopped in my tracks, but that was the only response I could afford. There was no way I could turn around to face David without breaking down. "Please promise me you won't attempt to read this man. Please."

I started to walk away, back towards my front door. "No, and both of you and your sister's invitations into my home are rescinded."

I kept it together just long enough to text Thad about the change of plans before I sunk to the ground, letting the sobs out. I can't lose Theo. I've caused the death of too many good men already.

.

It took all of ten minutes before I heard the back door slide open. "Miss Sloane?" Idi asked as he walked around the corner to find me where I had lost it: sitting on the foyer floor. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head as I wiped the tears away. "No, I'm fine." I couldn't get Theo's young face out of my head. Maybe 9 or 10 years old, we were playing in the woods behind his parents' house. I'd slipped and fallen down the bank into the small ravine. Fearlessly, Theo followed me, sending himself rolling down the hill just to make sure 1) that I was OK, and 2) to help me get out. I remembered his laughing face as he reached a muddy hand down toward me to help lift me up a particularly steep area.

I could see the urge to ask me why the hell I was sitting on the floor filter onto Idi's face, but he resisted the urge. I almost wished he hadn't. I wish he would count me among his friends rather than his charges; I wish he'd feel comfortable enough to ask.

He finally gathered up the courage. "I hope you do not find this question too bold, Miss, but may I ask why you are crying on the floor?"

I smiled up to him. "You may always ask. David won't let me save my Godbrother."

He looked perplexed as he stared down at me from his massive height. "What is a Godbrother? I was unaware you had siblings."

My smile cracked wider as I tried to hold the giggles in. I hadn't even considered the fact that maybe he—or David—wouldn't know what a Godbrother is. "Well, traditionally, his parents would be in charge of my…religious upbringing. You know, making sure the fear of God was in me. But my parents never were really into that religious stuff, so when I was born my parents decided that if anything were to happen to them, Theo's parents were to take care of me. I don't have any real blood siblings, but Thad and Theo are about as close as it gets-besides Sydney."

Idi looked perplexed again. "I find it hard to believe King O'Hara would be against you saving your kin."

I shrugged on the floor before wrapping my knees into my chest. "He thinks it's too dangerous."

"Is it too dangerous?" Idi asked. That was one thing I could appreciate about Idi. He didn't try to make the judgment for himself; he trusted me completely. If I didn't think it was too dangerous, then neither does he.

I honored his trust and thought seriously about it. "It definitely has the possibility of being painful. But dangerous? I don't think so."

Idi sunk onto the stairs to my right, setting an oddly-placed weapon on the stairs next to him. He was looking at me, but he wasn't really seeing me, his thoughts somewhere else completely. His inattention allowed me to wander within my own thoughts for a while. And, like clockwork, my mind slid right back into my childhood with Thad and Theo. It took everything I had not to break back down into hysterics.

We sat in silence for what felt like ten minutes before Idi spoke. "You must got help your brother." Without another word, he stood, took some time to tuck his weapon back into its well hidden holster, and left the same way he came. The next time I looked up, the beginning of a sunrise was shooting sunbeams across my foyer floor.

.

I was the first to arrive at Rum Runners, which didn't surprise me. If Thad was truly staying at his mom's house to help out, he had over a half an hour commute to downtown. And that assumed he already had this mysterious soldier with him. Which means I was the first to find the envelope taped to the recievings door that led to the alley with my name beautifully scripted across the front. Emma had been here, and she'd wanted to tell me something.

I turned the key David had given me a few weeks ago to let myself into the back of the club. No matter the time of day, that alley still gives me the creeps. Even in the rising sun. As the door closed, I pulled the envelope off the door and, once I heard the door click shut, I cracked it open.

_My dearest Sister_, it began. _Please forgive David in his overzealousness to protect you. After you had rescinded my invitation to your home, I forced David to explain what the argument had been about. Had I known you only wished to save a dear friend, I would have supported you completely. _Ha, sure. Not only is David Emma's king, he's her maker. I doubt she'd be able to do much of anything to help me if David really put his mind to stopping her. _But please, for me, be careful when you are reading this warrior. Troubled minds breed troubled futures. I'd hate to see you hurt. _She signed off her letter with, _Please forgive me, Emma._

A knock on the door startled me before I could begin to contemplate Emma's letter. "Maybe she's not here yet," said a muffled masculine voice on the other side of the steel door.

I slid the door open just a crack, and once I recognized Thad's face, swung it open completely. "Come on in," I said.

Thad led the duo carrying a small shoulder bag. "Where are we setting up?" he asked. Straight to business this morning.

"What's to set up?" I asked as I pointed to the bar proper, all the time keeping one eye on the suspiciously quiet soldier limping behind Thad.

"Laptop," Thad said. "Theo's unit is waiting for a satellite call from us."

My heart jumped into my throat. "Why?" I asked finally as I followed Thad into the bar. I motioned to David's usual booth.

"The sun's about to set over there, Pink," Thad said. "They need this info immediately and from the horse's mouth." I felt my cheeks flare bright red when Thad called me 'Pink' again. My mother used to really like to dress me like her little pink princess, and Thad and Theo had both taken to calling me 'Pink' or 'Pinky' in response. I remembered I called them 'Buster' and 'Booger', but I couldn't for the life of me remember who was who.

I didn't feel great about the audience. _Deep breaths,_ I told myself. _It's for Theo. _ "Alright," I said as I slid my coat off. "I take it you're Theo's…spotter, was it?"

He looked at me funny. "You mean Ted?"

Thad smiled slightly, the most positive emotion I'd seen from him all morning. In fact, it was the first time Thad didn't look desperate. "No one but family calls him Theo. Everyone else calls him Ted."

"Oh," I said. "Well I'm Sloane." I made sure to slide my phone into my back pocket before sliding into the booth.

"Nice to meet you, Ma'am," the soldier replied. "I'm Pfc. Shaeffer. Kyle."

"Nice to meet you too," I said as I watched him slowly and painfully slide into the booth.

Thad slid into the booth beside Kyle and started to plunk away on the laptop he'd set up. "So who answered the phone?" Thad asked. I'm sure he tried to make that sound nonchalant, but he failed miserably.

I sighed. "My boyfriend, David, who I'm not happy with at the moment." That last part wasn't necessary. But it felt good to acknowledge the fact I was unhappy with him. More than unhappy, down-right angry.

"Oh, is that why you had to postpone a bit? I didn't mean to cause trouble for you…"

"No, it's fine. I just had to wait for him to die for the day."

That got an awkward silence from both men at the table. Thad focused a little too hard on setting up his satellite connection and Kyle studiously looked everywhere but at me. With almost a sigh of relief from Kyle, Thad said, "OK, we're set. Say hello," as he spun the computer to face Kyle and me. On the screen were three men standing in a line, all with their hands behind their backs.

"This better be good," scolded the one in the middle, who obviously held an air of authority over the other two soldiers on the screen.

"Yes, Sir," responded Kyle. I had a feeling that if this doesn't work, it's Kyle's ass on the line. Now I wanted this to work just that much more.

There was silence on the line for all of three seconds while I readied myself for what was to come. "What's the holdup?" asked the man in charge.

Maybe it was because I was already in a bad mood. Maybe it was because I had a predisposition to disrespect authority. Maybe it's because I just don't like people rushing me and telling me what to do. Maybe my uber cranky side was rearing its ugly head again. Regardless the reason, I was short with the man in charge. "Shut the hell up and let me do my job."

Stunned silence. I closed my eyes and opened myself up before offering the soldier my hands. "Anything you see here doesn't leave this group, understood?" I asked Kyle. He nodded in agreement. I didn't even look toward the screen. After pissing off men in charge, the chances of getting the answer you want are slim. "Alright, give me your hands."

I closed my eyes and let the initial rush of pictures flow over me. Life for a soldier in Afghanistan is not easy. I watched through his eyes as he walked across the desert landscape, I sat with him as he stood watch endlessly, fighting with himself to stay awake in the middle of the night. The first time I saw Theo through his eyes, my heart jumped right back into my throat and broke. They were sitting together under a flimsy tent, pulling something that I couldn't decipher apart and shooting the wind. I gasped when I saw Theo's handsome face. His dirty blonde hair was buzzed close to his head, the color blending almost seamlessly with his overly tanned face. He had subtle raccoon eyes were the skin had tanned around his sunglasses. Still, his beautiful eyes shone brightly and warmly, regardless of the utter despair of their surroundings. He is just as much the heartbreaker he used to be with just as warm a personality.

"What is she doing?" asked an authoritative voice, muffled as is traveled through space.

"Shut up," I said again. I needed to concentrate.

The man in charge started to protest, but Thad quickly quieted him. "With all due respect," he started, "I understand this is complicated. She just needs to concentrate."

Finally, silence. Within a few moments of pulling my filters into place, ruffling through the masses of visions that had come my way, the one I wanted started to play. Both Theo and Kyle were dressed up in special outfits, allowing them to blend easily into the desertscape; paint on their faces helped them to blend in. Strapped to Theo's back was a long, black instrument of death.

Theo and Kyle army-crawled their way up to a sandy cliff. Of the edge, off in the distance, a conglomeration of black SUVs had met seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Kyle pulled out a kind of high-powered binoculars. "Do you see him?" Kyle whispered.

"Not yet," Theo said as he looked through the scope of his rifle. "He's gotta be in one of those Range Rovers."

I asked Kyle, "who was in the Range Rover? The guy you were waiting for…"

There was silence for a split second before madness erupted. The man in charge was yelling, Thad was trying to calm him down, and Kyle was unsettled. Unsettled subjects make for jerky, uncontrollable visions.

I whispered just loud enough to Kyle could hear me, trying to get this back on track before something painful happened. "Kyle, listen to me, you're just fine. I'm not going to let anything happen here, OK? But I need your help to get this info. I need you to calm down."

He was trying, bless his heart he was, but it wasn't fast enough. Suddenly, the entire scene flashed forward to an ambush. Jerky pictures and segments of memories passed by faster than I could really process. Voices from behind as they watched for the man in the Range Rover. Strong arms pulling at the back of Kyle's uniform. Pain in my cheek as a man struck Kyle in the same spot, enough to send my head ricocheting to the side. Heat in my hand as I pulled the trigger of Kyle's pistol in the gut of one of our attackers, and the payback: stinging pain in my leg as his friend fired a return shot.

I forced myself to pull my hands from Kyle's as pain took over my body and the last few visions filtered through my consciousness. Almost as if it were a hint from God, I knew where Theo was. "He's northwest of where you were ambushed," I said with my eyes still closed, "in a bomb shelter-like structure. Look for a three-way fork in a dirt road that looks like a trident from the sky." Subtly, I pulled one hand under the table and probed the place where an Afghani had blown a hole in Kyle's thigh. Warm, sticky wetness. I didn't need to pull my hand back up to know it was now red.

"Ma'am?" Kyle said, trying to get my attention. I wasn't sure how long I had been ignoring him, but when I opened my eyes, Thad had shut down and packed up the laptop. They were both looking at me like I'd grown another head.

"Yea, sorry, what did you say?" I asked, trying not to scream against the pain.

"I asked if you were alright."

I closed my eyes again as I nodded yes. "I'm fine, really, I could just feel that….it hurts every time. I just need a minute." And for him and Thad to leave so I could be in pain in peace.

"Are you sure?" Thad asked. "You look like death warmed over."

I forced a smile on my face. "Yea, I promise. If you guys could just let yourselves out, though?"

"Sure," Thad answered as he slid out of the booth. He flipped around to my side of the booth and wrapped his arms around me, tucking my head under his chin. "Thank you, Sloane," he said seriously. I used one hand to return his hug. I didn't want to get him bloody. Hesitantly, Thad whispered, "do you think he's alive?" He grabbed my hands before I could pull away, earning himself a nasty surprise. "What the…" he said as he pulled my bloody hand up. "Christ, Sloane."

I pulled my hand back and hid it back under the table. "I'm fine," I reiterated. "It'll stop in a minute."

"You should have told me…" Thad said as he looked down at me, trying to get a glimpse at the cause of the blood. "You need a doctor."

"No. It's already stopping," I lied. I really just needed to get them out of here. "Go on, get outta here or I'm making you clean this up."

Thad took one long look at me. "Call me later, let me know you're OK?" I nodded yes, which was a good enough answer for him. He headed for the back door.

"Take care, Ma'am," Kyle said as he limped behind Thad.

As soon as the door clinked shut, I wiggled myself out of the booth and onto the floor, letting out a sharp yelp of pain in the process. I was heading for a bar towel, but it looked miles away. Maybe I should have asked Thad to grab me one before he left. No, because then he wouldn't have left. Theo may have gotten most of the gentlemanly concern, but Thad wasn't born without any. He would have felt compelled to stay and make sure I was alright.

Slowly, surely, I pulled myself along the floor, leaving a trail of red behind me as I made my way toward the bar. By the time I got there and had tied a couple of dirty bar rags around my leg, I was downright winded. And tired. Really, really tired. I'd call Sydney for help getting home after I closed my eyes for a minute…

.

"Dammit, Sloane. Open your fucking eyes."

I smiled crookedly as I followed directions. "No need to be vulgar, Moose."

He sunk onto the floor next to me in relief. "Jesus, Sloane. Jesus Fucking Christ. You….God dammit, Sloane. You can really do some stupid shit sometimes. And what the hell happened to your neck?"

"You've got some stupid moves in you, too," I answered quietly as I leaned my head back against the cabinets behind the bar. My eyes were slowly closing again as I breathed through the pain.

"Oh yea? Have I ever done anything that could have gotten me killed?"

"Sure," I answered. "You hang around with me."

He let out one harrumph in response to that statement as he pulled me under his arm. "What would have happened if I didn't wake up early and get O'Hara's message? You could have bled out on this floor before anyone found you."

I didn't dignify that with a response. Moose knew almost better than anyone how much faith I put in fate. If it wasn't my time, then I wasn't going to die. And if it was? Well, then there's no amount of help I could get to change it. "David called you?"

"I don't think I've ever heard him sound so worried over you, and that's saying a lot. What the hell did you do to scare him so much?"

"Nothing, I just read someone."

"Uh huh," he said sarcastically as he pulled away from the wall. I would have toppled right over onto my side if he hadn't set me up right again. "Now let me see this," he said as he probed at the cold, bloody leg of my jeans. "Is it still bleeding?" I shrugged. How the hell would I know? He rolled his eyes. "Helpful. Come on, let's go," he said as he lifted me from the puddle forming on the floor. "We need to clean up this mess before we leave."

I shook my head as I linked my arms around his neck. "Leave it. The cleaning crew hasn't come in yet today."

He rolled his eyes at me again, but continued toward the back door after grabbing my coat and purse. "Are you trying to give David heart failure?"

I couldn't hold my head up anymore; it landed squarely on Moose's shoulder. "You can't give a vampire heart failure," I answered.

It wasn't the first time I'd been wrong.

.

**JEREMY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Oh, hell no. This was definitely not in my job description. I may work for vampires, but nowhere in my contract does it say 'clean up puddles of blood on bar floors'. "Have you looked for any hints as to _why_ there is a massive amount of blood on the floor?" I asked the slightly ditzy if ever loyal waitress who found the mess.

"No, no I haven't. I searched everywhere. And everything was locked up when I got here."

I sighed again as I rubbed my temples. Again, not in my job description. _Just a few more weeks_, I told myself. _As soon as you graduate, Jeremy Sota, you are leaving this wretched state and moving back home. No more vampires, no more snow, no more blood. _

"What should I do?" the waitress asked.

I felt like screaming at the woman, but that's not really what she deserved. I took a deep breath and answered calmly. "I guess just clean it up. I'll give Mr. O'Hara a call and let him know it's been taken care of."

I hit number one on my speed dial once again. David O'Hara's phone number blinked across my screen as it started to ring. "What?" he answered.

I stood, dumbfounded. "Mr. O'Hara?" I asked as I turned for the windows. The sun hadn't set yet. It was close, but it wasn't all the way down yet. He shouldn't be awake. Not yet.

"What is it, Jeremy?" he asked impatiently.

"Uh, right," I said. "I was calling to tell you about the blood on the floor."

He paused for a moment. "What blood?"

"Emile got here about a half an hour ago and found blood on the floor. A puddle under your booth, smudge marks across the floor, and another puddle behind the bar. There's also bloody bar rags. I was just calling to tell you it's been taken care of."

He mumbled something under his breath that I could have sworn wasn't in English before he hung up on me.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Moose and I were lounging on his couch, my feet tucked under Moose's butt for warmth. He was watching yet another cop movie; I was looking out the window. As soon as I could focus on it, I had started blocking David out so fiercely that I'd completely lost him. I didn't want to feel the wrath of David as soon as he woke up. But then, that left me wondering exactly what he was doing. I guess I never realized how…comforting the bond could be, humming along in the background unnoticed. It had also occurred to me that he could show up at Moose's door unannounced and I'd have no warning. At least he couldn't come in, as far as I know.

I jumped as my phone buzzed across the table. Caller ID said it was David, but the sun was still in the process of setting. My, he was up early.

"You gunna get that?" Moose asked as I let the phone hop across the table.

"No," I answered. I didn't want him to yell at me today, too. I had too much on my mind to handle another tongue lashing.

Moose picked up my phone just enough to see who was calling before getting up for another serving of macaroni and cheese. He took my half full plate with him when it was obvious I wasn't going to finish the extra large serving. "Speaking of O'Hara, are you going to tell me what happened to your neck?"

I reached up and fingered the raw torn flesh that was starting to scab over. It felt pretty healed for only happening less than a day ago. "I'm not really sure."

"Not sure?" Moose asked, disbelieving. "Didn't that hurt like hell?"

"I don't remember it happening, but I'm sure it did."

Moose shook his head as he emptied my plate and the rest of the pot onto his plate. "Feeling stronger, at least?" he asked.

My phone finally stopped buzzing as the screen lit up. One voicemail from David. "I've finally warmed up," I said as I cuddled under every blanket in his apartment. "That's progress enough for me."

"Let me see that bullet hole again," he said as he slid his plate onto his coffee table. With a piss and a moan, I uncovered my right leg to expose a bandaged thigh. As soon as I unwrapped it to expose nothing but a shiny scar, Moose's phone started to ring. "O'Hara," he said as he flipped his phone open.

"I'm not here," I said as I cuddled right back under the blankets.

Moose rolled his eyes at me. "Yep," he said into the receiver. "Yea, I got your voicemail." Pause. "Well what?" Pause. "Look, this sounds like something you and her need to talk about, OK? I'm not your messenger boy." Without another word, Moose hung up the phone and tossed it onto coffee table next to his full plate. He settled his plate onto his lap and ate with one hand while the other hand slowly massaged my neck. "Hey, remember that time you came over here and we had the most mind-blowing…"

"Yes," I answered before he could finish that thought.


	127. Chapter 127

**MOOSE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I didn't remember Mac looking so…upset when she slept when we were together. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she grabbed fistfuls of my comforter and held them tightly to her body. She was so cocooned in her layers of blankets that the only visible part of her body was her eyes, the bridge of her nose, and a mass of unruly hair gathered on top of her head. Everything else was under several layers of blankets, comforters, and sheets.

Her feet were in my lap, and I probed under the blanket and up her leg with my hand, feeling her skin on my way. I found it hard to believe that she could possibly be cold, but I'd also thought that several blankets ago. I mean, I was sweltering and I only had the blankets on my lap, let alone wrapped around my entire body. I just wanted to make sure her skin was warm to the touch. She sighed in relief as my fingertips brushed the top of my boxers she was wearing, her kung fu grip loosening slightly. God, her skin felt nice; smooth. It occurred to me how much I needed to get laid.

It was my turn to jump anxiously when there was a hearty knock on my door. "Hold on, Matt," I said as I reluctantly freed myself from Mac's blankets. It had to be Matt; I hadn't buzzed anyone in and I wasn't expecting anyone. And it would be par for the course for him—he has some horrible timing.

When I opened the door, it definitely wasn't Matt. "O'Hara?" I asked in disbelief. "How'd you get in here?"

I'm not sure he was listening to me. "Where is she?"

"She's right here," I said as I stepped out of the way, giving David a view of Mac sleeping on the couch. Her face had fallen back into an almost painful frown as she took unnecessarily deep, gasping breaths. "She was fine before you got here. Can't you feel her or something?"

He grasped the doorframe, seemingly to keep him from falling to his knees. "No. I cannot. Invite me in."

"Uhhh," I stalled. "I'm not sure that's a great idea. Why don't we wait until…" I made the mistake of looking up into David's eyes as I told him no. I don't remember what happened next.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

His captors had not been kind to Theo. Before they'd taken him to their secret hide-away, they'd broken his arm, some ribs, and possibly his cheekbone. Once they'd gotten him all settled in and strapped down to a cold metal table, they hadn't been as nice. They'd yell questions at him in a dialect he didn't speak. He tried to tell them he didn't understand, but they didn't seem to care. They water boarded him anyway. At least he wasn't alone; I was right there with him, struggling to breathe.

A coughing fit jolted me from the dreaming vision and back to the waking world. When I opened my eyes, David's face was taking up most of my vision. "Go away," I gasped between coughs.

"Do not ever do that to me again," he said as his strong hands ran down my arms roughly.

I swatted him away. "I'm serious. Leave. I'm mad at you and I don't want to say anything stupid."

"I cannot leave you alone until you show me you are capable of self preservation!" he yelled as he held my hands down to my side. "Until you stop making stupid life-threatening decisions, I will do what I see fit to protect you from yourself!"

I was pretty sure he just called me stupid. Hell, with a furious as I was, I could have been marginally suspicious he just called me stupid and it would have sent me off. "Agghh!" I yelled as I struggled against his firm grip. "Listen, you over controlling bastard, it's my life! I'll do what I want with it! Now let me fucking go!" With the last sentence, I forced my knee up into David's side. He didn't let go of me like I'd hoped he would, but it sent him just unbalanced enough that one well-placed kick to his chest would have set me free. If I could have landed one fast enough. Instead, he strengthened his grip on my wrists, not tight enough to hurt but enough to hold me still, and straddled my knees.

I was seething. "Let me go, David Shea O'Hara, right now," I said through my clenched teeth. If I had been less pissed, I might have been terrified. But as it stood, I didn't have enough room in my emotional load to add terrified to it. I could barely handle the whole load of pissed I was dealing with at the moment.

David's fangs rolled down slowly. "Do not fight me; just listen," he said as calmly as he could manage.

"Well, since you're not giving me a choice," I spat at him as I struggled uselessly. If he hadn't specifically told me to sit still, I might have just settled in and listened. But I was pissed and combative, so I struggled against him.

"Did you stop to think of how I felt? Knowing you were going to do something life threatening while I was unable to help you? I felt the pain of the vision, I felt you weaken, and then I felt nothing. You had blocked me out so effectively I spent the entire day thinking you were dead."

As far as I was concerned, he got what he deserved. "Maybe you should have gone with me instead of acting like my MOTHER and immediately FORBIDDING me from doing what I needed to SAVE MY FRIEND!" I yelled as I put more energy into fighting against him. "Maybe you should LEARN TO TRUST ME!"

"I trust you," he said calmly again. He was starting to lose it. "I trust you do everything in your power to risk your life for silly reasons!"

I got right up in his face before I seethed another word. "Saving the life of the closest thing to a brother I will ever have is not silly! And I wasn't risking my life, you cock-sucking twat!"

David consolidated both my wrists into one of his hands so he could bury his newly free hand in my hair at the base of my neck, gripping my skull tightly. When my eyes finally met David's, there was an almost ecstatic emptiness to them, the same kind of look Sydney gets before she digs in to some Godiva chocolate. "You best stop struggling unless you want me to take you right here," he whispered into my ear before taking a nip at my lobe.

I stopped in my tracks, stiffening every muscle in my body as my heart ricocheted into my throat. I was so mad at him that his simple touch made me itch. His lips working their way down my neck, across my shoulder, and down my chest made me want to scream. "Listen to that heart go," he whispered into my chest. "I am nothing but a predator, Sloane, and you are making it difficult to control my base urges." I assumed that included urges like 'bite' and 'fuck'.

There was definitely enough room in my emotional psyche to fit terrified now. "Let me go, David," I said, shakier than I was hoping for. "I think you should leave."

His lips were suddenly hovering a fraction of an inch from mine. "I think I prefer your feisty side." He nipped my lower lip with his fang, causing a sharp pain and a releasing a trickle of blood for him to lick up.

"Stop, David," I said again when my lips were no longer pressed to his.

He moaned disappointedly, but finally listened to me. He pulled away so he was no longer pressing my body against his but continued to hold me steady. "Do you at least understand my concerns for your safety? I think you forget how fragile you are."

I wasn't ready to go back to our argument just yet. "Let go of me, David."

"Promise not to hit me?"

"No," I answered. At least it was truthful.

"Fair enough," he said with the world's smallest shrug. At seemingly the speed of light, he was across the room, lounging against the far wall.

I needed to be free of these blankets. Sure, they kept me warm, but I felt almost trapped underneath them. As quickly as I could manage, I flipped the blankets off me and bolted across the room towards the kitchen. "Moose?" I said hesitantly as I shot a glance down the hallway towards his bedroom. I could see him sitting on the end of his bed, staring studiously at the floor. He didn't even flinch when I called his name. It looked like if this came to blows, I was on my own. Where the hell did Moose put my phone? I searched Moose's apartment quickly, scanning table tops and couch cushions. It was sitting on the coffee table, mere feet from David.

When I looked back up, David wasn't there anymore. At least, not consciously. Angry red eyes stared back at me. "Those are not your boxers."

Forget the phone. My new plan was either 1) run towards Moose, trying to get him to break out of his stupor, or 2) make a break for the door, hoping to God someone in the adjacent apartments hears me screaming and comes to help. Of course, unless whoever emerged from the apartments on this floor happened to be of the dead variety, I was just choosing between getting Moose killed or someone I didn't know. Suddenly, neither were good options.

"David, listen to me. You're not being yourself right now, David," I said as I backed away. At least if all else failed I could try and barricade myself in the bathroom. Here's to hoping the door is made of more than just paper-thin plywood. "Moose just loaned me something to wear while my jeans were in the wash, OK? Nothing more…" David was taking steps towards me faster than I could take steps backwards. I needed a new approach. I tried thinking of what snapped him out of his rage-filled rampage before, but I had been unconscious. For all I know Zeus bit him.

David was almost within an arm's reach of me. I was getting more desperate. "David, listen to me. Stop, David…"

"You are MINE!" he roared as he reached for me.

I screamed and dropped to the floor. David wrapped one strong arm around my waist and easily lifted me from the floor, pressing my back into his chest. I could see his fangs come down in the mirror over Moose's dresser as he yanked my head to the side, exposing my already mauled neck. He bit before I could scream again.

I didn't bother to fight; I'd just tear a bigger hole in my neck. David wasn't trying to lessen the pain as he let the blood trickle down my chest, which left me holding as still as possible to lessen the pain as much as I could. I closed my eyes; I didn't want to watch.

I didn't open my eyes again until David's lips pulled away from my neck. "Sloane?" he asked, bewildered. His eyes were their usual clear, multicolored beauty again.

There wasn't a whole lot I could say to that; I simply met his eyes in the mirror. "I've done it again, haven't I?" he asked. Again, there wasn't anything I could say to that. "I'm sorry. Can you stand?"

My voice croaked. "Think so."

David lowered my feet to the ground. It took a second to steady myself on shaky knees, but I managed to make it to Moose's bed before I collapsed next to the shell of a shifter. "I don't know what's happening to me," David said as he buried his head in his hands.

"What do we do? You can't drain me like this every night."

David disappeared around the corner as he talked. "I'll look into it, but it may take a few days. We can't go through the normal channels; it might look like a weakness to our enemies." When he reappeared, he was holding a wet washcloth.

I was thinking this whole ordeal _was_ a weakness, but I wasn't out to say that out loud. I also didn't mention that tipping my head to the side so I could better reach the puncture holes David had just given me made me a little dizzy. Instead, I just closed my eyes and laid the wet washcloth against the puncture holes. It was cold, but the cold helped relieve the searing pain. "So? What in the meantime?" I asked.

"I think it's best if we don't see each other," David said, almost painfully. "I couldn't bare it if I were to do you any more damage."

"OK," I said, suspiciously without emotion. I couldn't handle any more emotion tonight; I'd run through the gambit. I couldn't even muster anger anymore, just a painful emptiness.

"Can you just promise me one thing? No reading soldiers while I'm not around? We need to tackle one problem at a time, and I can't stay away from you if I think you may be putting your life in danger."

I shook my head. "I'd rather risk it with you than lose Theo."

It was David's turn to shake his head. "You're so stubbornly strong-willed. Why is this Theo so important to you?"

I used what little energy I had to scoot myself up against the wall, but it was worth it. Being able to rest my head against the wall was helping to ease the dizziness. "We were inseparable as kids; me, Theo, and Thad. We ate together, we played together, we slept over at each other's places. It'd be like…like if Lee were in trouble. He's not your brother, but he's just as important to you. Wouldn't you do anything in your power?"

"I'm beginning to understand, but I don't like it. I hope you at least learned something worthwhile while you were giving me conniptions?"

I nodded, which was not a good idea. I cut that motion off mid-nod and steadied my head. "I know where he is, I just have to wait for his team to go get him."

"Good," he answered. He was stalling; he didn't want to leave, but I wasn't protesting. He could have been throwing darts at me and I wouldn't have cared; I was an empty shell at the moment, burnt out from emotional overload.

"He never treated me any different," I said to fill the silence. David took that as encouragement to sit next to me on the bed and look at my neck. "I was so small as a kid that everyone assumed I was sick. He never treated me that way. He treated me like one of the guys." David grunted in acknowledgement as he used his fingers to spread a warm liquid I wasn't thinking about over my neck. The fact it was warm to me concerned me a little; David was never warmer than me. "Dammit, I'm cold again." I had just warmed up.

"Yes, you are." He took the cold washcloth from me and after kissing my scalp and lingering in my hair, he turned toward the door. "Mustafa," he said as he walked through the door. "Take care of her. I love you, Sloane, and I'm sorry. For everything."

Moose's head lifted slowly as reality came back to him. "Sorry, I got blood on your carpet," I mumbled. He jumped when I spoke.

"Mac! Wait, what..." he said as he looked around the room, taking everything in. "What the hell? Did O'Hara fucking glamour me?"

"Afraid so," I said.

Moose finally turned to look at me. "Damn, Mac. Did he bite you?"

I had to smile. "Well, I certainly didn't bite myself."

"You shouldn't have let him, Mac. Are you OK?" He scooted up toward me on the bed and tilted my head to the side to get a better look.

"It wasn't really about 'let'," I answered when he decided there wasn't anything more he could do. "He and I are having some technical difficulties. Will you bring me my phone?"

Moose scooted off the bed and headed for the door. "What do you mean, 'technical difficulties'?" he asked on his way down the hall toward the living room.

I waited to answer until he was back in his bedroom, toting not only my phone but most of the blankets with him. "I don't know what's going on. Tonight, he saw me in your boxers and he kinda lost it. Like, the David I know left and his eyes turn blood red and he went all predator. He said 'you are mine!' and bit me. Last night he did the same thing while I was asleep with Zeus."

"Zeus?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes a little. "Sydney got me a dog."

Moose laughed as he covered my legs with his comforter. "What spurred that decision?"

I shrugged. "She thought he might help keep the dreams away."

"He? Of course a dog named Zeus would be male," he said as he handed me my phone. "I think I know what's going on."

"Do share," I said as I texted Thad. _Any news?_

"You're not going to like this…I think he was marking his territory."

I was starting to shiver. God, it had to be 60 degrees in here or something. I know shifters are warm, but I was starting to seriously think Moose did this on purpose—so any woman that came into the apartment would want to cuddle with him. "I'm going to ignore the fact you suggested that David was metaphorically pissing on my leg. Did you seriously turn up the heat or are you just telling me that?"

Moose stripped off his jeans and lifted the pile of blankets on top of me so he could slide in. "Heat's up to 75, Mac. You just can't seem to hold on to enough blood to keep you warm," he said as he tucked me under his arm and shifted my legs so they were lying on his. With his heat coming at me from all sides, it didn't take long for me to stop shivering. "What do you want to watch?" he asked, remote in his hand.

"You pick." I was sure I couldn't focus on anything for much longer than five or ten minutes, so it would be pointless for me to pick something I wasn't going to be paying any attention to. As Moose clicked through channels, looking for something to watch, my phone buzzed.

_Should hear any minute. You OK?_

With a sigh I flipped my phone horizontal in preparation to type a long message, but I just couldn't bring myself to be wordy. _Dandy_, I ended up typing. _Kyle OK?_

Thad responded quickly. _Freaking out. He doesn't know what happened back there_.

I didn't bother to answer that one. Personally, I didn't blame him. I'm surprised he held it together as well as he did. Actually, now that I thought about it, I'm surprised Thad handled it as well as he did. Holding my hands in a coffee shop is one thing, finding me bleeding profusely from the leg is a whole other.

"Warming up?" Moose asked. I nodded and settled in.

.

I had been staring into space for what felt like seconds and days at the same time when my phone ringing jolted me out of my contemplations. For a split second, my heart jumped into my throat. _Theo_, I thought.

But when I checked my caller ID, it was Sydney. My disappointment came through in my voice. "Hey, Syd," I said.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You sound sad."

"No word on Theo yet," I answered. "What's up?"

"Have you fed the dogs today? Or taken them out?"

I had to think about when today started. "No," I finally said. "Haven't been home since early this morning."

"Lab all day?"

"No," I answered. "I actually haven't been in to lab, either."

"Alright, Mystery Woman. Well, I'm just leaving the Handel's place. I'm going to run home and feed the dogs then make RJ and I some dinner. Care to join us?"

I craned my neck so I was looking up at Moose. "Dinner?" I asked him.

"Sure. You cooking?" he responded without even looking down at me. I shook my head no.

"Sure, Moose and I will be over in fifteen or twenty minutes or so, kay?" I said into the receiver.

"See you then," she replied. "Love you."

"Love you too, hun."

.

I walked in the door and headed right upstairs. I was aware there was blood on the shirt and as much as I would have loved to just park it on the couch for the rest of the night, I really didn't want to scare Sydney. Not while everything had been going so well for her lately.

"Hey, where you going?" she asked as I was halfway up the stairs.

"Sweatpants," I said without turning around. She let that explanation go.

When I came back down, she came bursting around the corner, pure glee on her face. Until, of course, she saw my face. "Pony, what happened?"

I didn't even stop walking. I had perched the hood of my sweatshirt on my head, effectively blocking my mauled neck from view, so I knew that wasn't what she was talking about. "What do you mean?" I asked as I headed toward the kitchen table. Sydney's favorite set of tarot cards were sitting in a haphazard pile in the center of the table; RJ was looking through them. Moose had perched himself on couch in front of a football game. "Hey RJ, where's Alec?"

He glanced up, a subtle confusion set in his eyes. "I thought he was with you, actually."

I shook my head carefully. I was still feeling a bit dizzy. "Haven't seen him all day." RJ immediately pulled out a cell phone and started punching away at the keys.

Sydney wasn't taking me ignoring her well. She flung me around so I was facing her. I closed my eyes in response, waiting for my reality to realign again. When I felt sturdy enough to open them, her eyebrows were set and furrowed, her hands perched on her hips. She wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Pony, spill."

I flopped myself into the chair across from RJ and pulled my knees up to my chest with a sigh. "Spill what, hun?"

"I want to know why you look like hell," she said—no, demanded.

I smiled sadly. "You sure know how to make a girl feel pretty. I'm just…I don't feel great. I'm tired and kinda dizzy and I just want to sit here for a minute without you worrying all over me."

Her hands fell from their perch on her hips as the indignant look on her face instantly transformed to a worried one. "Are you coming down with something?" she asked as she plastered her hand against my forehead.

Moose, who was still comfortably lounging on the couch, decided to be completely unhelpful. "She's not sick; David drained her two nights in a row. She just needs food. Maybe some raw meat."

Sydney ratcheted up from concerned to panicked. "Oh my God," she said as she pulled down my hood and started searching my neck.

"I hate you a little bit," I mumbled over my shoulder to Moose. He blew a kiss in my direction.

"Shit, Sloane, this looks bad," Sydney said as she found the overlapped wounds. "What was he trying to do, tear through your spine?"

"Technical difficulties," I mumbled again.

"Please don't tell me you _wanted_ him to do this to you," RJ asked as he circled the table, ready and willing to back up his girlfriend in a fight that wasn't going to happen.

"Not exactly," I responded. With a deep sigh and roll of my eyes, I started the same story I'd told Moose not even two hours ago all over again. "We can't let this problem get out, though. David's worried about looking weak to enemies."

Sydney, now standing over a hot skillet cooking the largest steak I'd ever seen, harrumphed. "More like _he_ doesn't want to look weak."

Zeus had come down the stairs halfway through my story and laid his head on my lap, letting my stroke his ear. It was slightly calming for me, which allowed me to keep my cool as I recounted David's two most recent abuses. I pulled on that calm strength now to keep an irrational tear from falling. "Give him a break; he's scared, too, Syd. More than I am."

She harrumphed one more time, letting me know he wasn't buying it. Every time Sydney dismissed or bad-talked David, it hurt, but this time more so. It hurt to the point that I was seriously on the brink of breaking down in tears. Without saying a word, I stood from the same chair I'd lowered myself in to when I first got home and headed for the stairs. "Hold on, Sloane, dinner's almost ready," Sydney called after me. "Sit down; I'll bring it to you."

I shook my head as I crossed into the foyer, out of sight from Sydney and RJ at the stove. "I'm not hungry," I replied. "I'm going to take a bath." Or do anything else I needed to in order to get some alone time.

Sydney realized she messed up. "Pony, stop," she pleaded, but I continued to walk as if she hadn't said anything. "I'm sorry. I was being a bitch. I know he loves you in his own way and he wouldn't hurt you intentionally. Please, just come sit down and eat."

The stairs looked like Mount Everest, but atop that Mount Everest was pure joy. Not climbing it wasn't an option. I took a deep breath and set myself to doing it, one step at a time. "Maybe later," I called back.


	128. Chapter 128

It was far past the point in my bath when my skin was pruny and quickly approaching the point at which the water coming from the tap was no warmer than the air outside. Moose cracked the door just enough stick his nose in the room. "Are you done yet, Mac?"

I shrugged before I realized, like a gentleman, he was probably studiously looking at anything _but_ me. "I guess," I answered. But when I braced myself against the sides of the tub and tried to get up, I quickly found it wasn't going to happen. It's like the muscles in my arms weren't responding. I tried changing my angle and giving it another shot, but I was just as unsuccessful. "I could use a boost."

Moose sighed. "You wouldn't be so weak if you'd eaten something," he said as he opened the door wide and looked down at me. "You also wouldn't look like an animated corpse, either."

"Love you too, Moose," I responded as he drained the tub and stripped off his shirt. "I don't need you to pick me up, just give me a quick hand." I extended one hand out for him to grab, but he refused it.

He slipped his hands behind my back and underneath my knees. "We need you to move slightly faster than your usual snail's pace. Bordy and RJ have a slight problem." Without another word, he lifted me out of the cooling water and into the seemingly colder air.

"What's wrong?" I asked Moose. A full body shiver started at the base of my skull and worked its way down my body before he could set me down on the bed next to the sweatpants I'd discarded earlier in the day. I slipped both legs into the pants at the same time and pulled them up before completely skipping the t-shirt and going straight for the sweatshirt. If I'd thought Moose wouldn't object, I'd have taken the time to put on some socks, too, but it didn't look like Moose was going to wait that long.

He hoisted me off the bed and onto my feet before I was quite ready to be standing, leaving me reeling for a moment. "I'll let Alec explain," he said as he herded me out the door. If I'd had the energy to be snarky, I'd have made a comment about him turning into a Sheppard or some other herding dog. Instead, I just smiled to myself at the thought as he followed me down the hallway.

It was obvious Sydney had been busy when I finally reached the kitchen. Candles and tarot cards were strewn across not only the kitchen table, but the island and next to the stove, too. It's Sydney's coping mechanism; she searches the cards for clues on how to fix whatever it is that has her so anxious. I could only guess what the trigger was this time. Fights were by no means fun, but our rare fights didn't usually trigger this type of response from her. I sure as hell wasn't going to ask her; her head still bowed over her favorite set of cards on the kitchen table.

I sighed before dropping myself onto the couch in the living room, studiously ignoring Sydney for the moment. I didn't have the emotional strength to do either possible outcome of our spat; it was either supreme apologizing time on Sydney's behalf, where she apologizes profusely for everything and anything or she was about to go right back into whatever it was that had us arguing before I left the room. The sad part was that I never really knew what Sydney I was going to get when we could handle being in the same room with each other again.

"So what's the emergency?" I asked RJ, who had lowered himself into the chair in the corner. It must have given him the best vantage point to watch Alec pace the floor. No one ever sits in that chair. You can't see the TV.

"I think someone found us," Alec responded before RJ could even open his mouth. "One of the traps was sprung."

I watched Alec pace for another few moments, until it was obvious I wasn't going to get an explanation from him as to what that meant. "RJ?" I asked.

"He set up these traps to make sure we know if someone's been snooping in the house. They're set up so anyone using their Garou training to break in would spring them, but they'd be hard to spring just walking around," RJ answered.

I nodded. "Did you call David? Have Idi and Idriis check it out or something?"

Alec shook his head. "Not their problem. We need to go."

With a little bit of work, I pushed myself off my ass and grabbed Alec as he walked by, just enough to stop his incessant movement. "You don't have to go it alone anymore, Alec. You have friends here. Just tell us what to do."

Alec finally glanced down at me, taking his eyes off the light fixtures. Shock then horror streaked across his face. "Fuck, Sloane, what the hell happened?"

I waved him off as I lowered myself onto the couch again. "Not a big deal. Now call David and tell him what's up. He'll look into it. Meanwhile, you two stay with us."

"Thank you," RJ said.

Alec wasn't having it. "I'm serious, Sloane, you look awful. Are you OK?"

I had just about had it with people telling me I looked dead, awful, whatever. I balled up my hands and let out a deep breath to release some of that tension. "I'm fine, really."

He studied my eyes for a minute, obviously looking for signs of deceit. "Have you seen yourself?" he finally asked.

"Not lately," I admitted. I had tried specifically not to look in the mirror, actually. I didn't want to catch a glimpse of what David had done to my neck. "And with all your reactions, I don't think I want to."

"Your skin is like, blue, and it looks like someone gave you two black eyes. You almost look…"

I put a hand up to stop him. "If you say dead, I'll hoist my tired ass out of this chair and hit you."

"Nevermind," he mumbled as he lowered himself carefully onto the couch next to me, acting as if he might break me if he jostled the couch cushions too much. "I'll just call O'Hara now."

I could sit here and watch Alec make his call while all three of the men in the room eye me cautiously, or I could get myself a Pepsi. I voted for the Pepsi.

"Where are you going?" asked Moose when I finally got off the couch after some help from the side table.

"Pepsi," I answered.

"Need help?" he asked as he followed me out of the living room and into the kitchen, matching my slow pace.

"I'm not an invalid," I replied. "Thanks, though." With that, Moose backed off, retracing his steps back into the living room. As soon as I turned into the kitchen, however, I wished he hadn't. It left just Sydney and me. Alone. And she didn't look alright. I would have given my left leg to not have to deal with this now.

She looked up at me; her eyes wide and still red from crying. "Pony?"

"Yea, Syd," I said as I slowly crossed the table toward the fridge. I could hear her flipping one of her cards against her palm, something she did unconsciously every now and again.

She waited until I'd close the door to the fridge and put the half empty 2-liter on the kitchen island. "Are you still mad at me?"

I didn't even really think about the question before I answered, just blurting out, "of course not," to make her happy. Looking back on it, I hadn't been mad at her anymore, but that was just a lucky coincidence. I was too busy focusing all my strength and energy on the cap of the 2-liter I seemed to have superglued shut at some point. "I'm not mad."

"I shouldn't have said such mean things," she continued. When I looked up from my impossible feat, she was standing on the other side of the island, waiting for me to hand her the bottle. Begrudgingly, I handed it over. I hated the thought that maybe, at the moment, I _was_ an invalid. "He's done some really good things for you, too, and I don't give him credit for those things."

I just wanted this conversation to be over, my Pepsi, and world peace, in that order. "It's OK," I said automatically. I was never very good at the making up part. I was good at the arguing, though.

I grabbed a glass and Sydney topped it off before screwing the cap back on the bottle and putting it back in the fridge. "I'm worried. About you."

Oh, shit. Here it comes. Sometimes, I feel like I have two mothers. "It's OK, Syd. I'll be fine when I get some sleep. Don't worry so much."

Sydney seemed to sense my reluctance to go there. "OK," she said finally with a nod of her head. At least she read me well. "Aren't you supposed to meet up with Cian tonight? It's Wednesday."

I checked the clock on the stove; I'd completely forgotten. I was supposed to meet Cian at his office in an hour or so. _Damn, I don't want to_, I thought to myself. It wasn't that I didn't want to see Cian; that wasn't it at all. Sure, I wasn't in the mood to listen to him tell me I looked ill, but my main reason was simple: I didn't want to put on my shoes and my coat and do anything. I'd much rather crawl into bed and sleep until Christmas.

But that wasn't going to happen. One of the major problems with openly dating two men is equality. If I spent Tuesday with David, I spent Wednesday with Cian. No exceptions. Because I sure as hell didn't want to deal with the blowback if I canceled on one and not the other. They can be such children. So instead of entertaining thoughts of snuggling in my bed and spending the night in dreamland, I resigned myself to the idea of getting dressed again and driving in to campus. "Yea, I am," I said finally.

"You don't sound happy about seeing him," she replied.

"It's not that. I would just rather not get dressed and drive into campus in the cold."

"Call him," Sydney offered. "Tell him to meet you here." She knew better than to suggest canceling on him.

"Can't, he's got office hours." It would only delay him from getting here for a couple of hours, but that's enough to cause a shitstorm with my two men. Especially considering why I'd be canceling.

"Well, if you're going to actually be in the presence of people, you need some makeup," she said before she turned and lowered herself back into her chair at the kitchen table. "And maybe more caffeine."

I smiled at her before pulling the rest of the 2-liter from the fridge. "Caffeine: check."

In the living room, Alec was back to pacing. As soon as I crossed the threshold onto the carpet, his head snapped to me. "We shouldn't stay here."

I rolled my eyes. "What now?" I asked. "You're perfectly fine here."

"It's dangerous for you," RJ added. "I agree with that."

I wanted to tell them to shut the hell up, but decided last minute to take a milder route. "That's ridiculous. There's no one better to hide out with than a clairvoyant and a tarot master. Besides, strength in numbers."

It looked like I'd convinced RJ, but Alec was still a hard sell. "O'Hara's going to kill me if something happens to you."

Oh, I had him now. "So it's best you stay as close as possible, right?"

Alec couldn't handle my logic and reasoning skills. He sputtered for a moment while I drank down my Pepsi and sat patiently, waiting for his answer. "Fine."

"Good," I answered. Zeus, who had curled up in the corner near the unlit fireplace, looked up at Alec, his eyes clearly saying Alec should have given up the fight before it even started. "As long as you don't mind it smelling like me, you can have my bed. The guest bed is way too small for you." No nearly seven foot tall man should ever have to sleep on a twin-sized bed. "RJ, I assume you'll bunk with Syd?" With a small blush, he nodded. "Alright," I said with the final swig of my Pepsi. "Now that it's all decided, I'm going to go get dressed. I have a date."

.

After Sydney had fixed my half-assed attempt at makeup, Moose had dropped me dutifully at the door of the building that held Cian's class. He was going to offer to walk me inside, but the look of death I shot him before stepping out of the car was deterrence he needed. After swiping my card to let me into the closed building, I slipped off my coat but tightened my scarf. I hadn't even attempted to cover the mess on my neck with makeup, opting instead for a brightly colored scarf.

I walked in the side door and took the first seat available: second row, farthest to the right. Cian, who was expecting me, spared a glance in my direction before subtly checking his watch. "That's enough for tonight's lecture. Remember about the paper due on Friday." Cian glanced over in my direction again and added, "Also, office hours for tonight are canceled. We will make them up tomorrow, same time."

I sat, waiting patiently as he tucked his brand new Apple laptop into the case and straightened his papers. It was a couple of months into the semester and the class had since learned that if it was date night, there were no questions after class. Once he dismissed, they were to gather their shit and get the hell out. They'd also learned it's best to give Cian and I at least a half hour to, well, 'say hello' before they even think about knocking on that door for office hours. Tonight, they were doing a fine job of observing rule number one.

As the last student shuffled out, Cian moseyed down the aisle I was sitting in and settled into the hard, uncomfortable seat next to me. "You look lovely," he said after taking a good, long look at me. "The scarf sets off your eyes."

I rolled my eyes at his sarcastic tone. "Thanks, I think."

"As I remember," he said as he tucked his arm around me, "you do not like to wear things around your neck. Meaning one, you are willing to suffer for beauty, or two, you are hiding something. I'm betting the later."

"Yup," I answered truthfully. Our relationship worked better when I didn't even try to hide things. He just finds them out anyway. Sometimes, I wish he wasn't so God-damn perceptive. On the other hand, sometimes I love it.

I guess he was going to drop the subject for now. He turned so he was facing front again and started rubbing circles on my bicep, apparently content to sit here for the rest of the night. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. "Why'd you cancel office hours?" I severely hoped it wasn't because he had some big night planned for the two of us. I loved those nights; the more off-the-wall the activity the better, but I just didn't have the oomph for it tonight.

"To spend more time with you, of course," he answered with a shit-eating grin on his face. I shot him a look that told him plainly that I wanted the real answer. "You look as if you'd rather go home and canoodle on the couch. Correct?"

I leaned into him, resting my head against his shoulder, and stupidly blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I love you."

I froze, my entire body tensing. The beautiful thing about our relationship was that it was purely casual. It was the exact opposite from what David and I had, truthfully. Fun, spontaneous, relaxed. And somewhere along the line, between nights of baking several dozen cookies because I'd had a craving (and covering his sparse kitchen in flour in the process) and christening his brand new hot tub several times over, I'd fallen in love…again. The worst part is that I had to blurt it out before I'd even come to terms with it myself.

I think I caught him by surprise, too. It took him a moment before he answered, "I find that very sexy."

Once again, he knew exactly what to do. I smiled wide and pushed myself up. "I'll keep that in mind," I said as I tucked my arms through the sleeves of my coat. In the flash on an eye, Cian had zoomed over to the pedestal, picked up his computer and his papers, and were handing them to me before I could even look up. "What?" I asked as I took the pile he was offering me. It was reactionary.

"Hang on to those," he said. As soon as he deemed I had tucked away his computer safely enough, he swept me off my feet and into his arms. "One quick trip up to my office and then I will take you wherever you want to go." He tossed me into the air gently to redistribute my weight in his arms and started walking for the stairs at regular human speed. "So which is it? Your place or mine?"

"Yours," I said automatically, thinking of the zoo that is currently at my house. But then the scientist in me took over. "Wait, mine. I want to run a quick experiment on you."

His eyebrows went up. "Not microbiological, I hope?"

"I wouldn't do that to you," I answered. "It's more…psychological? No, it's not even that. Maybe biological."

He nodded his head slowly. "Are you going to tell me what it is?"

Of course I wasn't; I shook my head to let him know that.

.

When Cian and I walked in the front door to my house, with me still wrapped up in his arms, Sydney was on her way up the stairs. We practically walked into each other. "Oh, that was a quick date," Sydney said. "Welcome to the madhouse, Cian."

"Madhouse?" Cian asked. "Are you going to tell me what makes your home a madhouse or is it all part of the experiment?" he asked as he lowered me to my feet and took my coat.

"Experiment, kind of," I answered. I was still leaving the scarf on. "Alec?" I said loudly, hoping he hadn't changed his mind again and booked it.

"Yea," he said as he peaked his head around the corner. "Quick date."

"Yea, yea, yea, maybe the date hasn't started yet. I need you for a quick moment, if I could." I grabbed Cian's hand and pulled him toward the living room; toward Alec. Sydney had abandoned whatever it was that was taking her upstairs and was following us. "OK, so this is what I want. Peanut Gallery," I said as I looked at RJ, who was sitting on the couch, and Sydney, "don't say a word, OK?" They both nodded. "OK," I said as I turned my attention to Alec. I wanted to tell him the plan here and now because there was a chance it was going to get violent, not to mention it was definitely going to be awkward. But there was absolutely nothing I could do to make it so Cian couldn't hear.

Cian sensed my hesitation. "Do I need to go outside so you may scheme?"

"I need to tell Alec what's coming, yes. Will you not be able to hear us outside?"

Cian stood. "I will go out the front. If you whisper very quietly, I shouldn't be able to hear."

I gave him a quick kiss before he turned to go. "Thanks."

As soon as Cian had shut the door, I pulled Alec down to my level so I could whisper in his ear. "I want to test to see if I can trigger whatever is going on with David and me in Cian. I need to know if it's just David or both of them, may help tell us what's going on. Moose thinks I'm making David jealous, making him feel like he has to 'mark his territory'," I said while making air quotes with my fingers. "If it's anything like it is with David, it won't take much, so be careful. I'm not sure who he's going to go after. If it's me, just let him come. If he comes after you, though, shift and run, OK?"

It was his turn to whisper in my ear. "You don't think I could take on a vamper?"

Men. I rolled my eyes. "Not without destroying my house in the process."

He studied my face and nodded. "This should be fun." Again, men.

"Alright, Cian," I said just over my normal speaking voice. "You can come back." In a split second, he was sitting in the same position he has been on the couch, his speed making Sydney and RJ jump. They weren't as used to it as Alec and I, I suppose. "OK, I want you to tell me how you feel, OK?"

Cian laughed lightly. "A psychological exam? This is…cute. OK. At the moment I am amused and curious."

I grabbed Alec's hand, waiting until Cian caught the change. "And now?"

"More curious," he answered, one eyebrow up.

I let go of Alec's hand and wrapped my arm around his waist. He followed my lead and tucked me under his arm. "And now?"

"I am starting to feel as if you'd like to add another man to your stable," he answered, his playful smile dimming to a concerned glower. "And I do not like that idea."

Alec took this experiment into his own hands. With the arm that was already wrapped around my waist, he lifted me off the floor and into his arms, planting his lips on mine before I could realize what was going on. However, once I did realize what was going on, I forced my body to relax in his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck and sinking in to it. At least he wasn't a bad kisser. Just the opposite, actually. "Holy shit," RJ said, his voice more in awe than anything else. "I did not see that coming."

"Oh my God," Sydney said, more terrified than awed. I broke the kiss off quickly and looked over to Cian, who's eyes were growing redder and redder. He had fistfuls of throw pillow in each hand as he visibly fought with himself.

Alec put me down and tried to step in front of me, but I wouldn't have it. My heart was pounding with more adrenaline in my system than blood. I went to Cian. "Hey, hey," I said as I crawled into his lap and put one hand on each side of his face. Objections came from the peanut gallery and Alec alike, all telling me that I should not be where I was. I ignored them. "I'm sorry, come back to me," I whispered as I put my forehead against his, making sure the only thing he could see or smell was me. "I love you."

Cian fought off whatever urges he was feeling; the red in his eyes was dissipating. I let go of his face and wrapped my arms around his neck. I was so relieved to have him back I was dizzy. Or maybe it was the adrenaline. "I'm so sorry," I repeated over and over again. "I needed to know if it was just David or both of you."

"It has been a long time since I felt that helpless," Cian added. He seemed to put two and two together faster than anyone else; he gently pulled the scarf from my neck and tilted my head to get a better look at the mangled mess. "I take it David didn't handle it well. I know you are going to hate to hear this, but that was dangerous."

"Not as much as you'd think. You didn't want to kill me, did you?"

"No," Cian answered. "I wanted to…reclaim you, I suppose. In my mind, you were mine, not to be touched by another man. I had this urge to bite you, fuck you, and roll around in you, a thousand fold stronger than usual."

"Hm," I said. "I wonder what made David stop, then. Because he didn't get past biting me either time."

"Either?" Cian asked as he tilted my head again. "There _are_ two bites here; I couldn't see the second past the first." Cold fingers traced the outline of the gouge David had taken out of my neck. Seconds later, he traced the same path with his tongue. I could feel how much Cian wanted me under my leg and I responded with a wanting sigh that escaped my lips. "Soon," he whispered into my ear.

I answered his promise with a weak squeeze of his shoulder. I was starting to feel not so great now that the adrenaline had worked its way out of my system but my heart was still pounding away. "I think I may need some food first."

Sydney popped out of her chair faster than if it was on fire. "I got it, you stay there."


	129. Chapter 129

I was a happy, smiling, naked pool of satisfied jello lying on my back on the small twin guest bed. "Say it again," said Cian from underneath the blanket, hovered just above my belly button.

I giggled giddily. "I love you, Cian O'Smythe," I repeated for the umpteenth time. He rewarded me with another kiss, this time just below my left breast. "I love you, I love you, I love you!" Again, Cian rewarded me by grabbing my nipple between his teeth and giving it a gentle pull. I bucked into him.

"Mmm," he said as he emerged from beneath the blanket while simultaneously wrapping his arms around my back. "More?" We had been going at it much longer than either of us thought I'd last. I guess Sydney's steak alfredo penne really did the trick.

"More," I answered as I wrapped my legs around him, tethering his body to mine. He entered me slowly, triggering a moan to escape my lips. Would this be the third time tonight, or the fourth? Personally, I don't think it mattered much to me. Each time he entered me it felt just as good as the first. "Make me scream again." We'd sure given the rest of the house an earful tonight.

"Not this time," he answered as he pulsed in and out of me almost painfully slowly. "This time I am going to make love to you like you deserve."

I would have pouted at him if this didn't feel so fucking good. As my body started tightening in anticipation, Cian slowed to a stop. "Relax."

I threw my head back, bucking my chest into him. "God, Cian, don't stop. You feel so good."

He took my exposed neck as an invitation to leave a trail of kisses instead of going back to what he was doing. "Relax," he repeated before licking the nipple I had offered up to him. My whole body jerked in response, which felt really good in other locations, too. We both moaned.

I resorted to begging. "Please, Cian. More!"

"Mmm," he said as he buried his head in my hair. "I love when you beg."

If that's the button I needed to push, then that's the button I'd push. "Please, Cian, please! I need more! God, I need _you_!" I knew I pushed the right button as soon as his fangs came down. I could feel them graze against my shoulder. Still, I wanted to make sure. "Please!" I yelled, my hoarse voice cracking.

He responded exactly like I wanted him to, pumping into me again and again. It was still gentle and loving as compared to some of the hair pulling, glass breaking sessions we've enjoyed before, but it was not what Cian was planning. But it sure did the trick. "You always get what you want, don't you?" he said between passionate kissed laid on my lips, my nose, my ears.

"Like you're complaining," I answered between returning his kisses. "God, I'm almost there." But almost was an understatement. On the next thrust, the dam broke once again and I came, letting a satisfied moan out into Cian's chest. He followed shortly after, shuddering on top of me as he released.

"Happy?" he asked as he flipped the two of us so I settled on his chest.

"Very," I answered with much effort. "You?"

"With you, always." If I could have moved, I would have just to wiggle around while he was still in me. But I physically couldn't. I'd hit the limit of my physical ability for the night. But that didn't stop Cian from doing it for me. He gripped my hips gently and used the leverage to make small movements. "You're more tired than you're pretending to be. You can barely move!"

I couldn't move. I couldn't keep my eyes open. I couldn't answer. I just laid on his chest on the cusp of sleep as he moved my hips. Just before I nodded off, he murmured, "I love you too, Sloane McIntosh."

.

I started right back where my last dream left off. "I don't know what you're saying!" Theo yelled at the four men in the room. Two were pacing, one at his feet and one at his head, while the other two were doing the dirty work. He struggled against his bindings, but he was still strapped to a tilted table, his head closer to the ground than his feet. When the kidnapper on his right moved to cover his face with a towel, Theo screamed, "No!" But it didn't deter the second kidnapper from pouring the water on his face. My lungs burned for him as we struggled to breathe together.

When they stopped pouring and pulled the towel away, Theo gasped for air between coughs. He wasn't sure what the men were discussing over his body, but he was grateful for the time it gave him to recover, and so was I. But that didn't last long. As soon as the kidnappers started to move the table, tilting it until Theo was upright, fear started to ricochet through both of our bodies. Not knowing exactly what was coming next was really the worst part. "_Please_," Theo begged in Pashto, "_I don't understand what you want from me_!" He repeated it in Dari, but neither language seemed to click with the kidnappers. When neither of the common Afghani languages worked, he switched to anything else he knew. "_Russian_?" he asked in Russian. "_Or Pakistani_?" he asked in Urdu. "_German_?" he asked in German. "What do you speak?" he yelled in English.

Neither of the kidnappers answered him, instead one slapped him across the face as he yelled in the language Theo doesn't speak. The other kidnapper, the one that has wielded the bucket of water, was holding something else this time. Jumper cables connected to a battery.

I could feel the wetness falling down Theo's cheeks, and it wasn't from the waterboarding. "I don't know what you're saying," Theo repeated quietly as the kidnapper touched the two live ends of the jumper cables together. When the kidnapper yelled something else undecipherable at Theo, he just dropped his head. "You may as well kill me," he whispered as he braced for the pain. He may have known how much it was going to hurt, but I'd underestimated it. Fire shot through my body as the kidnappers touched the jumper cables to each one of Theo's wrists. My chest seized, my muscles spasmed. God, that hurt like hell.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

She was true to her word, Sloane's bed smelled exactly like her. I rolled around in it a couple of times before I actually tried to get comfortable, just hoping to rub some of that smell off onto me. Her bed was plush, something I would expect pampered royalty to sleep on. I wasn't used to it. My bed at home was the hardest one the store had, and even then I had to line plywood between the mattress and the box spring to harden it up some more. I'd grown up sleeping on cots. I wasn't used to this level of comfortable.

I was just about to drift off when I heard Cian talking just one room over. "Sloane, Cupcake, wake up," I think he said. "You're having a nightmare, wake up." Once my ears were tuned to it, I noticed it too; Sloane was whimpering between gasps.

I turned over and tried to ignore the shuffling in the other room. I needed a good night's sleep; there was more hunting to do tomorrow. Someone had tripped my alarm, and I desperately needed to know who.

"You're alright," Cian cooed in the other room. He sounded worried, but it was just a nightmare. Nightmares pass, they just come and go. He had to know she'd be fine in the morning, right? Just let her sleep her way through it, and she'd be fine.

I thought that too, just up until the point Sloane let out a blood curdling scream. Before I could think, I threw Sloane's comforter off me and shot myself out of the room, towards the scream. RJ was doing the same thing, emerging from Sydney's bedroom in nothing but a blanket wrapped around his waist. "What the hell was that?" RJ whispered as I took a double take at his outfit.

I didn't have time to answer before she let out another scream, pulling both RJ and I toward the guest room door. When I flung it open, Sloane was straddling Cian, who was sitting upright and holding her to him. "Vision, I believe," he said as he looked up to us. He held the blanket to them to hide anything indecent, but it was low enough I could tell Sloane wasn't wearing and clothes. Neither was Cian, from the looks of it.

When Sloane finished screaming again, Sydney was at our backs, wrapped in a similar outfit as RJ. "Welcome to nights at the McIntosh – Mets household." She said as he grabbed RJ's hand. "Come back to bed."

He shot me a worried look before following Sydney back into her room, disappearing behind a closed door. "Aren't you supposed to be able to stop them?" I asked Cian.

"Usually," he answered as he held her to him. She was shaking violently, making it more of a struggle for Cian to hold her steady while keeping them both covered.

She had stopped whimpering or screaming for the time being, but it seemed only temporary. Her ragged breathing didn't sound relieved, it sounded like she was resting, gearing up for more. "Is there anything I can do?" I asked.

His eyes glanced down to my naked chest and back up to my eyes. I'd stripped down to my boxers before climbing into bed, which left some pretty nasty scars visible. "Not with scars like those," he replied. "It should pass."

As soon as he said that, she started to scream again, but this wasn't an in-pain scream, it was a scared-for-your-life scream. I couldn't stop myself before I took one more step forward.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

My entire body hurt after the kidnappers were done with Theo. The electric current passes across your chest, causing your lungs to stop working all together. Every muscle in your body tightens as the current hits it, lighting your entire body on fire from the inside out. As the kidnappers took the jumper cables away, Theo slumped into his restraints again, his muscles no longer able to hold himself up. The most he could do was gasp for breath and wait.

He'd gathered enough strength to lift his head just as there was a yelling commotion in front of him. He'd barely had enough time to think 'Oh, shit,' before the disgruntled kidnapper pulled the trigger, catching Theo right between the eyes.

I opened my eyes screaming. My heart was beating out of my chest. It took me a minute to realize it was Cian who was holding me tight, whispering in my ear. I pulled back just enough so I could look him in the eye as I tried to gather my thoughts. Something was stuck in the back of my mind, something I had to do. Something urgent. "Cupcake?" he asked as he searched my face.

It all came rushing back to me at once. "Theo." Theo needed me. Somehow, I needed to warn…someone, anyone. He needed help now. I jumped off Cian's lap, completely forgetting I was ass naked as I sprinted past a shocked looking Alec on my way down the hallway for the stairs. I practically threw myself down the stairs as I vaguely heard Cian call after me. It wasn't until I was I had dumped the contents of my purse out on the kitchen island before someone wrapped a blanket around my shoulders.

I pulled my phone from the pile and frantically scrolled through my recent calls. "What are you looking for, Cupcake?" Cian asked as he leaned down in front of me. "What did you see?"

"Theo," was all I said as I called up Thad's number on my phone and hit 'send'.

I didn't even know Alec was behind me until he spoke. "Your friend? The one that's MIA?"

I blocked out everything going on behind me as the phone started to ring. "Hello?" asked a very groggy Thad on the third ring.

"They need to get him now," I said. "Right now."

"Pink?" he asked. "What time is it?"

"I'm serious, Thad," I said, more urgently this time. "Theo's out of time. You need to get those guys on the satellite phone and they need to go get him now. Now!"

"OK, OK," he said. "I'm dialing now. Hold on." I could tell the telltale thunk when he set the phone down. Seconds later, Thad's voice came from farther away. "Capitan Thaddeus Blake for Major William Shields, please. I'll hold."

I was pacing back and forth, not bothering to hold the blanket up around me. I had more important things to worry about than being decent in my own home at the moment. "Sloane, Cupcake, do you realize you're giving Mr. Bourdain a show?" Cian asked as I paced. It wasn't until he spoke that I turned to face him. He was holding the blanket from the guest bed open for me, knowing look on his face. Alec was standing behind him, trying not to look but failing miserably. I stopped pacing long enough to let Cian wrap me in the blanket, an action that left him gloriously uncovered.

"No, thank you. I'll call him back later. Thank you, Ma'am," Thad said from farther away. There was rustling on the line before Thad said, "They're out looking for him now, Pink. What happened? You OK?"

My heart started to pound harder as I paced. "I saw him," I said, not bothering to explain myself. "He doesn't speak their language, so they're going to kill him."

"What do you mean, saw?" Thad asked. "You mean you know what they're doing to him?" But I barely heard him. I had already retreated into my head, holding the phone to my ear as a force of habit. "Pink?" he asked. "Sloane? You OK?"

I was only half aware that Cian was prying the phone from my hand gently. "She would appreciate if you would call back the second you know something," Cian asked into the receiver. "Thank you, we will be waiting for your call."

One of the most horrible thoughts I could imagine was becoming a reality. "They're not going to make it," I said as I paced.

.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I woke with a start, not used to being touched. I grabbed the wrist that belonged to the hand on my shoulder as I opened my eyes. It was cold. "Sunrise is close," Cian said as my eyes focused. Jesus Christ, it was only Cian. "Will you watch her?" He glanced behind him to where Sloane was still pacing back and forth, the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders haphazardly.

I sat up, stretching out my arms as I threw the throw pillow onto the other side of the couch. "Yea," I answered. "I'll be here."

He glanced back to Sloane once again, pain in his eyes. "Be careful with her today. She's mighty fragile emotionally."

I nodded. "I will."

Cian caught her as she passed and gave her a kiss on the temple. "I love you, Sloane." And then he was gone.

.

She was still pacing when RJ and Sydney came down in the morning, but she was slowing down considerably. It didn't matter that she was still working through whatever it was she was working through in her head, her body was giving up. Her feet dragged, her head drooped, her grip on the blanket was slipping. She wasn't showing anything…indecent yet, but another couple of centimeters and she would be. I had moved from the couch to the coffee table, just in case she dropped. I wanted to be within an arm's reach at all times.

"Bordy?" RJ asked as he watched what I had been watching for the past several hours.

"Yea," I said.

"Um. What…"

"Pony?" Sydney said as soon as she saw her. I could tell she was a split second from jumping the couch and tackling her.

I held up a hand. "No, let her pace." She just needed to work through it on her own time. Trust me, I knew. I'd been trying to get her to respond for an hour. "She's gotta think it through on her own."

Sloane's body was just quitting on her. As she paced back toward the back deck, her left knee buckled, sending her practically into me. But instead of taking her upstairs and letting her sleep it off; I just righted her and let her keep on going. She kept on pacing like nothing even happened.

"How long has she been doing this?" Sydney asked.

"Since midnight," I answered as I glanced at my watch. "Nine hours. Now I know why she's so fucking grumpy all the time."

"We should stop her," Sydney said behind me. She and RJ had parked it behind me to watch Sloane go. "She looks…she looks like she's about to fall asleep right here."

I shook my head. I had the same reaction hours ago, but it wouldn't help her. But before I could repeat the same thing I'd been telling myself for the past several hours out load, Sloane stopped pacing.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I felt like I'd only been thinking to myself for a few minutes, but when I looked up, everything hand changed. For one, it was sunny outside. Secondly, I had an audience. When I looked up, I had the undivided attention of Alec, Sydney, and RJ. But I was still naked, wrapped in nothing but a thin blanket. That was constant. "Did Thad call?" was my first question.

"No," Alec said. "Not yet." I went to start back on the trail I'd worn in the carpet, but my legs didn't want to work. As soon as I took my first step, my knee buckled. "OK, up to bed for you," Alec said as he caught me before I hit the ground. He made sure the blanket stayed squarely where it was before standing to his full height, wrapped around me securely.

When Alec set me down on the end of my bed, my whole body groaned. "God, I'm sore."

"You walked for over nine hours," he said. "I'm not surprised. Which one for underwear?" he asked as he stood by my one and only dresser.

"Top," I said.

Without stopping to actually look at what he grabbed me, Alec picked a pair of frilly lace panties from the drawer and grabbed my sleep shirt and a pair of sweatpants from the floor. "Should I, uh, get Sydney? Do you need help getting dressed?" He clamped his eyes shut and perched his hands on his hips as I dropped the blanket. I may have been wrapped in a blanket all night, but I was still pretty cold.

"No," I answered. "I guess you've seen all there is to see, anyway."

"I tried not to look," he said. "Done?"

"Uh huh," I said, both commenting on his answer and answering his question with the same grunted statement.

He shooed Zeus off my spot, where he'd obviously been sleeping all morning, and pulled down the comforter. "OK, climb in."

"I'm good," I said as I stayed right where I was.

Alec looked back at me as he fluffed pillows. "Really?" he asked incredulously. "You're not tired at all?"

Well, I was exhausted, but that wasn't it. "What if Thad calls?"

"I'll wake you up, I promise." I studied his face, looking for any signs of deceit. He held up his hand, two fingers up side by side. "Boy Scout's promise?"

"It's called Scout's Honor and its three fingers," I said as I showed him what I mean.

"Yea, that."

I was shaking my head at him as Sydney peaked her head in the door. "You good?" She asked. "Handel's called…"

I nodded. "I'm good. See you later." It was obvious she didn't believe me when she cocked and eyebrow. I waited for her to leave, but she just stood there, glaring at me. "Go," I added.

She wasn't having it. She toes off her shoes before climbing onto the bed with me. "You need to get some sleep. I'll call them back and tell them I can't come right now," she said as she pulled a cell phone from her pocket.

I shooed her off my bed. "Isn't that why you got me a dog? Now go or I'll climb right out of this bed and kick you out." Zeus had since taken up residency on the far side of my bed and I patted his head to nail the point home. "See? Good dog."

She climbed off the bed, but that was the extent of the answer I was going to get from her. "Alec, you call me the second she needs me, OK? I'm not kidding…call me, or there will be hell to pay," she said with an accusatory finger in his face. He held up both hands, surrendering to her. With that, she slipped her shoes back on, gave me a slightly-too-tight hug, and left.

I didn't speak again until I heard the front door close and Sydney's junker of a car rumble to life in the driveway. "Don't call her. I'm fine." But more importantly, I couldn't keep interrupting her life.

Alec harrumphed. "You two make my life a thousand times more difficult."

I laid my head on the pillow and urged Zeus to come closer. "It's a woman thing."

.

I couldn't fall asleep. I was too worried about Theo. I was terrified that I was going to lose him. Instead, I just laid in bed, eyes closed and breathing deep while Alec sat at my bedside. The only thing that saved me was the fact I wasn't facing him. The tears running down my face would have easily given me away.

"Dude," RJ whispered. I tracked his quiet footsteps from the door to just behind Alec. "Class is in forty-five minutes. Is it safe to go?"

"Yea," Alec whispered back. "Just remember what I taught you."

I sighed and sat up. I couldn't take just sitting (or laying) here and doing nothing. I needed something to occupy me, something to make me forget for a few minutes. "Wait for me," I said as I threw the blankets back. "Just let me get dressed."

Alec and RJ just watched me stunned for a moment. "Do you really think…" Alec started once he'd recovered. Before he could finish that sentence with something truly stupid, he smartly shut up. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a black sweater before disappearing into my bathroom.

"Ready to go?" I asked as I emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered and dressed. Alec was still sitting right where I'd left him. RJ had moved to my desk chair, spinning himself as he waited.

"Yup," RJ said as he hopped to his feet.

Alec wasn't so convinced, but he was smarter than to say anything about it. "We should all drive separately, just in case."

I cocked an eyebrow. "You're taking your motorcycle? It's gotta be thirty degrees out there."

He shrugged. "I'm warmer than your average guy."


	130. Chapter 130

I was sitting in class, tucked between Alec and RJ in my usual spot, but I wasn't really there. My head and my heart were in Afghanistan, with Theo.

"Hey," Alec whispered as he elbowed me in the side.

I cringed; he hit me a little harder than I think he was planning. "Sloane? You there?" asked Titus. Now that I was back to the here and now, I could see the entire room of men had turned to look at me.

"Sorry, I was elsewhere there for a second. What was that?"

"We had a question up front about the differences in the three main polymerases and how they're different. I thought you might be a better resource to get the most complete answer," he said, concerned look on his face.

"DNA or RNA pol?" I asked. My head switched right back into the introductory biology class I taught last year. These are the types of details that most people learn, retain until they're tested on it, and completely purge. It took me a minute to recall the exact information. That, and to switch back into school mode from panic mode.

"We're talking about the possibility of engineering microorganisms to clean up specific environmental problems, like oils spills or heavy metal contamination."

"So DNA," I answered. "Well, the three main ones are similar in many ways, and a cell could theoretically survive if one of them were malfunctioning or missing." Without even having to think about it, I automatically explained the difference between the different mechanisms as if I were lecturing introductory biology again. Which I suppose was appropriate for many of these students. They were graduate students, but when it came to biology, they were beginners.

The student with the question, a mousy looking man with slim glasses and a horrible looking moustache, nodded in my direction when it was clear I was done answering. "Alright, guys and gal," Titus said as I subconsciously fiddled with my phone. "Get out of here. And have a safe Halloween. I'm not bailing any of you out of jail, so don't even think about calling. Sloane, can you come up here, please?"

I packed my computer and my notebook back into my backpack, but I was not letting go of my phone. No, that was still firmly planted in my hand, right up until the moment it started buzzing as I was halfway down the aisle on my way to Titus.

I fumbled feverishly to answer the phone, stopping in my tracks. "Thad?" I said, my voice panicking. My heart was trying to make a break for it, pounding against my ribcage.

"Yea, Pink. They got him," he said, his voice audibly excited. "He's in bad shape, so they're taking him to the military base in Germany for treatment, but they got him. He's going to be OK." He waited on the line for some sort of acknowledgement, but I couldn't speak. Hell, I could barely breathe. A weight I hadn't even really known was there lifted right off my shoulders and I was sure I was about to float away. "Sloane?" he asked as I reached a shaky hand for the nearest row of chairs. I needed to sit down before I fell down.

I waited until my butt was on the ground before I answered him. "Yea," I whispered, trying as hard as I could to keep the irrational tears tucked away. I was losing.

"Thanks again, Pink. They couldn't have done it without you. We owe you, big-time."

I hung up without responding, focusing more on breathing and not crying. I managed to keep the breathing fairly steady as I willed my heart to stop trying to break free, but the crying was inevitable. Tears were rolling down my face. "Was that Thad?" asked Alec quietly. I nodded. "Did they find him?" I nodded again. "Alive?" Again, I nodded as a small sob escaped my lips. Alec let out a deep breath. "He's going to be OK?" One more time, I nodded. Thad's voice saying _he's going to be OK_ kept playing in my head.

"You alright?" asked Titus, concern in his voice. I simply nodded again, the smile on my face contrasting harshly with the tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Finally, for the first time in a couple of days, she's finally aright," Alec added. Except for my inability to keep my heart in my chest, yes, I was A-OK.

"Well, nevermind, then. I was going to ask what had your head up in the clouds all day, but I guess whatever it was, it's all over with now, right?" Alec, RJ, and I all nodded. "Good. Well…good. See you next week." I could tell he couldn't wait to be out of the room as he backed up slowly, trying to disengage himself from the group.

I started to giggle as Alec helped me off the floor. "He's OK!" I yelled. RJ jumped, but Alec just laughed with me as he spun me around the room.

"Yes he is," Alec confirmed. "Go home before you scare the children," he said as he nodded toward the open door, two very unsure looking freshman staring at us in fear.

I shored myself up, wiped the tears from my face, and grabbed my stuff. "Are you coming over?" I asked, an open question to both Alec and RJ.

"Forgot my laptop charger at the office," RJ said. "But I'll be back once I grab it."

"No, I've got a few errands to run," Alec added suspiciously. "But I should be back before sundown."

.

I woke from my nap with a lightness in my heart and a smile on my face. "Good evening, Zeus," I said as I kissed his nose. "How was your day?" He laid wet, slobbery kisses all over my face as a hello before curling right back into my side and lying his head on my chest. I was enjoying my worry-free cuddle time with my dog when my phone vibrated across the table. "Hello?" I answered as I rubbed underneath Zeus' chin.

"Hi Sloane, it's Deb," she answered. "What are you doing? Are you busy?"

"Nope, just sitting here petting my new dog."

"I didn't know you liked dogs," she answered, mildly surprised. "Anyway, I need your help."

I was surprised at the fact I didn't automatically freak out about my world falling once again. Instead, I enjoyed my worry-free time. "Sure, what's up?"

"Devin got an invite to that masquerade ball in Detroit on Halloween."

It took me a minute to put two and two together, but it finally came to me. "Oh, that vampire party. Yea, OK."

"Well, tomorrow's Halloween, and I completely forgot about it. Can I even go?"

"I'm invited," I answered, hoping that was the kind of reassurance she wanted. I didn't send out the invites; in fact, I hadn't even seen one. I had no idea who was and was not invited. "I assume you are too. Why would you think you're not?"

"Vampires and shifters don't mingle well," she responded. I had completely forgotten she was a shifter. All of the sudden, her worries seemed more valid.

"Well, Devin's invite says 'and guest', right?"

"Right," she answered.

"It doesn't say 'and guest as long as they're not a shifter', right?"

She was not amused with my reasoning. "It might be implied, Sloane," she responded angrily.

I laughed. "I think you're fine, but that sounds like a question for Roberto, the vampire throwing this party. Is that all your worried about?"

"No," she answered. "I have no idea what you wear to a masquerade ball, but I'm pretty sure I don't own it."

Wow, I really couldn't help her there, either. "Sorry, but I have no idea either."

"Aren't you going?"

"Yea," I answered. "But David's sister Emma is dealing with it for me. We wear the same size, so I'm sure she's just going to pull something out of her wardrobe for me."

"Well what am I supposed to wear?" she asked, almost panicking.

"Calm down," I said. "Let's call David and you can barrage him with your questions."

She started objecting—loudly—but I was ignoring her as I added David's number to the conference call. I had a feeling we were only halfway through the questions at this point and I was batting 0 for 2. I needed a pinch hitter. "Good evening, my Love," David answered. He was surrounded by quiet, so my guess was either he was in his office at Rum Runners are still at home. "How was your day?"

"It ended up being pretty damn good," I answered. "But that's not why I'm calling. Deb's on the line. Say hello, Deb."

"Hi," she said begrudgingly.

"Good evening, Deb," David replied. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"She's invited to that party we're—you're going to tomorrow." I had just remembered that, with the current issues David and I were having, going to a party where we'd be surrounded by vampires would probably not be the best of ideas. Which probably meant I was no longer invited.

"Are you no longer joining us, my Love?" David asked.

"Well, with the whole…thing," I answered, being specifically vague, "I thought that might not be a great idea."

"Don't you worry about that; I may have a temporary solution for that problem. Now, what seems to be the problem?"

Deb piped in. "My boyfriend got the invite, and it says 'and guest' and all, but I'm not sure I'm really invited because I'm a shifter."

"Of course you're invited," David answered. "Your boyfriend, was it? He should have known you'd be invited as a guest of his."

"He's kind of new to the whole vampire thing," Deb added, her voice slightly timid now. "He wasn't sure how it'd work, either."

"Does he not have a maker? Someone he can call on to answer these kinds of questions?"

"No," Deb answered. "Not anymore."

"Hm," David said. "You boyfriend's name isn't by chance Devin Haggard, is it?"

"Uh, yea," Deb answered timidly. She did not like where this was going, I could tell. "Why, is he in trouble?"

"No," David answered. "Nothing of the sort. Now, Love, Emma was going to drop by tonight with a couple of options for the party. If you'd like, Deb, I could have her bring some options for you. Does Devin have something to wear?"

"He's not even sure what he's supposed to wear," she added. "I was going to try and find something for him tomorrow, once I figured out what was the norm for these types of things."

"Generally, a tux is considered appropriate for a masquerade ball. Does he have one?"

"No," Deb answered.

"What size suit does he wear?" David asked. I was feeling completely unnecessary for this conversation.

"40 tall," Deb answered. "Not too common a size."

"I'm sure we have something over here," David said as I heard shuffling behind him. "I'm at the complex now, let me look. This should work, here. Emma," he said as he covered the speaker. "Take this over to Sloane's with you. And Sloane's friend Deb also needs something to wear, I trust you have something in one of these closets that will fit her."

"See, Deb?" I said while David was preoccupied. "It all works out. Anything else?"

"No," she answered. "I think that's all. I'm just worried about the whole thing."

"It'll be fine!" I said one more time. "Now come over here and try things on."

.

I was cooking myself something to eat when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Sydney said as she tucked an old, worn bookmark into an equally worn paperback. "Oh, hey, Debbie."

"Hey Deb," I said from the kitchen. I finished the last layer of lasagna and popped it into the oven to bake. "How's it going?"

"OK," she answered as she followed Sydney into the kitchen and took a seat across from her. "This is kind of weird."

I shrugged. My whole life was kind of weird, so why would this be any different? "I suppose," I added. I wet the sponge at the kitchen sink and wiped up the royal mess I'd made while assembling the lasagna, piling all the shredded cheese and sauce that missed the casserole dish into the sink and washing it down the drain. "Have you eaten?"

"No," she answered.

"Good. Lasagna will be done in a half hour or so." I was just making small talk for the visibly uncomfortable doe in my kitchen. "And I think we have some frozen garlic bread, if you want some."

"No, thanks," she answered.

Emma didn't bother with ringing the doorbell; instead, she just let herself and Idi in. "Sloane?" she called.

"Kitchen," I answered.

When she walked into view, she wasn't carrying anything, but Idi was dragging his weight worth of garment bags behind him. She gave me and Sydney a hug before introducing herself to Deb. "You must be Debra," she said with her hand out for a shake. "I'm Emma. Now stand up so I can get a look at you."

Debbie cautiously took her hand and stood at the same time. She and I could probably wear the same pants size around the waist, but she would definitely need the talls. I, on the other hand, need the petites.

"Hm," Emma said as she kept Deb's hand in her own. "You know, I don't think I brought anything that would fit you, but I think there's something back at the house that might. Idi," she said as she turned to the massive man, still holding the garment bags. "Go back to the estate and in the closet in my bedroom, there's a light pink dress. I think it's at the very back. Call me when you find it to make sure you have the right one."

"Yes, my Queen," he answered with a bow. "Miss Sloane, Miss Sydney," he said as he did identical mini bows to the two of us. "I will be back."

"Are you and Devin going to be riding in the limo with us?" Emma asked as she started opening garment bags.

"Uhhh," Deb said. I could tell she was still weary of the mother-like vampire in the room.

"I think that would be so much fun!" Emma added. Deb looked over Emma's shoulder to me for some sort of support. All I could do was shrug and smile. That was Emma. "Oh, and we could all meet here and get ready together!"

"Here?" I asked. First of all, there wasn't enough room for three women to get ready in this house (Sydney had graciously turned down her invitation to the ball as Emma's guest). Secondly, why would Emma want to come over here to get ready? She had everything she needed over at her place. I had actually thought she was going to drag me over there for some ridiculous amount of time so she could have someone set each one of my hairs individually.

"There are too many men at the estate," she added. "And they'll just complain about how long I'm taking. Over here, you can just uninvite them if they start to nag." She pulled a long, white sheet from a garment bag and handed it to me. "Try this on. The theme this year is famous couples, let's see if you can guess who you are."

I looked at the 'dress' (if you could call it that) on the hanger and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not even sure how this is supposed to work." From what I could tell, it was just a sheet with a few straps sewn to it. There weren't even any indications of front or back.

She grabbed the hanger back from my and ushered me toward the bathroom. "Come on, I'll show you."

When we emerged, probably five minutes later, I was wrapped in probably the least flattering dress I'd ever seen. It hung shapelessly from my chest straight down and pooled at my feet, making me look large and short at the same time. "I don't know what you were going for with this one, Em," I said as she pulled me back into the living room where Deb and Sydney were waiting, "but you missed the mark."

She rolled her eyes at me. "It's not complete," she said as she rooted around in one of the large duffels she'd brought with her. "Here." She handed me a pile of gold. "Pull your hair down."

I followed direction as she wrapped a long gold chain around my waist several times, starting just under my breasts and finishing at my hips. All of the sudden, I had a tiny, defined waist. I could feel the chill of the metal against my mostly bare back. Next, she slid golden armbands with inset rubies up each of my biceps and clasped a large matching golden necklace around my neck. With the addition of a gold, ruby, and diamond crown and a small golden coil she wrapped my hair in, she turned me toward my audience. "OK, guess. Who is she?"

"Aphrodite," Sydney answered quickly. "I like the rubies, nice touch."

Emma smiled triumphantly. "Very good. Now," she said as she rooted through another bag. "Try this one on."

At least this looked like a dress when it was hanging on the hanger, but I still couldn't place who I would be. It was black and strapless, with a slit almost up the whole thigh. It wasn't until she handed me the gloves that I understood who I was supposed to be. "I don't look anything like Audrey Hepburn," I said as she ushered me into the bathroom. Didn't Holly Golighty's dress have straps, anyway?

"Try it on anyway," she said as she shut the bathroom door with me on the other side. When I emerged, I was uncomfortable. The dress was a little too big for me, which is accentuated in a strapless dress.

"I don't like this one," I said immediately as Emma turned me toward the audience.

"I agree," Sydney said. "The last one suited you better. What do you think, Deb?"

"It looks big on you," she said.

Like the savior he usually is, Idi knocked on the door in his usual two fast, three slow pattern. He's the only one I knew who didn't like to use the doorbell, either. "Got it," I said. "Hey Idi."

He bowed again for me. "Miss Sloane," he said as he passed me. "My queen, you forgot your phone at the estate," he said as he produced the small machine from his pocket, "so I brought every pink dress in the closet."

Emma laughed as she took the phone from him. "Thank you, Idi." He set the pile of pink on the couch, bowed, and booked it out of the estrogen-fest as fast as he could. "Ah, this one," Emma said as she pulled a light pink gown from the bottom of the pile. It was strapless and corseted on top with layers upon layers of tulle that made up the skirt. The back laced, like a true corset. "Here, Deb, try this on."

She stood there, with the dress in her hands, somewhat unsure. "I don't think…"

"Try it on," Emma and I said in unison. At this point, I just wanted to see her in something other than her usual jeans and an oversized t-shirt. To go from that to one of the most feminine dress I've ever seen? Priceless.

I stopped breathing when she emerged from the bathroom. She was holding the top up, obviously unable to lace the corset up the back. "Can someone get me?"

"Sure." After lacing her up and tightening her until she no longer had to hold herself up, I turned to look at her. "Wow."

"No kidding," Sydney added.

"That color looks amazing on you," Emma said. "You should wear that. In fact, I think that dress has found its new home."

"Oh, no, Mrs…Queen O'Hara. I couldn't…"

"Call me Emma," she said as she fluffed the tulle that fell just shy of Deb's ankles. "And I'll never wear it. I look horrible in that color pink and it's several inches too long for me. You, however; it looks like it was made for you."

Deb looked to me for some sort of guidance. I nodded encouragingly. "You look great. I love it."

She turned and checked her reflection in the glass of the back door. I could tell the dress was growing on her as she petted the top of the tulle. "I look like a ballerina," she said as she tilted her head, taking her reflection in from another angle. I agreed. Deb's long, slender legs and tight waist did lend itself easily to ballerina. All she needed was a high and tight bun.

"I envision Odette, from Swan Lake. With white feathers in your hair and pink pointe shoes, you'll be a dead ringer, as they say," Emma added as she dug through her bottomless duffel bag. "Here they are." She pulled out a feathered hairpiece. "Tuck these into your braids." Deb followed directions, trying to tuck the comb into her hair without pulling out her braids.

"What are you going as?" I asked Emma when Deb decided she'd had enough of the dress for the night and retired to the bathroom to change into something more comfortable.

Emma pouted. "Ugh. I am to be Lee's Korean Queen." I raised a questioned eyebrow at her dismay. "I dislike the _hanbok_. It is uncomfortable and cumbersome." When I shot her another questioning look, Emma showed me what she was talking about, pulling the largest of the garment bags from the pile. "Look," she said as she pulled it out of the plastic. It was a lot of fabric, I had to give her that. Made of vibrant red, violet, and cream patterned silks, it had a full skirt and long sleeves that ended in bands of wide, multicolored cuffs. A white belt, for lack of a better word, was tied loosely around the waist of the dress. "Even after the alterations I made to it, it is still not right. There was no way I was going to wear the full petticoat, I stopped wearing those when I was still human. And how am I going to wear my hair? I do not have enough for the traditional knot. I'm not sure I could wear the _binyeo_ without the knot."

"What's a _binyeo_?" Sydney asked as she fingered the beautiful silk.

Emma was rooting through the bag, looking for the offending piece when Deb stepped back out of the bathroom, carefully handling her pink dress. "Woah, that's quite the dress," Deb said.

"It's a ceremonial _hanbok_," Emma repeated. "And this is a _binyeo_. Turn around, Sloane, let me show you." She whipped the ponytail holder out of my hair and let the long lengths fall down to the middle of my back before gathering it all back and rolling it into a bun at the base of my neck. "Now the _binyeo_ slides in here," she said as she slid the piece home, securing the bun. "And this slides into that, here," she said as she attached something to the crown of my head. "It's called a _cheopji_. Perhaps I'll skip the _binyeo_ and _cheopji_ and just make due with a traditional decorative hair pin, like this," she said as she pulled a beautiful golden comb draped in multicolored ribbon from her bag. "A _dwikkoji_. I could slide it behind my ear, like this."

I jumped about a foot and a half as I heard Lee's voice come from the entrance to the kitchen. He spoke in his home language as he leaned against the wall and watched the commotion. "Jesus Christ, Lee," I said as I clutched at my heart. Emma laughed.

"He said your bun is crooked," Emma said as she pulled the decorative comb from her head and tucked it back into the duffel bag.

"Whatever you choose to do with your hair, my _paek-joh_, I am sure you will be lovely," he said to Emma as he walked slowly toward me. "Have you decided what you are to be, Sloane?" he said as he pulled the pin from my hair, letting it all fall back down my back.

"Yes," I answered.

He pulled my hair taught, fixing fly-aways and settling my unruly hair quickly. "Are you going to tell me?"

"Depends," I answered. I had to say, of the million things I could have imagined Lee doing at some point in his life (or afterlife), my hair wasn't one of them. Still, here he was, quickly and adeptly weaving my long hair into a tight braid. "Are you here as a spy?" I guess he did buy me pajamas, once. That was odd, too.

He laughed. "Can I not be curious for myself?" he asked.

I would have turned and given that statement the look it deserved, but Lee currently had a hold of my head. "You could be, but you aren't."

He laughed again and sighed as he curled the braid back into a more respectable bun. "I am a spy."

I rewarded his honesty with a smile he couldn't see. "For David or Cian?" I asked.

"Both, actually." He slid the pin back through my hair before adding the decorative top piece to the crown of my head. When he was done, he settled any more fly-aways that may have surfaced and turned me around. "Your men are…unbearable, at points."

"You're telling me," I said under my breath.

"They want to know what you are to be so they may dress to match," he said.

"They?" I asked. As far as I knew, Cian wasn't going to this shindig. I wasn't sure if he wasn't invited or he declined his invitation, but he wasn't going to go. I actually felt bad about abandoning him on his night to go to a party with David. He'd pouted and I'd made it up to him in very creative ways. Now I guess he owed me a little.

"Yes. Both."

I looked at Emma, hoping the 'this is a horrible idea' look on my face would translate. She seemed to agree. "I will talk to him," Emma said with a smile. "And you," she said as she turned to her husband and fell into his arms. "You are just going to have to tell my dearest brother and Dr. O'Smythe that Sloane's costume is a surprise. And that's that."

He kissed her lips gently. "Yes, Sugarplum."

"They? Both?" Deb mouthed to me as Emma and Lee started canoodling in my living room. I just nodded, adding a shoulder shrug for good measure.

"So both of your boyfriends are going, huh? This should be good. Maybe I do want to go," Sydney said as she rooted through the rest of the dresses Idi had lugged over here. "Oh, this one's pretty, what's this?" She held up a pale yellow ball gown with enough girth to make it difficult to make it through a door while wearing.

"Oh, come on," I said as I rolled my eyes at her. She was the Disney queen—there was no way she didn't recognize that dress. "Belle? From Beauty and the Beast? And I'm not letting you go." She pouted at me good-naturedly.

The oven dinged, reminding me I'd thrown lasagna in there before everyone had arrived. "Dinner time," I said.

.

Lee had helped Emma cart the rest of the gowns out of my house and Deb had left shortly after dinner. I was just putting the rest of the lasagna in the fridge when the front door burst open. "Food?" Alec asked as he sniffed the air.

I stopped where I was and pulled the lasagna back out of the fridge. "I made lasagna. You can have whatever RJ left for you." True to being a boy, RJ had scarfed three large pieces. I had a piece and a half myself (I'd been hungrier than I thought). When I looked up from cutting him two pieces and sticking them in the microwave, I finally looked up at him. He was dirty from head to toe, with leaves and twigs sticking from his hair. "What the hell did you do all day?"

"What?" he said as he checked himself out in the mirror I'd finally replaced in the foyer. As soon as she noticed he was covered in a tree, he shook out his hair and brushed off his shoulders. "I was hunting."

"For what? Squirrels?" I asked as he dropped his backpack, coat, and shoes, leaving a trail from the front door to the kitchen table. When the microwave beeped, I dropped the plate in front of him. He sneered at me. "Did you at least find what you were looking for?"

He shrugged. "I followed every scent outside our house. Most of them were dead-ends, but I'm not sure it mattered. They all smelled human. Regular old human." He cut the both pieces of lasagna into tiny pieces before taking his first bite. "Oh my God," he said as he shoved more into his face. "You made this?"

"Yea," I said as I packed the rest of the lasagna back up and put it back into the fridge.

"Oh my God, this is awesome. Marry me?"

I laughed, ignoring the end of the comment. "So what's the next move? More hunting?"

He shrugged as he shoveled. "Wait a few days. If nothing else happens, we go on with life as usual. But I'm going to lay some traps here."

I shrugged as I sighed. "Whatever."


	131. Chapter 131

****You're either going to love this or hate this. Just…trust me.****

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I glanced over at Sloane's alarm clock on her bed stand. It was six thirty in the morning and I was up, ready and rearing to go for another day. Regardless of the fact I'd been up most of the night, listening to the house creak, going over scenarios of how the Garou could have found me here, I was up at the ass-crack of dawn. Fucking God damn father. Nobody who actually cares about a child would force them to wake up at six thirty every God damn day, no exceptions. "It builds character," he'd said. "And the ladies love it." No, the ladies don't love it. They don't even notice.

I sighed, threw the blankets off me, and shoved my feet to the floor. I was going to get up, check the traps, then try and fall back asleep. I hadn't been successful at the falling back asleep part yet, but I was willing to try again. Sloane's super-plush bed was starting to grow on me.

I was grumbling to myself as I knocked lightly on the guest room door, where Sloane had insisted on staying. She may be more appropriately sized for such a small bed, but I was used to it; all I'd ever had growing up was a cot, a regular sized twin at most. Even getting used to the full size bed back at my place was hard enough. Sloane's king sized bed? It was huge. I felt like I was lying in an endless pool of fluff. It wasn't that it was uncomfortable, it was just different. And odd.

There was no answer in her room, so I cracked the door. I'd trapped all the windows on the second floor, and I wanted to make sure it hadn't been tripped. When I opened the door, however, I got sidetracked. Instead of being comfortably asleep on the day bed in the corner, Sloane had pulled herself and the thin comforter to the floor and wrapped herself around Zeus. The dog lifted his head to see who was intruding just long enough for Sloane's head to slip from its spot tucked between Zeus and her bicep. She didn't wake; instead she just sighed, righted her head, and fell back into her deep, comfortable breathing.

I could have let her stay there, on the floor. It wasn't like she needed to be moved; she was sleeping soundly. Still, I pushed Zeus out of the way and lifted Sloane off the floor. As soon as I did, she wrapped her arms around my neck in her sleep and cuddled in. Stupidly, I panicked for a moment. It took me a minute to calm down and just enjoy her warmth against my skin. It had been a long, long time, and after that kiss…

I awkwardly tucked the comforter on her bed to the side and slid her legs in, but when it came time to lie her upper half down, she wasn't having it. "Not yet," she mumbled as she tightened her grip around my neck. "Sleep few more minutes." I tried one more time to separate her from me, but she's got a mighty little grip. Like a baby.

I sighed and looked back toward the door. I wasn't going to wake her up, so that eliminated some of my options. Maybe Sydney was up and she'd know what to do. But how the hell was I going to go ask her with Sloane strapped to my neck like a baby monkey? I didn't really have a choice but to pick her back up and tote her over there with me.

I knocked on Sydney and RJ's door quietly with my foot. There was whispering behind the door before RJ opened it. "What's up?" he asked in his full speaking voice.

I glared at him, motioning to Sloane who was obviously asleep. "Is Sydney awake?" I whispered.

"Yea," she said groggily from the bed. She was just sitting up as she rubbed the hair out of her face and tucked the comforter around her waist. "What's up?"

"How do you get her to let go?" I asked as I nodded to Sloane. "She's got a kung fu grip."

Sydney smiled. "Wake her up." I immediately shook my head no to that one. No, if she was sleeping—without screaming—I was sure as hell not going to wake her up. "Then you don't. Probably shouldn't have picked her up in the first place if you didn't want to get saddled with her."

I shrugged. "When I went in to check the traps, she was on the floor."

Sydney made a big production of lying back down and covering herself with the blanket. "Why?" she asked.

I shrugged again. "I don't know. That's where Zeus was, probably. What should I do with her?"

Sydney flipped the corner of her comforter down and patted the bed. "She can sleep with me for a while," she said as she opened her arms. "You guys get up way too early for me."

I didn't hesitate to put her next to Sydney. It's not that I didn't enjoy the female contact, it's just that she wasn't wearing any pants and I really didn't want to get myself in trouble. She had two, count them, two boyfriends, one of whom was my boss, so to speak. That's a rabbit hole I didn't want to go down. At least not until Sloane and I (and possibly O'Hara and O'Smythe, too) talked about what to do in that situation and laid some ground rules.

Sydney wrapped her own arms around Sloane's waist and pulled her into her own body. "Over here, Pony," she whispered. As soon as she did, Sloane's grip on my hair loosened until there wasn't any grip left, her arms sliding down my shoulders. She immediately curled into Sydney's side, not even waking for a moment of the exchange.

I went to stand by RJ, who was watching the exchange from the open doorway. He waited until it was somewhat obvious that both of the women were asleep before saying, "that's kinda hot."

I hated to admit it, but it was. Sloane had tucked herself into Sydney's body so tightly that there was no indication as to where one started and one ended under the blanket. Sloane's head was tucked into Sydney's neck, letting their bed-head hair mingle as it pleased. Now if they'd just kiss…

I shook the thought from my mind and turned abruptly, putting the two women at my back. "Yea," I answered. _Time to check the traps. Gotta check those traps_.

.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW**

"Wake up, Pony," Sydney said as she unwound my arms from her waist. "I have to pee."

I let go of her and rolled onto my back. It wasn't until I opened my eyes that I realized I was in her room. Instead of asking how I got here, I asked, "where's RJ?"

"That boy gets up and out of bed every morning before seven," she said on her way out the door to her bathroom.

I stayed in her bed. It may have been just before noon, but I was in no mood to get up and get going just yet. The comforter was warm and comfortable and the pillow was molded perfectly to my head. Still, it was her room. I didn't want to be hogging it if she had any ideas of an afternoon delight with RJ. By the time I'd convinced myself that, yes, I did have to vacate and was in the process of pulling myself out of bed, she was walking back into the room. "Are you actually getting up while the clock still reads AM?" Sydney asked. "Call the presses."

"Don't get your hopes up," I said after giving her a lighthearted stink eye. "I'm just relocating."

"Just because I'm getting up doesn't mean you have to," she said. "You could stay here."

I waved her off. "I don't want to wake up to a little afternoon delight, if you know what I mean. I'll shuffle across the hall and just have to warm up my own bed," I said, adding dramatic fake sniffles near the end.

An afternoon delight was obviously something she hadn't thought about. Her eyes lit up as a light bulb practically materialized above her head. Now I really needed to get out of here. "RJ," I called down the stairwell before slipping into my own room. "Syd wants you." Ah, statements with duel meanings.

I shut the door behind me as I slipped into my room. I stopped short when I noticed Alec sitting up in bed, his laptop on his lap. "Hey," I said, mildly surprised.

"Hey," he said without lifting his head from whatever it was he was furiously typing. He didn't pull his nose from his laptop until I slid into the other side of the bed. It's like Alec was a space heater; the whole bed was warm with his heat. "You want me to go?" he asked. I shook my head no. I wasn't going to be awake long enough for it to matter, and he may come in handy if I start having a vision. He nodded. "Going to lab?" he asked. I shook my head no again. I knew better than to start something before I was going to walk straight into some vampire shit. Even if David had assured me nothing bad was going to happen, I knew better. I'd curled into my bed and was in the process of curling in to the pre-warmed sheets and finding my comfortable position when he spoke again. "Are you really going to be able to fall back asleep?"

"Absolutely," I answered. It didn't take me long to show him how it's done.

.

As soon as I dragged my ass out of bed and took a shower, Sydney insisted on rolling my hair up in Velcro rollers and letting them air dry. Which, with how thick and long my hair was, could be sometime within the next few days. So we compromised. She stood over my head with the hair dryer on low for an hour trying to get the drying process started, until she gave up all together and told me to just deal with it. When I went downstairs to where the guys were lounging, however, I got an earful. Apparently, they'd never seen a woman primp before. I wasn't downstairs for long.

With another hour of low air hair drying, my head was completely dry by the time Emma arrived (but just barely). Debbie walked in the door only seconds later. RJ and Alec peaked over the couch. "Do we need to leave or something?" Alec said as he finished the bag of chips. I shook my head no.

Emma cocked her hips and looked at the two on the couch. "Are you still here? I thought that Idriis and Idi did not find any…pests."

Alec turned back toward the TV. "Are you kidding? I'm never leaving. Sloane's too good a cook."

I laughed. "Don't speak too soon. You've about seen my entire repertoire; lasagna and chicken marsala is about it."

"Swedish meatballs," Sydney added. "Those are pretty good. And nachos."

I ushered the ladies upstairs before Alec made an order for meatballs. I had cleaned my room for the incoming party, but I was willing to bet it was going to end up just the same mess it was when I woke up. Three dresses were lying on my bed, ready to be put on. After closing the door, I shucked everything but the nude thong and slipped into the dress.

.

I was dressed and ready to go in about fifteen minutes. The hardest part about getting ready really is the hair, and I'd already finished that. Debbie was done about ten minutes after me. Emma, easily the most beautiful of the three of us, took a whopping 45 minutes. Debbie and I were sitting on the bed, twiddling our thumbs. "Almost done?" I asked.

"You are worse than David and Lee!" Emma said. She peaked her head around the corner. "Just a few more moments."

I couldn't take the sitting around anymore. "Well," I said as I stood and straightened myself out, "I'll be downstairs."

Debbie bolted to her feet. "Me too."

I knew David was downstairs; he called up the stairs when he'd arrived. I was also reasonably sure Lee would be with him. But I was not expecting the rest of the crowd. Alec, RJ, and Sydney were still perched on the couch. I was pretty sure they hadn't moved since I ushered Emma and Deb up a little less than an hour ago. David was leaning against the fireplace mantle looking quite GQ in his black tux twirling something in his hands so fast it was nothing more than a colorful pinwheel to me. Cian was sitting in the far chair no one ever uses, his ankle perched on his knee and his fingers tented. His eyes looked absolutely gorgeous with the dark navy suit with just a touch of metallic shine. And, true to him, no tie. He thought they were stuffy. Instead, the top button of his crisp white shirt was unbuttoned. Behind him, on other side of the black door, were Idi and Idriis. I wouldn't have even noticed Devin in the corner, hiding halfway in the other room, if he wasn't the first to speak. "Wow," he said as he looked Deb up and down. "I mean…wow."

I elbowed her in the side, urging her to go to him. It didn't take her long to skip over, flinging herself into Devin's arms.

I wasn't even aware Cian had moved, but all the sudden he was behind me. "Wow indeed," he said as his hands roamed up from my hips. I shot a nervous glance at David. I made sure to check his eyes, looking for any signs of trouble. Instead of blood red, there was only a smile and a twinkle. I smiled back at him.

"You look ravishing, my Aphrodite," David said as he pushed himself from the wall and walked slowly toward me.

"Emma ended up telling you what I was going as?" I asked.

He leaned in for a light yet lingering kiss. "No, of course not. She merely suggested I dress as Ares, Greek god of war. I inferred the rest."

I raised an eyebrow as Cian intertwined his fingers with mine. "You're wearing a tux."

"I don't dress up for Halloween, but that does not stop Emma from trying." Come to think of it, he hadn't dressed up last year, either. I guess I just attributed that to his generally shitty mood last year.

I turned to look at Cian. "And you?"

He pulled his arms from his body and took an exaggerated look. "Do I not look like Hermes?" I scowled at him. "No? Oh well."

I rolled my eyes at him. "And who's Hermes?"

Idi answered for him. "Greek god of thieves."

I burst out laughing. "Oh my God," I mumbled as I lowered myself to the floor. I was laughing so hard I couldn't hold myself up. Hell, I couldn't breathe. "That's rich. Oh, God, make it stop."

"What are you laughing at?" Emma asked as she finally descended the stairs on Lee's arm. She looked beautiful, of course, swathed in beautiful vibrant silks. Truthfully, I had Googled 'Hanbok' the second she left and I could see why she had been concerned. Traditionally, hanboks are high necked, long sleeved puffy…well, monstrosities. Even the stick-thin models that were modeling these dresses online looked short and wide in them. She had pulled the neck of the gown down to create some cleavage, cinched the waist with the white silk belt, and taken a lot of the bulk out of the skirt. She looked gorgeous. Her naturally wavy hair was parted on the side with a beautiful comb tucked just so to allow the colorful ribbons to cascade down just behind her ear. With as eye-catching and beautiful as Emma's outfit was, Lee's was drab. He was in black head to toe (surprise, surprise). Silk to match Emma's outfit, the only color on the entire thing was on the jacket; both the knotted buttons down the front of the jacket and the cuffed part of the sleeves were a vibrant red to match Emma's dress.

I pointed up at Cian. "You told him to be Hermes?" I gasped while desperately trying to calm myself down.

Emma obviously didn't see the humor. "I did, the messenger of the gods. Why is that funny?"

That was all it took to push me over the edge again. I glanced at Idi before bursting into more hysterical giggles. "He…" I started. I was laughing so hard I couldn't finish my thought.

"He is also the Greek god of thieves, my Queen," Idi finished for me with a bow.

Now Emma saw the humor. She started giggling with me as she helped me up from the floor. "Yes, that is funny," she said. "But not what I had intended."

I took a few deep breaths and tried to forget about it. "OK," I said as I wiped a tear from my face. "OK, I'm good. I think." More hysterical giggles were trying to surface, but I forced them back down. One more deep breath, and I was ready. "OK," I said. I still had a huge grin on my face, but I had a feeling that was going to be there for some time.

"Are you ready to go?" David asked, a smile mirroring mine on his face. I nodded. I just needed to grab a few things from my purse on the way out, but I was mostly ready to go.

I'd handed half of my things to David and half to Cian before walking out the door. If I was going to wear a dress, they were holding my things, and that's that. Outside my house stat a stretch limo. In fact, it might have been the same one that came to pick Sydney and me up to take us to the airport. I wouldn't have been surprised if the O'Hara's owned it. It seemed like something Emma would spend money on.

Idi and Idriis slid into the driver's and passenger seats, respectively. David, Cian, and I slid to the very back, one on each side of me. Next in were Devin and Debbie, both looking rather unsure. I smiled widely at both of them. Surprisingly (at least to me), I didn't even have a touch of a bad feeling. There had been no impending doom visions. Sure, David's reassurance went a long way to make me feel better, but that…that did more than anything else to make me feel at ease. Yes, at this point, everything was good. The only thing I had to worry about was the room full of vampires, but David had explained that although a vampire was throwing this party, most of the people invited were in fact human. I'm not sure why, but that also went a long way to calming my nerves.

Last in the limo were Emma and Lee. Once the door had closed, the limo pulled from the curb.

.

I know the party was supposed to be held in Detroit, but I had figured that wasn't literal. I mean, nothing's actually in Detroit-Detroit anymore. Most of it is in the surrounding suburbs like Royal Oak and Dearborn. Within the city limits of Detroit was mostly a desolate no-man's land. So when the limo took John C Lodge Freeway seemingly all the way to the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, I was thoroughly confused as to where we were going. It looked like we were heading straight for the lights in the sky. "Where are we going?" I finally asked.

David smiled. "Roberto spared no expense for this party. He never does."

From out of desolation, there was lights, and lots of them. All of the sudden, the limo came to a stop outside a tall black building with blue lights accenting the beautiful turn of the century architecture. As soon Idi pulled the door open, flash bulbs started going off from every direction, trying to get a look at who was in the limo. I glared at David first. "I did not know there would be paparazzi, Love," he said.

Next on my glare list was Emma. "Neither did I. Devin, honey, perhaps you and Debbie should go first. They will quit flashing pictures if they don't know who you are."

Devin nodded and slid out of the limo, pulling Deb out after him. "Is there someone in this limo that they might recognize?" I asked.

Emma not so subtly nodded toward David. Of course, Michigan's most recognizable vampire. I sighed. "Alright, who next?" I asked, Idi still holding the door expectantly.

"From here, it doesn't matter," she responded.

_May as well_, I thought to myself. It wasn't like I was going to get away with not getting out of the car at this point. David was closest to the open door so I nudged him in the thigh, silently telling him to get out. I followed shortly behind, taking the open hand David had offered to get to my full height. When I looked toward the crowd, I was blinded. Flashes were going off so close together they seemed almost like one continuous flash. David leaned down and whispered into my ear, "remember, you're my date tonight. As far as the rest of the population knows, we are in a monogamous relationship."

I nodded. It was my turn to whisper to him. "Then why is Cian here?" Why complicate things?

He smiled and kissed my cheek. "Inside. Smile," he answered. He smiled to the crowd, slowly taking in the faces hurling questions at him. "Good evening," he said.

"David! David!" yelled an over stylized man in the front row. His black and pink striped hair hung covering one eye until he wiped it aside. "What are you wearing? Who's your friend?"

David laughed good naturedly. "I'm wearing a tux. And this is Sloane."

"David!" yelled another journalist, this one a small blonde woman in a black dress. At least she was properly dressed for the occasion. That last guy had been in skinny black jeans. "So the rumors are true? You're dating?"

"Is appears so, doesn't it?" he answered. I wanted to just shrink away and die and I think David knew it. He wrapped an arm around my waist and tucked me into his side, keeping me close.

The buzzing insects quickly switched focus so fast it sent my head swirling. "Sloane! Sloane!" they started shouting. There were too many to concentrate, it was just loud white noise at this point. Just before David was going to step in and tell them all to buzz off, I picked one, pointing at a woman tucked in the back of the crowd; the one wearing bee antenna. If I was going to be the woman on David's arm, I needed to own it. Suddenly, I wanted to make him proud to have me on his arm. _What the hell?_ I thought quickly. _That didn't sound like me…_

"You," I said as I pointed to the antenna-wearing reporter.

She pushed her way to the front, much to chagrin of the people in front of her. "A few questions. First, what are you dressed as?"

"Aphrodite," I said as David spun me. With a thumb in David's direction, I said, "He was supposed to be Ares, but he's a big spoilsport."

"Second: how did you two meet?"

"I walked into his bar," I answered with a shrug. I couldn't tell the full story, but that was the running story so far. "Last question, it's cold out here."

"OK, this one's for David. What made you finally decide to settle down?"

He wrapped an arm around my waist tighter. "She's the first one that's made me even consider it. Thank you all, have a wonderful night." With that, he spun me gracefully toward the door.

The lights inside were almost as blinding as the lights outside. Loud music blared. This was more like a nightclub than any other vampire party I'd been to. Hundreds of people milled about while talking, danced on the dance floor, and ordered drinks from dueling bars. I took a second to adjust to the radically different environment. "You are such a ham," Cian said as he snuck up behind me. Apparently, the media didn't have quite the barrage of questions for the newest member of Michigan's vampire community.

"Oh, shove it," I answered flippantly. "David Shea, what the hell was that?"

"Oooh, full name," Cian said. "You're in trouble."

David looked at Cian above my head. "Disappear." Cian nodded quickly and followed directions, melding into the massive crowd. When Cian was gone, David looked down at me with a smile. "Am I in trouble, Love?"

"Maybe. Why are you smiling?" Maybe I'd been hanging out with Cian too much, but I was instantly distrustful.

"Because you handled the media with dignity and grace and I could not be prouder to have you on my arm."

I pulled away so I could face him. "Aha!" I said with my finger in his face. "It _was_ you!"

Now he was completely confused. His eyebrow furrowed as he pulled me to a secluded booth in the corner. "What was me?"

"I had that exact same thought! I wanted to make you 'proud to have me on your arm'," I answered. David had slid into the booth, but I was still standing in front of him.

"My apologies, I must have forgotten to shield." David pulled me onto his knee and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in so he could bury his nose in my hair.

"Hold up, there, Mister," I said. I pulled away again so I could look him in the eye, but he wasn't having it. He pulled me back in and sniffed my neck. "Wait, I'm still mad at you."

He was laying slow, lingering kisses down my neck and over my clavicle. "For what?" he mumbled into my neck.

"Um" I said as he started to go lower. I was quickly starting to forget what it was that had me all worked up. "That media display."

"Mm hm," he mumbled into my cleavage. He abandoned going lower as he butted up against the top of my dress and went straight for my lips. "You are mad," kiss, "at me," kiss, "because the media," kiss, "is here?"

I was losing my train of thought as I kissed David back. "We shouldn't push this," I said, trying unsuccessfully to force my body to pull away from his.

He sighed. "What now?"

My body would not listen to me for my life. My head wanted to sit across from David and talk like civilized people. My body wanted to unzip his pants and lower myself onto him right here. At the moment, I was stuck between the two, perched on his knee as my lips and tongue worked their way over his neck to his ear. "I don't know what you two did to get rid of the random jealous streaks you were struggling with, but I don't want to push it. I still feel tired from the last time you lost it," I whispered between nibbles.

His hand roamed up my side, over my breast, and to the back of my neck. "Your mouth is saying one thing, but your tongue is saying another, my Love," he said with a light hiss.

I was suddenly very aware someone was standing in front of us. I was immediately expecting it to be Cian with some smartass comment, but it wasn't. When I turned to face the figure, it was Roberto, giant grin on his face and a large tasseled object in his hand. "Oh, don't stop on my behalf," he said as his grin widened. "I haven't enjoyed merely watching that much in a long time."

OK, now I was thoroughly embarrassed. I was sure my cheeks were bright red as I buried my face in David's neck. "Oh, my precious Queen, do not be ashamed," Roberto said with a laugh. "The love you two have should be shared with the world. If, however, that is beyond your sensibilities, I come offering gifts." I glanced up to look at his outstretched hand. On the end of the tassel was a large key with the number one engraved on it. "It is yours, all night."

David took the key from Roberto and put it in his pants pocket. "Thank you, Roberto."

Roberto bowed deeply to David before digging another small item out of his jacket pocket. "This gift, however, is solely for you, Sloane."

I looked at the small box in his hands as David spoke. "Roberto, dear friend, I thought I told you…"

Roberto held up his free hand, shushing David's concerns. "You told me I was not expected to pay homage to my new Queen. This gift is not homage, it is a thank you."

I looked up from the small box. "For what?" I asked.

"For doing what no one else could; for bringing my King back." He bowed and tucked the box in my hands before kissing the back of my palm. "Michigan will forever be in your debt. Open it; I want to see your reaction."

I slowly pulled the ribbon off the box and opened the mahogany lid. "Oh my God," I said as I stared down at the intricate filigree. The gold bracelet depicted a serpent eating its tail. In the place of its eye was a large emerald. When I could finally pull my eyes away from the bracelet and back up the Roberto, he was grinning from ear to ear. "Roberto, I…" I started.

"You most certainly can keep it," he said before I could finish. "I would ask you to wear it, but it ruins your outfit."

I carefully pulled the bracelet from the red velvet it was wrapped in. "It's beautiful," I said as I laid it over my wrist. "What is it?"

"It is a depiction of an Aztec God. The position, the serpent eating its tail, means rebirth, or continuity." He flipped my wrist with the bracelet still lying there and clasped it. It fit perfectly. Not too tight to itch or pull, but not too loose that it would roam around my wrist. "Perfect."

I pushed myself up from David's knee and wrapped my arms around Roberto's neck. "Thank you, I love it!" I said as I hugged him tightly.

It took him a minute, but he responded, carefully wrapping his arms around my back. "You are most welcome. If I knew you'd love it this much, I would have gotten the matching earrings."

"Don't you dare," I said as I pulled away from the hug. "The bracelet is too much to begin with."

He winked before turning away. "Perhaps for your birthday," he called over his shoulder.

I turned back to David, but all he had in response was a kiss. "What's this about homage?" I asked.

"You are the bonded and pledged to a King. It is traditional for those in my Kingdom who can afford to do so to honor you with gifts." I gave him the look that comment deserved. "I told them not to, but I cannot control Roberto. Once he gets something in his mind, there is no stopping him." I was about to say something about him being Roberto's king, but David pulled the key from his pocket and dangled it in front of me. "Shall we slip away for a few minutes?"

I rolled my eyes as Cian approached. "He's allowed to give you gifts, but I'm not?"

"No," I said. "No gifts."

David stood and wrapped one arm around my waist. "Oh, going to bump?" asked Cian. "I want to come." David glared at Cian over my head, but Cian wasn't having it this time. "It's my night," he started. "The least you could do is share."

David looked down at me expectantly. "What?" I asked. He didn't say another word, instead he waited for the conversation to really percolate in my head. When the light bulb finally came on, I blushed. "Oh, you want to…together…" I stammered. David smiled. When I looked to Cian, his fangs were already down. It was time for another mind-body brawl. My mind said _oh, this is NOT a good idea_, while my body screamed _yes please!_

Everything stalled while my mind and body duked it out. "Don't tell me you've never thought about it," Cian said with a nudge. "I know for a fact you have." I instantly regretted telling him about that dream I had and he knew it. "We could make that come true," he whispered.

With David's kisses and Cian's seductive promises, it was all my body needed to win the fight. "You two are going to be the end of me," I said as gave in to my body's will.

David swept me off my feet and into his arms. "Wait five minutes then meet us upstairs," he said to Cian. "Room one."

"Don't start without me."

I was upstairs and bouncing off the silk bedspread faster than I could track. "I can't believe you're willing to do this. Cian—of course he wants to, he's a little deviant. I'm a little surprised at myself for agreeing to it, but you?" I said as he pulled his tie from around his neck. "Not in a million years would I have seen this coming from you."

He pulled his shirttails from his pants and started unbuttoning it slowly. "I am full of surprises."

I was sidetracked, looking at his muscles dance. I let my mind turn off and switched over to letting my body make all the decisions. I unbuttoned his pants and shimmied them to the floor. He hadn't been wearing anything beneath them all night. My anticipation ramped into the stratosphere when I realized how easy it would have been to lower myself onto him right there in that booth and let him take me in public. My whole body shivered in response.

"Whatever you are thinking," David said as he unclasped my gold belt and freed me from my dress, "keep thinking it."

"You weren't wearing anything under your pants," I whispered. He had freed his favorite toys, and I was enjoying the attention he was paying to my breasts.

"You like that?" he asked.

I buried my hands in his hair as he dropped to his knees, taking one of my breasts in his mouth. "It would have been so easy to just slide on top of you in that booth."

"Luckily Roberto came along," David said into my chest. "I was about to pull your thong to the side and pull you down onto me. I could have kept you there all night, wrapped around me as I pumped into you."

He knew exactly what to say to get what he wanted from me. I was about to explode as I pushed him into the bed and climbed on top of him. "I would never have let you," I said as I kissed and licked a trail down his chest. I was being very careful not to touch the one place he wanted me most; instead I moved around it, only touching it with my hot breath as I pulled one testicle into my mouth. If there's one thing that dating two vampires has taught me, it's how to be creative.

He hissed as I sucked away. "You wouldn't have had a choice," he mumbled.

Hands appeared on my hips, their light touch falling to between my thighs. I glanced behind me, Cian was already buck naked and deliciously in the mood. One finger found my opening and probed, which opened the floodgates.


	132. Chapter 132

*****Drum roll please: I would like to introduce you all to my new beta, TreeWitch703. She's awesome and a total lifesaver! Thanks again!*** **

I had never been so conflicted about being this happy. I was lying on the bed wearing nothing but gold, unable to move. Cian laid a kiss just below my bellybutton before fastening his shirt back up. "That was magnificent," he said when he was completely dressed again. "I will see you downstairs, Cupcake. Save a dance for me."

I started giggling as soon as the door shut. "I cannot believe we just did that."

David was still in the buff, lying next to me and rubbing circles on my body. "Did you enjoy it?"

I nodded, which was about as much movement as I could handle. "God, yes," I answered aloud. "I'm so jello-y I can't move."

"Hm," David said as he pulled me up into a sitting position. "We may have taken too much."

"Wait," I said as I looked down. "When did you bite me?" There were two perfect sets of fang marks, one on each thigh.

He laughed. "If you don't remember us biting you, it _was_ better for you than I thought." He pulled his pants on and tucked the white shirt back in. "Wait here, I will be right back."

"Wait," I said. "Where are you going?"

"To get you something nutritious."

I wasn't quite steady enough for quick movements, so I took it slow, grabbing my dress from the floor and pulling it up. "Wait, I'll come down with you." David slipped his feet back into his shoes and laid his tux jacket on the bed next to me. "I don't want to miss the party."

David wrapped the gold belt around my waist and fastened it for me before fixing my hair. Once I had clasped my sandals back on my feet, David handed me his jacket and lifted me from the bed. "Hold this for me."

David carried me downstairs and set me in the same booth we'd been in earlier. It took all of a minute for Deb to find me. "Where the hell have you been?" she asked.

I smiled at her. "Upstairs."

"There's an upstairs?" she asked.

I smiled wider. "It is an old hotel, after all."

"What's up there?" she asked as David placed something that looked somewhat like a strawberry milkshake in front of me and slid into the other side of the booth. "Oh," she answered. "Um. Oh." I took a quick sip; it was a strawberry milkshake.

"What's up, Deb?" I asked, trying to break her out of whatever funk she was falling in to. "Where's Devin?"

"Oh, Que…Emma is introducing him to people," Deb said. "I met Travis McCoy."

"Who?" I asked. I was running through all the vampires I knew, trying to place which one might be Travis.

"You know, the hip hop artist," she said. "He did Billionaire?"

I could have slapped myself. "Oh. Why's he here?"

David pulled me back into him, leaning me against his side. "Roberto is the president and CEO of Universal Records, Love. This is Motown, after all. Many of his acts are here."

My eyebrows about shot off my face. I didn't know why is surprised me so much when vampires had jobs; I guess I always kind of assumed you work for 30 or 40 years and you get to retire, right? But if you're immortal…I guess there was no retirement program for the ever-living.

Speak of the devil; Emma, Lee, Roberto, and Devin all approached the table. "Did you enjoy the room?" Roberto asked. I blushed. "I take that as a yes."

"Thank you," I mumbled.

"You are most welcome. I was going to ask for a dance, but I think you may need some time to recover," he said as he nodded to the milkshake in front of me. "Shall I come back in half an hour?" I nodded with a smile in response. "Very well. I will go get the festivities started, then we will have our dance."

I smiled up at him. "It's a date."

He nodded to the table before retreating back into the crowd. Emma was not at all lost on the clues as to where David and I had been; her knowing grin gave her away instantly. "Enjoying the party?" she asked.

"Oh, shut up, you," I said. I think all the blood left in my body was diverted to my cheeks. Emma laughed. "I'm embarrassed enough," I mumbled under my breath.

David leaned in so he could whisper in my ear. "Never be ashamed of the smile on your face."

Before Emma could ask what exactly I was so ashamed of, Roberto had signaled the deejay to cut the music and taken the mic. "Friends, colleagues, clients. It has been another year of changes and surprises. First of all, I would like to publicly thank a certain lovely woman for bringing a dear friend back to me. I am eternally in your debt." Roberto nodded slightly to our table, a movement David mirrored back to him. "Secondly, I would like to congratulate each and every one of my staff and all of my acts on another great year of music. Universal brought home a remarkable 43 Grammys last February. I am proud of each and every one of you," he said as he started a round of applause. "Finally, I'd like to welcome all of the newest members of the Universal family. Whether you are a new artist or the newest member of our janitorial staff, we couldn't be happier to have you. As always, my door is open should you have questions or problems." A round of applause pattered around him as he smiled broadly. "Well, I will stop talking now. Please enjoy yourself. If anyone is interested, there are rooms available upstairs for those unable or unwilling to drive home tonight." With a bow and another round of applause, Roberto handed the mic back to the deejay who promptly started the music back up.

"Better?" David asked as he pulled the now empty glass from in front of me. I hadn't even realized I'd been sipping the entire time.

"Yea," I said. I did feel stronger.

Deb elbowed me in the side. "How do we get one of those keys?" she whispered as she nodded her head toward the stairs.

"Ask Roberto," I said as I started scanning the crowd, looking for the small man. "I'd give you ours, but…yea," I finished. For one, I wasn't sure if we were done with it. Secondly, we'd left it less than decent. If I were them, I'd want a different room, too.

While I'd been scanning the room, Roberto had snuck up in front of me. "Is it time for our dance?" he asked with an outstretched hand.

"Sure," I answered as I elbowed Deb back.

"Ouf. Jesus, you're bony," she mumbled as she rubbed where I'd hit her. "Sir?" she asked louder, careful not to look above Roberto's chest. "May my boyfriend and I use a room for the night?"

"Of course, _lolita_," Roberto answered. He slid a key across the table and into Deb's hand. She was about to bow to him as much as she could while sitting and in a corset, but he stopped her. "Please, enjoy yourself."

David helped me out of the booth and laid a kiss on my temple before leaving me in Roberto's care. "Love you too, David," I called over my shoulder. As soon as Roberto and I had reached the center of the dance floor, he nodded to the deejay, who changed the music to a fast salsa beat. "Care to salsa with me?"

I nodded with a smile. "Absolutely." Luckily for me, Sydney had gone through a phase where she would get me random lessons for my birthday and Christmas. One of which was a 'dances of the world' class, where we learned the salsa, tango, belly dancing, ballroom, waltz, and, just for fun, break dancing. Thanks to her, I also knew elementary Japanese and how to knit. At least one of these classes was going to pay off. He took my right hand in his left and wrapped one arm around my back before he started the traditional steps. I followed him easily as he led me, mirroring his steps with my own.

"You know how to salsa?" Roberto asked.

"Yea," I answered before he twirled me. "My best friend got me dance lessons for Christmas one year. She thought I might like it, I guess."

"And do you?" he asked in response.

"I love to dance. All types of dance."

His smile got slightly devious. "Shall we crank it up a notch, then?"

I was up for the challenge. "Sure." Before I even finished my one word response, he had let go of me and opened up our stance. I couldn't help but laugh as he spun me around and dipped me, all the while making the dance quite PG. When the song ended and he dipped me for the last time, I finally realized how much work that was. I was winded and I could feel my heart beating in my chest.

Roberto nodded again to the deejay, who slowed the music down. I sighed and let Roberto have most of my weight. "Please forgive me," Roberto said as we danced slowly. "But I couldn't help myself." I cocked an eyebrow, waiting for the explanation. "I took the opportunity while we were dancing to smell you." I smiled at him. I thought it was mildly creepy, but vampires have their own ways. I was trying to be accepting.

"And?" I asked. I was suddenly afraid I smelled bad somehow, like I'd forgotten deodorant before leaving the house.

He must have read my mind. "You smell lovely, Sloane, do not worry. You also smell like David, but there is another scent there. Another male." He must smell Cian. "It is around your neck. Here." He brushed his fingers over where Cian had laid several kisses on each of my clavicles.

I looked down, trying not to give anything away. David, Cian, and I had agreed to keep my relationship with Cian a secret for as long as possible. David was worried that the rest of his constituents would see it as a weakness if he didn't have complete control over his woman. I guess in most human-vampire relationships, especially those with high-ranking vampires, the human turns out to be just arm candy. A walking buffet. If our relationship were to look any different, there would definitely be some questions rumbling through the vampire ranks. Cian, on the other hand, was worried about a social backlash towards me; he was worried about more people knowing about us. People generally aren't all that accepting of what basically comes to a polyandrous relationship, and he didn't want me to have to deal with trouble. It was sweet, very sweet, but unnecessary. The fact I was in a relationship with one vampire was going to make me somewhat of a pariah. Michigan is a fairly socially liberal state, especially in the Lansing area, but there are still some things that will drive people over the edge from tolerant to belligerent. And you can never tell who's not going to take it well.

He lifted my head gently so he could look me in the eye. There was something in his eyes that scared me a little. There was a fierceness there that could push someone over the line. "I am not one to judge, dear Queen, but please, whatever you do, do it carefully."

I was taken aback. "What?" I asked as I stopped dancing so I could pull back.

He pulled me back into him and rubbed his cheek against my neck. "If you are going to have an affair, please do so more carefully. David is a strong man with a fragile heart." He rubbed his cheek against the other side of my neck just before the song ended and pulled me in to what I'm sure looked like a hug from the outside. "I've covered his scent," he whispered in my ear. "Please be more careful."

I looked him in the eye one more time. "Why help me? Why not ask me to stop or threaten me with something….darker." I was fully aware of the violent rap vampires have, and one from Detroit? I'm betting this teddy bear had a mean streak a mile wide.

Roberto was still holding me tight to his body, but we'd quit dancing. "If I had asked you to stop, would you?" I shook my head no. I was aware we were standing in the middle of a dance floor drawing attention to ourselves by not moving, but at the moment I had bigger problems. "Exactly. You are a brilliant woman, but passionate as well. Passionate women do not listen to their head or their friends, only their heart." He spun me towards the table where I'd been sitting. David, Emma, and Lee were talking happily. His grip on my shoulders tightened. "As for doing something more permanent, if I feel you are getting too close to breaking his heart and sending him into another dive, I will. He is my King, and I will protect him."

My heartbeat ramped into the stratosphere. "Cupcake?" Cian had appeared out of nowhere. He looked like he was about to crack some skulls.

"And you are?" asked Roberto. "You look familiar."

"Cian O'Smythe," he answered. "Sloane's personal protection. Is he bothering you, Sloane?"

I shook my head, giving me time to find my voice again, trying not to make it shaky. "No, I'm OK." But I did, however, want to get the hell out of there. "Excuse me, I need to find the bathroom." Well, I failed to make my voice sound strong.

I wasn't ashamed to say I ran. I started out walking, but by the time I rounded the bar, I was full out sprinting. I closed the bathroom door and threw home the bolt before I even turned to see if anyone else was in here. I would have loved to have been alone. Unfortunately, I wasn't. I had the full attention of two vaguely familiar peroxide blondes at the sinks. Or maybe they just looked like all the other gold-digging bimbos.

"Sorry," I said as I grasped at my chest. I should not have run. I gathered myself just long enough to shut myself in a stall so I could then collapse against the elegant cherry door. We had a problem. A huge problem. We'd agreed that it would be smarter if no one knew about our love triangle no matter what the cost. But Roberto was threatening me and mine.

There was a tap at the stall door. "Um," said one of the blondes as I opened the door. "There's a guy at the door asking for you?"

I made sure my clothes were straight and my face was somewhat amiable before opening the door. "What does he look like?" My God, this woman was tall. She was wearing sky-high heels, but she'd have been tall without them.

She shrugged. "He's cute."

Perfect. "Thanks," I mumbled as I pushed past her. When I opened the bathroom door, Cian was leaning against the wall, hands tucked in his pockets, looking down at his shoes. He is gorgeous; I was momentarily sidetracked. I was not going to let anything happen to him.

He ushered the other women out of the bathroom before locking the two of us in alone. As soon as the door was closed, I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "What, Cupcake?" he asked as he supported my weight.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

I could feel his chest jump as he laughed. "You're not going to let anything happen to me? Sloane, what did he say to you?"

"He knows," is all I said. "He knows."

Cian set me on the counter-top and held my head steady in both his hands. "Calm down." He kissed my lips gently. "Start from the beginning."

"He smelled you on me, and he thinks I'm having an affair. He said if I even look like I'm about to hurt David, someone's going to die."

Cian kissed me again. "Ah."

There was another knock and the door. "Sloane, Love." David's smooth voice was just outside the door. "We must go, the limo is waiting."

It seemed to me like we'd just arrived. I looked to Cian for an answer, but he just shrugged. "Why are we leaving?" I asked as I opened the bathroom door. He didn't give me a chance to finish my question before he swooped me up into his arms and laid a heavy kiss on my lips. "Whoa," I swooned when he finally pulled back.

David carried me out the back door and into the idling limo and sidled himself next to me. Flurries had started to drift from the sky; November was here. "Why are we in such a hurry?" I asked, trying my very hardest to keep calm. "Did Roberto talk to you?"

The door shut when Cian slid in on the other side of me, Idi across from us. "No," David answered, his voice full of question. "Why would Roberto talk to me?"

I shook my head, telling him I wasn't going to go there just yet. "Tell me why you rushed me out the back door and into the limo first. You're starting to scare me. And where are Emma and Lee? And Deb and Devin?"

David lifted me onto his lap and licked my neck. "Deb and Devin wished to stay, and Emma and Lee are covering for us," he said between licks. "We need to leave because it was getting too dangerous to stay."

I pulled away from him and switched benches so I was sitting next to Idi. "What the hell?" I asked David as I wiped his saliva from my neck. "Why the hell were you licking me? And too dangerous? How? Start from the God-damn beginning." Cian's eyes glazed over as his fangs slid down. He was fixated on my neck. I sidled a little closer to Idi, which was the wrong move. Cian hissed.

"I can feel the spell slipping," David said. "I would like nothing more than to tear Cian's throat out right now."

I was talking to David, but I was keeping a close eye on Cian. "Spell? What spell?"

"The spell Cian and I had cast on ourselves to keep us from attacking you."

"What?" I yelled. Stupid, stupid vampires! "A spell, David? How stupid could you be?" I was so furious with them that I actually inched closer to David, slapping him on the chest. "And now it's wearing off? Meaning I'm stuck in a car with two vampires that may or may not be overcome with jealousy at any moment? And that does not answer why the hell you were licking me!"

David took advantage of the close proximity to pull me back into his lap, pressing his chest against my back. "I was licking you to cover all other scents with mine. As long as one of us remains normal, we can protect you from attacks from the other. Trust…"

I knew that tone, David was about to tell me to trust him again when Cian couldn't handle it anymore. "Mine!" he yelled as he reached for me. Luckily, both Idi and David have fast reflexes, or I'd have been his. Instead, David jerked me out of the way while Idi restrained Cian, holding him steady against the bench.

Cian was not snapping out of it. "Let me go," I said as struggled against David's grip. "I can talk him down." Silently, David made it quite obvious he thought this was a bad idea, but let me go anyway. I crawled across the bench and took Cian's snarling face in my hands. "Cian, sweetheart, listen to me. I am yours, all yours. It's…"

David, still sitting behind me, yanked me back into his chest by my hair. I didn't even have a chance to scream before he ripped the thick golden collar from my neck and bit. The last things I remember seeing were Cian's furious, blood red eyes.

.

I coughed before I opened my eyes, which was the wrong move. The coughing, I mean. It still would have hurt like a bitch had my eyes been open. "Hey," I heard rumble through Alec's chest. "Warm enough?" I nodded as I braced for the pain and coughed again. "Yea, Emma said it might hurt to talk or swallow for a while. She said you should drink protein shakes and sleep."

I couldn't even fathom trying to swallow something right now. It felt like something had just ripped my esophagus out. Instead, I finally opened my eyes. I was propped up in Alec's lap as he sat on the couch, laptop balanced awkwardly on his knee. Alec had even wrapped us in a blanket, cocooning us in his body heat. Sitting on the other side of the couch was RJ. "She lives!" RJ called back toward the stairs.

The not-so-subtle thump-thump-thump down the stairs let me know Sydney was coming for me at full speed in her stocking feet. When she did round the couch, she yanked the blanket from around us and gathered me into a hug. "How are you feeling?" she asked. I responded with a full body shiver. Did someone leave a window open or something? It was freezing in here when I didn't have all of Alec's heat trapped under the blanket to keep me warm. "Right, right." She propped me back into Alec's lap and wrapped the blanket around me, tucking it in so just my head and neck were visible. "Let me see this," she said as she pulled what felt like tape away from the sore spot on my neck. Well, my entire neck was a sore spot, but there was one portion that was by far the sorest. "Jeez, that looks painful."

I shrugged. On a scale from one to worst I've ever had, this wasn't that bad. It felt kind of like an uncontrolled case of strep throat with a side of the flu and a touch of hypothermia. "You want some tea?" Sydney asked. God, no. I shook my head as I closed my eyes and settled in for another nap. "OK," she said as she taped my neck back up. "I'm going to go call Moose. By the way, you're famous."

That got my attention. I sat up just a touch too fast; the lights dimmed just a little before everything came back into focus. "Yea, you're in the paper," Alec said as he continued to type. "You and O'Hara."

I freed my hands from the blanket. "Paper," I croaked after a coughing fit. RJ grabbed it from the table and handed it to me; sure enough, David and I were on the front page, his arm around me as we exited the limo last night. 'Michigan's Most Eligible Bachelor Finds Love' was the headline. On the front page, really? Was it that slow of a news day that David and I made the front page? I read the article front to back twice before tossing the paper aside and burying my head in my hands.

"What?" Alec asked. "I thought you looked good in that picture. That's what's bothering you, right?" I shook my head no and groaned. "Oh…so…is it…what is it?"

I grabbed Alec's computer and opened Word. _I don't want to be famous_, I typed.

I handed Alec his computer back so he could read the screen. "Oh. But it didn't have your full name. Maybe they won't figure out who you are." I gave him the look that comment deserved. "Yea, they'll find you," he said, dejected. "But maybe it'll just be a passing thing."

I groaned again and buried myself under the blanket. I didn't want to be famous; I didn't even particularly want to be noticed. I've been striving for normality for so long. And just like that, one poorly timed night out, and my hard-fought normality was gone.

.

Someone was shaking me fiercely. "Wake up, Sloane," Alec said.

"What?" I croaked when my heart restarted. I tried to clear my throat to help with speaking. Surprisingly, once my throat was notified it was going to have to work again, it sounded better than I did the last time I attempted to speak.

"Come on, we're leaving." He wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and helped me up to my feet. "What do you need?"

I stopped in my tracks. I sure as hell was not going anywhere until I knew why I was being bundled out of my own house. "Why? Where am I going?" I subconsciously raised a hand to my neck, which was still a bit sore. It was still covered in gauze.

Alec lifted me over his shoulder and carried me like a potato sack up the stairs. "Pack for a few days," he said as he set me down on my bed.

I was not going to pack. Instead, I leaned over slowly until my head rested on the bedspread. Alec rooted around in my closet until he found my pink track bag, then he turned toward me. "Sloane, come on," he said as he noticed me curled in a ball.

"What?" I croaked. "Tell me why I'm packing."

"Because something set off the trap outside your dining room window and I can't leave you here alone while I chase the scent." He handed me the bag and went back to my closet, pulling random items from hangers and tossing them back at me.

"I don't need to pack," I said as I dropped the bag. I didn't need to pack anything; for one, I didn't think it was going to take him that long to hunt down what probably was going to turn out to be a raccoon. Secondly, if I was going anywhere, I would probably go to David's or Cian's. They both have enough clothes for me for several weeks. The only thing I'd need to bring was my laptop, but that was already packed and ready to go downstairs.

"Nothing?" he asked.

I shook my head as much as I could. "Don't need to." Before he could pitch a proper fit, I continued, making a snap decision. "Take me to Cian's, he has everything I need." David didn't need to see his lasting damage, he was probably enough of a mess.

"No vamps," Alec said. "O'Hara's orders. Not until you guys figure this thing out. Anywhere else you want to go?"

My heart dropped. If I couldn't go to David's or Cian's, I didn't want to go anywhere. And the thought of not being able to see quite possibly the two most important people to my happiness indefinitely made me want to sob. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," I whispered. I pushed myself up to a sitting position before taking a quick break and finishing the job. Once I was standing, I took a few wobbly steps to my bathroom. My hair still looked beautiful from last night, but the rest of me looked ragged. My makeup was smushed and smeared, which revealed some really dark bags under my eyes. My lips and cheeks had almost no color whatsoever, which looked ghastly with my complexion. _Maybe David's right_, I thought to myself. _I don't think my body can take much more of this_. Still, the distance hurt inside and it hadn't even been a day. I sighed, pulled my hair onto the top of my head, and started pulling the gauze away from my neck. Once I finally got a chance to actually look at it, there were two fresh bite marks layered on top of each other. The second was camouflaged by the ferocity of the first. _That's going to scar_, I thought. I checked the other side of my neck, where David had bitten the first time. Smooth, unmarred, alabaster skin. _Maybe not_, I corrected.

"So?" Alec asked. "Where to?"

I picked my favorite go-to place for welcoming distractions. "Lab," I answered. "Do I have time to take a quick shower?"

Alec checked his watch. "Quick. I'll be downstairs."

I didn't wash my hair; it looked fine and I didn't want to put the effort in to drying it. After getting out of the shower and getting dressed in jeans and a sweater, I pulled a decorative scarf from my growing collection and wrapped it around my neck. Still, there was nothing I could do about the death-warmed-over look I was sporting.

I threw a few things in the track bag Alec had unearthed and dragged it down the stairs. "OK," I called. "Have fun hunting, I'll be at the lab."

Alec appeared at my side as I opened the front door. "Don't you want a ride?'

I shook my head. "Not an invalid," I reminded him. Even if I did feel a little like I was in danger of passing out in that warm, comfortable, bucket seat in my Mustang.

He eyed me, picking up on my mood. "Alright," he said as he followed me toward my car. "Drive carefully. I'll call when I know what's up."

"Yea," I said as I threw my bag into the back seat of the car. "Bye."


	133. Chapter 133

I looked up at the sky as I walked into the building my lab was housed in. There was maybe an hour to an hour and a half until the sun set. I was about to set a reminder on my phone to let me know exactly when I should dial David's number when the phone rang in my hand. It was Sookie.

"Hey Sook," I answered. I had since lost the drowned rat sound to my voice; at this point, I just sounded like I was getting over a chest cold. There was also a tiredness to my voice that hinted at illness.

"Hi Sloane," she said. "Feeling OK?"

"Oh, peachy," I answered. "I'm just on my way into lab. What's up?"

"Amelia and I just wanted to let you know that we're here for you, you know, if you need to talk."

I opened the door without having to unlock the electronic trigger. It was still early enough in the day that the doors were open. Doors across campus would automatically lock in a little under an hour. "OK," I said after a second to think about that statement.

I must have just sounded confused. "Have you watched any TV today?"

"Nope," I answered. "Spent most—no, all—of this afternoon sleeping."

"Long night?" Sookie asked.

"You have no idea, but that's a story for another time. Is there something you know that I don't?"

"You haven't heard or seen anything?" Sookie asked again.

I stopped in the middle of a slightly busy lobby, thinking about my answer. I'd read the paper, the local paper, and that news had not been good. At least not to me, and it was probably somewhat disappointing for a large population of Michigan's women, too. The TV had been on for the few times I emerged from my sleep, but I think it was on cartoons once and commercials the other. I hadn't opened my computer, let alone my internet browser. "What are you getting at?" I asked finally.

Sookie covered the receiver to the phone, but I could still hear what she'd said to Amelia. "She hasn't seen it yet," she said, muffled. "Ignorance is bliss, Amelia. I don't think we should."

"Tell me or I'm coming down there," I said.

Sookie swore under her breath the immediately apologized. "I didn't think you could hear me."

"Don't press the receiver to your shoulder, the sound reverberates through your chest into the mic. Anyway, spill."

"Well, Amelia was watching TMZ this morning and you and David were on it," she said somewhat quickly.

I understood every part of that question but the 'TMZ' part. So I asked. "What's TMZ?"

"It's a TV show where paparazzi who follow famous people around get together and talk about who they bothered and what they were doing," she answered. "They had a special on that party you went to."

If I wasn't in a public place, I would have had a throwing, screaming hissy fit. But I was in a public place and now that I finally looked around, I was getting some overly curious glances from the students milling about. "Great," I finally said sarcastically. "There was a story in the Lansing paper today, but I'd hoped it was just a local flavor story. Front page, though. Can you believe that? Front page. Idiots."

"Hey, I get it," she said. "I guess David was like some unattainable unicorn, and you somehow caught him. Everyone wants to know how."

"Uh huh," I grunted. "So what did TZM have to say?"

"TMZ," Sookie corrected. I grunted again as I headed for the staircase. "They had video of you two answering questions and going to the party. Then they spent about five minutes going over the info they had on you and another half an hour throwing around wild guesses as to how you 'really' got him to settle down."

I could care less about the wild guesses; they couldn't come up with anything nearly as unbelievable as the real story, so I let that go. "What info did they have on me?"

"I don't know how they found it, but I guess your boss has a picture of you on her website with your full name and a description of your lab work there. They tried looking you up on face page, but I guess you don't have much on there."

I took a moment on the second story landing to not only take a breather, but also giggle to myself. "Facebook, hun. Face-book."

"Oh," she answered. I giggled silently some more.

"OK, thanks for letting me know."

"Are you OK?" she asked before I could hang up. "You sound tired."

"Yea, I'm fine," I said. "Just some technical difficulties. Let me know if you see anything else I should know."

"OK. Bye, Sloane."

"See ya, Sook," I answered before tucking my phone back into my pocket. One more flight of stairs and then all I have to do is walk into my lab. Then I can sit. I probably shouldn't have tried the stairs, no matter how much I wanted to duck away from prying eyes. I was still feeling a little light headed and my lungs weren't so great…

"There she is!" I heard as I opened the fire door from the staircase. "Sloane! Sloane!"

"Oh, Jesus," I mumbled to myself. "Slow news day?" I asked the closest camcorder.

"Sloane," one woman asked. "You're wearing a scarf."

I could not get to the lab door fast enough. With one hand, I fingered my electronic key as I raised the other hand to view. "And gloves," I answered. Jesus, people, out of the way.

"Are you hiding a bite mark?" she pressed.

I smiled for two reasons. I was seconds from the lab door, for one, which meant the end of this was in sight. The other was to hide how close she was to the truth. "David's more creative than that," I answered as I swung my key over the keypad. I'd never been quite so relieved to hear the telltale click of the door unlocking. "I'm merely keeping warm during this Michigan winter. I suggest you guys do the same," I said as I shut myself in the lab, the small mob on the other side of the door. I could finally breathe. The paparazzi could still see me through the small window in the door, but that was easily fixed with a well-placed poster. No, now I was smiling because I could actually breathe. They had crowded so close to me I was feeling a bit like I was going to hyperventilate.

I was in the middle of moving a poster to cover the window when Matt spoke. "Looks like you and the vamp are famous," he said.

I jumped about a foot in the air. Matt had been crouching back behind the counter when I walked in, restocking our lab supplies. "Holy shit, Matt," I said. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," he said as he popped up.

"How long have they been out there?" I asked.

He checked his watch. "Oh, maybe four hours."

I groaned and sat as I started peeling winter wear off. "This is going to suck," I said.

"Dump the vamp, dump the press, and go on a date with me," he replied. I shot him a look. "Worth a try," he said as he shrugged.

I just sat for a minute, propping my elbows up against the lab bench and getting comfortable. I had to wait until the sun set.

.

I had zoned out as I waited. Sure, there were things I could have been doing, but I just hadn't mustered the energy to actually get up and do it yet. So when my phone's alarm went off letting me know that the Weather Channel just officially deemed the sun as set, I jumped and knocked it off the counter. "Jumpy," Matt said.

"My head was elsewhere," I replied. "I need to make a private phone call. I'll be in the back room." He grunted something unintelligible as I shut the door. It was barely closed before I dialed the last number.

"My Dearest Love, I am truly sorry," David answered. "I will not give myself the chance to hurt you like that again."

I sighed. My entire body relaxed a little when I heard his voice. "So Alec wasn't shitting me, then?" I asked. "I'm off limits?"

"I am afraid not, Dearest One. Until we can fix what is happening, I have requested those close to us stay away from you."

"Everyone?" I asked.

"Emma, Lee, Idi, Idriis, Varana, and of course, Cian and myself."

I didn't like it one bit, but I understood David and Cian needing a bit of space from me until we can figure this out. But I didn't understand the others. "I get you guys, but Em? Lee? The brothers?"

"I believe this is somehow blood-related," David explained. "That is why I am the most affected, followed by Cian. Until we understand the situation, no one that has had your blood is allowed to see you."

"OK," I answered. That explains why Emma was banned, "but then why Lee, Idi, and Idriis?"

"Emma has had your blood, and therefore Lee has also tasted it. Idi once licked your blood from his hand. You yourself acknowledged the blood link between Idi and Idriis and I am unsure what this means for Idriis."

"Varana?" I asked.

"She could not remember if she'd ever tasted your blood, so I erred on the side of caution and forbade her to see you."

I couldn't help the smart-ass comment. "I bet she's just torn up about it."

"More so than I think you'd expect."

I was silent on the line for a few moments as I just listened to the sounds pass through the phone. He was somewhere with people, but it wasn't the bar. There was no loud music, no clinking glasses. "David?" I asked finally.

"Yes, Sweetheart?" he answered immediately.

"The idea of not seeing you for even another day makes me want to cry." Tears started to prick at the corners of my eyes even as I finished the sentence.

"Don't cry, my Love," he said. "I will fix this soon."

I forced myself to hold back the welling tears and, to my surprise, it worked. "Very soon," I said when I felt like I had control of my voice.

"Where are you, Love?" David asked. "It is very quiet."

"Holed up in lab, hiding from the mob waiting outside," I answered. "Not a huge fan of this Hollywood thing."

"Hollywood thing?" he asked. "I don't understand."

"Have you seen the paper today?" I asked. "Or watched TV?"

"I have not emerged from my room at the Palace, Love." Meaning the 'people' I was hearing in the background was actually NPR radio. "Is there something I should know?"

"Well, we're front page news on the LSJ," I said, abbreviating the name of Lansing's newspaper, "and Sookie called to tell me we were on a national TV show about famous people, I guess."

"Mmm," he answered. "I see. You are telling me the press waits for you to emerge from your lab?" I grunted an affirmative. "And you are attempting to out-wait them?" I hadn't really gotten that far in the planning stages, but now that he mentioned it, it sounded as good a plan as any. I grunted again. David laughed. "Even as stubborn as you are, I do not think even you can out-wait the press. I will send someone to deal with it."

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I've got another one of those 48-hour growth curves to do that I've been putting off. Maybe it's just what I need to distract me." Nothing like a two day experiment done one hour at a time to bore the hell out of the press. "Not to mention Alec's banned me from my house. Even if you did clear the way for me, I'd have nowhere to go."

"Why are you not allowed in your home?"

I shrugged before remembering he couldn't see me. "One of the traps he set was tripped; I think he's convinced it's the Garou. I think if the Garou were here, they wouldn't be spying, they'd be acting."

"I agree, Love, but I will contact him."

"Alright," I said after a sigh. "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied before I hung up the phone. My next call was to Cian.

"Cupcake," he said as he answered the phone. The line went significantly more silent when he turned off the running water. My libido jumped as I realized I he was probably fresh out of a shower, water still dripping down his skin… "Cupcake?" he said again, this time a question.

"Uh, yea," I said, shaking the delicious mental image away. "Hi."

I could hear the smile in his voice. "Good evening. Distracted tonight, are we?"

"For the moment, yes," I answered. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Grading midterms," Cian answered. "Why do you ask? What is your plan for this crisp Saturday night in November?"

"Growth curves," I said, "and one epic apology."

"Ah, lab work," he said. "Who is the apology for?"

"You," I answered.

"For me?" he asked, surprised. "I'm titillated."

I laughed at how suggestively he said 'titillated'. "Yes, you. I guess I didn't realize until last night how unfair our…set-up was to you. It sucks."

He was speechless for a moment while I silently begged him to say something. "It's an acceptable arrangement for me."

"I don't like the way that silence sounded." When he met my statement with silence again, my heart broke. "Cian? Are you unhappy?" For the second time in almost as many minutes, I was on the brink of tears.

"No," he answered quickly. "I'm not unhappy." His voice however, didn't sound as confident as his words. It sounded like his statement should have been followed by a giant 'but'. Something like, 'but I'm not happy either'.

I'd had enough as the first tear broke free. I wasn't going to just sit here on my hands while I slowly lost him. "Fuck the paparazzi, fuck David's new no-contact rule. I'm coming over there," I said as I bolted out of my seat and toward my coat and purse.

"You most certainly are not," he said before I could even get a step. "I agree with David, it is too dangerous for us to be around you, even if we are alone. We are not going to put you in a position like that again."

I sunk back into the chair, dangerously close to full out sobbing. I knew I shouldn't have, I should have given myself more time to pull it together. But as soon as I opened my mouth to speak, the sobbing started. "Cian, I can't lose you," I said, teary eyed. "Tell me what to do to fix it, I'll do anything."

"Cupcake," he said. "Shhh, Cupcake." Even though he was trying to soothe me, his words just made the tears fall faster and harder. "You're not going to lose me. It's alright. I'm not going anywhere."

"Then prove it," I said, challenging him. "Come over here. Kiss me, hold me."

"I cannot, Sloane," he said, his tone getting somewhat less amiable. "My King forbade it and what's more is I do not think it is a good idea. You will just have to trust me. Goodnight, Sloane." He didn't even wait for me to say goodnight or tell me he loved me before he hung up the phone.

I responded with the only reaction to anger my body knows: more anger. In a stupid moment of passion, I threw my phone as hard as I could against the cement block walls of the lab, shattering it into a mess of Apple parts. Only when the anger in my body reached a fever pitch did I slump to the floor and cry.

.

I had no idea how long I'd been sitting on the floor in the lab's dark room, tucked between the lab bench and the fluorescent microscope when Moose appeared before me. He'd probably been standing in front of me for a while, but I was so deep in my own head that I didn't even notice him until he touched me. "Earth to Sloane," he said, one hand on my shoulder and the other waving in front of my face. "Do you copy?"

I smiled morosely at him. "Smart-ass," I said.

"I try," he said as he folded into a sitting position in front of me. "You alright?"

I was just now realizing my ass was really sore and my back was protesting loudly. "Fine," I said as I used the structures around me to get to my feet, one of which was asleep.

It was his turn to smile, but his smile was more worried than sad. "You are so full of shit. The O'Irish brothers called. Cian first, then David when he couldn't get a hold of you." He held up a fractured piece of my iPhone. "Now I know why."

"I'm fine," I said. "I just don't want to talk to anyone, that's all." I squeezed past him toward the door that would open to the main lab.

"You know," he said, following me. "Phones these days have this awesome feature called a power button. Works just as well to block calls and you can actually use it again when you feel like rejoining society."

I glanced back at him and shot him the stink eye. "You're in rare form tonight."

"Morning," he corrected. I checked the clock above the door; it was 6 in the morning. Meaning it was still dark, but not for long. "Did you know there are a bunch of people sitting outside the lab out there?" he said as he pointed toward the stainless steel door.

"Yup," I answered.

"What are they doing?" he asked.

"Waiting for me to reemerge so they can follow me around like sick little puppies."

I think the light bulb went on over Moose's head finally. "Oh, I see," he said as I pulled gloves on and opened the industrial freezer. "Now you hiding in the back room doesn't worry me so much. Want me to call the police?"

I shook my head no. "They'll leave on their own. I'm going to start another _Micrococcus_ growth curve," I said with a sly smile. "If they're still there when I emerge, they've earned it the right to follow me around."

He laughed. "That's your plan? You're going to hide?" he said. "That's so not like you."

I turned my back toward Moose and lingered in the freezer. "I'm not hiding," I said. "I'm distracting myself."

"From?" he asked. He sounded intrigued, but he knew better than to turn me around. If I didn't want to look at him, forcing me wasn't going to get him anywhere. Sometimes I think Moose had more insight into my mind than the classically trained psychologists I was dating. Thinking about the absence from my men only served to deepen my oncoming depression, though.

I sighed and explained, showing him the gouge in my neck. "They're so afraid of doing it again, they've quarantined me. No vampires until they fix it."

"That's what you need distracting from?" he asked, obviously not getting why that was going to spiral me into depression if I didn't distract myself.

I shook my head again, this time more in frustration. "The thought of not seeing either of them for even another night makes me want to scream and cry and maybe even die a little." I used the back of my wrist to wipe the tear from my eye. "I don't know when I fell in so deep, but I don't like it."

Moose turned me toward him, but didn't force me to look him in the eye. Instead, he tucked me under his chin and hugged me. "I'm sorry," he said. I tucked my hands up between the two of us and took handfuls of his shirt into my gloved hands. It wasn't David or Cian, but Moose did a fine job of comforting me. "You want help with your growth curve? We can do three hours on, three hours off again."

I shook my head no. The last time we'd done this, we'd tag teamed. I did three then slept for 3 hours while he picked up the slack. It worked well, but at that point, I had somewhere to go for sleep and food. As it stood now, I'd just be sitting here watching him anyway. "No, I'm good. You can do whatever you came here to do."

"Done," he said. I pulled out of the hug and looked up at him, asking the obvious question with my eyes. "It's 6 in the morning on a Sunday. Why else would I come in to lab other than to check on you for the O'Irishes?"

"You came out here at this God-awful hour to see…what? That I was here?"

"That," he said, "and Cian gave me something to give to you."

I raised an eyebrow in question while my hands continued working, mindlessly running through the procedure. "If it's a wet willy, I don't want it."

Moose laughed as he slid a small box across the table. "You two have an interesting relationship." I stopped moving, pipette still in hand. That box was suspiciously ring-shaped. My heart stopped before ricocheting into overdrive. "You gunna open it?" he asked, flicking an envelope on top of the box. "Because I'm pretty sure it's not just the box."

I glared up at him for a split second before returning my eyes to the box. The box was beautiful, though; green velvet with gold hinges. I set the pipette down slowly and ungloved myself, never taking my eyes from the box. I couldn't open the box just yet; I had to come to terms with what I was going to feel after opening it. If it's an engagement ring…I wouldn't put fainting out of the running. Just thinking about it made my head spin a little.

"Open it," Moose said, obviously getting impatient.

"If it's an engagement ring, I think I might faint," I said, leaning heavily into the counter-top. My hands were shaking so hard I was finding it difficult to open the envelope without giving myself a paper cut.

"I'll catch you," he said.

I finally popped the wax closure on the envelope (where does Cian keep these old-fashioned things? A wax seal press?). Inside was a beautifully scripted note in his ornate hand writing. The fine ivory paper felt more like fabric than paper.

_I had been saving this for your upcoming birthday, but I feel as if you deserve it now as an apology. I was short with you last night; I am deeply sorry. What is worse, I neglected to tell you I love you in my anger. I'm sorry and I love you.  
Your Cian  
PS: It is not an engagement ring. Stop hyperventilating and open it._

I laughed as I sunk farther into the counter-top. "What?" Moose asked.

"Look at the last line," I said as I tossed him the note.

He laughed. "He knows you pretty damn well, although I don't think you were hyperventilating yet."

I laughed with him and grabbed the box from the counter. Knowing it wasn't an engagement ring made the prospect of opening the box significantly less frightening. It no longer felt as if my heart was going to explode when I opened it. It made it so easy to flip that box top open.

I was momentarily speechless. It might not have been an engagement ring, but it was a ring of some sort. A large, gorgeous marquis-cut stone in pale pear green laid horizontally across the band, mounted in a seamless platinum setting. It was simple, but it was stunning in that simplicity. The whole things shone; the stone, the setting, everything. "Oh my God."

"That's not an engagement ring?" Moose asked. "Shit."

"You're not helping," I murmured as I pulled the ring free of the box. Despite the size of the stone, the whole ring was light and dainty, even down to the ring size. I slid it on to the ring finger of my right hand; it fit perfectly. I teared up. "It fits," I said.

"So?" Moose asked. "I mean, good."

"He found my ring size and had it fitted to my finger." The stone could be a $100,000 diamond, but the time it took him to find my ring size and fit the ring to my finger meant more to me than the stone. To me, it meant he cared. Especially since finding a ring to fit my tiny fingers can be nearly impossible.

"Just when I thought I understood you women," he said as a tear fell down my cheek. "You do like it, right?" he asked. "Cian asked me to text him your reaction."

I cleared the tear from my cheek and glanced up at Moose. "And you're actually going to?"

"Sure," Moose said with a shrug. He was already in the process of composing his message. "He asked nicely, so why wouldn't I?"

"Because it's so…girly," I answered as I forced myself to pull the ring off my finger and put it back in the box.

"Not gunna wear it?"

I shook my head and pulled out another pair of gloves. "Not under the gloves, don't want to get the powder from the gloves on the ring." Moose just smiled and donned his own pair of gloves. "Let's get started."


	134. Chapter 134

**FIVE DAYS LATER:**

It was David's night to find a way to keep me naked, but he wasn't here. In fact, I hadn't seen him in almost a week. Cian either. If you were to ask Moose or Sydney, they'd say I wasn't handling the distance well. I thought I was handling it better than expected.

I'd finished my two day experiment and, even though I was thoroughly exhausted, I started it again. The results hadn't looked right. I mean, if the results don't look right, you have to redo it. Just to make sure. Moose had thought that the results looked fine, but the numbers from one of the 48 sampling sets was statistically different from the other 47. I wanted to make sure I had it right. Of course, after I told him this, he said I was obsessing and made me take him out to breakfast.

I didn't much care what Moose was thinking at that point, I started it again and gave the lab another 48 straight hours of my life. I hadn't bothered to replace my phone before starting, either. I missed David and Cian more than I could bear and talking to them made the distance that much harder. When I finished the second of my two day experiments and went home for the first time in five days (sans paparazzi), Alec was sitting on the porch waiting for me. "Moose said you were on your way," he said. "You OK?"

"Fine," I grumbled back. I should have been happy; my experiment turned out flawless results. I'd even made my statistical testing more rigorous, and all 48 samples had passed with flying colors. Instead, I was irritated because I didn't have anything else to distract me from my own loneliness.

"Hungry?" he asked as he followed me into the house. I shrugged. I was spiraling into a depression. I didn't really care much about food. "I made pancakes; still hot on the kitchen counter. But I'm not much of a cook."

He was not doing a good job of selling me on those pancakes. "No thanks," I answered as I opened the door.

"Oh," he said, following me into the house and up the stairs. "I found who tripped the trap. Photographer, no big deal."

I sighed in frustration, giving myself some time to get control of myself before I let everything out on Alec. "I need some alone time," I said without turning back to him, teeth clenched. "Thanks for following through on that, though."

He stopped just outside my bedroom door. "OK. You need anything?" I shook my head no before closing the door gently in his face. I managed to start the shower and strip down to my underwear before the tears started to fall.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Shit, she did not look good. Sloane's shoulders were slumped as she dragged herself up the stairs. Her hair was a mess on the top of her head and it was the most pulled together part of her ensemble. Deep, purple smudges had taken up permanent residence under her eyes. The worst part, though, were the eyes themselves. They were mostly empty; the only emotion in them was sadness. Ragged bodies are easy to heal. Ragged souls—not so much. "Oh," I said. "I found who tripped the trap. Photographer, no big deal." Maybe some good news would cheer her up.

I don't know what reaction I was expecting, but a tightening of her knuckles on the banister and a frustrated sigh was not it. "I need some alone time," she said. She sounded horrible, too. Her voice was flat and without emotion. "Thanks for following through on that, though."

I wasn't sure there was anything I could do for her. "OK," I said, giving in. "You need anything?" I was hoping it was something as simple as getting her a fifth of liquor and letting her drink away whatever was bothering her, but I had a feeling it wasn't that simple. She shook her head no before shutting me out of her room.

I paced back and forth outside her bedroom door for a few minutes, making sure she didn't change her mind. When the water turned on and she didn't reemerge, I called Moose. It had never been more obvious I wasn't good with women; I needed someone with some experience. "She get home?" he asked as he answered the phone.

"Physically?" I asked. "Yes."

"I know what you mean," Moose said. "She's been getting worse since that party in Detroit. I'm hoping a good night's sleep will fix her mood a little."

"So…" I asked, getting straight to my real questions. "What do I do? Anything?"

Moose paused for a minute before answering. "Did she eat?"

"No. I offered, but she didn't want any."

"What's she doing now?" he asked.

"Shower, I think."

Moose sighed. "Don't force her to do anything. When she comes out, offer food again. If she just needs space, give her space."

"Alright, man. Do you think I should call David? Or Cian?"

"Why?" he asked, a bit pissy.

I tried to keep my voice from getting pissy to match. "Maybe they want to know. Maybe they know how to cheer her up."

"O'Hara knows she's in pain, for sure he knows," he answered angrily. "If he wanted to do anything about it, he'd go see her."

I wasn't going to dig any farther into Moose's sour mood tonight. "Alright, man. Have a good one." Moose grumbled a response before hanging up.

.

I'd given Sloane the entire day to herself, which wasn't hard to do. It's easy to avoid someone who never emerges from her room. At four in the afternoon, I couldn't take it anymore. She'd gone too silent up there. I was hoping she was just sleeping, but I was scared she'd done something stupid. There was no answer when I knocked lightly on the door, so I silently turned the knob and cracked it open. She was lying on her side in her bed, cuddled under the blanket, but she wasn't asleep. She had something in her hand that had stolen all of her focus. "Sloane?" I whispered.

It seems she just realized I was watching her. She shifted slightly so she could see me standing in the doorway before disappearing behind the folds of her massive comforter. Her eyes were ringed in red. "Yea," she answered.

I was completely lost here. I'd call Sydney in for help, but I know that would just piss Sloane off. She seems oddly determined to leave Sydney out of her problems. In Moose's mood, he was out of the question, too. I was left to flounder alone. I decided to ask the question with the obvious answer. "You OK?"

"Yea," she answered, even though it was obvious she wasn't.

I fidgeted uncomfortably. "Have you been able to get in some sleep?"

She let out a long, sad sigh. "Not really," she answered.

Hey, she was talking to me. I got bolder, circling the bed and sitting on the empty side, placing myself at Sloane's back. "What are you playing with over there?" The curiosity was getting to me.

She didn't bother to roll over and show me, she just sighed again and held it up. In her hand was a small, silver hunk of metal. I took it from her hand and examined it. "Wow," I said. "It's pretty."

She was quiet for a long time before she spoke. "I miss them," she whispered.

"Who?" I asked as I leaned over Sloane and set the small ring on her bedside table.

Her chest started to jump before she spoke. God dammit, she was crying. "David and Cian," she whispered quietly.

I hesitated. I was so far out of my league it was remarkable it took me this long to make her cry. "Sorry," I said as my hand hovered over her sobbing body. "Do you need anything?" It seemed stupid to ask when she didn't answer. She just laid there, silently crying to herself. As soon as I laid my hand on her arm, she grabbed it, pulled it around her torso, and tucked my hand under her wet cheek, pulling me down until I was lying on the bed behind her. "Oh…OK," I mumbled to myself.

I stayed stock still until she stopped sobbing. "Sorry," she said, loosening her grip on my hand. I wasn't sure what to do. Do I keep holding her or do I pull away? What the hell do I do here? She must have felt my internal panic behind her; she cleared her teary eyes and sat up. "I'm so tired of this."

I followed suit, sitting up and leaning against the headboard. "Maybe you should try and get some sleep. Everything's a little better once you get some sleep." She may have shaken her head no, but she looked as if that's all she wanted at the moment. If only there was a way to help her just fall asleep for a few hours…

Epiphany. If I wanted to help her, I'd treat her like RJ. Whenever he gets in a funky mood, I get him drunk, put him to bed, and he's better in the morning. All I needed was some liquor. "Hold on a sec," I said as I scooted off the end of the bed. "I will be right back." I jogged downstairs and opened the rarely accessed cabinet above the fridge: the liquor cabinet. I wasn't even sure Sloane would be able to reach it without standing on a chair. Tucked in the back was a bottle of special 100-proof vodka. I grabbed that and two shot glasses and jogged back up the stairs. "OK," I said as I handed her one shot glass and poured a little more than a shot into the glass. I followed by doing the same to mine. "Drink first, then explain."

She downed the entire shot in one gulp before pouring herself a second. "I want to be normal," she said before downing her second shot in a minute. I was about to take the bottle of vodka away from her when she immediately poured herself a third. Instead of downing it, though, she took a sip. "I want to be able to see my boyfriends without worrying about being drained in a fit of misplaced jealousy. I want to be able to work without being followed around by a bunch of nosy photographers. I want to be able to be honest with the world and just tell everyone, 'you know what? I have two boyfriends and I couldn't be happier. If you don't like it, you can suck your own cock.'"

I couldn't help but laugh as she took another sip of her vodka. "I think your first and second concerns are out of my league, but I think we could do something about the third."

She actually laughed. She didn't smile, but a small guffaw left her lips. "David and Cian would kill me. They're all concerned about what would happen if everyone knew."

"There's nothing I can do about those two. They're all yours."

I was trying to keep the mood light, but it was obvious I was failing when she finished off that shot with a grimace on her face and poured herself another. "It doesn't feel like it."

Ah, I was starting to understand. "You miss them?"

"That's an understatement," she replied. "It's not just my boyfriends I miss, it's like I've lost a part of myself and it feels like I'm never going to get it back. It actually physically hurts."

She downed her fourth shot in five minutes and I took the vodka bottle away from her. "I was going for drunk, not alcohol poisoning. Let up for a minute." She didn't fight me on it; she just laid her head against the headboard and closed her eyes. "How am I doing?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"With what?" she asked, not bothering to open her eyes.

"This girl stuff. With the Garou, the boys and the girls are segregated for the most part, at least until we turn 18. I've never really dealt with women's troubles like this before. How am I doing?"

She leaned over and propped her head against my shoulder. "Great," she replied. "The vodka was a good idea."

"Yea?" I asked, happy with myself. I had managed not to fuck this up too bad yet.

"Yea, I'm starting to feel it. Hit me," she said as she held up the shot glass still in her hand.

I laughed, but indulged her. "Haven't you had enough?" I asked as I poured. I hadn't even touched my shot yet and she was on number 5.

"Not until I can't keep my eyes open."

"Your eyes aren't open," I answered as she downed the shot. I glanced out the window and checked the status of the setting sun. David may not care Sloane was slowly fracturing apart, but Cian didn't even know. I intended on filling him in.

"Alec?" she asked, her words starting to slur. "Sorry I cried in front of you. I try not to do that in front of people."

"It's OK," I answered. "Getting tired?"

"I'm drunk," she answered. "That was quick."

Yes. Yes that was quick. I glanced nervously back at the setting sun. _Come on_, I thought. _Set faster_.

.

Sloane was out cold. That was the good news. The bad news was that I couldn't get a hold of Cian. It was the third time in a row I'd dialed his number, and each time it'd gone to voice mail. This was attempt number four. "This better be important," Cian answered finally.

"Where the hell have you been?" I asked. "Sloane needs you."

He was trying to hide the panic in his voice, but he was failing. "Is she OK?"

"Not really," I answered. "She's falling apart without you guys. David's apparently going to just let her waste away, but I was hoping you'd man up because I can't watch her do this anymore."

"Explain what you are talking about," he said. "What specifically is wrong with her?"

I sighed. "You really just need to see her to understand."

"Where is she?" he asked.

"In bed," I answered. "I got her so drunk she passed out." He was silent, struggling with something which made me think he was going to turn his back on her, too. I got way beyond fucking pissed. "Look, I understand you're worried about draining her and all, but I'm afraid if this goes on much longer, there's not going to be anything to drain. She's slowly killing herself to try and drown out your absence. She tried working nonstop for four days. She's not interested in food or sleep. She seems to just want to lie there, playing with some fucking ring. You fucking did this to her, you and David. So fucking fix it." I hung up on him and tossed my phone onto Sloane's bed. I could feel the wolf in me, using my emotions to come to the surface. I could feel my teeth elongate and my fingers curl into claws before I got a hold of myself, pushing it all back down below. _Deep breaths, calm down_, I told myself. _Fur's not going to help her._

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I was mildly aware of voices, although I couldn't focus enough to actually tell what they were saying. I hated Alec right now. Alec and vodka. I trying to pull myself out of this alcohol-induced daze when I realized my hand was resting on cold skin. My mind was fucking with me, it had to be. I wanted it so bad, my mind had manufactured the feel of vampire skin beneath me. I pulled my hand into my body and covered my head with the comforter, hiding myself as I started to sob. This was not fair.

"Shhh, Cupcake," said what I was assuming was a figment of my own psychosis.

"You're not real," I whispered to the voice at my back. I was aware I was losing it again. I was talking to myself, for Christ's sake. I curled into a smaller ball and tried to shake this hallucination before I lost it completely.

My mind replicated Cian's laugh to a tee, and it only made me cry harder. "I assure you, I am very real," said Cian's voice.

"It's not real, it's not real," I repeated to myself over and over again.

"Sloane," said Cian's voice. "Open your eyes, I'm right here."

"You can't be real. I'm losing it and I know it and you're not really here. So leave me alone."

"Oh, Cupcake," he answered. I screamed as cold arms lifted me from the bed and set me back down in a cold lap. "I am here now." I opened my eyes to prove to myself Cian wasn't here and end this torture. When he wasn't there, my mind would hopefully drop this mean attempt to make me feel better and I could go back to miserable. But when I opened my eyes, I wasn't alone in my bedroom. I was looking up at Cian's worried face as he held me to him.

"You're here?" I asked, confused. "Really?"

He kissed my forehead and cleared the tears from my face. "I am."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tightly. I still wasn't completely convinced he was actually here, but this was infinitely better than suffering in silence. If I was going to lose it completely, this is the way I'd want it to happen. "Is everything fixed?" God, I wanted everything to be fixed. I wanted both of my men back, I wanted my life back.

"No, not yet," he said.

I tightened my grip on his neck. He was not going to go anywhere, real or not. "Then why are you here? Don't go."

"I am here because you need me, and I am not going anywhere."

I stayed in his arms for a few moments, enjoying what I was considering at the moment to be a full blown hallucination. "You know what?" I asked. "I don't care if this isn't real. I'm happier than I've been in what feels like months lying here with you."

He laughed. "You still do not believe I'm real?"

I shrugged. "I don't care, which I think solidifies my place in the loony bin."

He pulled my head from its place tucked in his neck so he could look me in the eye. "What convinces you I'm not real? Can you not feel my arms around you?" He kissed my forehead, then my lips. "Do you not feel my lips on yours?"

"This isn't the first time in the last few days I was dreaming I was with you and it felt so real. But every time I wake up, you're not there, and it hurts even more. But this time, I think I've finally lost it. My mind is making you real for me. And I don't care."

"It's time for you to eat," he said as she lifted me off the bed and set me on my feet. "Let's go, to the kitchen."

I wasn't letting him go; I slid my hand into his and held on for dear life as we walked downstairs. Alec was sitting on the couch with the remote in hand. "How you feeling?" he asked.

I glanced at Cian and decided to act like he wasn't standing next to me. Knowing you're losing it is one thing. Letting other people know is a whole other. With a smile, I said, "Yup. Good."

"Good," he said. "You've decided you're going to eat?"

"Yup," I said again. Hesitantly, I let go of Cian's hand to grab a bowl and a box of cereal. He tucked one hand under my sweatpants to let me know he was still there.

"Awesome," Alec said as he turned off the TV and turned. "What's for dinner?"

I glanced back at Cian and smiled again. "Cereal."

Alec looked toward the figment of Cian then back at me. "What's with the sly glances?" he asked.

"She does not believe me to be real," Cian answered.

I glanced at Cian one more time before adding the milk to my cereal and sitting at the table. "Nothing," I answered.

Alec looked at me, then over at where Cian was standing, and then back at me. "Uh huh."

I took my first bite. "Please tell her that you called me because you were worried about her and that you can also see me," Cian said to Alec. I smiled into my cereal.

"You're seriously crazy over there, aren't you?" Alec asked me. I shrugged. "I called Cian because I was worried about you. I can see him."

I smiled again, on the verge of breaking out in giggles. "Maybe you're not real, either?" I asked Alec. "How am I to know?"

Alec looked over toward Cian. "Is she for real?"

"Unfortunately," Cian answered. He lifted me from my chair and settled into it before setting me back in his lap to enjoy my cereal.

I took another bite. "Maybe that's it," I said. "Maybe none of us are real. Maybe I'm really somewhere, dreaming this whole thing up and nothing's real."

"Fuck," Alec said as he looked at Cian.

"Agreed," Cian said. "You should have called me earlier."

.

Cian and I had sent Alec home and retreated upstairs. He'd made love to me before putting me to sleep wrapped in his arms, which would be a perfect end to my hallucination. I was expecting to open my eyes and be alone again in my bedroom, but when I sighed and turned over, Cian was still lying next to me, his phone to his ear. I kissed his chest as he spoke into the receiver in a language I didn't understand. He was arguing with someone. I waited until he hung up to speak. "You're still here."

"Does that mean you believe I am really here in the first place?" he asked.

I smiled and buried my head in his side. "Yea, yea. I feel stupid."

He kissed me. "If I had known, I would have come earlier. David be damned."

I curled in to his side and wrapped my arms around his waist. "I know. I love you too. And thanks for my ring."

"You're most welcome," he said. "I am sorry for being short with you. I feel worse now knowing what you were dealing with."

I shrugged, a touch of my sadness coming back. "I understand. I just wish you were happy, too. I want to fix whatever the problem is, but you don't seem to want to tell me."

Cian reached over me and grabbed the ring on the table, then slid it onto my finger. "I want what all men want: more time with the one they love. I could spend my every waking hour with you and it would not be enough."

I sat up, exposing my bare chest. "I'll give you more time," I pleaded as his hands made their way to my breasts.

"Mmm," he moaned. "How about we start right now?" He lifted me by my hips and lowered me so I was straddling him, dangerously close to his sex. "Let me keep you in bed until the sun rises."

Oh, I felt like an idiot! "The sun!" I gasped as I looked out the bedroom window. "How much time do we have?"

He laughed. "An hour."

"Do you have to go home?" I asked. I tried to make my voice strong and nonchalant, but I ended up just sounding like a whiny little girl.

"I'm not leaving, remember?" He easily lifted me off the bed and carried me down two flights of stairs, into the basement. I'd set up a makeshift dark room in the basement; a small room with a bed and dresser. This room usually creeps me out a touch, but in Cian's arms, it didn't matter. As soon as my back landed on the bed, all I wanted was for him to keep kissing me. And he did.

.

I woke up a little disoriented. I was obviously used to waking up in my bed, and I was getting used to waking up in David's condo and Cian's farm house. But I was not, however, used to waking up in my basement. Naked. I shivered before ripping the sheet from Cian's naked body and wrapping it around my body for the walk upstairs. As soon as I opened the basement door and was faced with the bright sunlight streaming through the window, I cringed. "Oh God dammit," I mumbled as I shaded my eyes. I could not believe I was feeling hung over. I took a deep breath as the corresponding nausea took over.

"How you feeling?" Alec asked with a sly smile in his voice.

"I hate you," I answered. "I hate you and vodka and the sun. Why are you talking so loud?"

He laughed. "Glad to see you're back," he whispered. "Want some eggs?"

The contents of my stomach were making a break for it. "I'm going to be sick," I said as I made my way to the sole downstairs bathroom. I leaned over the sink and tried to gather myself, finally managing to keep everything down. When I finally felt like I could stand on my own two feet without tipping over, Alec was silently laughing behind me. "I'll be downstairs," I said before ambling right back toward the basement stairs.

Alec started laughing harder as he lifted me off the floor. "I'm sorry, I can't stop laughing," he said as he set me down on the couch. "You're just so cranky when you're hung over. But you seriously should eat something. You'll feel better."

I pushed myself right back up to my feet. "Fine," I grumbled. "But I'm doing it downstairs where it's dark and quiet."

Alec silently gave in, letting me make my way back toward the dark basement. I was almost there when the front door opened. "Pony?" Sydney screamed as she walked in the door.

"Fuck me," I said as I grabbed my head. "Do you have to yell?"

She laughed silently before whispering, "sorry."

It was obvious she was going to follow me, so I just kept working my way down towards Cian. "Where have you been?" I asked.

"RJ and Alec's place. I took the dogs and spent the night." The dogs took that opportunity to run in the door and dash past me, down the basement stairs. "Where are you going?"

"To a dark hole to die in peace," I said. "Alcohol is evil."

She laughed again. It seemed I was going to be the house's entertainment for the day. "OK, I'll bring you some toast and Pepsi. You want anything else?"

When I turned the corner and opened the door to where I'd left Cian for the day, the dogs were all ready waiting to be let in. "Advil," I groaned. "And a blanket."

I'd left Cian completely uncovered on the bed in all his nude glory. "Oh, God," Sydney said as she turned a 180. "OK, I'll be back."

I smiled and curled back into his side, hiding my head in his ribcage and covering his most important pieces with the thin sheet. It didn't take long before both Zeus and Lola were on the bed with us. Lola tucked in the crux of my knees because she thinks she's a small dog and Zeus on the other side of Cian, right within petting range. "Hey, big guy," I said as I rubbed his ear. "Sorry I disappeared on you for a while. Can I have a kiss?" He lifted his head and laid a long, wet, slobbery kiss on my cheek before curling back in. "Good boy."


	135. Chapter 135

****Please excuse my many mistakes—I've been left to beta my own chapter this week and it turns out I'm no good at it. If I were a religious woman, I would be praying for my beta as she has knee surgery today, but I'm not, so good thoughts are going to have to do.****

I was in a better mood than I had been all week today. I might have gotten stuck at my desk on campus, fixing a data sheet that I had thought was perfect, but it was OK. The sun was going to set soon and Cian was still at my house, waiting for me to crawl into bed with him. I wasn't as ecstatic as I would have been if I could just cuddle all night with both of my men, but I wasn't drowning in despair. When you're drowning, even a breath of smoke sounds good.

I did miss David horribly, though. Part of me wanted to go see him tonight. The other part, the practical part, was worried about what would happen. What would happen if he refused to see me? Could my still fragile heart take it? How much emotional damage can I take before Cian's gentle touches and light kisses can't fix it anymore? I knew David loved me and would never intentionally hurt me like that, but I still wasn't going to risk it. For the time being, I was going to thank my lucky stars I had Cian to hold me together and not push the issue.

I hadn't noticed the sun had set, most likely because there were no windows in my basement office. When I stopped furiously typing and leaned back, however, I realized I was not alone. "Hello, Sloane," Roberto said as he leaned against the door frame.

I about jumped out of my skin when I heard his voice. "Jesus," I said as I clutched at my chest and turned toward his voice. When I saw him, though, my heart sped into overdrive. Two large men I didn't recognize were standing behind him, both in head-to-toe black. "You scared me," I said as I eyed his muscle.

"_Lo siento_," he said. "I am sorry. Have you been working here all alone for long?"

There was something creepy about his voice, something different. "It's Sunday night," I said, "so yea." I shut my computer and turned my swivel chair to face Roberto. It was a small change, but it made me feel better about the situation. "What are you doing all the way up here?" I asked. I was under the impression Roberto didn't come to Lansing often. He preferred the Motor City.

He nodded to the men behind him, who seemed to just melt away, disappearing into the night. I clutched at the new cell phone I'd picked up this afternoon in my pocket. I couldn't wait until there was a mind-reading cell phone; something where I could send a text to David or Cian for help without looking suspicious. Until someone came out with one of those, though, I'd have to deal with just holding onto it as a safety blanket.

Roberto lowered himself into a chair he set right next to me. He looked disappointed. "I got some troubling news last night," he started. "It seems you have not taken my advice."

Screw the cell phone; I was going to use the bond to get some help in here. _Jesus, David, help me_, I thought at him as hard as I could. "What advice is that?" I asked, my voice staying surprisingly strong.

He tossed a picture of Cian and me sitting at the kitchen table last night, me on his lap as I finished my cereal onto my desk. "You continue to have your affair," he said as he pulled another picture from his pocket. "The affair alone is none of my business, but it seems that David has caught wind of it." He tossed the second picture onto the desk on top of the picture of Cian and me. David was sitting behind Emma in the throne room in the Palace. He looked how I felt last night. His skin was sallow and paler than usual. His hair, which is usually a mess, was remarkably so. There was a desperation in his eyes that I could relate to. I picked up the picture and fingered the space around his cheek as tears came to my eyes. "I give you one night to consider your options. If he is not in a better disposition tomorrow, I will visit again." He patted my hand, the one holding David's picture, and stood. "Have a nice evening, Sloane."

As soon as Roberto was gone, and he was gone in the blink of any eye, my phone started to ring. "So you are accepting calls again, are you?" David asked smartly.

I had so much adrenaline pumping through my already weak system I was starting to shiver. "I don't have time to bicker, David. I'm sorry I haven't been in contact lately. We have a problem."

"Is it immediate?" he asked.

I waited for another massive shiver to work its way down my spine. "Somewhat," I answered.

"If you are not in immediate danger, I'd like to bicker a bit," he said. Without letting me get a word in edgewise, he continued. "I would like to know exactly why you have not been answering my calls for the past five...no, six nights."

I shivered again as I wrapped my arms around my waist to try and hold myself together. "I broke my phone after the last time we talked; I just got a new one today."

"Are you shivering, Sloane?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Hm," he grunted. "How did you break your phone?"

"I threw it against the wall."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because Cian and I had a fight," I answered. "I was sad and angry and I threw it."

"Will you tell me what you fought about?" he asked.

"No," I answered. I was starting to get a bit of an attitude about this game of 20 questions. "You know what? Nevermind. I'll deal with my problems without your help. And when I don't answer the phone this time, it's not because I broke it." I hung up and slammed my phone onto the desk. _He's worse than Eric sometimes_, I thought to myself as I tried to calm myself down. I was never going to be able to drive home if I was shaking this badly.

My phone rang again; David's name came up on the caller ID. Just as I told him I would, I ignored it. I was going to need more time to get over my anger at him. Almost immediately after David called, my phone rang again. This time it was Emma's caller ID. I couldn't decide if I wanted to answer it or not. Chances were it was just David, but on the off chance it was actually Emma…I should answer it. I waffled back and forth for so long that the call went to voicemail. After a few more deep, calming breaths, I decided to listen to the voicemail that was left by Emma's phone.

"Sloane, dear, it's me," Emma said. "I know he can be a pain sometimes, but he loves you. Please call me."

I got control of the last of the shivers before dialing Emma's number. "Hello, dear," she answered.

"Hi Emma," I said.

"How are you? We all miss you here at the Palace."

"I'm better than yesterday," I answered. "And I miss you too."

"That's good," she answered. "David said you had a problem but would not tell him. Is there something I can help you with?"

I let out one gaffaw. "Ha! He said I wouldn't tell him? He's so full of shit, no wonder his hair's brown."

"What happened then, dear?"

"He wanted to play 20 questions about my relationship with Cian more than he wanted to know what I was worried about. As far as I'm concerned, he can just wonder on both counts."

"Ah," she said into the receiver. There were a few seconds of mumbling before she spoke again. "He wants to know what you and Cian had fought about."

"Nope," I answered. "You can just tell him that I'm not discussing that with him and I'm definitely discussing Cian and me through his sister. Goodbye, Emma."

"Wait," she said. "One more question. This one is from me. Are you truly alright, dear? I've heard rumors you didn't leave your lab for five days straight and you are barely eating. Is that true?"

"Yea," I answered. "So? And where do you hear a rumor like that?"

"I have my sources," she said. "I am here to talk, if need be. You can always call me."

"Thanks, Em," I said. "Bye."

"Goodnight, Sloane," she answered before I hung up the phone. I took one more deep breath before heading home. If David wasn't going to be much help, maybe Cian could lend some insight.

.

Cian had moved from the light tight room in the basement to my bedroom, but that was about all. He was still ass naked as he lounged. "We both smell like dog," he said as I walked into the room. "Care to shower with me?"

I rolled my eyes as I toed off my shoes and stripped off my jeans. "I have a few things I want to ask you first."

He propped himself up so he was leaning against the headboard and beckoned me toward him. "Ask away," he said as he tucked me under one arm. "Wait, first: how are you tonight, Sloane? You look a touch paler than usual. Have you not eaten?"

I shrugged. "I'm fine, I guess. I called David today and we just fought. So maybe I'm a little angry."

He kissed my temple. "I am sorry to hear that. Now you may ask away."

"So, hypothetically," I started. "Let's say a state's king or queen had a…confidant." I started.

"Like a girlfriend?" Cian asked, immediately picking up on who and what we were talking about.

"Yea, something like that," I answered. "And say one of his or her sheriffs thought that the confidant was doing something that was going to hurt the king or queen. What would the sheriff do?"

"Hard to tell," Cian said. "There are many factors to consider. May I assume this confidant is a girlfriend or boyfriend?"

"Yes," I answered.

"And this girlfriend or boyfriend means no bodily harm to the king or queen, only emotional pain or monetary loss?"

"Yea, according to the sheriff."

Cian considered my question for a few moments before answering. "If I were a sheriff in that position, I would have two options. I could let it happen and exact revenge, or I could try and persuade the confidant not to do whatever it is that they were going to do."

"Persuade, how?" I asked.

"Money or bodily harm are the only things that come to mind," he answered. "Is there going to be a point in this hypothetical conversation where we drop the hypothetical part and you tell me what's wrong?"

I blushed a bit and told him about my visit from Roberto tonight. "I have no idea what to do."

Cian thought about it again, his face falling into a concerned scowl. "I believe he knows you well enough not to offer money. I also don't think he'll come after you. He has to know that if he hurts you, David will kill him. In fact, you should tell David about this conversation. Perhaps David can talk to him."

I shook my head and mumbled, "Tried that, didn't get far."

"You could try to see what Roberto would do."

I was about to shake my head no again when I thought about it. With Cian here, what's the worst that could happen? Famous last words, though.

I just bit the bullet and did it. "OK," I said as I pushed away from him and straightened my spine. I took a few deep, calming breaths to center myself before I closed my eyes and let my barriers slide away. The first vision I got was too far into the future and incredibly off topic. Sydney and I were sitting in her room, assembling something made of wood. I couldn't tell what it was going to be, but it was going to be white and there were pieced strewn everywhere. I swept that vision away, just to be pulled into another off topic vision. Alec was standing just inside the door to Meijer, the local grocery store chain, trying desperately not to look like he was having a major panic attack. His knuckles were white as he gripped the shopping cart, anxiously looking up and down the aisles.

I shook that vision away, and the next, and the next, until I was getting too tired to focus. "I'm not getting anything," I said as I slumped back into Cian's side. "Maybe the future's not clear yet, maybe he hasn't decided what he's going to do."

Cian gathered me into his arms and shifted me until I was sitting in his lap, my ear pressed against his collarbone. "I will call David," he said. "I will explain what you've told me and he and I will fix this."

I would have fought him more on that, but I was feeling darkness pull at me. Calling visions is hard work, and that exercise had exhausted me. "No, you can't," I said into his chest. "Then he'll know you've been here when he told you not to and he'll punish you."

"I will take the punishment to ensure your safety, Sloane," he said into my hair.

I shook my head, more firmly this time. "No. I need you right now. If you tell him you came to see me, he'll make you stop one way or another, and then you'll break your promise. I don't think I'll be able to take it."

He let out a long, frustrated sigh. "Then what do I do to protect you?"

"This," I said as I settled into his arms. It was a matter of minutes before I was asleep again.

.

I almost slept all the way through the night, only one vision interrupting what would otherwise have been nine straight hours of sleep. When I woke up, Cian had dressed me in his shirt and tucked a small note into my hand.

_I have to teach tonight. Meet me in my office just after the sun sets.  
Be careful._

"Pony," I heard Sydney call up the stairs. "Are you decent?"

I groaned and rolled onto my back. "Mostly," I called back to her.

Alec was the one that opened the door, though, carrying a tray full of food. "So I don't know what you said to David last night, but he got the message loud and clear. He told me, 'be extra nice to her today, and tell her I love her,'" he said in an over exaggerated Irish accent.

I sat up and looked at the spread on the tray, if that would ever pass for a spread. The only things on the tray were a 20 ounce Pepsi and a donut. At least I took the Pepsi. "He can be a fucking bastard sometimes, you know that?"

He nodded. "I'll tell him you said that. So does this count as 'extra nice'?"

"Sure," I answered. "What's on your docket for today?"

"Babysitting," he said as he nodded to me. I scowled. "What's on yours?"

"Getting you to stop babysitting me."

"Not possible," he answered. He was so cocky about it, too. I leered at him.

"Hey, Syd," I called down the stairs. "What are you doing today?"

She must not have been downstairs, because in the matter of a second she peeked her head around the door frame. "Nothing," she answered. "Babysitting for the Handels tonight, though."

"Girl's day?" I asked as I glared at Alec. "Mani/pedis, then some shopping?"

"Oh hell no," Alec said. "I'm out, you win."

"And I'm in," Sydney said.

.

It was good to spend the day with Sydney again. I forgot what it felt like when it was just the two of us, before life got so complicated. It was good timing, too. She really needed to talk. Apparently, she and RJ were moving faster than she had planned. "He's so comfortable to me," she'd said.

"And that scares you because…" I'd replied.

She smiled and looked down at her nails in progress. "I guess you're right," she'd said.

Now I was getting ready to go to campus. Alec had told me in no uncertain terms that I was to call him the second that Sydney and I got home and he was to go everywhere I went tonight. He'd be mad, but I was going to claim forgetfulness. I really didn't want my time with Cian to be chaperoned. Sure, I knew Roberto's deadline was fast approaching, but my plan was to be safe in Cian's office well before the sun fully set. Cian had said that he wouldn't come after me, either. It hadn't taken me long to talk myself into going alone. Still, when I left the house, I had my spidey senses ramped up to high.

I'd parked in my usual spot and hurried towards the glass door. I didn't need my access card just yet; the main buildings didn't lock up for the night until midnight during the week. As soon as I put my hand on the door pull, though, I wished the doors were locked. "Ma'am," said a deep voice from behind me.

_Shit_, I'd thought as I turned slowly. The two massive men that had backed up Roberto last night were both standing behind me. "Yea?" I asked as I glanced at the position of the sun. Half an hour at least until the sun set.

"Come with us, please," said the other monstrous guy.

I pulled the door open. "Sorry guys, but I gotta get into lab. Come back in a couple of hours."

One massive hand appeared on my upper arm. "Now, Ma'am."

"Take your hands off me," I said strongly. I got no response, and not surprisingly, he didn't take his hand off me. So I punched him in the gut and kneed him in the balls before turning on my heels and sprinting in the opposite direction.

I glanced back; both of them were following me, but one was obviously in more pain than the other as he ran in a crouched position. Their size was working to my advantage: Roberto hadn't picked them because they were fast. I rounded the corner of the building and took off down Wilson Road just as one of the last afternoon classes of the day let out. Masses upon masses of students flooded out of the nearest door, making what used to be a serene, quiet street a flurry of activity. I spotted a group of rather tall guys and slid in front of them as they walked, using them as a human shield from my attackers. By the time the massive men rounded the building, I was all but gone.

I thought I'd gotten away as I slid in the back door of the biochemistry building. I was still wheezing from running so I stopped to lean against the carpeted wall at the exact same time as the two massive men opened the door at the opposite end of the corridor. I froze, hoping they wouldn't see me, but I wasn't so lucky. They took off toward me in a full sprint. In the split second it took me to get back steady on my feet, I made a quick decision. I was going up.

I sprinted up the stairs as fast as I could, taking two at a time until I hit the third floor. Now all I had to do was make it across the long hallway to the footbridge between this building and the one the housed my lab, down a flight of stairs, and into my lab, where the door locked on command. I was wheezing hard, but I didn't have time to stop and take a breath. I bolted across the hallway, but before I could make it through the footbridge and into my building, the two massive men emerged from the closest stairwell. The one I had fought barreled into me, slamming my back against the opposite wall like a linebacker. My chest seized, my heart stopped. Everything faded away.

.

"You were not to hurt her," said Roberto's familiar voice. "She was to be untouched, remember?"

"She ran," said one deep voice. "We did what was necessary to stop her."

"Then why is she unconscious?" Roberto asked. When his question was met with silence, I decided to open my eyes. "Sloane, are you alright?" Roberto asked, one hand held to my forehead. I was sure he did it because he'd seen so many humans do it when they didn't feel good. He couldn't have actually been feeling for a fever. I'd just feel hot to him anyway.

I took in my surroundings before I answered. I was in the very back seat of a minivan, lying painfully on my side. My whole chest hurt, but my left side hurt more than the rest. "It hurts to breathe," I whispered. "I think I have broken ribs."

"I am sorry, Sloane. They weren't to touch you."

I tried to sit up, but I couldn't quite manage it. It wasn't until I tried to move them that I noticed my legs weren't there anymore. At least, they didn't feel there. "Someone else told me that once," I said as I gave up. Roberto immediately helped me into the sitting position, his touch careful and caring.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Filipe DeCastro," I answered.

The two slabs of muscle didn't seem to get the reference, but Roberto did. He cringed. "I assure you I am nothing like him. I just want to talk. When we're done, you can go."

"Uh huh," I answered as I tried to quell the pain in my side. "Then talk."

"Have you patched things up with my King?" he asked.

"There's nothing to patch," I said. It was sad that I knew this, but this pain didn't feel like your average broken ribs pain. It was sharper and deeper at the same time. "We're fine."

"Then why have you not seen him in a week? You won't answer his calls."

I was starting to feel a little nauseous, which was not helping. "I broke my phone," I answered, still in a whisper. "Take me to a doctor."

"In due time," he replied. "You didn't bother to get a new one?"

I leaned against the window of the van and whimpered silently. "Not until yesterday. I understand what you're doing for him, but you are way out of line. There are things here above your pay grade."

"Then explain to me these things I don't know."

"Take me to a hospital," I tried again.

One of the pieces of muscle spoke up; the one that barreled me into the wall. "Boss, she don't look so good. Maybe we should get her a doctor."

"In due time," he responded again.

I smiled morosely. "You're more like Filipe than you think."

I closed my eyes to help deal with the pain. Less external stimulus seems to help me focus on packing all the pain away. I was taking fast, light breaths, trying to breathe without jarring any ribs. My chest and stomach felt heavy and sore, even when I didn't move. When I finally threw up, it tasted metallic.

Roberto wiped the blood from my lips as I screamed internally in pain. Externally, I just slumped, trying not to show how much pain I was in. "One more question, my Queen. One more question and I will take you wherever you want to go. What is it that is above my pay grade, as you say?"

I didn't answer, I didn't move. I just laid there trying to breathe as little as possible. "Boss," one of the massive men said in protest. "Humans aren't supposed to puke up blood."

I coughed and more blood made a run for it. I was silently screaming for David, but I was getting no response. It was like beating a brick wall. If it was answers he wanted, then I guess I had no choice but to try and give them to him. "We're lovers," I whispered so low I wasn't sure it actually made a noise.

"Lovers?" he asked. "You and who?"

"Me, David, Cian."

He gasped as if he got how very wrong he'd gone. "Drive," Roberto commanded.

"Where to?" asked a voice that seemed to be getting farther away.

"The nearest hospital," Roberto answered. I felt cool skin appear on my cheek as Roberto tilted my head toward him. "Why did you not tell me yesterday? Or, for that matter, at the Halloween Gala?"

"Not supposed to tell," I managed to say before I let go of the pain.

.

I was somewhat aware of being picked up, followed by a chorus of loud voices. When my surroundings finally calmed back down, I cracked open my eyelids. Dr Lupe was standing over me in a white coat. "I hope Emma forgives me for treating you while she is on her way." I coughed in response, sending droplets of red up into the air. "I need you to answer a few questions for me, OK?" he asked as he slid a finger into my hand. "Squeeze my hand if it hurts, OK?" I squeezed lightly in response. "Good." He started probing at my shoulder, working his gloved fingers down my torso. I started to squeeze as soon as he hit my ribcage. "This whole side here?" he asked. I squeezed gently again. He switched to my right side. "Anything over here?" Since I didn't know how to convey a shrug without killing myself, I didn't move. "OK," he said. "How about down here. Does this hurt?" I couldn't for the life of me tell what he was doing. "Sloane, can you move your toes for me? Wiggle your toes." I tried, but by the look on his face, I hadn't done as he asked. He let out a long sigh. "OK, Sloane. You're doing great. I'm going to go grab something for the pain and I'll be back in a second."

I closed my eyes while I waited. I had no intentions of passing out, but I when I opened my eyes, Dr. Lupe was standing over me again. This time he was talking to someone that wasn't me. "…spinal damage," he finished as he looked down at me. "Hey, how's the pain?"

I could actually kind of breathe, but that could have just as easily been because of the tubes in my nose. "Better," I answered.

"Good. Does this hurt at all?" he asked as he pressed down on my abdomen just above my belly button.

"It feels heavy," I replied.

He checked his watch before looking down at me again. "OK, Sloane, we're going to prep you for surgery. Don't worry, everything's going to be fine."

"Did you call Cian? David?" I asked as he injected something into a bag hanging over my head.

"No, just Emma. Is there someone you want here when you wake up?"

All I could do was nod as the drugs took me.

.

I woke up to two cold hands, each wrapped around one of my own. "How could you let her just deteriorate?" asked Cian's smooth, British inflection. He was beyond royally pissed at this point if his voice was any indication. "The wolf thought it had gotten bad enough and called me. I'm glad he did." The hand around mine flinched, causing my knuckles to grind together.

"I had no idea she had gotten so bad," David said. "I was trying so hard to block my own misery from seeping over into her mind, that I must have blocked her misery from mine, as well."

There was a moment of silence before Cian spoke again, this time calmer. "The wolf thought you just didn't care enough to come see her."

"That's absurd," David replied. "I fought with myself every night to go see her."

I coughed before I spoke. "He has a name. You vampires and names…" When I opened my eyes, I had both of their attention. "I missed you," I whispered to David.

He kissed my hand, then my arm, all the way up to my lips. "This is what you tried to tell me," he replied. "I should have listened."

"I should have made you listen," I answered. I coughed again, sending pain across my chest. I would have grabbed at the site of the pain, but both of my hands were already occupied. "How are you both here?"

"Spell," Cian answered.

I was about to explain to them how spells are a stupid idea for the umpteenth time when I noticed the IV streaming from Cian's arm. Inside the clear tubing was blood red. "What is that?" I asked as I nodded to it.

Cian didn't answer me; instead he just smiled down at me. "How do you feel?"

"Suspicious," I answered with a raise eyebrow. I wasn't drugged enough to make me miss that obvious blow off. Both David and Cian laughed in relief as Cian lifted his arm. The red tubing that was running from his arm ran into the IV inserted in mine. I quickly glanced away, but I picked the wrong to focus on. David had a similar tube running from his arm. "What are you two doing?" I said as I shut my eyes.

"Healing you," they said in almost unison. David had broken his cardinal rule. He let someone else give me their blood. I must be in bad shape if he was sharing.

"More like trying to make me uncomfortable," I replied, trying to lighten the mood.

I was breathing deeply when I heard the door open. "OK, boys," said Emma's voice. "That's enough blood. Has she woken yet?"

"I'm awake," I answered.

"Good," she answered. "Well, Sloane, you are well on your way to becoming the bionic woman." She tossed a long piece of silver-colored metal onto my lap. It looked like a thin bolt. "You now have one of those in your back to stabilize the three vertebrae that were pushed out of alignment. I also repaired the damage to your spleen from a shattered rib." She lifted a chart from the end of my bed and glanced over the front few pages. "Alright, boys. Give us some doctor-patient time. Out."

Both Cian and David pulled the IVs from their arms, kissed me, and left the room. "What's up?" I said as I pushed myself up into a sitting position.

Emma dropped the chart back into the metal holder and stripped off her lab coat, signaling her switch from doctor to friend. "I missed you," she said as she lifted me gently, pushing me to the side of the bed so she could join me.

"Missed you too," I answered. "What have you been up to?"

"Holding David together, mostly," she answered. "He missed you so much."

"I missed him too," I replied. "I missed both of them. You know Cian came over to see me? I didn't think he was real," I said with a giggle.

"Why not?" Emma asked.

I shrugged. "I thought I was losing it. I think it was just easier for me to cope with him not being real at that time."

She smiled, but it was her I'm-hiding-something smile. "We need to figure out what is going on with you three," she said. "This obsession the three of your share is not normal for vampire-human relationships."

"What is it normal for?" I asked.

"I am not sure," she answered. "It reminds me off a drug addict going into withdrawal. If only we could figure out a way to detox the three of you without having you spiral like you have been, we may be able to cure this." She popped off the bed and onto her feet with abnormal grace. "Try and swing your legs over the bed, I want to feel your back." I followed directions, and with a little help from Emma to transfer my weight to my feet, I was standing in no time. "The alignment feels good," she said as she probed my lower back. "Here, give me your hand."

I folded my arm around to my back. She grabbed it and ran my fingers down my back. "Do you feel that?" she asked. I did feel a light bump protruding from my spine. "That's the end of the bolt. I want you to keep an eye on that and let me know if you feel any swelling or if you have any numbness or pain in your legs." She helped me back up on the bed so my legs were dangling over the edge. "You are probably also going to have some pain in your back, especially when standing or walking for long periods of time. We will start with Motrin to begin with, but I could have Patrick prescribe something if that is not strong enough, OK?"

"Yea," I answered, letting her know I was listening. She knew how I felt about stronger drugs, though.

"Good," she said before squeezing my hand and sliding her coat back on. "I will call David back in; I think you two need some time together."


	136. Chapter 136

**EPILOGUE:**

By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, Emma had given me the green light to drive again, which was kind of the last milestone of my recovery. The last true milestone to my recovery would to be pain free, but I doubted I was going to get all the way there. There would always be a small but manageable twang in my back when I stood for too long or tried to lift something wrong.

"Hey Mike," I said as I rolled down my window to greet the guard standing in the cold outside the O'Hara's complex. "Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow."

"I'll be working," he said with a slight nod.

I frowned at him. "On Thanksgiving?" I asked. "It's a national holiday."

"I'm Canadian," he responded.

I didn't entirely understand his logic—he may be Canadian, but did he not live and work in the US? Maybe he thought celebrating two Thanksgivings was cheating—the Canadians celebrate their Thanksgiving somewhere in October. Regardless, I let it go with a strained smile and a nod and parked in my spot outside the house. Someone had jokingly (or possibly not-so-jokingly) put up a 'reserved for Sloane McIntosh' sign in front of the closest parking spot to the door. It reminded me a little too much of a handicapped parking sign, which didn't thrill me. I'm not knocking the handicapped, it's just…I don't fall into that category. I am perfectly capable.

Idi and Idriis were both standing just inside the front door when I left myself in, but they were not in their usual stance. They were almost huddled together, talking about something in tones so low, the only thing that told me they were talking was the fact their lips were moving. "Hey guys," I said as I struggled to hang up my coat in the closet. I think a six foot tall man designed this house, because everything was high off the ground.

"Let me get that for you," Idriis said as he took my coat from me. "How are you?" That was quite possibly the longest sentence I'd heard from him in…ever. He was the quiet twin, and that was saying something.

I tried not to gape before answering. "Good. I drove here all by myself." It sounded stupid, but it was a major accomplishment.

"Did Queen O'Hara give you permission?" asked Idi, a worried tone in his voice.

"Yes, Dad," I said with a smile. I gave each massive ebony vampire a short hug before making my way towards the stairs. "I'll let you two get on with your conspiring."

Stairs were still slightly daunting to me, but that was my little secret. By the time I hit the 13th and final step, I was more pulling myself up by the handrail then I was using my leg muscles to actually push myself up. I wanted more than anything to take a quick rest at the top of the stairs and support my back for a second, but I could feel Idi's and Idriis' eyes on me. They would definitely tell Emma if I did anything like that. So as soon as I reached the top of the stairs, I kept on moving, walking right into David's office. "Hi," I said as I plopped myself on the ornate leather fainting couch in the corner. Now I could baby my back for a minute.

"Hello, Love," he said. "One moment."

"Sure," I answered. "Why am I here?" Not that it was unusual for me to be hanging around David's second home, but it was Cian's night and David had still asked me to come over to 'see something'.

David finished whatever it was he was writing, filed it away for later use, and came to sit with me. "Because I wanted to show you something before Cian got here."

"Cian's coming?" I asked as I cuddled into him and took a deep breath. Emma's description had been right; I am like a drug addict with David and Cian. When I'm with them, I'm whole. During the day, I'm just counting down the hours until I can be with them again.

He seemed to have the same reaction to me. His body relaxed, his breathing (something he did automatically around me now) slowed. "He will be. But first, I have someone who wants to see you. Brace yourself, Sloane, it is not a pretty sight." I looked up at him, my curiosity showing on my face. Instead of answer the silent question, he flipped me onto his back like a monkey and carried me downstairs. All the way downstairs. Memories of this dungeon basement sent a shiver down my spine. "Ready?" he asked as he stood just outside the doorway to the silver-lined cages.

"Why the hell are we down here?" I asked.

He took that as a yes. When he opened the door, the first thing that hit me was the smell. It smelled ripe, with strong overtones of metallic blood and burning flesh. My heart flipped into overdrive. "David…" I warned.

He set me down and turned me towards a specific cell. I didn't even recognize the mass slumped in the corner as human-shaped until it moved, the whites of its eyes flashing upwards towards me. I froze where I was in horror. The figure didn't register as a vampire until it opened its mouth, long white fangs gleaming in the light from the hallway. "My Queen," it said. It was Roberto's voice for sure, but I couldn't believe in my mind that the mass in the corner of the silver-lined cell was Roberto. David wasn't that much of an asshole.

Roberto must have been able to see my growing anger at David. "Do not be angry at him," Roberto said in a raspy voice. "I deserve much worse for what I have done to you."

I didn't want to look at David right now. Deserved or not, no one does this to one of their friends because they made a mistake. Instead, with teeth grinding, I held one hand out to my side. "Keys," I demanded. When they didn't appear, I screamed, "Keys!"

David handed me the keys and backed away, letting me open the door to Roberto's cage. "Not too close, My Queen," he said as he backed away. "I am very thirsty."

"David," I said again, half a warning and half a demand. "TrueBlood, now." He was gone before I finished my command.

When it was just me and Roberto, I settled into my knees next to him. "Stop calling me Queen, for Christ's sake," I said.

"But you are my Queen and, what's more, you are acting like it," he said as I unlocked the chains around his wrists and ankles. I shivered again as I remembered Cian doing the same thing for me at one point.

"How so?" I asked. "Can you stand, or do you need help?"

"Your compassion for your subjects," he said, ignoring my second question. "I nearly killed you, yet it pains you to see me punished for what I did. And trust me, this punishment is mild compared to what would have happened if My King didn't rightfully fear your reaction."

"No one deserves this," I mumbled as I helped him to his feet, something my back protested against loudly. With one of my arms around his waist and one of his arms around my shoulders, I managed to get him away from the silver and to the steps out of here. But that's as far as I could get him. I practically dropped him onto the bottom step before my back completely gave out. "David said you wanted to see me. Why?"

"I needed to know firsthand that you were alive and well," he replied.

I heard the door at the top of the stairs open. Almost instantly, both David and Cian were standing between me and Roberto. "Does your back hurt?" Cian whispered as David opened TrueBloods for Roberto.

"No," I replied. "I'm fine." It was a bold-faced lie, but I was done with Emma's poking and prodding.

Cian wasn't having my lie, which was good because there was no way I was climbing those stairs anytime soon. He swung me onto his back much the same way David had earlier. They'd gotten pretty used to carrying me around; the only way Emma was going to let me get out of the hospital is if I stayed off my feet at all times for two weeks. I begrudgingly complied, but it seemed carrying me around had become second nature to not only David and Cian, but Alec, Moose, Sydney, and RJ as well. They still forgot I could walk sometimes and automatically lifted me from the floor as soon as they saw me up and about. "I'm taking her upstairs."

"No," I said quickly. "Not until I know Roberto's OK."

"I will recover quickly," Roberto answered. "It is obvious you are in pain, go."

Cian didn't wait for me to protest before he climbed the stairs all the way up to the third floor, where there were several couches and a large TV. "Do not move," he said as he laid me on my stomach. "I will be back." I followed directions and in a matter of seconds, he returned with a bottle of Motrin and a bottle of water.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Cian before taking the pills.

"I am here to talk options," he said. "As are you, I suppose."

"Options?" I asked.

"This arrangement as it stands…it doesn't work."

My head immediately went to the short fight Cian and I had just after Halloween about him being unhappy. My heart ramped into overdrive. "You're going to dump me? In front of David?"

"What?" he asked, obviously struggling to understand where I was coming from. "What? No, of course not. Why would you think that?"

"The arrangement between the three of us?" I asked. "Are you still unhappy?"

He laughed before straddling my butt and massaging my back. "No, no, not that arrangement," he said. "The side effect of your blood. We cannot keep on with the nightly spells. They are starting to wear off faster and faster. We need to figure something else out before we have to institute another no-contact rule."

The thought of no contact again sent a shiver of dread down my sore spine. "We better fix this," I replied. "Have you two come up with anything?"

"Not much," he answered as he pushed himself off my back and helped me into a sitting position. He laid in almost the exact spot on the couch I'd been in and placed his head in my lap.

"What about Niall? Have you asked Marnie?" I couldn't help but to start wrapping his dreads around my fingers and braiding them. They're more fun to play with then you'd expect. And it seemed to me that they were getting longer. Although I was under the impression that vampire hair didn't grow…but maybe that was wrong.

I was about to ask Cian about it when David and Roberto came in, Roberto moving mighty slowly, but looking all together better. There was a touch of color in his cheeks and he'd showered. He still had what looked like burn marks on his wrists, though. I glared at David just long enough to let him know he was in the serious doghouse. "Sorry, again," I said to Roberto as he lowered himself into one of the leather chairs.

"No need to apologize," he replied. "My King tells me the three of you have a problem?"

"He has lived in Michigan since before it was Michigan. He may know someone locally that may be able to help," David explained.

"OK," I said, giving David the floor. He was standing behind me, so instead of craning my neck to look at him as he spoke, I looked down at Cian. He smiled up at me with a fangy wink.

"I spared your life, and in return I expect the information you learn in this room not to leave it," David started.

"Of course, my King," Roberto said with a slight bow.

Apparently that was the right answer. "There is no doubt that you know Sloane is somehow different by now," David continued while subconsciously placing his hand on my neck. "We believe that what makes her special is carried in the blood."

"And I assume the two of you," Roberto said as he nodded to David and Cian, "consume large amounts of that blood?"

"We do," David replied. "There are side effects that neither Cian nor I have ever come across before. We believe the solution is magical, but we are unable to find a witch with enough power to relieve the side effects for any amount of time."

Roberto sighed and leaned back into his chair. "I am no witch, my King," Roberto said. "I fear I may be unqualified to comment. Can you describe the 'side effect'?"

David grip on my shoulder was getting stronger and stronger as his grip on himself melted away. "We're getting pretty close to a demonstration," I said as I pushed Cian's head out of my lap and hurried over to behind Roberto. "Idi," I called loudly.

Idi appeared almost instantly, Idriis behind him. "I am fine now," David said as he shook out his shoulders. "Please stay away from Sloane."

Roberto glanced at me now cowering behind him, then back to David. "May I assume the side effect you speak of…is it quite violent?"

"Unfortunately," Cian answered as he sat up. "Perhaps I should go for now."

"No," David said. "It is your night. I will go."

"Wait, you two," I said as I turned my attention to Idi. "Are you up for a demonstration?" He nodded, as did Idriis.

"Sloane, no," David said. "I cannot do that to you again."

"I've got three vampires here to protect me, assuming Roberto would help," I said.

"Of course, my Queen," Roberto agreed.

I shot him a look about the queen thing before turning back to David. "I'll be fine. Ready?" I glanced at both David and Cian, both giving me identical looks. Neither of them liked this idea, but there wasn't much they could do to stop it. "Who wants to be my trigger?"

"I will," Roberto answered. "What do I do?"

"Sit there," I said, telling him to stay put. "Ready?" I asked again. If I had been the psychologist in the room, I might have accused myself of procrastinating. He nodded yes. "Keep an eye on them." Both Idi and Idriis circled the room, each of them taking up residence within an arm's-reach of one of my men. Without any more warning, I sat down on Roberto's lap.

David lost it first, his eyes turning blood red and his lips curling into a snarl. Long, white fangs gleamed in the artificial light. "Mine," he whispered as he tried to bolt for me. Idi caught him before he could make any progress, though. Even though I trusted Idi to keep David at bay, I jumped, which caused Roberto to automatically stand and pull me behind him.

That seemed to be the only trigger that Cian needed. "Mine!" he yelled. In no time, I had two vampires snarling at me, blood red eyes fixated on my neck.

"I see," Roberto said as he kept me tucked behind him. "If they had their way, what would they do? How would this end?"

"They'd bite me. They seem to notice when they're about to kill me, though. It snaps them out of it." I stepped out from behind Roberto and slowly approached Cian. I don't know why I refused to make any sudden movements, but it seemed to be the right move to me. "Hey, sweetheart," I said as I got close to Cian. I got a snarl in response. "I'm sorry, but come back to me. Calm down." I touched his arm, held his face, but he wasn't coming back to me. "Cian, drop this," I said, this time with more strength in my voice. "Dammit," I said as I abandoned Cian and went to David. "Hey honey," I said as I grabbed his hand. He snarled down at me, the only thing keeping him from my neck was Idi's tight grip. "Come on, snap out of it. I'm all yours." I placed one hand on his cheek, which put my wrist dangerously close to his fangs, and he knew it too. I just barely pulled away fast enough to keep him from sinking them into me. "Dammit," I said again.

"What seems to be the problem?" Roberto asked.

"I can't snap them out of it," I said. "They aren't listening."

Idi spoke while struggling to hold David steady. "Give them blood." I looked up at Idi's serious face and based on the silence from Roberto behind me, he was equally stunned. "It is the only thing that we can be sure will stop this. Give them your wrist and I will stop them from taking too much."

I knew that if I thought about it, I'd chicken out. So instead, I just shoved my wrists in front of David's and Cian's mouths at the same. I yelped as the two of them bit at the same time. "Fuck, that hurt," I said as they continued to pull from my veins. I lasted a few more moments before my knees got rubbery and my head felt light. "OK," I said. "Enough." When Idi and Idriis didn't start immediately pulling David and Cian off me, I repeated myself. "That's enough."

By the time they'd managed to free me from Cian's and David's fangs without ripping my wrists to pieces, I felt like I was floating. "Here, sit," Roberto said as he looped one arm around my waist. I could feel the blood streaming down my hands and dripping from my fingers, but there was no way in hell I was going to look down and survey the damage. I was light headed enough.

Cian was the first to break out of his funk as Roberto was holding hand towels from the attached bathroom to each of my wrists. "Bad idea, Cupcake," he said as he licked his lips clean. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said as I smiled up at him. "Is there water in the fridge?"

Roberto hopped to his feet and hurried to the small fridge that had been installed in the corner of the media room. "Let me see this," Cian said as he unwrapped one wrist. "That's no to the dancing tonight, then?" he asked before licking it clean.

I laughed. "It's the day before a national holiday. Where are we going dancing?"

"In your bedroom," he leered suggestively.

I didn't even notice when David snapped out of his funk; I was concentrating on not looking at what Cian was doing. "Is she alright?" David asked.

"I'm fine you worry warts," I replied as Roberto handed me a bottled water. "Did that help, Roberto?"

He nodded slowly. "It reminds me of when I was a human, a boy. Many of the village elders smoked the dried leaves of this plant; an opiate, I believe. One year, there was a terrible drought. The entire crop of this plant was decimated except for one sole stalk. When the elders ran out of dried leaves, they reverted to soulless monsters dead set on protecting their store. The look in your eyes," he said to David, "that was the same look."

"You're saying they're addicted to me?" I asked as I settled into the leather chair. I was suddenly ready for a nap.

"That is an apt description," he replied. "Although I cannot comment to why or how this has happened. I have never seen anything like it."

"Do you know of anyone who may be able to help?" David asked.

"Locally?" he replied. "No."

I tried to suppress a shiver before speaking, but I did a horrible job at it. "Anyone not so local?" I asked after my body stopped shaking. David grabbed one of the many blankets from the back of the leather couch and tucked it over my shoulders. "You're still in the doghouse, mister," I whispered.

He smiled down at me. "Yes, my Queen," he replied sincerely with a small bow. He jumped out of my reach before I could smack him.

"Have you contacted the Ancient Pythoness?" Roberto asked.

He was looking at me when he asked, but I had no idea what he was talking about. I shrugged. "We have not. If at all possible, I would like to avoid her lair," David answered.

I shivered again, but it was hidden by the layers of blanket David had laid over me. I wanted to ask who that was, but I just ended up yawning again. "Probably wise, my King. Even if you could get an audience, there is no guarantee she would be inclined to help." I was not needed for this conversation. I closed my eyes as I yawned again. "Perhaps the Fae could provide the magic?"

Wrong question to ask in front of me, apparently. David switched the conversation into what I could only assume was Spanish. How could he assume I don't speak Spanish? It only took a few minutes of their soft voices to lull me into that pre-sleep state, where everything is far away, even your own breathing.

Cian was the first one to revert back to English. "Shh, she is asleep," he said in a whisper. "I will take her home while you make contact." Cian lifted me from the couch, letting cool air under the blanket. I shivered; he held me tighter. "Please call me when you hear."

I waited until I felt the cold air of a fast approaching Michigan winter on my cheeks before I spoke. "I'm not asleep," I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"In that case," he said as tossed me lightly in the air, catching me so my legs were straddled around him. I moaned as he kissed a trail up my neck and by the time he made it to my lips, I was oh so ready to reciprocate. I nibbled on his lip as he leaned me gently against the hood of my own car and pressed his hard body into mine. Something was growing very hard and, at its current location, where it was pulsing against me, ramping my heart rate into the stratosphere.

My body chose that exact moment to initiate a full-body shiver, which with him pressed against me from shoulder to hip, felt fantastic, especially down below. But it also served to knock him out of his delicious mood and back into protector mode. "Inside," he said as he opened the passenger door to my own car and set me down in it.

I pouted. "But I wasn't done with you."

Cian slid into the driver's seat almost immediately after shutting my door. "And I am not done with you, either," he said as he turned on the car. "In fact, I'm just beginning."

I unwrapped the blanket that was still tucked around my shoulders, unbuckled the seatbelt that Cian had fastened, pushed myself over the shifter, and settled right back where I had been: straddling Cian. "I'm not the patient type," I whispered in his ear just before biting his earlobe hard enough to sting. He hissed appreciatively.

I still had my jeans on and he still had his black dress pants on, but when he bucked into me so his hard member rubbed against my soft spot just right, it felt just like he'd entered me. I screamed in pleasure. "Neither am I," he added. He flipped the two of us into the passenger seat and reclined it all the way back until I was practically lying down beneath him. "And you are quickly wearing away what little patience and control I have."

I don't know how he got my jeans and my panties off me so fast, especially while he was using one hand to hold my mangled wrists above my head, but in the blink of an eye, my lower half was completely bare. "I hope this is what you wanted," he hissed into my ear as he ripped my legs open and entered me. "Because it is what you are getting."

I threw my head back to scream again, but he clamped his free hand over my mouth, silencing me. "Quiet," he said as he turned my head to the side, presenting my neck to him. He was pumping into me so hard the pleasure bordered on pain, rocking me back into the seat with every push. I yelped in surprise into his hand as he nicked my earlobe with his fang, just enough to send some blood to the surface.

He was getting close; I could tell because his thrusts were getting more violent. With each thrust, the pain got sharper and sharper. I tried to mutter 'softer' into his hand, but it just came out sounding like a moan. I tried to pull my hands free, but that gentle grip was also firm. I wasn't going anywhere.

I could feel the exact moment he finished in me. But that wasn't the surprising part. The surprising part was that I orgasmed right along with him. The orgasm felt so good, gray dots appeared in my vision, obscuring his face. When they disappeared, I could see his sated but worried face. "Is that what you wanted?"

I couldn't speak, I couldn't move. My heart thumped in my chest. Instead, I just smiled up at him.

"Good," he said as he dressed me. "I was afraid I was too rough."

He had been rough, but I was so happy at the moment, I didn't care. But I was going to be sore tomorrow.

.

Cian pulled into my driveway ten minutes later. For a 20 minute drive, that was almost record breaking. "Tomorrow's Thanksgiving," I said as he lifted me from the passenger seat. Screw being sore tomorrow—I was sore now.

He must have seen the light grimace; he slowed his speed and steadied my body against his. He knew better than to ask what hurt, though. "Thanksgiving," he said as he carried me inside. "I have heard this before, but I do not know what the occasion is."

"Um," I said as he carried me up the stairs. I obviously knew what Thanksgiving was, but explaining it to someone who 1) wasn't American, and 2) didn't eat was difficult. "It celebrates the annual harvest. It's an excuse to get together, eat turkey, and watch football. And decorate for Christmas," I added when I thought about my family.

"Hm," he said as he set me down on my bed. "And?"

"And what?" I asked as I watched him strip.

"And why did you bring it up?" he asked, one eyebrow raised, as he took his time to unbutton his crisp shirt.

"Oh," I replied. "Do you want to come to my parents' house for dinner?" My mom had always been kind of a collector of lost souls. Every holiday—Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Fourth of July, anyone and everyone was invited over to our house for dinner. My first year in college, she'd asked me if I knew anyone on campus that would not be going home for Thanksgiving and would like to spend it at our place. She'd asked me every year since; this is the first year I actually had an affirmative answer for her.

It was going to be a full house. As always, Sydney and Momma Jen would be there. Momma Jen was a lot of things, but a cook was not one of them. Sydney and MommaJen joined us for almost every major holiday, especially those involving food. Also, my parents were not immune to the media bug, and obviously knew that David and I were dating again. My mom would not take no for an answer; David was coming over for Thanksgiving. And when I told her about RJ and Alec, she added two more to her list of people to feed. I'd also asked Moose if he wanted to come over for Thanksgiving. He'd accepted as well. Cian was the last person I was going to ask. I'm not sure why I procrastinated asking for so long. Maybe because I wasn't sure I wanted my parents to know I had two boyfriends. They were just starting to accept that I was dating a vampire. Adding another to the equation might give my mom heart failure.

"I would love to meet your parents," he said as he climbed over me and started working my shirt up toward my armpits. As soon as he freed me from my v-neck t-shirt, he tossed it to the floor and started unbuttoning my jeans again. "What time shall I pick you up?"

I grimaced again as I lifted my butt off the bed so Cian could strip my jeans off me. "I'll be at my parents' all day. Just come over to their place when you get up."

Cian frowned into my belly button. "I was too rough," he said as he finished stripping me, tossing my jeans into the growing pile on the floor.

I practically had whiplash from how fast the conversation turned. "What?" I asked, trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about.

"You're bleeding," he said as he dipped his head to my belly button, lying light kisses in a trail heading south.

I was still struggling to catch up and his kisses weren't helping the process. "No I'm not," I said as I checked both wrists. At least, I wasn't bleeding through the gauze. I might start if he kept ramping up my heart rate, though.

He didn't answer me; he just snickered before he started licking me clean. I laid back and enjoyed the sensation. When he was done (much to my dismay), he tucked me under his arm and pulled me into him. "What do you want to do tonight?" I asked him.

"What would you like to do?" he asked, turning the question around on me.

The honest-to-God truthful answer popped out of my mouth. If I had been less comfortable tucked into his side, I probably would have thought about my answer before speaking. Instead, I said, "Anything that will keep you from leaving me."

Stupid.


	137. Chapter 137 Part 10

**Part 10:**

Sydney, Alec, RJ, and I piled into my car at the obnoxiously early hour of ten in the morning. An hour that I consider to be barely decent on a work day. On a holiday? I bitched and moaned for a good ten minutes before I threw an honest-to-God temper tantrum. Sydney just laughed as Alec literally threw me over his shoulder and locked me in my bathroom. I did have to admit, though: when I emerged from my shower clean and warm, I felt markedly more human.

Momma Jen was already at my parents' place before we got there. Her light green hybrid was sitting in the driveway. "Uh oh," Sydney said as she noticed the little car. "My mom's already here."

"So?" I asked.

"I was hoping to do the introductions gradually," she said as she nodded to RJ. "Like, do a trial run with your parents, then work our way up to Mom."

"It'll be OK," RJ said as he tucked her hand into his. "I can be charming."

"You two are screwed," Alec deadpanned as I pulled into the driveway.

"Thanks, Bordy," RJ said sarcastically.

Moose parked right behind me as I looked up to the sky. Dark, menacing looking clouds were massing above Mid Michigan and, at this temperature, it most likely meant we were going to get a sizable amount of snow today. I had a momentary panic attack when I thought about being snowed in at my parents. I'd walk home if I had to.

Moose joined me in the middle of the driveway, staring up into the sky. Zeus and Lola, both of which who had ridden with him, took their seats at my feet. "It's early for a snowstorm," he said.

"Anyone who doesn't believe in climate change can suck it," I mumbled before starting toward the door. "I'm glad I talked Alec out of the motorcycle, though."

"What about me?" Alec said as he approached the group.

"Nothing." I couldn't procrastinate any more. I sucked it up and unlocked the front door.

.

Sydney and I were in the kitchen tag-teaming the pies while my mom prepared something that looked vaguely like yellow vomit. Don't get me wrong, the dish _smelled _good, it just _looked_ awful. Dad was in the living room with Alec, RJ, and Moose watching football.

"So, how do you know Alec and RJ?" my mom asked 'innocently'. Sydney shot me a look that said she knew what my mom was up to, too, and was going to let me handle it. Sydney had never really been good with my mom's mind games. Mom seemed to notice and quit playing them with her. Maybe I should have played dumb, too.

"We have a class together this semester. Bioinformatics." I knew the mention of the course's name would 1) solidify my answer, and 2) make her eyes glaze over.

"Ah," she answered as she stirred. I continued to chop apples. "You're good friends, then? You and Alec?"

Ahhh, it was all starting to make sense. "Yea, I suppose. Just friends, though, Mom."

She cut the shit and got straight to the meat of her point. "You and Alec would make beautiful grandbabies."

Both Momma Jen, who was sitting at the bar-height counter drinking a glass of white wine, and Sydney burst out laughing. I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help but smile as well. Mom is nothing if not entertaining. "Well, we'll get right on that for you, Mom. Should we go upstairs?"

"Don't be a smartass, Sloane," my mom said as she shot me a glance. "David is a nice enough guy, and if he makes you happy, then I'm happy. But I still want grandbabies."

I fidgeted uncomfortably at the thought of my vampires. My mom was going to lose it when I introduced Cian as my boyfriend, too. This had been a horrible idea. "You should have had more kids, then," I responded as I shook away that incoming dread. "Not smart to put all of your eggs in one basket."

"It's alright, Kendra," Momma Jen said, a laugh still in her voice. "You can share my grandbabies."

"Mom," Sydney complained, a light touch of pink gracing her cheeks. That was the end of that conversation. Momma Jen winked at my mom and they both went back to cooking and watching in silence.

I could tell when halftime of the game started. The channel changed and all four men appeared in the kitchen. Dad immediately went to refresh his beer, RJ kissed Sydney on the cheek, and Alec and Moose both stole pieces of the apples I'd been peeling and chopping for the past hour. "What are you laughing at so hard out here?" Alec asked as he started stealing long pieces of apple rind.

"Nothing," Sydney said quickly. She blushed again, which only served to heighten Alec's curiosity.

I don't know why Sydney was so embarrassed with the conversation, but I couldn't help it by egg her on. "My mom wants grandchildren," I said as I shot her a look. "She's volunteered you to…donate."

"Sloane Neve McIntosh," my mom scolded.

"Oh my God," Sydney said into her forming pie crust dough. If any more heat pooled in her cheeks, they might spontaneously combust.

I laughed, so did my dad and Alec, albeit Alec's laugh was more nervous than my dad's. "I don't think that'd go over well," Alec mumbled.

"I don't know," I said, cocking my hip sarcastically. "David loves children."

Moose in particular found that hilarious. While Moose roared with laughter, RJ punched Alec in the shoulder. "Alright, Sloane, you've made your point," my mom said. "Finish up those pies and go put up the Christmas décor, please."

Ever since I was old enough to do so, I had been in charge of decorating the outside of the house for Christmas. The older and more capable I got, the more complex the décor. Last year, it'd taken Sydney and me several hours to put it all up. But then again, it hadn't been cold as balls and snowing last year. I think the design might not be as elaborate this year.

I'd carried one box up the stairs from the basement before Alec took over the heavy lifting. "You shouldn't be doing that," he whispered to me as he passed me on the stairs. No argument from me; that had been stupid. My back was starting to protest. I'd bundled as much as I possibly could before standing outside in the falling snow, planning my attack. Every once in a while I dug around in boxes to make sure I had enough lights to make my scheme a reality. RJ was standing on one side of me, bundled in his coat and my dad's scarf, gloves, and hat. Sydney was similarly bundled on the other side of him. Alec stood behind me, Moose next to me. The dogs were chasing snowflakes. "You know what?" Alec asked rhetorically. "Winter's not so bad. And snow's kind of pretty." Sometimes I forgot Alec and RJ had never ventured much out of southern Florida, and definitely not far enough to approach anywhere that had ever gotten snow.

"Speak for yourself," RJ said, his full body shiver coming through in his voice. Sydney smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist.

I glanced back at Alec, who was wearing nothing but his button down shirt and leather motorcycle jacket. No gloves, no hat. My mom had wanted to bedeck him in gear, too, but he declined. "No, today's not too bad," I said. "Although you are going to want a heavier coat at some point. And gloves."

"I don't think so," he replied. "I'm a lot hotter than average. Look," he said as he held out his arms on either side of me so his forearms were visible. Beads of water were pooled on his leather jacket. "I'm not getting snowed on, I'm getting rained on."

I turned around and looked at him. It was true; he didn't have any snow on him. As soon as the snowflakes got close to his skin, they melted instantly. His hair was actually wet. He was standing in his own personal rainstorm. "Wait until it gets too cold to snow."

"How can it be too cold to snow?" he asked. I smiled. Ah, naiveté.

I didn't answer. RJ was freezing to death over there; I'd give him a science lesson later on. It was time now to get moving. "OK," I said, ignoring him. "This is what I want."

We'd barely gotten the strings of lights untangled before David arrived in his Mercedes, Cian following shortly after in his tiny sports car. "How was the drive?" I asked as I smirked at him. I'd explained how he was going to need something more reasonable for a Michigan winter. His tiny Aston Martin—his 'Bond, James Bond' car—it was fun, but not practical.

He smiled innocently at me. "I love a challenge. You know that."

I harrumphed. "Well, as long as there's snow on the ground, I'm not getting in that thing."

"Then perhaps we shall just stay home the entire winter," he whispered in my ear as he passed. "In bed, perhaps?" I smacked him lightly.

David wasn't so subtle with his advances. He lifted me off the ground until I was eye level with him and kissed me passionately. I don't know how or when it happened, but my arms ended up wrapped around his neck, my leg around his backside. "Good evening."

I took in the feel of him, the smell of him. "Hi," I mumbled as he set me back down on my feet. I had been so nervous all day worrying about what my parents would think about my alternative lifestyle, but here, surrounded by the men I love, I realized I didn't give a shit if they approved or not. I was happy and that was all that mattered. I grabbed David's hand and pulled Cian down for a long kiss. "Come on," I said as I pulled them both behind me. "Let's go shake things up."

"Shake things up?" David asked as I opened the front door.

"Yup," I answered.

"Sloane, what are you planning?" Cian asked suspiciously. Some part of me was glad I could still surprise them.

I turned the corner into the living room, where the three parents were sitting with their respective drinks. "Mom, Dad, Momma Jen, you remember David." I got matching nods from all of them, faces ranging from pleasant amiability from my dad to slight unease from Momma Jen. I glanced over to Cian. "And this is Cian. He's my other boyfriend."

I was met with a somewhat shocked silence from both the parents and my boyfriends. "You are dating them both? Openly?" my dad asked after a few uncomfortable moments. I nodded with a smile. Trust my dad to be the first to accept the new reality. "Good for you, Tinker," he said with a wink. He stood, slowly getting to his full height, and extended a hand to Cian. Even though he moved like an aging man, he didn't seem like it. "Nice to meet you, young man. I'm John."

Cian recovered from his shock and took the extended hand. "I haven't been called 'young' in a very long time," Cian replied with a smile. "I think I like it."

My dad switched over to David, offering him his hand. "Nice to see you again, Son."

David pulled his right hand from mine and took my dad's. "Likewise," he answered with a smile.

My mom and Momma Jen were not handling this new news, but there was nothing I could do for them. They'd come around when they came around, or maybe they wouldn't. Either way, there wasn't anything I could do or say to move along the process. Although I was willing to bet that having a three-way make-out session wasn't going to help.

"Are you guys done decorating, Tinker?" my dad asked as he settled back into the couch.

"No," I answered. "But they just got here and I wanted to introduce Cian." I think the words 'before I lost my nerve' followed that sentence for everyone in the room. Except for maybe my mom and Momma Jen; I didn't know what was going on in their heads, but I was willing to bet it wasn't in the here and now.

I got my first unannounced vision in weeks. Recently, I'd gained so much control over the visions that I could feel them coming, put them on hold if necessary. At least, I could while I was awake and paying attention. But this vision, as short as it was, bled through without warning. Two black SUVs pulling up outside the house, and soon.

God, I wish my parlor trick was telepathy sometimes. Not so much to hear thoughts, but pushing the word, 'incoming' into David's and Cian's minds would be greatly appreciated. We'd just have to deal with a tight squeeze of each of their hands as a warning. "Well, we should be getting back out there to help," I said a little too quickly.

I pulled David and Cian out of the living room and towards the front door as they mumbled their 'nice to meet yous' and 'good to see you agains'. As soon as the front door closed behind me, David spoke up first. "What and when?" he said, seeming to know my sudden panic stemmed from a vision. He got straight down to brass tacks.

"Two vans, not sure who's in them. Minutes, if that." I dropped both of their hands and jogged out to Sydney and RJ, standing in the middle of the yard, looking up and the task ahead. "Hey," I said as I approached. "Go inside, warm up." Time to get the humans out of the danger zone.

Did I just call them 'humans'? Apparently, I didn't consider myself part of that group anymore.

I didn't have to tell RJ twice, but Sydney saw through me faster than I could say 'please'. "Why?" she demanded.

"I'll explain later. Go now or David's carrying you both."

She shot me a look, but I think she saw a fine panic in my eyes that convinced her. She grabbed RJ's hand and they both booked it for the door.

The two of them running inside caught Moose's and Alec's attention. "Two black SUVs," I said as they approached, "don't know who's inside, any second now."

David and Cian were behind me instantly, Moose and Alec completing a circle around me. I was in the center of this pow-wow. "Force or surprise?" Alec asked.

"Surprise," David answered. "We do not know who is coming. We don't need to be hostile just yet."

Moose and Alec just nodded before they jogged off in opposite directions. I kept an eye on Alec, how his gait seemed graceful, almost cat-like, despite the bulk of his coat and his impressive height. Most of the time, if you're that tall, walking and chewing gum can be a challenge. Not for him, though. Speaking of cat-like, he scurried up the tree closest to my parent's garage effortlessly, jumped onto the roof, and hid behind the chimney. "Holy fuck," I said, somewhat in awe. I've never seen anyone do anything like that before.

"Concentrate," David said from behind me. I could still feel the light presence of my vampires behind me. Silent but deadly backup. I shook the surprise from my face and faced front, where the SUVs would finally come to a stop. I had just enough time to see Moose disappear behind a large evergreen bush before the SUVs turned the corner.

My heart jumped into my throat as the passenger door to the first SUV opened. I thought for a second my knees had given out on me before I realized I was running at full speed toward the cars. "Theo!" I yelled just before throwing myself at him.

Theo grunted as I full-body slammed him and held on to me as I knocked him back a step or two. He looked just as he did as a kid, only now, instead of being cute, he was almost devastatingly handsome. "Hey, Pinky," he said almost unnaturally loudly. I was right here; he didn't need to project that much. He tightened his hug around my back and buried his face in my hair. "I'm sorry, Pink. I can't stop this," he whispered so lightly I wasn't sure he'd meant for me to hear.

But David and Cian had heard. I couldn't so much hear as I could feel David and Cian approaching slowly behind me. "Sloane?" David asked, his voice sounding almost bored. I knew better—that was the voice he used when he was hiding something. Mostly fear, and mostly from me.

The rest of the doors to the SUVs opened up, and seven more men piled out. I recognized two for sure; Pfc. Kyle Shaeffer stood as far away from the group as he could without getting in trouble. Major Whats-His-Face was standing in front of all the other men, right behind Theo. Another two of the men were on the furry side of human. Yet another had an aura that blazed like a magnesium fire—white hot. "Good evening, Ms. McIntosh," the Major said as Theo loosened his grip and fell back, behind his commander.

"Hello," I said. "What can I do for you on this Thanksgiving night?" I reached back subconsciously with both hands. Both David and Cian slid their hands into mine.

The Major glanced to both men, not giving them much thought before he turned back to me. "Straight to the point, I like it," he said as he pulled a large envelope from his back. It wasn't the first time someone had giving me something in an envelope like this. Last time it was pictures. Who knew what it would be this time. "I have a job off for you."

I didn't like the way he said that. He made it sound less like an offer and more like demand. I didn't need to be Sookie to know he thought there was no way I wasn't going to be working for him at some point.

I didn't take the envelope from him. "I have a job," I answered. "So no thanks."

He offered me the envelope again. "Please, just look at it. You may change your mind."

David squeezed my hand, so I sighed and took the envelope from the Major. Inside was a burned DVD and a few still shots. One still shot was of Idi carrying my limp body through my front door. It was the night of the Halloween party; I could tell because of the full length gown and the streak of red blood down the front of t. The next was me sitting on Cian's lap, eating cereal. I glanced up at the Major and when I saw the…cockiness in his face, for lack of a better term, I wanted to make him feel stupid. "Awww," I said as I showed the second photo to Cian.

He nibbled my ear a touch, all for show. "You look angelic." I spared another glance at the Major. We were pissing him off. Good.

I smiled and flipped to the third photo. All of me you could see was my back; it was David that was featured as he pressed me up against the porch railing. He was holding me around the waist, my legs wrapped around his waist as he kissed a trail down my neck. I remembered that night; we'd barely made it off the porch before I was hyperventilating with need for him. Just remembering made my core tight. I wordlessly showed the picture to David.

"Mmm," he said. "I remember that night."

"So do I," I said breathlessly. When I regained myself, I held up the small DVD with a question in my eyes. "What's this?"

"A tape of your…talents at work," the Major said. "My offer is simple. What you did for my Private…you could be serving your country like that. If you would join my team, you would be non-combat. All you would need to do is ensure the safety of my men; make sure no good American soldiers get hurt unnecessarily. You could be an American hero. Of course, if you do not, the footage may find its way to the media."

He had pissed me off in a myriad of ways. For one, you don't come at me with threats. I don't do threats well. Secondly, and this one was somewhat stupid, but I hated that he assumed I'd be no good in a fight. Non-combat, my ass. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm incapable. Lastly, playing on my patriotism while blackmailing me seemed slightly idiotic. The three of those things together make my blood boil with rage. Something inside me clicked. David and Cian knew it. The Major must have pissed them off, too, because they didn't stop me from doing what I did next.

I could practically taste the fear of me from the rest of his team. Only the Major, the two furry Americans, and Theo weren't even mildly afraid of me. The one with the most fear, strangely, was the one that glowed like a firecracker. I was going to play on that fear, but not yet. First, I was going to make my point. "And what, Major, does this position pay?" I asked. The rage flowing through my body oddly didn't make me wild, it calmed me. I should have been screaming. Instead, I was calm, collected. It also sharpened my extra senses. I could feel the animal just beneath the skin of the two shifters; one full-blooded Werewolf and a Wereleopard. And I could tell their animals could taste my anger. And the firework? He was a witch that could read auras. Which is why he was terrified. He could probably see my anger as a fine steam emanating from my body. He took a step back as my eyes grazed over him.

"That is negotiable. What is your fee?"

I smiled. "Fifty million."

He scoffed. "A year? Done."

"No, Major," I said. "A day. After all, how many precognizants do you know with my kind of power?" I stepped away from David and Cian, leaving them as silent threats at my back. I approached the Major, but he held his stance. It wasn't him I was after, though. I was going for the weakest link. I was going for the witch. "Maybe we should ask you, Witch," I said as soon as I was close enough to touch him. That pulled a gasp from everyone, including the man in front of me. "You can read my aura, have you ever seen anything so strong?" I reached out and touched his cheek. If he hadn't already been pressed as hard as he could against the SUV, he would have stepped back. I terrified him that much. And it was about to get worse. I flipped my eyes to pure white, giving me an aura-stained view of my surroundings. "See? I can do that too."

He screamed. He was a full-fledged Army Ranger and he screamed like a girl. I laughed; an evil, hateful laugh as I turned to the Major. He was slightly uncomfortable, but he wasn't scared of me yet. That meant I wasn't done. I let him see my eyes, drawing another uncomfortable fidget from him. I think I was surprising the hell out of a man that didn't surprise easily. "That's my fee, Major. Can you still afford me?"

"I'm not authorized to offer you more than 75 million a year."

I could still hear the witch whimpering as he shrank to the ground. "Old, old evil," he kept whispering.

"Not good enough. Not nearly good enough if you are going to come at me with threats at my parents home, on a national holiday. If you had asked, instead of assumed, I may have considered it. But now…now I don't like you, which doesn't really make me want to work for you."

By the time I finished, I was standing inches from the Major, looking up into his unsettled eyes from a very close distance. "Phillips, Wade," he said. The two shifters, or the Werewolf and the Wereleopard, closed in on me from either side. David and Cian both took a step before I put a hand up to stop them.

"What's the problem, Major?" I whispered. "Too much of a coward to fight your own battles?" I could feel the pulsing heat of the auras that surrounded the shifters. They were afraid, but only because they didn't know what had caused their fellow soldier to almost completely freak out. I could practically feel their beasts pace underneath the skin. I felt like if I reached out with myself, I could pull them from their human shells. It was like that knowledge mingled with my pure rage. I laughed. "Mmm, I like fur," I said. I reached out to each one of them with one hand, running my fingers through the hair of their phantom beasts. They each shivered.

"Fur?" the Major said. It actually surprised me that he didn't know what he had on his team. The witch, I could see that. Witches easily hide in plain sight. But it wasn't as easy for two Weres to hide like that. What did they do during the full moon? But my surprise didn't dampen my need to scare the shit out of the Major.

"Yes," I said as I caressed their beasts. "Fur." Without another word, I pulled their beasts forward, actually yanking them free with a grip of their phantom hair. Bones gnashed, beasts howled. When I cleared my vision, bleeding my eyes back to their natural green, I had one panting Werewolf on my left and one panting Wereleopard on my right. They were both lying on their sides. I don't think that had been the most…effortless of transitions.

I was still looking up at the Major, but I could feel the subtle hum of the Rangers behind me. I could feel them all back up, a few fingering the weapons strapped across their chests. "What are you?" the Major whispered shakily at me.

I laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. It was a sound that would have normally sent shivers down my spine. "Aren't you listening?" I asked as I pointed back toward the cowering witch. "Evil."

I don't think the Major had planned on giving up so easily, but one look at his men told him he was quickly losing support. "Move out," he said to his men as he walked around me, giving me a wide berth. "Robinson, Muller, grab Phillips and Wade, through them in the back of the truck."

I was laughing that evil laugh that didn't seem to be mine. At that moment, I felt it. It was not me; it was not my joy that was wrapped around their fear. I closed my eyes and fought the foreign joy, struggling against it. When I finally gained some sort of control, I opened my eyes. I was suddenly tired; so tired. Tired and very, very cold.

The SUVs were gone, but Theo was still here. If there had been an argument between him and his commanding officer, I hadn't heard it. If there hadn't, I scared the Major more than I thought I had. I glanced over at David and Cian, still frozen where they'd been standing the entire time. Neither of them moved, breathed, or seemingly existed. I almost mistook them for statues. Terrified statues. I was fine until I saw their terrified faces. Fear pulsed through me as I looked down at my hands. Either my vision was shaking violently, or my hands were. "What's happening to me?" I whispered.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Not all of the soldiers had left. One remained; the one that she had practically tackled earlier. He must not have seen the fucking impressive show that I did, or else he would have booked it. I know I would have.

I stayed put just a while longer. I was trusting David and Cian not to let anything happen to her with just one soldier left over. From my vantage point, I could see everything, and I wanted to watch for another more subtle attack. From here, if someone snuck up on the house from behind, I'd know.

Sloane raised her hands slightly. Even from here, I could see them tremor in them. Her lips moved, her eyes fluttered, and she dropped like a brick.

She landed somewhat softly in the trampled snow. I couldn't help it: I popped up from my perfect hiding spot. If there had been a sniper, they could have easily picked me off. What surprised me more was that neither David nor Cian moved. They both just kind of stood there, watching her collapse. I think it even surprised the soldier. I think he assumed that one of the vampires was going to catch her. When they didn't, he flipped the semi-automatic from his front to across his back and dropped to his knees next to her.

Fuck, that was my cue. I slid as gracefully as I could down the angle of the roof, using my momentum to push myself off the gutters into a tuck and roll. One of the things that the Garou teach you is how to fall in a way that makes sure you're up and moving again, and quickly. I rolled until my feet hit the ground and popped up to my feet. Which probably wasn't the smartest move if I didn't want to startle the only one in the group with a gun. When I was up, the soldier was on one knee, semi-automatic weapon pointed squarely at my chest. Sure, if I hadn't cared if he lived or died, I wouldn't have stopped and held my hands up when the soldier pointed the gun at me. I would have just shifted, rushed him, and tore him apart with my teeth. But I didn't want to kill him. In fact, I was hoping to avoid shifting, too. "Friendly, friendly," I said as I walked forward slowly.

The soldier looked a little pale, which I didn't begrudge him. His eyes were white and wide. "US Army," he said almost automatically. "Identify yourself."

Knowing the kind of ammunition that gun had, as long as he didn't hit me square in the chest, I'd probably survive. It would hurt like a bitch, and I'm not saying there wouldn't be a trip to the emergency room in there somewhere, but I don't think it'd kill me. That knowledge made me bold. "Alec," I said as I continued forward slowly. "Alec Bourdain. I'm a friend of Sloane's. I just want to make sure she's OK."

He lowered the weapon. "She's really cold," he replied as he backed up. He trusted me enough not to point a gun at my chest, but not much more. He didn't want to me to get close enough to be able to overwhelm him.

He wasn't my priority. Sloane was. I kneeled beside her and I wasn't sure what to do. I felt her neck and the soldier was right, it was cold. I was aware she was lying in snow, but it was colder than I thought that would make her. OK, so she was cold. Now what? Can I move her? And if I can, where do I take her? I'm not sure she'd appreciate me busting in the door of her parents house and ruining a holiday by having her limp in my arms.

Movement off to my right caught my attention. The soldier, name 'T. Blake' embroidered on his jacket, had just gun up and pointing again. I followed the muzzle of the weapon to Moose, who had stopped moving completely. "He's good," I said. Not that I expected T. Blake to take my word for it, but I felt I had to say something. "His name's Moose."

"Is she OK?" Moose asked without lowering his hands or taking another step.

"Breathing, strong enough pulse, but very cold." I lifted up her shoulders and pulled her body into mine. "If you're going to shoot someone, shoot those two," I said to T. Blake as I pointed to David and Cian. "Or do something to break them out of their heads. I need their help."

T. Blake lowered his weapon. "Can I come over now?" Moose asked. Wordlessly, T. Blake nodded.

Before Moose could reach us, I felt Sloane stir in my lap. "Why am I so cold?" she asked as a shiver ran down her spine. "So cold," she repeated.

"Love?" David asked. "Cupcake?" Cian asked at almost the same time.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I felt like I was waking up from a bad nightmare. I remembered everything, but it had felt more like I was just along for the ride. It had been me physically, but it really hadn't. At least, it was pretty to think it wasn't me that ripped those two Wares from their skin. It couldn't have been me.

And I was still fucking cold.

"Why am I so cold?" I asked as my teeth chattered. Alec tightened his grip, steadying me against his own heat as I shook apart. "So cold."

I looked up to the two vampires that had yet to move. They both blinked and called to me. "What the hell was that?" I asked as another shiver passed.

"I do not know," they both said in unison. After a shared glance, David spoke. "It was as if, once you told us not to come to your aid, we couldn't disobey. We were stuck where we were, watching."

"Can you do that again?" Cian asked.

I shivered. "Dance," I said to both of them. They both just looked at me, Cian was a slightly amused and David slightly confused. But neither of them danced. "Guess not."

"She's not warming up," Alec said. "It feels like I'm hugging snow."

"Get her out of the snow," said a familiar voice. I searched around for the voice, which came from David's back. It was Theo.

Alec lifted me from the ground and held me awkwardly. Apparently, I didn't have to tell him that taking me into my parents' house like this wasn't going to fly. "Why didn't you leave?" I asked Theo.

He smiled a small, tentative smile. "You don't scare me, Pink."

.

David and Cian finished stringing the lights on the house in about five minutes. The whole job seemed much easier when you're 1) super fast, and 2) one of you can fly. Yes, that was something new for me. I had no idea Cian could fly. Kind of make the ladder Alec had dragged out of the garage pointless.

While the two vampires were finishing several hours' worth of work in just a few minutes, Alec and Moose had divvied up my body. Alec pressed my back against his chest and zipped the two of us into his coat while Moose pressed my shins into his chest. After being tucked into the back of David's car this way, I had started to actually warm a bit.

As it stood now, the eleven of us (including Theo) were all sitting around the dining room table, eating silently. I had two blankets wrapped around my back and one comforter tucked around my legs while I sat between David and Cian. Every set of eyes was on me shivering. Once I couldn't steal Alec's and Moose's heat, I went right back to cold. "Pumpkin, are you sure you're OK?" my mom asked.

"Just can't seem to get warm," I said as I shoved the few remaining peas around my plate. I couldn't eat any more if I tried.

"Is it a fever?" my mom asked. I shrugged. It might be a fever, but not for the reasons she was thinking. I was having some sort of reaction to whatever the hell I did out in the yard.

"I don't know, Mom," I answered. I set my fork down on the china my mom insisted on dragging out. "I'm full."

"But you barely ate anything," my mom protested. She pushed her own chair at the head of the table out and circled until she was standing behind me. Her hand appeared on my forehead. "Sloane, you're cold."

I smiled. "I'm aware," I said as a shiver passed.

David shot me a look. I was sure I'd get the same look from Cian if I turned my head to look at him. "Perhaps we should take her home?" David said with a significant look across my body towards Cian.

My mom pressed both of her warm hands to my cheeks. She was ignoring the two vampires that sat around me. Apparently, if they didn't exist, neither did my odd lifestyle. "Mom," I complained. I was no longer her little girl. Sure, I was small for a woman, and I was a girl, but it wasn't the same. I was a full-grown adult.

She kissed the top of my head and took my plate from me. "Maybe that's a good idea. I'll pack up some leftovers for the boys." And when she said 'boys', it was clear she meant Alec, Moose, and RJ. The three of them had cleaned their plates. Twice.

"I should get going, too," Theo said. "I'm only in town for the night and I wanted to stop by my mom's place, too." Both my mom and my dad nodded. "Can I catch a ride with someone, though?"

.

My mom packed up three plates of leftovers, one for each of the 'boys', and another bag full of turkey. "Lunchmeat," she'd said. I just rolled my eyes and took the bag. It was easier not to fight.

Once everyone was ready to go, Sydney and RJ took my car with the dogs. Moose said he'd drop Theo off at the local Army facility, which surprised me that it wasn't that far from my house. I'd lived there for how long and I didn't know that the large, brick building was an Army recruitment office? I just hadn't cared, I guess. "I'll be over after I drop him off," Moose had said as he climbed into his Firebird.

Cian wanted to drive me back to my place, but I'd refused. "I told you, I'm not getting in that death trap while there's snow on the ground." He'd pouted and made some snide remark how it was David's night anyway. I shrugged. If he was still in a pissy mood tomorrow, then we'd talk about it. But if it was just him blowing off steam, then I'd let it be. But he drove off without his goodbye kiss, and that somewhat bothered me. It left me feeling kind of empty inside.

Alec rode in the back of David's car with me cuddled up and shivering next to him. I could tell it just about killed him inside, but when we arrived at my place, David asked him to stay. "I have no body heat," he said. "And I will die at sunrise. I need to know she will be warm." Alec, seeming to know how much it pained David that he couldn't be everything I needed tonight, nodded his head silently and stripped off his coat. "I'll be down here," he said as he plopped himself onto the couch.

I was scared shitless about what was happening to me, worried about what was bothering Cian, and afraid about what the Major might attempt next, but I still managed to fall asleep in David's arms as we took a hot bath.


	138. Chapter 138

****My beta's back! Yay!**  
**Sorry this took so long to get out. Anyone else having trouble with the FanFic website, or is it just me?****

It took me several minutes to figure out I was not where I was when I fell asleep. For one, I was dry. Secondly, I was clothed. Lastly, and most importantly, I was pressed between two radiators of some sort. My own person-sized Panini press. Or maybe a waffle-maker. I think I was going to pass right back out from heat exhaustion.

I sighed and fidgeted a little as I opened my eyes. I got a face full of warm neck and scars and a scent that was unfamiliar. I was pressed against Alec's chest. It wasn't until I tried to roll away from his sleeping form that I remembered there was something hot pressed against my back, too. I looked down to my torso to see a mocha arm wrapped around my waist and tucked up under my breast, just as Moose and I always slept when we were together.

I was suddenly very embarrassed, and I could feel that embarrassment creeping up to my cheeks in a hot flush. Just what I needed: more heat. I was tucked between two men, neither of whom I was dating, one of whom I'd slept with several times (in both the biblical and non-biblical sense), and I was embarrassed.

I must have tensed, because Moose sighed and tightened his grip in his sleep, pulling me farther away from Alec but closer to him. "'S OK, Mac," he mumbled as he buried his head in my hair. Alec responded in kind, pulling my body back towards him and tracing his hand down my side and thigh to my knee and pulling it up until it was wrapped around him. Moose's body responded again and scooted toward me, pressing me tightly against Alec's groin. They were treating me as if I were a stuffed toy both of them wanted to play with, pulling back and forth until one of them got the prize. And they were doing it in their sleep. Hopefully, I wouldn't end up being torn in half.

I was suddenly hyper-aware of Alec's body. I was pressed tight up against him, and with my leg now wrapped around his lower body, I could feel that he was happy to see me in all the wrong spots. I thanked my lucky stars that David had had the smarts to dress me in sleep shorts last night before leaving for the day. Alec was wearing boxers, but if I had been in just panties and in this position—this quickly could have become something much more. Even as it was, my body responded to Alec's without my permission. I fidgeted a touch, just enough to get comfortable in this new spot, but it was just enough in all the right places that it drew a gasp from me. Alec must have liked it in his sleep, too, because a small purr-like sound escaped his lips.

I jumped and froze when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, which just made Alec press himself harder against me. Even though my heart was in my throat, I could still feel how my body reacted, and it was not ladylike. "Jesus fucking Christ, Achrann," I whispered to the ghostly white figure that was now approaching the bed. "How long have you been there?"

"Several minutes," he said in his full speaking voice. "I am here to repair your aura."

I wanted to chide him for taking so loudly, but I refrained. I kept whispering, though. "What are you talking about?"

"The vampire David called Naill and told us of your adventures last night. You damaged your aura, which is why you are cold. I am here to repair it."

I wanted to know if he knew what the hell happened last night, but first things first. "OK," I said. "Go for it."

"I cannot while their auras shield you," he said calmly as his eyes glanced at both guys.

And I was right back to being embarrassed. I wanted up. "OK," I said to Alec as I pushed against his chest. "Wake up, time to let me go."

He wasn't having it. He pulled me back toward him, tangling his fingers in my rat's-nest hair and pushing my face back towards his chest. Time to plan B. "Moose," I said as I poked the thigh behind me. "Wake up."

"Go back to sleep, Mac," he mumbled as snuggled in.

I glared up at Achrann. "You could be helping."

"In what way?" he asked blankly.

I glared at him. "Why won't they wake up?"

"You are draining them of their auras, their energy. They are merely recouping that energy."

I was leeching off them, and I had been all night. "I'm hurting them?" I asked, panic now in my voice. "OK, get them off, now."

Achrann circled the bed and practically ripped Moose from the bed. With Moose's grip of my waist, I went with him until that pulled against Alec's grip. Moose's grip gave first and I was pulled right back against Alec's chest like a favorite teddy.

As soon as he wasn't in proximity to me anymore, Moose's eyes opened and focused. "What the hell?" he said. "You alright, Mac?"

"Fine, I'm fine," I answered, panic still in my voice. Alec seemed to know that he was no longer competing for my attention, even in his sleep, and he rolled over onto his back, bringing me with him. "Achrann, a little help."

Moose yawned as Achrann circled the bed. He pulled one of those gleaming silver Berettas from his shoulder holster, pressed it against Alec's temple, and turned off the safety, causing a small clicking sound. I was about to tell Achrann not to shoot Alec in the head when his eyes shot open. He did several things at once. He already had the grip on my waist, so all he had to do was roll in the opposite way off the bed, pulling me with him. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he shoved me behind him. He was about to lunge for Achrann when I grabbed his arm. It was furry beneath my fingers. "No," I said as I pulled at the newly furry arm. "It's OK."

By the time he faced me, his arm had returned to normal, but his eyes hadn't. They were still like warm, molten copper; like cooling lava. Wolf eyes. "Fuck," he said in relief. "You alright?"

"Fine," I replied. "Are you two OK? Achrann said I've been sucking your life away all night."

Moose yawned once again. "Fine, just tired."

"I'm alright," Alec said. "What time is it?"

I glanced at the alarm clock on my bedside table. "Just after eleven in the morning."

His eyes widened. "Wow," he said.

"If you will just step away," Achrann said with one hand out. "I will check the damage to your aura."

As soon as I was out of Alec's and Moose's proximity, I began to shiver again. And it didn't get better when I got close to Achrann. If it was just an aura I needed to keep me warm, then shouldn't I have started leeching off of his? After all, I was holding his hand. Our auras should have been touching.

"Wait," I said stepped back, still shivering. "I don't take your life."

"No," Achrann said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I am not what your aura seeks." It sounded like a bad impression of Obi-Wan, you know, 'these are not the droids you're looking for'. I glared at him for a moment.

Well, thanks for the cryptic answers. I thought, 'see auras' in my head, and my field of vision changed. The inanimate objects fell away, leaving me with just pulsing orbs where the three men were standing. Achrann looked as he always had; white light with wings. When I looked toward the two shifters, I gasped. They were the same auras they usually were, a mix of heat and silk. Only the auras seemed to reach for me, a fine trail of etheric particles drifting from the glow that encased them. "I can see their auras reaching for me," I said as I faced the two shifters. I turned quickly back to Achrann, who was now standing closer than he had been. "But not you. I'm touching you and your aura just kind of sits there."

"And your aura is non-existent, Ga Binne Ri. We can talk about what this means after I have restored you."

A full body shiver left me wrapped around myself and hanging on to the bedpost. "OK, do it."

He took the hand he'd dropped while I shivered and looked me in the eye. There was something eerily distant about his pale silver eyes, like he was trying very hard not to let me see what he was thinking. I was about to ask when he said, "Silence, please." I shut my mouth but glared at him. "Do not move," he said as he let go of my hand and spread my arms wide, as if he were going to frisk me. I stood, watching him, as he ceased to look at me. It was as if he was concentrating on something that was just in front of me, scanning it. His hands came up to touch my face, but he stopped just short, caressing the space just in front of me. He worked his hands down my body, barely missing my skin, as he whispered to himself.

Alec had pulled on his pants but didn't bother with the shirt as he circled around me widely. I shot him a nervous glance. All he could do was shrug, which made his chest and stomach muscles tense and pull. I had just a moment where I thought about what it would be like to have him on top of me, hands roaming. What it would feel like if he simultaneously held my hips to the floor while I opened my legs for him.

I closed my eyes tightly. I had never really had thoughts like that about him, even after he'd kissed me. He had still just been Alec to me, just Alec. It was as if waking up in bed next to him, feeling 'him' against me, finally made him register on my radar. And I wasn't sure I wanted him there. He had been the last major male figure in my life that wasn't somehow on my radar. Even Achrann was somewhat on my radar, not that I'd ever do anything about it. I mean, his body was beyond fantastic, but his personality wasn't something that I usually go for and, more importantly, I wasn't 100% sure we weren't related. I could trace my human heritage back, but I had no idea what my family looked like on the Fae side. I'm not sure Niall even knew, not completely.

"Almost complete," Achrann said. "Are you ready?"

I didn't really think about the answer, I just mumbled, "yea," with my eyes still shut. But I should have paid more attention. I could feel the second he completed my protective aura; it felt like my entire body had been shoved into an electrical socket. I yelped in surprise.

"Mac?" Moose asked.

I was rubbing my biceps, trying to get the buzzing feeling to go away. My fingers tingled. "Yea, I'm good," I answered as I opened my eyes.

"You don't look like you're good," he replied. "You look like you're thinking too hard."

A little too close for home for me. I glanced at him, eyebrows furrowed. "What does that even look like?" I asked.

Moose shrugged. "Hard to explain," he said. "But it was there."

I shook the last of the buzzing away, only then to notice I wasn't exactly clothed. At least, not as much as I'd like to be. I wanted jeans and a bra and several other layers. "Are you staying, Wings?"

A small smile curled the corner of his lips. "If you would like me to, I am."

"OK, I'm going to take a shower," I said as I turned for the bathroom.

"You want company?" Alec said. I stopped, frozen in my tracks. Did he seriously just offer to join me in the shower? In front of Moose and Achrann? Knowing that I'm blissfully taken? The shock must have shown on my face as I turned slowly toward him, because he blushed hard and laughed nervously. "I meant, do you want one of us to stay up here in case you need help? You don't look…stable."

I just stared at him as he blushed. Did I want him to stay? Yes and no. Truthfully, I didn't feel stable, but I didn't feel like I was going to fall in the shower or anything. I felt more like I was making decisions, having feelings, that weren't me. I felt like I was sitting in the passenger seat when I was used to driving. "Um," I said, shaking away that feeling. I was being paranoid. "I'm fine, thanks though."

.

I hadn't noticed that the water temperature had dropped to near freezing as I stood under the fall of water. I had completely zoned out, been lost in my own thoughts. There was a knock on the door; I jumped. "I'm coming in," Moose said.

I turned off the water as Moose opened the door. "What?" I asked as I shivered in the shower stall.

"You OK? I've been out there knocking on the door for five minutes."

I knew something had shaken me out of my contemplative mood. "Yea, fine," I said as I peeked my head around the shower curtain. "Hand me that towel?"

He did ask I asked, suspicious look on his face. "You sure you're OK?"

I thought about that as I grazed my eyes down the sight of his body. He wasn't overly big, but he wasn't weak, either. I remembered what those strong, lean muscles under his sweater looked andfelt like . I shook the thought away and wrapped the towel tightly around my body. "No, I'm not sure. I think something's wrong."

"What?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

I walked passed him, giving him a wide berth as I did. "I don't know. Let me get dressed, I'll meet you downstairs."

Alec lounged on what was quickly becoming his spot on my couch. I didn't know if he was taking his newly-appointed bodyguard status that seriously, or he felt weird about being the third wheel in his own home with Sydney and RJ, but it seemed that he lived here more than Sydney did. He even had clothes in the dresser in the guest room and food in the fridge. We were still working on getting him to go grocery shopping. He'd gone once with me; it hadn't ended well. He'd managed fifteen minutes before he decided he couldn't take it anymore and waited in the car. We were working on it.

Alec was on the left side, his arms resting on the back of the couch. His feet were up on the coffee table. Achrann was sitting attentively in the rocking chair in the far corner. Moose was fooling around in the kitchen. Sydney and RJ were absent; it was, after all, Black Friday. While I usually love to shop, at least window shop, it wasn't really my cup of tea. Lots of people in a small space, accidental touches here and there…you can imagine why it didn't thrill me. I had some very traumatic experiences as a teenager. Also, Black Friday usually fell just days before my birthday, meaning Sydney took advantage of the sales to get me my birthday and Christmas presents. Being present for that would defeat some of the purpose. Today, I was thankful Sydney had somewhere else to be. No need to worry her, too.

"Finally," Alec said. "I didn't know anyone could take an hour-long shower."

I stood at the opposite end of the coffee table so I could see both Alec and Achrann. When Moose entered the room again, I said, "We could have a problem."

Achrann gave me that indifferent shrug, as if he knew something was coming down the line and he was ready for it. The statement got Alec's attention, though. "What kind of problem?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I don't know, it's like, I can't concentrate, I can't think." When I opened my eyes, I was halfway around the coffee table. I'd been pacing. I looked up; both Moose and Alec were within an arm's reach. I had to physically fight not to reach out and touch them. "And I am having the hardest time not touching you two," I said as I shoved my hands in my pockets and turned around so I could pace away from the two shifters.

"Explain the feeling," Achrann said. "Is it a compulsion to touch them?"

I nodded as I forced myself to plant my feet on the floor. No more pacing. "It's like I've suddenly developed a bad case of OCD and I'm going to be all anxious until I touch all the shifters in the room."

"Only the shifters?" Achrann said. I nodded again. "Touch them."

I glanced at him again, question obvious in my eyes. "What?"

"Touch them. If it will make you feel better, touch them."

Alec offered a hand in my direction. "Come here, I won't bite."

I didn't even need to move to grab Alec's hand; I'd been slowly creeping toward him, even after I had planted my feet. So I just did it. I reached out and grabbed it. Just like I thought I would, I instantly felt better, but not completely better. I took a deep breath and smiled as I held out my other hand to Moose. As soon as he circled the coffee table and took my hand, I felt better. I felt like a giant weight that had been on my shoulders just lifted away and I could breathe again. "Better."

"You know what?" Moose said as he stood next to me, holding my hand. "I feel better, too. I didn't even know I wasn't feeling good until I touched her. Now…everything's just better."

"Yea," Alec said. He used our still-linked hands to pull me until I was sitting down with him, touching from knee to shoulder. Moose almost immediately followed suit, giving me a little more space, but angling himself so our shins were pressed together as well as our hands. "This is…right."

"Hmm," Achrann said. "This is unusual. Perhaps some would say impossible."

"What?" I asked as Alec switched my hand to his far hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Your auras are mingling. I have not practiced this new spell as much as I would like, but I believe that is not normal." Achrann stood and smoothed out his light grey, almost white dress pants. "I must consult my Prince. I will be back with news no later than tonight."

"Wait, no," I said as I tried to stand again. Neither Alec nor Moose wanted me to, both automatically pulling me right back down to where I was sitting. "What the hell is happening to me? Am I in danger?"

"You should be fine," Achrann said. "I will contact you when I have an answer." And he popped out of my living room.


	139. Chapter 139

I didn't want to wait for Cian to show up at my place tonight, I wanted to surprise him and be there when he woke up. But I had a hell of a time tearing myself away from Moose and Alec. Neither they nor I wanted to stop being near each other. We'd spent most of the day on the couch watching TV, but when I did finally get up to make something for lunch, neither of them could just wait for me in the living room. If I could see them, I needed to touch them. I think the feeling was mutual.

I finally peeled myself away from them by sending one up to my room and another down to the basement, then pulling on my coat and running out the door. And I had to admit, once I finally got to Cian's, the compulsion wasn't as strong. I didn't feel quite so much like I was missing something. It was like all I needed was a little distance and I could think again.

I let myself into Cian's old farmhouse with the key he'd given me. I was curious about his choice of housing; since the 1850's home just felt like an odd choice to me. I guess I was expecting something more like a high-rise penthouse, or maybe the basement of an old sanitarium. But he preferred his old farmhouse with its acres upon acres of land. There was one neighbor across the street and about a quarter mile down the road, but that was it. Very isolated.

I'd finally gotten up the nerve to ask him a couple of weeks ago why the classic home as we painted the hallway cobalt blue (to match his eyes). He'd said he liked old things because he was old. I just thought he liked the solitude to be able to do whatever the hell he wanted. It definitely made the hot tub he'd installed in the backyard more interesting.

I dropped my purse on the table in the small entryway and stripped off my coat, leaving it draped over the arm of the ruby red couch. Around the corner would be two sets of stairs: one that went up to the original master bedroom, decorated in emerald green and mahogany (to match my eyes and hair, he'd said), and one set that went down to the basement, where he usually spent his days. The master suite upstairs was light-tight, but he said he felt better sleeping in the basement. I didn't argue with him. He could sleep wherever he wanted, it was his house.

I started down the stairs to the basement; there was a better chance that he'd be there. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, a security system greeted me with a shiny new keypad. Although his system had been done by the same company that installed David's, it was slightly different. I pressed my right thumb against the screen and let it scan. "Sloane McIntosh," it chirped as it recognized my fingerprint. "Please enter personal code." I entered the 4-digit code that I'd picked, causing the locks on the door to disengage. I slid inside the door, making sure the locks snicked home when the door slid shut.

Cian had built a whole other master suite down here, but it was nothing like the suite upstairs. The walls were made of pale gray stone that always looked moist, even though they were dry to the touch. A large four poster bed had pride of place, white gauzy material draped over the framing. I knew, even without looking, that the bed would have black silk sheets on it. Why black, you ask? "I look good in black," he'd said. I had to agree. He looked fantastic in black.

I shucked all my clothes off and laid them across the only other piece of furniture in the room; a small bench done in black leather that sat at the end of the bed. I remembered how bad of a mood he'd been in last night before David took me home, and I didn't want to start off tonight that way. Being naked almost always made him slightly happier.

Now I wondered what to do. I wasn't really feeling up for sex tonight, and it wasn't that I didn't want him. Oh, I wanted him. I was just a little sore from the last time we'd gone at it. So I was trying to figure out where to put myself that my nakedness wouldn't be an invitation. I crawled up into the bed and sat next to him while I thought about my options, which were few and far between. The only things in the room were the bed and the bench. Sitting on the bench just seemed odd, but lying on the bed was definitely an invitation. I was sitting there, my hand resting on his cool skin, when I felt him stir. He was different rising than David was. David woke like a human; he stirred, then he slowly opened his eyes, maybe he'd even stretch and turn over before he finally got out of his bed. Cian wasn't like that. One second he was dead, the next he was on top of me, kissing my lips hard. I barely had enough time to look down at his face before he'd tackled me.

"Mmm, good evening, Cupcake," he whispered into my ear as he caressed a trail down my body.

"Hi," I said breathlessly.

His hands worked their way down my side, across my butt, and down to the backs of my thighs. In one smooth motion, he lifted me from the bed using my legs and flipped me so I was straddling him as he sat on the silk sheets. He positioned himself perfectly so that as I landed on him, he entered me, using my own momentum downward to shove himself as far into me as he could. I'd never really realized how much he held back until I felt the full length of him in me. I was so full, so deep, I could feel him bump up against my cervix.

It was all I could do not to yelp or wince. I did, however, let out a surprised little gasp as I tried to come to terms with the sudden pain. The trick was not letting it show on my face. Since Cian could read me like a book, my only hope was to hide it. I collapsed into him, burying my face in his chest. "Is this what you wanted?" he asked seductively as I tried to breathe normally.

I couldn't tell him no. I couldn't tell him to stop, that he'd hurt me. More than anything, I didn't want to hurt him. If taking a little bit of pain would make him happy, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But I still didn't trust my voice, so instead I let out a shuddering sigh and forced my body to relax against his.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said as he started to move my hips back and forth on him. I had to admit, now that the initial surprise and pain had faded, and now that I was somewhat used to him being deeper in me than he ever had been, the small, subtle movements felt good. So good, that I forgot there was ever pain in the first place.

"Yes," I started to whisper as I laid kisses up his chest, licking past his neck, and finally ending at his mouth. I had started moving my hips on my own, freeing him to lock his arms around my back and hold me tightly to him, one hand buried in my hair at the base of my head. I kissed him and rocked back and forth until the pressure built enough that I was going to orgasm at any second. "Close," I whispered.

"I want to feed," he replied between kisses. I broke the kiss and offered him my neck, silent permission to take all he wanted. And he did, sliding his fangs into me. As soon as he took that first pull from my neck, release came, and with it I screamed.

I couldn't move as aftershocks shuddered through me. Instead, I just collapsed into him and let him hold me up. Then he did something incredibly unexpected. He started to laugh. Quietly at first, just a slight movement in his chest, but by the time he was done, he was laughing so hard it reminded me that not only was he still in me, but that I was going to be sore. "What's so funny?" I asked as I fought to steady myself on him. The less movement the better at the moment.

"Nothing's funny," he said as he calmed down. "Nothing at all."

I could finally move, but I wasn't sure I wanted to. The post-sex fuzziness was wearing off and I was suddenly aware of two distinct pains; one was sharp, immediate. Too much too soon, I suppose. The second was deeper within me, more seated in my lower abdomen, higher within my own body than the immediate pain. But just because it was deeper and more fluid, it didn't mean it hurt any less. It was almost as if the pain was taking a breath before it started to really hurt me. The calm before the storm, so to speak. I didn't want to give either of those pains the ammunition it needed to take over my body. I didn't want to use any muscles that I thought might encourage the pains. But they didn't need encouragement.

The pain in my lower abdomen decided it was done being ignored and flexed its full muscle. I couldn't help it, my whole body tensed into that pain, doubling me over even more than I was. Cian noticed it, even through his giggling fit. "Sloane?" he asked.

I waited to answer until the pain subsided a bit and I was mostly sure that there wouldn't be any strain in my voice. "Yea?" I answered.

"What was that?" he asked, lifting my head until he could look me in the eyes.

I made a stupid split-second decision; I chose to be willfully obtuse. "What?" I asked as I carefully slid myself off of him. I fought with everything I was to school my face, not letting the grimace show. I should have known I wasn't that good, though. Cian was hovering next to me before I even made it off the bed.

"You know what," he said accusingly as he followed shortly behind me. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm alright," I said as I made my way slowly to the bathroom and fought the urge to hold on to my lower abdomen. It was almost as if the menstrual cramps I'd had as a kid before I got on birth control were back and making up for lost time.

Another cramp tightened my body, causing me to grab for my abdomen and doubled me over. "You are not alright," Cian replied as he supported me, helping to lower me to the floor. I could tell he wanted to lift me into his arms, but in that instant, he almost considered me too fragile to touch. He didn't want to make anything worse. "You are bleeding again."

I went down to my knees and curled into a ball like I used to, pressing my forehead against the cold stone floor. I spared one hand from its place on my stomach to feel my neck. "I am?" I asked as I felt the newest bite marks.

"Not there, Sloane," he replied. "You should have stopped me."

"From doing what?" I asked. I could feel the pain ebbing again, all I had to do was breathe through it.

"I was too rough again. I forgot myself twice in a row. It is not like me."

I took one last deep breath before I pushed myself back up first into a sitting position, then to my knees, and finally up to my feet. "You weren't too rough," I said as I started back on my trek to the bathroom. "I remember asking for more. It felt good."

"I could have made it feel good without being so hard on you. This," he said as he motioned to where I had been on the floor, "isn't acceptable." There was a small trickle of blood where I'd stopped to 'rest'.

I stopped in front of the full length mirror in the bathroom. Dark red liquid dripped down my inner thighs and pooled at the crux of one knee. I took me a minute of puzzled thought before I recognized it as blood. My blood. "I wanted to make you happy," I said as I grabbed a towel and cleaned myself of blood.

"Cupcake," he said as he turned my body toward him. I could hear his heart break in his voice. "I hope you don't think you have to let me do whatever I want to you in order for me to stay. You have me, I'm not going anywhere."

He gently lifted me from the floor at the exact same time my lower abdomen started to protest again. My body tensed and curled in on itself again as I fought not to whimper. Whimpering does no good; it doesn't make it hurt any less, it's just a noise that makes those around you as miserable as you are.

I didn't have to whimper, Cian did it for me. A small noise escaped his lips before he held me tighter and carried me upstairs. He set me down on the large bed in the master bedroom, carefully putting my head on a plush velvet pillow, and knelt on the floor beside my still curled body. "What can I do?" he asked as he rubbed my hair. The corner of one eye was rimmed in red, as if there was one bloody tear that he refused to let fall.

"Take a hot bath with me," I replied. "I just want you to hold me."

Cian told me to stay put on the bed while he drew a hot bath in his whirlpool tub. I ignored him; he seemed strangely fragile as he looked up at me from his knees. I didn't want him to be alone for too long to stew in his thoughts. I'd never seen this new Cian and I didn't trust it.

He heard me coming as I stepped foot in the newly remodeled bathroom; he was bent over the whirlpool tub, testing the water temperature. "I said stay on the bed," he said as he looked back at me. It wasn't his smile; it was a carefully constructed copy of his real smile. I knew what the real thing looked like, and what was in front of me wasn't it. He had rallied and was trying to fake it, but he was just shy of his mark.

"You were gone for too long," I replied with a smile. "I was going through Cian withdrawal."

He smiled wider, showing that he'd never gotten around to retracting his fangs. "I love that you can't get enough of me." He held out one hand; without thinking, I took it. "Your bath awaits, m'lady," he said with a bow.

I laughed and stepped into the tub. "Get in here."

The tub was large enough that I could settle myself in his lap, lying across him as I pressed my cheek to his chest. The heat seemed to calm some of the cramps in my abdomen and in a matter of minutes, I felt almost good as new. "Cian?" I asked as he ran his fingers through my wet hair over and over again.

"Hm?" he replied.

"I'm going to ask you a question; I want you to tell me the whole truth, OK?"

I didn't bother moving and neither did he. "Of course," he answered.

My heart hurt before I even asked the question. I decided to take the rip-the-Band-Aid-off approach and quickly asked, "Are you happy?"

His chest jumped in one quick guffaw before he kissed the top of my head. "You have to be more specific."

I could feel the heat of tears gathering behind my eyes. "So that's a no?" I asked.

"No, that is not a no." He kissed my hair again before lifting my face so I could see his blue eyes. "I am happier than I have been in centuries lying here with you."

I forced him to let go of my chin so I could hide my face again. I didn't want to show him tears. "Why do I need to be more specific, then?"

"Because you wanted the whole truth. I cannot give you a more specific answer until you ask a more specific question."

I sighed, partly in frustration and partly to help hold back the tears. "Is there anything about your life now that makes you unhappy?"

"Not unhappy per se," he answered, "but not happy, either."

"Like?" I asked.

"Are you asking that if I could fix any problem in my life, what would it be?" I nodded my answer against his chest. "I wish I were human so I could give you the normal life you deserve and I know you want. I wish I could give you children, if you wanted them, and a home and dinner parties for your friends. I wish I was enough of a man for you that you no longer felt like you needed another vampire to fill your bed…"

I stopped him where he was. "What? What does that mean?"

He sighed. He didn't need to breathe, he sighed to let go of some frustration. "I don't want to share you, Sloane. Don't misunderstand me; if given the options of sharing you with David and not having you at all, I will happily choose to share you every time. But every night I know you are in his bed, I can't help but imagine what you are doing. How would you feel if you knew I was sitting here with another woman naked in my arms?"

"Is that what you want?" I asked in a whisper. "Do you want to date someone else, too?"

"No," he said quickly. "No, that is not what I meant."

I pushed away from his chest and settled into the far side of the tub. "Tell me what to do," I pleaded. "What do you want me to do? I'll fix it."

He made a move to hold me again, but I stopped him in his tracks. I wanted to see his face as he told me what he wanted. He sighed again and settled back into his side of the tub. "Nothing. If I thought you could be happy without him, I would ask you to leave David, but…" He thought as anger covered his face. "But that is a moot point. Your bond ensures that you two cannot be without each other for long, and even if you were not bound, I could not make you give up someone you love as much you love him."

I could not stop the tears anymore; I just let them fall as I pushed myself out of the warm water and grabbed one of the black towels hanging on the silver rack. "Sloane," Cian called after me as I wrapped the towel around my body and walked out of the master bedroom and down the hallway. "Please, Sloane, I am sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," I said over my shoulder as I walked down the stairs to the first level, then down another set to the bedroom I'd first stripped in.

"I didn't want to make you angry," he said. "You said you wanted the truth, and I gave it to you."

"I know," I said in a voice strangely devoid of emotion as I pressed my finger against the scanner again. The machine chirped my name and asked for my personal key code. "I'm not angry."

"Please, Sloane, Cupcake, talk to me."

I closed the door before he could follow me through. Sure, he had a pass code to his own secure door, but the process of opening the door again would slow him just enough to give me some time to gather my clothes and lock myself in the attached bathroom. I was just pulling on my tan panties when I heard his voice on the other side of the locked bathroom door. "Cupcake, let me in."

I pulled on my jeans and buttoned them hastily before throwing my sweater back on. After pulling my now wet hair into a bun on the top of my head, I opened the door. I didn't say anything, I just stood there, one hand on the doorknob, face blank. "I wish I could take that back," he said finally. "I am not myself with you tonight."

"I don't," I said, replying to his first comment. I wanted to know where I stood, how he felt for some reason. I didn't think I could take much more of this tiptoeing around him. It just about broke my heart to know how he felt, but it was something I needed to know.

I passed him and sat down on the bench so I could pull on my shoes. "Are you going somewhere?" he asked.

"Home," I replied. I stood and walked around him again, back toward the stairs.

"Why?"

"Because I need time to think about your ultimatum."

"Ultimatum?" he asked as he put himself in my way again. I pushed past him. "I don't remember giving you an ultimatum."

I sighed and turned toward him as I put on my coat. "I can't leave David again, so I can't make you happy without breaking the heart of the other man I love. But I can't be with you and him and know that I'm the one making your life miserable. I don't think I can leave you, either, though. I just have to think."

"Think here," he said. "I will leave you be. Just don't leave angry, it's not healthy."

It was easier to just give in to him. I shrugged and settled myself onto his ruby red couch, next to my winter coat and looked up at him. He was still completely naked as he leaned down and kissed my forehead. "I'll go get dressed. Please don't leave."

.

I was dreaming because I'm not accustomed to wearing white, full length gowns in the middle of daisy fields. But this didn't feel like a dream. Usually, once I know I'm dreaming, it falls away until I can fall back into a deeper sleep and another dream can start. It could have been a vision, but I wasn't sure. I looked left, then right, when I heard a voice from behind me. "Child."

I turned to face the familiar sound. White Elizabethan lace stood in front of me like a bad dream. "Nailan," I answered. _This is just a dream_, I kept thinking to myself. _She can't hurt me in a dream_. But I knew all too well how real my dreams could get. She definitely could hurt me.

"I do not want to hurt you, child," she said as she walked closer. It was almost as if she'd read my thoughts. "I need you."

"For what?" I asked. I was about to take a step back when she stopped approaching me and just stood there.

"Life."

I furrowed my brow in concentration. "But you're dead. You took a bullet to the head."

Her small, red lips curled up into a smile. "I am not dead. My magic lives within you, and therefore so do I."

She reached out to touch me, but I dodged her attempt and took a step back. "So…what?" I asked, confused as to where this was going. "Why are we here? You can't have my life."

"I do not want your life, child," she replied, the soft smile hardening into something more malicious. "I want your body."

Suddenly, as if we shared one mind, one thought, her entire plan was there for me to see. She wanted to take me, possess my body, and retake her rightful place in Fae. With my body, she'd never have to live off the lives of other beings because that was never something I required. She'd reform her army of vampires and shifters and have a second chance to do what she always wanted: kill all the humans.

"No!" I screamed at her. I pushed her, not only with my hands but with my thoughts. I pushed her away and I woke screaming.


	140. Chapter 140

My throat felt raw and my body ached as my eyes shot open. I took a frantic moment to take in my surroundings before my body collapsed backwards. I was surrounded by deep green walls, auburn wood, and one very startled vampire's face. "Sloane?" Cian asked as he laid me back on the master bed, positioning me so my head landed softly on one of the many pillows.

"Fuck," I said as I rolled onto my side. All the better to curl into a tiny ball. "Everything hurts."

He started to pet my hair to calm me. "You have been thrashing for hours. What did you see?"

I shook my head, and even that hurt. "Nothing," I answered as I looked for my phone. "I mean, it wasn't a vision."

"It sure looked like a vision to me," Cian answered. "When dawn came closer, I tried to wake you, but you wouldn't wake up. I carried you up here so I could watch you and the moment the sun burst into the sky, you started screaming."

I stopped searching for my phone. "It's daytime?" I asked. He nodded. "Shouldn't you be…" _dead_?

"Not all vampires must die at dawn, Cupcake. The older the vampire, the longer we can stay awake, although it is by no means easy. Once I am assured you are alright, I will sleep."

I labored to prop myself up into a sitting position, shifting until I could find a position that wouldn't make my whole body hurt. I was quickly convinced there was no such position. "Nailan," I whispered as I buried my head in my hands.

"Who?" he asked.

"The Wicked Witch of the Midwest—the Fae Goddess who tried to eat my heart. She's back and she wants more." I was taking this slowly. Once I had come to terms with being upright, I tried for standing. After sliding off the edge of the bed, however, I knew I'd gone too fast. One knee buckled before I could steady myself, making Cian catch me before I fell to the floor. "I'm OK," I said as I tried again.

Cian shot me a look but let me go slowly on my way toward the bathroom. "How is she back?" he asked.

I leaned heavily on the sink before splashing water on my face and taking sips of the water I caught in my hands. "She's in my head," I started as I slowly made my way right back towards the bed. Nothing looked quite as good as that bed at the moment. It was too high off the ground, though; Cian needed to give me a small boost as I explained what I meant.

"Possession?" he asked as I settled my back against the plush headboard. "I was under the impression possession by a ghost was impossible."

I shook my head gingerly. Things were starting to loosen throughout my body, but it wasn't going fast enough for me. "I'm not sure she's a ghost. I have her magic in me already. I think she's trying to out-muscle my magic with her own so she can go on with her diabolical plan to kill everything."

My phone buzzed against the bedside table; both Cian and I turned to grab it. It wasn't until I was practically staring at his ear that I noticed the fine trickle of red trailing from it. "Cian, you're bleeding," I said as he handed me my ringing phone. The caller ID said it was Alec; he could wait. The bleeding vampire in front of me might not be able to. "Come here," I said as I pulled him down onto the bed next to me.

"It is a side effect of staying awake," he replied as he touched the blood. "I will be fine." He licked the blood from his fingers before settling in against the headboard.

"Go to…sleep," I said as I wiped the small trickle away with the towel I'd grabbed to dry my hands with. I never really knew what to call what they do at dawn. It's not sleeping, that for sure. There's a deeper aspect to it. I'd never seen a dead body up close and personal, but I'd be willing to guess that after a while, once rigor mortis passes and the muscles regain some of the looseness, the two are very similar.

He gave me a stern look. "If what you say is true and a dead Goddess is trying to possess you, I am not 'sleeping'," he said, pantomiming quotation marks around the word 'sleeping'. I guess that's not what he calls it, either. "You are in danger."

I crawled closer to him and curled into his side, resting my head just below his collarbone. He automatically wrapped his arm around me and buried his hand in the ends of my long hair. If I didn't know how much he appreciated other parts of my body, I'd have thought his favorite part of me was my hair. He was constantly rubbing it, playing with it, running his hands through it. "I wish you'd just sleep."

He kissed my hairline before rubbing his cheek against my hair. I cuddled farther into him as he placed his other hand on my hip. "I am scared for you."

His admission caught me by surprise. I was used to the cocky playboy, I was used to the militaristic tactician. I was even used to the trouble-making smartass, but I was not used to this new brutally honest character. I didn't know what to say. I was scared too, terrified, even, but I had been counting on Cian's cool, calm, collected side to keep me together. He and David would fix it. They always did. _What if they can't fix it?_ I thought to myself. It was stupid that the thought hadn't even occurred to me that there was nothing they could do to stop this. It had never occurred to me that there was nothing to do but sit back and be consumed from the inside out.

My fear must have been obvious from the rigid line of my body, or maybe in the tight grip I had on his shirt. He kissed my forehead again and held me close, trying to knead the tension out of my muscles. "Call the wolf back."

I packed away that fear before it ate me alive with a few deep breaths. I felt better, but it was a dubious relief, almost like cutting off your finger because you had a splinter in it. Sure, the splinter's gone, but are you really better off? "His name's Alec," I said automatically.

I could feel his smile form against my temple. "Indeed it is. Call him."

I dialed his number and put my phone on speakerphone before setting it on Cian's chest. "Sloane?" Alec asked.

"Hi," I replied.

"Where are you?" he asked. "Achrann said you weren't answering your phone all night, then you never came home. I can't be your bodyguard if I don't know where you are." There was a touch of anger in his voice, but I knew that voice—he was just worried. If he was truly angry, there wouldn't be any question about it.

"I'm at Cian's," I answered. "And I think you meant to say 'babysitter', because I sure as hell don't need a bodyguard."

"You're at Cian's alone?" he asked. "Sloane, that's not…"

I stopped him before he could tell me how stupid that was. "I'm not alone," I said. "Cian's here."

He let out a long, ragged sigh, something I was used to hearing from Moose's mouth when I was being particularly 'difficult', he called it. I didn't think I was difficult, I thought I was right. "Dead vampires don't count as protection, Sloane," he said, his voice tight.

"I am not dead," Cian answered. "What did the Fae want to tell her?"

There was a long pause on the phone. "It's…just after noon," Alec said, wonder in his voice. "How are you not dead?"

"It is not without effort," Cian answered offhandedly. "The Fae?"

"Oh," Alec said, remembering what he had been asked. "Right. Well, he talked to that other guy, and I guess they think that you took on a little more of that woman, the one that kidnapped you, than they thought you could."

_Deep breaths, Sloane_. "OK," I answered. "What makes 'that guy' say that?" Whoever 'that guy' was. I was betting it was Niall, but I couldn't be sure.

"Um," he said into the receiver. "She wants to know why you guys think that," he whispered. My guess was that Achrann was in the room, if not Niall.

"Give me the phone," Achrann said from far away. Seconds later, after a bit of shuffling on the line, he addressed me. "You are safe?"

"I'm fine, we're fine," I said, adding Cian in to the conversation. "What have you learned?"

"Firstly, Nailan had a gift for sharing energy, especially with the two-natured. This was most likely because of their tie to the moon. It is also what allowed her to create the vampire race. If Nailan was still within you, that would explain why you were able to borrow energy from the Garou and the shifter after you shattered your own aura. It is also possible this is why they are now drawn to you and you to them."

I felt Cian move beneath me before he fell absolutely still. It hadn't occurred to me that I completely forgot to tell him everything. "Later," I whispered. "How did I shatter my aura in the first place?" I asked Achrann.

"I am not sure. From what the Garou has told me, you called many of Nailan's gifts in an impressive display. In order to do that, you must call her energy, her magic to you. My Prince and I believe that it is possible that only one essence can live within a body at one time. In order for her magic to take control, she had to first strip you of your essence. The aura serves as the first line of defense against something such as this. In order to take control, she had to break it. You were just unable to replace it when she returned control to you."

"Why would she relinquish control?" I asked.

"Perhaps she is not yet strong enough to maintain it at that level," Achrann said.

"Well, she's getting stronger," I said. Cian and I both explained what had happened this morning.

"She screamed for about twenty minutes after the sun rose, then she woke," Cian finished.

"This is interesting," Achrann said. Interesting my ass. Terrifying is more like it. "Perhaps there was some magic during the night that protected you from her invading your mind. Once that protection fell, she only had those few minutes to get her message across before she weakened as well."

"The bond," I whispered as I dissolved almost into a shock-like state. I was completely unaware that while we were talking on the phone, I was slipping away. I felt like an empty shell, nothing was left inside. I understood the words that were being said, but I didn't really comprehend anything.

Cian must have sensed it because he hugged me tighter to him. It helped me to hold together as much of myself as I could, but there wasn't much I could do but realize what was happening. "Could her bond with David be protecting her?"

There were a few moments of silence on the other end of the line. I looked at my hand resting on Cian's chest. I thought about my fingers and just realized I felt cold. Not cold enough to start shivering, but I was cold enough to be slightly uncomfortable. _Cian's a vampire_, I thought to myself. _He probably just keeps his place cold, too. I wonder why they like it so cold. Is it because they're dead? Do they automatically feel like they have to preserve their skin like you would a chicken breast? I wonder why vampires don't rot. If they're dead while they sleep, then why don't they rot like other dead flesh? Maybe they have some sort of enzyme in their skin that protects them from flesh eating bacteria._ _I could use that enzyme to protect me from essence devourers. _

Cian squeezed my body against him almost painfully tight, breaking me out of my train of thought. "So what do we do to fix it?" Cian asked as he fixed his worried eyes on my face. His eyebrows furrowed in concern as my eyes slid up to meet his.

"I have a charm that will keep her at bay for now, but she will get strong enough to overcome the charm soon," Achrann said. Cian instantly fingered something that was in his pocket. I held my hand out; I wanted to see what he was playing with. He set the old piece of metal in my palm as Achrann continued to talk. "You will need a voodoo priestess with a specialized set of skills," he said as I ran my thumb over the old metal. The metal was so old and worn down that I had a hard time seeing the pattern.

"Do you know of one?" Cian asked.

Achrann hesitated. "I do."

"Where?" Cian asked.

Achrann hesitated again, which made me think that the answer wasn't going to thrill me. "I will get back to you," he said before hanging up.

I looked up at Cian's face as I handed him back the piece of metal. He smiled down at me, but it didn't reach his eyes. No, his eyes were full of worry. "What's the charm for?" I asked as I nestled my head back into its spot on his chest. I couldn't look at his worried face anymore; I was having enough of a hard time keeping myself in one piece.

He waited several seconds before answering me, probably considering if it was wise to answer me or not. In the end, he decided to answer me. "It is a replacement for the spell that protected you from us." _Us_ being him and David, I think.

I dragged the edge of the comforter over my legs and closed my eyes. For being unconscious all night, I was strangely exhausted. I guess there was a difference between sleeping and being possessed all night. Or maybe it's a side effect of the shock, my mind fighting to protect itself from the fear that would be have been drowning me by trying to shut down completely.

I had not noticed that Cian had made his own phone call since Achrann hung up on us. How long had I been laying here, my mind struggling to keep up without sending me into a complete fit? "You shouldn't be alone right now," he said as he tossed his own cell phone onto the bedside table. His voice sounded like I felt; physically and mentally exhausted. "Someone needs to be here should something else happen."

I just looked up at his face as he looked right back down at me. "What?" I asked.

"There's obviously something wrong. I have asked Alec to come and help you. I cannot stay awake much longer, so I am asking you to stay here until Alec gets here." He hooked one finger under my chin and made me look at him, and I mean really look at him. "Promise me you will not leave until he gets here."

It took a few tries, but I finally managed to answer. "OK." He must have seen something that persuaded him, because he nodded and closed his eyes. He squeezed my body one more time before letting all of the tension out of his shoulders. When I glanced back up at his face, it was slack. One second alive, the next: dead.

.

I didn't know how long I'd been lounging against Cian's cold skin, staring forward but unseeing. It wasn't until Alec clapped his hands together right in front of my face until I snapped back. "Hey," he said as he did it. I looked up from where I'd been staring, which was at his chest, and met his eyes. "You OK?"

It took me a few moments to find my voice. "I'm cold and tired," I said in a moment of brutal honesty. It came out so smooth, so unaffected, that it even surprised me.

Alec held a hand out for me, offering to help me up. "You want to go home?" he asked after his eyes flicked to Cian. I looked up at Cian's slack face and wondered what he was looking at. "That's kind of creepy, don't you think?"

I didn't answer the question because I wasn't entirely sure what he was talking about. "I don't want to sleep." I didn't want another visit from Nailan if I could help it, and I was taking no chances. Until this was fixed, I'd be avoiding anger and sleep. Those were the only two times she'd taken over my body—when I was angry and when I was sleeping. Hopefully we'd figure this out soon, because the less sleep I get, the angrier I am. I couldn't have both.

Alec took his hand back. "OK," he answered. "What do you want to do?"

I had no answer for him. I just stared up at his face and watched the emotions flicker across it. Confusion, followed by concern with a trace of worry, then sadness. I watched him as he circled the bed until he was so far behind me it hurt my neck to turn it that far. "I'm going to take you home and you're going to change into your favorite sweats, curl up in bed, and try to rest." I felt the bed move behind me before he peeled Cian's arms from around me, letting them flop bonelessly on the bed. I didn't fight as Alec rolled me onto my back before lifting me from the bed. The second he touched me though, I felt better, stronger, more solid. A small gasp passed my lips as he tucked me against his chest and carried me downstairs. "Yea, I feel that too." It was like being home almost, he just felt right.

He set me down on the couch and grabbed my shoes. He was about to tuck one of my feet into the matching flat before I stopped him. "I can put on my shoes."

"OK," he said as he leaned back on his haunches. I had completely forgotten that every muscle in my body hurt until I leaned down to grab my shoe. Then my body had no problem reminding me. I groaned as I slipped my feet into the shoes, then again as I pushed myself up into a standing position. "You sound like an old man. You sure you're OK?"

"Sore," I said. "Very sore."

A long, slow smile developed across his face until he could barely hold in his laughter. "You and Cian have a fun night, then?"

I frowned at him as I thought about the question. I wasn't sure what he was talking about, and I think he knew it. His smile fell as if something was troubling him. "Never mind, never mind."

I grabbed my purse on the way out the door. "Keys?" he asked with his hand out. Again, it took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about, and then another few moments to locate my keys, but I eventually dropped them in his palm. He let out a short whistle and RJ jumped out of his truck. "You take Sloane's car back," Alec said as he tossed the shorter man they keys. "We may want the bench seat."

"Aye aye," the shorter man said as he saluted. "How's it going, Sloane?"

I looked at him for a minute. "Good," I answered finally. RJ nodded, but glanced behind me at Alec before meeting my eyes again. With a strained smile and a nod, he piled himself into my car and left.

"Oh," Alec said as he helped to lift me into the passenger side. "I almost forgot, Achrann had this for you." He pulled a small chain from his pocket. On the chain was a small triangular pendant that looked about as old as the charm Cian kept in his pocket. "He says this should help until we can find someone to fix this thing." He leaned around me and clasped it around my neck. The chain was long enough that if the pendant were under my shirt, I could have tucked it into my bra. As it was, the chain slanted between my breasts, causing the pendant to dangle in mid air. "Feel better?"

I did, but not because of the charm. Having Alec close to me made it easier for me to function, easier to breathe. I felt lighter and stronger at the same time. "Yea," I answered. "I think it's you, though, not the charm. I feel stronger when I'm near you. I can think better."

"Yea, I feel that too. I guess I'm sticking pretty close to your side until we can fix this, huh?" I simply nodded.

.

I was lying on the couch in my comfy sweats with a blanket thrown over me, my head resting on Alec's lap. I was feeling better, stronger, not quite as shallow and empty, but I didn't know if that's because my mind had figured out a less disruptive way to deal with the stress or if the longer I was in contact with Alec, the better and better I felt. We'd been sitting here for hours. "I'm getting hungry," he said.

I rolled until I was lying flat on my back and looked up into his face. He looked down at me and had to brush his lengthening hair from his face with what I can only describe as hostility. "If you hate the long hair so much, why don't you just cut it? I think you'd look nice with shorter hair."

He took a second to follow my train of thought. "My old girlfriend used to like it longer. I guess I finally got used to it," he answered. "Do you think I should cut my hair?"

I shrugged as much as I could with my head on his lap without being slightly obscene. "If you want to."

"How would you like it better? Shorter or longer?" He ran his fingers though his hair and cocked his head to his side.

I wasn't sure I liked where this conversation was going. It was great that he was getting over Julie, but I didn't want him to replace Julie with me. I wanted him to do what he wanted to because he wanted to do it, not because I happened to agree with him.

Instead of answering his original question, I asked him another. "If you don't like it down and in your face, why don't you pull it back?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't all fit in a rubber band. The pieces around my face still cover my eyes."

I looked at his hair, falling just short of his shoulders. "Why not pull it back in a braid?" I asked as I pushed myself off the couch. I completely forgot my body hurt until I moved. I circled until I was standing behind him and ran my fingers through his hair to comb it out. "Like this," I said as I started the French braid. My fingers worked quickly, tightly pulling his hair back into the pattern of the braid. When I was done, I pulled the hair-tie from my own ponytail and wrapped it around the end, fastening it.

When I circled the couch again to look at my handiwork, all I could do was stare. Without all that wavy, unruly hair to obstruct the view, his face was striking. His eyes seemed larger, his cheekbones seemed stronger. His jaw line was finally visible, and it only made his face look more masculine. "Wow," I managed. He was gorgeous before, but now he was mind-numbingly handsome.

"What?" he asked. He raised his hand to his head and traced the braid with his fingers. "Cool."

I shook my head and took my spot next to him. "Nothing," I said. "Nothing at all."


	141. Chapter 141

I was studiously watching the sun set through the glass of the back door when something flickered in my peripheral vision. I jumped about a foot and a half and almost fell off the couch before Alec caught me. "Jesus Christ, Achrann," I spat at him. My heart was jumping in my chest as I pressed my hand against it. "You scared the shit out of me. Next time, knock or something, OK?"

He bowed his head toward me. "Of course, Ga Binne Ri." He settled himself into the rocking chair he was becoming fond of, causing the jacket of his white suit to fall open. He had on more hardware than usual tonight; along with his two gleaming silver guns in their shoulder holster, his belt was made of what looked like throwing darts. Large enough to wound, but it'd take a couple of hours to kill someone with one. Maybe he knew how to use them more efficiently. I could also see the end of a handle wrapped in white leather pressing against his hip. I was willing to bet there was another one on the other side of him, too. A matching set, so to speak.

"What's with the armory?" Alec asked, obviously picking up on the same things I was.

"Vaudun priestesses are not to be trusted. Especially this one."

I glared at him for a moment before taking in the whole sight of him. I wanted to know where every weapon was, I wanted to know how dangerous Achrann thought this was going to be. I knew for a fact he wasn't going to tell me. He may be my sometimes-bodyguard, but I doubt he did that willingly. He didn't seem to like me.

I switched my vision into X-ray mode, where I could see anything and everything. More weapons popped out at me. I could see the faint outline of the blades he had strapped to each thigh, and the small guns strapped to his ankles. His collar was extra stiff, making me think he had something vaguely blade-like stuck up in there, too. There was a small bulge in the breast pocket of his coat. "How do you get to those knives on your thighs without stripping?" I asked.

He looked slightly surprised for a moment before settling back into the chair. "There are slits in the pockets of the pants that allow me to grab the hilt."

I nodded. "And what's in your breast pocket? Something square…"

He smiled as if I had amused him. "My wallet."

I was momentarily confused. For some reason, it seemed asinine that Achrann would need a wallet. He didn't need a form of identification as far as I knew. After all, I wasn't sure he could get one. His appearance was going to set off some alarms no matter where he went and I was sure he didn't have a birth certificate. And did he really need money? Credit cards? It seemed like a foreign idea to me that he existed in this world when he was not annoying me.

He could probably read the confusion on my face. "I have several aliases for human work. Since I will be operating within the confines of your human existence, I will be Colin Forrester for this mission. Ex-government official turned bodyguard. That will explain my vast knowledge of different weapons and give me a reason to never leave your side." He opened his jacket and took out the wallet. I wasn't ready for him to toss it to me, leaving Alec to catch it before it beaned me in the head.

"So, because I'm human, you have to play human, too?" I asked. "Why not just go as you are?" I glanced down at the Michigan license that confirmed what Achrann had just told me. He also had cash, two credit cards, and a permit for something that I think is gun-related.

"Because if it was known what I was, there would be questions as to why you rate a Fae Guardian. If I go as human, those questions are not asked."

I cocked an eyebrow as I handed the wallet back to Achrann. "Someone's going to know what you are."

"If someone can recognize me as you do, then they will most likely also recognize you for what you are."

"And what is that?" I asked before I could tell my mouth to shut up.

It was his turn to cock an eyebrow. "Powerful."

.

Achrann told me to call David and Cian over here as the sun set. "Call anyone else you trust at your back, Ga Binne Ri. A show of force will not be unwelcome," he said. So I told David to bring Emma, Lee, and the twins and made another call to Moose.

"You're starting to worry me," I said to Achrann as we waited for them to arrive. Sydney had come down from her room and was now sitting next to me looking mighty worried. _I'm going to give her early heart failure_, I thought as I searched her face. She wasn't looking at me, she was watching Alec pace, but I could see the slight difference in her face. She was trying to hide it, but there was almost nothing she could do to disguise her expression from me.

She caught me watching her and gave me a weak smile. My heart tore for her. This was not her problem, but she was going walk head-first into it because she loved me. Would I have done anything different for her? No. Did that mean it was fair? Also no.

"Come here," I said as I held my arms open for Sydney. She crawled across the couch and curled into my much smaller arms, tucking her head into my shoulder. "This is dangerous, isn't it?" she whispered as I settled back into the couch.

"Don't know. I think so," I whispered back. Her arms went around my waist and squeezed so tight I had to change my breathing. "It's OK," I said as the larger woman crawled on top of me. She was a good five inches taller than me, but she managed to curl into a small enough ball that she fit in my lap. "I'll be fine, Syd, I've seen into the future and I'm fine."

Her head shot up fast enough that I had to jerk my head out of the way before she nailed my chin with the top of her head. "You mean that?" she asked, her eyes begging.

"I do," I said. I knew full well that the future can change in an instant, but with the drowning look in Sydney's eyes, I wasn't about to mention that. "You and I were sitting in your room, assembling something white. I was fine, you were fine. Everything's going to be OK." Of course, the vision I was talking about didn't tell me how everyone else I was calling to slaughter fared. I only had to believe that if I made it, everyone else would, too. I _had_ to believe that, or else I wasn't going along with this.

Sydney's eyes glanced toward the door a moment before there was a knock. "Emma?" she asked.

I nodded. I felt David approach, and I could only assume they'd come together. "Come in," I said in my normal speaking voice.

David entered first, followed by Emma and Lee, and then by the twins Idi and Idriis. David leaned over Sydney and kissed my lips gently before glancing at the woman on my lap. I just shrugged at him.

"Oh, dear," Emma said as she circled the couch, sitting on the other side of Sydney's body. "What is wrong, Sydney?" She reached out and laid her hand on Sydney's knee.

"I'm tired of being scared for Sloane," she whispered.

Emma's eyes softened as she looked at Sydney. "Me too," Emma said as she looked up at me. "Is there something we should be scared about?"

"Don't ask me," I said defensively as I pointed to Achrann, who was still silently sitting in his rocking chair. "He's the one that popped into my living room, literally armed to the teeth."

All the vampires turned their attention to Achrann in one smooth motion. "When everyone is here, I will explain. I assume the true shifter is coming?" Moose. I nodded yes. "And the other male vampire?" He must be talking about Cian, because I couldn't think of any other male vampires I'd think to call. I nodded again. I was going to have to teach Achrann to use names, because this descriptive shit was getting on my nerves already.

"Why is Mustafa coming?" David asked.

"Because Achrann told me to gather the army. I called everyone I know that's not just a hostage waiting to happen."

David smirked before he could wipe his face clean of any emotion. It was quick, but I caught it. "So you called Mustafa?" he asked, doubt thick in his voice.

"Hey," I said defensively. "He may not be a fighter, but he's a problem solver. And he's got built in weapons and isn't afraid to use them. He's saved my life before, remember."

"I remember," David said in that closed voice as he tracked Moose entering the room. He rarely knocked anymore; he just sort of walked in. Usually the door was unlocked, but he knew where the key was.

"What'd I miss?" Moose asked as he walked into the room and noticed Sydney sitting on my lap. I think my legs were slowly going numb because I couldn't feel my feet on the floor anymore. Because I couldn't help myself once the thought crossed my mind, I glanced down to check to make sure they were still there. As if they'd just up and leave without me.

"Nothing yet," I said as I glanced back up.

"Good to hear it," Cian whispered in my ear. I jumped at his sudden appearance behind me, but was getting used to it. I don't know if it was just the difference between David and Cian or it spoke to their different ages, but Cian never really tried to act human for me. He might have _wanted_ to be human for me, but he wasn't going to pretend to be something he's not for my benefit. I could appreciate his logic. But that also meant that he had a habit of showing his real speed and strength more often than any other vampire I knew. After a lingering kiss to the soft point just under my ear, which I'm sure he would have liked to continue, David sighed.

"Why is it that I am constantly sharing parts of my nights with you with him?" he asked before Cian pulled his lips away. I felt the slight upturn of Cian's lips before he schooled his face and pulled away.

"My apologies, my King," he replied in a tone that was in no way apologetic.

"Can it, you two," I said. I felt like I was dealing with preschoolers. "Achrann, we're all here. Now spill."

Everyone turned to Achrann, who was still perched on the rocking chair. "I have found the vaudun priestess you require," he said.

"Where?" David asked.

"Paris," Achrann said almost painfully.

David visibly flinched. I was looking at his back and I saw him actually flinch. I didn't know it was possible, but when I looked at Emma, she had paled. "What's so wrong with Paris?" I asked as I turned around to face Cian. It was his face that scared me, though; I'd never seen him look so stricken.

Moose shrugged. "I like Paris. Good food."

I was ignoring Moose for the moment; I was more interested in what had the vampires so spooked. I was waiting for one of the fanged to answer me, but they just stood there, stunned. Achrann answered me. "Vampire politics are much different in the old world," he said. "France's queen is particularly bad."

I was about to ask how much worse it could get, but Emma seemed to snap out of her internal fit. "David, no, you cannot go. She will keep you." She looked beyond scared, she looked almost panicked. "David, please," she begged before Lee comforted her.

"I agree, brother," Lee added. If Lee thought that David shouldn't go, then it had to be bad. "It is not safe for you. Let me go in your stead."

"Will someone please just explain what the hell is going on here?" I asked.

David seemed to realize that I was still in the room and turned toward me. "The Queen of France is…not to be trifled with. To her, if you are in her area, you are either a toy or a threat. I will be a toy. You will be a threat."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It means, Cupcake," Cian answered for him, "that she has a sexual appetite to rival anyone's with a sadistic streak to match. Very few willingly serve her…needs, once they know what that could mean for them."

"OK, so you're saying she'll want to…have you," I said as a heat crept up my cheeks. I was having sex with two men, both in the room, and had previously been with another man in the room, but talking about sex as a group discussion was more than my sensibilities could manage. I just _had_ to blush.

Cian nodded. "Any male that enters her territory will most likely be propositioned, unless she deems them either unattractive or beneath her."

"Can't you just say no?" I asked.

David laughed, but it was a hard, broken laugh. "Not without consequences."

I almost didn't want to know, but I had to ask. "Like what?"

David finally looked down at me, but I don't think it was me he was seeing. "I refused her once, only once. I was at a tavern the night before we were to leave port. She invited me to a more secluded area, and I declined. As her revenge for humiliating her, she turned me into a vampire. When I rose for the first night, she said, 'now that you are mine to command and mine to control, I will do with you as I please until I break you. Then I will throw you away.'"

I ushered Sydney off my lap and pulled David down toward me until I could latch onto his neck. My legs weren't quite working yet. "I'm sorry," I whispered into his ear.

He stood upright, lifting me from my spot on the couch and holding me tightly to him. I felt like a living, breathing security blanket at the moment as my feet dangled above the ground. "It was six months before I had my opportunity to escape. One of the chains that she kept me in wasn't fastened tight enough after she was done with me for the night. I got free, killed six of the guards, and ran. I haven't been back to France since." He seemed to snap out of his horrible memory and looked at me. I smiled up at him before kissing his lips. "This is the only priestess that is capable of the magic we require?" he asked Achrann.

"Yes," Achrann responded. "She is more than just merely a voodoo priestess; she is the sole remaining priestess of the original Thal'Kun tribe." I looked up to David's face; whatever it was that Achrann had just told him obviously meant something, because David looked impressed.

"Is she willing to give us an audience?" Cian asked.

"Yes," Achrann replied. "Although that does not mean she is willing to do what you ask. She will want something in return."

"Like?" asked David.

Achrann just shrugged, making even that movement look other-worldly. "There is no way to know. I do know it will most likely be unpleasant."

David tried to lower me to the ground, but I latched on tighter. "Don't set me down yet," I whispered into his ear. "My legs are still asleep. Sydney's heavy."

David smirked for a moment before taking my place on the couch and setting me in his lap. "Emma, Lee, you are to stay here. I don't want either of you within a thousand miles of Belle Reine." Emma started to protest, but David put a hand up. "She will know who to hurt to get me to do her bidding. You two are at the top of the list. I will be safer if I don't have to worry about you." He glanced around the room until his eyes fell on Sydney. "Ms. Mets, you are not coming, either."

"What?" Sydney protested. "Why not?"

"Because you are merely another hostage waiting to happen." David glanced up toward Cian, who responded with a small nod of his head. "This will be completely voluntary. If you do not wish to come, then I will not force you."

Alec, who had been very quiet in the corner, was the first to speak up. "I'm in."

Moose followed shortly after with a smile. "Me too."

Idi and Idriis merely gave identical nods of the head. Cian was the last to answer. "If you can go, I can go."

I pulled David down ever so slightly so I could kiss him. "You don't have to do this. I can go alone, no vampires necessary."

"No," David said strongly. "I will go to protect you. But we need a plan."

.

David sent Emma home to pack for him and me. Apparently, I didn't have the wardrobe necessary to play my role. Cian left shortly after the planning process to pack, as well. Moose went home to make some calls and explain our absence to Jeanne and the rest of the lab. Neither Moose nor Alec had the appropriate wardrobe for the trip either, so Idi and Idriis took their measurements and went to see about getting them some black suits. Moose wouldn't be hard to fit; he's pretty everyman-shaped. Alec, on the other hand, was going to be difficult to shop for. Not a whole lot of people carry something that will fit someone who's quickly approaching seven feet tall. Especially since, knowing Emma, she'd told them only designer would do. Alec went home shortly after to pack, too. He may not have the wardrobe, but he did have the rest of the getup (read: weapons).

The plan was this: David and Cian were going to France under the pretense that they were going to visit a renowned psychologist. Idi and Idriis were to be their personal bodyguards, and Moose and Alec would be mine. I was to be their 'day person', basically their very own personal assistant. I asked why I couldn't just go as a girlfriend, but they both gave me elegant looks. Then I remembered his comment about me being a threat. I guess the Queen of France is someone who kills anyone who dare take what's hers. And I think she still considers David hers.

Achrann was still sitting in the rocking chair in his perfectly white suit. His role in this elaborate charade would be director of security. Emma had tried to convince him to wear a black suit, like Alec and Moose (and I suppose also Idi and Idriis) will be wearing, but Achrann had made his opinion on the topic known silently. He was going to stay in his white for now.

David was pacing between the two of us. "We must be very careful to make sure that Belle Reine does not find out our deception. Ideally, we will never see her, but I have little hope that she will stay away. She will detect our blood bond immediately."

"There's nothing we can do about that," I said.

David turned to Achrann. "Is there a way to disguise the bond?"

Achrann looked thoughtful. "I am unsure; I do not know of any magic that will shatter the vampire-human bond."

"No," I said quickly as I jumped out of my seat. As soon as I was on my feet, though, I felt a tad silly. "I don't want to shatter the bond, just hide it. For a little bit," I said as a fine blush covered my cheeks.

David looked surprised for a split second before an unadulterated grin covered his face. "Why, Sloane," he said, "I had no idea you were so fond of our bond."

I blushed harder. "Aren't you?"

"Oh," he said as he stalked closer to me. I let out a girly yip as he picked me up off the floor by the backs of my thighs. "I am very fond of our bond." He leaned in and kissed my lips lightly. "I love feeling your roil of emotions. It makes me feel young again."

"Ahem," Achrann said. "I will go." And like that, he popped out of my living room.

I was blushing again. David kissed my lips again and ground my most intimate parts against the front of his jeans. I gasped in pain. "Love?" he asked as he gave me a little more space in that area.

"Sorry, I'm kind of sore today." I brushed some of that unruly hair away from his face and kissed each cheek.

He set me down on my feet in front of him. "How so?"

I was suddenly very nervous about David's temper. He must have seen my momentary hesitation, because he stepped back, waiting. I shored up my shoulders and spat it out. "Cian was a little rough last night; I'm still kind of feeling it. Don't be mad."

I saw a flash of that famous temper in his eyes. I wanted to go to him, hug him, tell him it was OK, that I was OK, but all I could think was _run, get the hell out now_. He must have seen me flinch ever so slightly as he moved because his face softened. "Come upstairs with me," he said, his eyes kind but his jaw still tight. "I want to hold you."

He was still angry enough to tear the head off a chicken, but he was trying, God dammit. I stood there, unable to make up my mind as to what to do, when he offered me his hand. I flinched again. He dropped his hand. "If I were to punish someone for this, it would not be you. Please, let us go upstairs, get ready for bed, and let me hold you while you fall asleep."

I took one last long look at him before taking his hand. "Not that cuddling doesn't sound great, but I don't want to fall asleep."

"Why not?" he asked as he led me up the stairs. "You look tired."

I sighed and forced my feet to drag me up the steps. Yes, I was tired. Too tired, in fact, to fight off pesky little Fae goddesses who try and invade my mind. It would be a shame to plan this whole trip and she possesses me before I even have a chance to fix anything. "I am, but I'm too tired to sleep," I started. "I don't know if I'll be able to block Nailan as effectively. My guard already drops when I sleep, I don't need to fax her an engraved invitation to take me over."

He looked down at me, mildly perplexed as he opened the door to my bedroom. "So you are planning to not sleep until when? Until we can fly to Paris, set up a meeting with this Vaudun, and convince her to help us?"

Well, when he said it like that, it did sound just this side of stupid. "I guess so," I said.

He looked at me as if I had just said something mildly entertaining. "She cannot get to you while you wear your token," he said as he sat me on the bed. I sighed and let my eyes close for a moment while he disappeared into the bathroom. The water started running seconds later; he was drawing us a bath. "It would be better to get some sleep now, while we are relatively sure your token will still work, than to wait until she has a chance to overcome it."

When he said it like that, it seemed so logical to just pass out right now. And oh, did I ever want to. Not including the time I spent in Nailan's little dream, I hadn't slept in two days. I was emotionally maxed, mentally slow, and physically exhausted. Usually, I can push the tiredness away; it's what helps me get through long hours at the lab, but tonight I couldn't just shake it off. I forced my eyes open and looked up at him. He'd already stripped down to his boxer briefs. "I'm so tired," I said again.

"Would you like to skip the bath?" he asked.

I shook my head. As long as he was there to make sure I didn't drown, I thought the idea of a bath sounded nice. Getting completely naked shot a jolt of fear through me, though; I could feel the slight bruising on my thighs were they'd hit Cian's hipbones. But David had already proven that he wasn't going to be chopping anyone's head off about it, so I just let the fear slide away. "Bath," I said as I started to strip out of my sweater.

David went to check the temperature of the water while I finished stripping. I took a quick look at my thighs—there were definitely bruises. If I could see them, they'd stick out like a sore thumb to David. "Coming, Love?" he asked from the bathroom.

"Coming," I said as I tossed the dirty laundry onto the dirty laundry pile. When I opened the door to the bathroom, he had already slid into the tub, water so hot I could see it steaming from the surface of the bath. His eyes took in my body, just like they always did, and I could tell when he saw the bruises, but he didn't explode. He didn't even scowl. He just held one strong hand out and helped me settle into the bath between his legs. It felt so good I sighed audibly.

"Is the water warm enough?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered. "You should know what temperature I like, we take enough baths and showers together."

"Yes," David said, "but I thought it would be polite to ask."

I sat another few minutes in the comforting heat and let the water soothe all my worries away. "Do you really like taking baths this much or do you know how much I like it?"

He rubbed his hands up and down my arms a few times before wrapping his arms around my ribcage and holding my back tightly to his chest. "If I lie in bed with you without bringing my body temperature up before hand, I tend to make you shiver in your sleep. This way, I can hold you close without worrying about stealing all of your heat."

"Ah," I said. "Are you warm enough yet?"

He pressed one very warm, very wet hand against my cheek. "You tell me."

"You're warm enough. Let's get some sleep before we have to leave."

We dried off, got dressed, and curled under the fluffy comforter before the stolen heat dissipated from either of our bodies. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.


	142. Chapter 142

I was vaguely aware of angry voices. "I hope you're not planning to make what you two did last night routine," David said maliciously.

"I had not," Cain answered as I sat up. Neither of the vampires standing in my bedroom were even remotely aware that I was awake. I was willing to bet that they'd even forgotten I was in the room in the first place. "But if you continue to tell me what I can and cannot do with my lover, then I will be forced to defy you out of sheer spite."

"I am your King, I can order you to do anything I want to. Disobedience is not an option," David seethed as he leaned into the smaller man. I threw the comforter off my legs and stood, wondering what to do about this little argument. I wasn't happy with either of them at the moment, but I didn't want their rage to focus on me. "The only reason I granted you passage to Michigan is because of Eric's insistence. Now that you are under my rule, Eric cannot save you."

Cian stepped into the larger man and hissed. "I hope you have your affairs in order," Cian seethed right back. "I will tear you apart."

I needed to step in before Cian acted on his threat. "Hey," I said as I stepped closer, "cut it out."

"Attack me and die," David responded as if he'd never heard me.

"Hey," I said, louder this time, as I took another step forward. As soon as I was within range, I grabbed both of their arms and squeezed as tightly as I could in an effort to snap them out of whatever macho shit was going on in my bedroom. I had just enough time to realize that what I'd done was really stupid before I landed on the floor.

One of them had backhanded me so hard I'd had to throw out my arms to slow my fall, or else I would have broken my nose on the wood floor. My face throbbed as I stared at the wood grain, trying to remember how to function. When I thought I could handle it, I got to my knees, pausing on all fours while I waited for my vision to stabilize. Anger coursed through my veins as a drip of blood fell to the floor. A woman's laugh echoed through my mind.

"Sloane," David and Cian said almost in unison.

"Leave," I said to the floor as I desperately tried to hang on to myself. "She's using you, making you fight so you'll piss me off." She knows that if I get too angry, my shields slip just enough to let her through. She seemed to know this, even though I hadn't realized. So Nailan chose to bide her time until she could use what little influence she had to blow something out of proportion. She'd tried first last night, making Cian lose control with me. She thought if he hurt me during sex it would piss me off, but instead I just liked it which in turn pissed her off. Now, she was using her influence to flare both David's and Cian's tempers, hoping their aggression would trigger something in me. And it worked, almost too well. "Leave me alone," I said, more to Nailan than to the vampires.

David said something, but I couldn't hear it past Nailan's voice. "You cannot stop me from taking this body," she said.

One problem at a time. I chose to deal with the vampires first. "Leave," I said again. "Your invitations are rescinded." I needed to clear the room of anyone she could control on the very real chance she got her wish.

She laughed, seemingly knowing what my thought process had been. "When I gain control," she said in her sing-song voice, "all I have to do is walk downstairs and invite them back in."

"I don't think you can," I said. I wasn't aware of if I was speaking out loud or just in my head, but if I was alone in my room, it wouldn't matter. "It's not your house to invite vampires in to."

The thought process seemed to stymie her. She took a second to consider if what I had said held any weight before pushing it all aside with a mental wave of her arm. "Then I will go outside. You cannot separate me from my army." She gathered her will around herself and with one final push at my barriers, everything went black.

.

It seemed like I only just blinked my eyes, but all of a sudden I was slumped against the wall, looking at the disaster zone that was now my living room. The couch was pushed into the kitchen, the leather chair was on its side, and the coffee table was splintered remnants in the center of the floor. On top of those splinters lay David and Cian, beaten, bloody, and unconscious.

I shivered ferociously and tried to push myself up. "Wake up," I said to the two unconscious men. When I couldn't force myself to my feet, I settled for my knees, crawling to them on all fours. "Wake up," I said again when I reached them, grabbing them each by the shoulder and shaking them as hard as I could. Neither stirred. I shivered again and dropped to the floor so I could curl into a ball. I lowered my shields just slightly and asked, "What did you do to them?"

"I had them fight for the right to lead my army," the sing-song voice in my head replied, sounding more tired than the last time she'd invaded my head. "Both are admirable warriors. I put them to sleep before they killed each other; I will need them to lead my army."

"Wake them up," I begged.

"They will wake on their own," she said.

"I need them now," I whimpered as I shivered. "Please." There was no answer.

.

I hadn't remembered passing out, but when I came to, I was warm again. Or, at least I felt comparatively warm again. I could still feel every muscle in my body contributing to a full-body shiver. I opened my eyes and grabbed on to the warmth surrounding me like a life line, pulling fistfuls of soft cotton toward me. "You better?" Alec asked, his voice rumbling through his chest.

I couldn't answer just yet; instead, I nodded as another shiver rocked through my body. "Your lips are still blue," he said.

I didn't have much to say to that; instead, I just sat in his lap, letting his body heat and his aura warm me from the outside in. Just when my eyes were starting to droop closed, the front door opened with a flourish only to be slammed shut again. "Your bags are packed and in the car," Emma said, her voice proceeding her into the living room. When she finally turned the corner and saw the disaster zone, she stopped short, dropping the garment bag she was carrying with her. "David," she said as she zoomed to his side. Alec and I sat there silently while Emma looked over her brother. I kept my eyes on Lee, who had silently followed his wife into the room. He had both of his gleaming swords out, both casually hanging next to his legs. It wasn't the swords that made me cautious, it was his eyes. He looked at me with such accusation, such vengeance. If I hadn't known it before, I knew now: if I was ever to really hurt David, and I mean really hurt David, he and I were going to come to blows. Most likely, I'd be the one in a bloody heap on the floor.

"He is not that injured," Emma said, "but he won't wake." She turned to me with much the same look I was getting from Lee at the moment. She was ready to kill me herself. "What did you do to them?"

I sat there shivering for a moment while I thought about it. "Nothing," I whispered. I kept the right side of my face pressed against Alec's chest, hiding the still-painful cheek from the vampires. I was willing to bet I was developing quite the bruise where I'd been backhanded. "Nailan."

At the speed of light, Emma yanked me from Alec's grip and tossed me across the room like I weighed no more than a beanbag. I landed on my side in a heap at David's side. I had enough time to come to terms with the pain in my shoulder and hip before Emma was leaning over me, yanking me once again so I was lying on my back. "Wake him," she seethed. I'd never seen her so angry before, not even after her bachelorette party in Maryland. Her face drained of all of its color, her fangs protruded as delicate but deadly weapons.

"I can't," I said through gritted teeth. "They'll wake up on their own."

She straddled me, holding my hips to the floor while simultaneously grabbing my wrists. I was pinned, and there wasn't anything I could do about it. She hissed at me for a moment while I had a moment to think, _she's going to bite me_. Then she struck.

She bit my shoulder savagely, but I didn't scream. I didn't have the energy for it. I gathered everything I had left in me to rescind her invitation as she pulled deep throatfuls of my blood, but before I could open my mouth, I heard two loud pops. Emma collapsed on top of me; even if I'd had the energy to move, I wouldn't have been able to. Instead, I just lay on my living room floor under Emma's weight as warm liquid trickled down my shoulder to my neck. That liquid was blood. My blood.

I closed my eyes and let the light-headedness take me.

.

Someone was licking my shoulder. With every pass of their tongue, pain shot through my arm and across my torso. "Her heartbeat is slowing," said a Cian's voice mere inches from my ear. "I can give her blood, but it may bond us."

"Do it," Moose said, and I got a double-sided echo of the command: one from his voice and another from the reverberations through his chest.

Cold hands tilted my head back and opened my mouth. I willed my body to fight as cold skin lowered into my mouth, but nothing happened. I coughed as thick, metallic liquid flowed into my mouth and down my throat, spitting the liquid into the air. I felt little droplets of it fall back onto my face as I tried to gasp for breath.

.

I was sitting upright, kind of, with my arms limp at my sides and my legs open in front of me. It was a strangely embarrassing position, but I couldn't help but just feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like I was wrapped in my favorite blanket.

I remembered what had happened in my living room when I tried to move and all my entire right side hurt. I groaned and opened my eyes, only to be greeted with bright sunlight and a wolf the size of a pony asleep between my legs. "Ouch," I moaned.

"Pink?" asked a voice in the far corner of the room. "You awake already?"

I squinted, trying to get my eyes to focus on the figure across the room. "Thad?" I asked. I had a fifty-fifty shot at being right.

"Yea," he said as he walked closer.

"Why are you here?"

"Theo and I owe you one. Mustafa called it in on your behalf. I'm glad we got here when we did, too, or else that vamper might have drained you dry."

"Moose," I groaned. I'd get back at the shifter at my back for bringing them in later. "What happened last night?" I asked.

"Umm," Thad said uncertainly. "I'm not sure. Mustafa called Theo and asked for his help. Theo'd said that if there was anything he could do to repay you for saving his life, that Moose should call him and gave him his cell number when he dropped him off Thanksgiving night." Thad perched himself on the edge of my bed and looked down at the comforter. "Theo and I were at Mom's when he called, so we both came over here. When we walked in the door, the one Asian vamper was going at it with him," he said as he pointed to Alec's wolf form, "and the woman vamper was sucking at your neck. I shot her in the back twice to get her to stop." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I thought it was too late when you stopped breathing, but Mustafa picked you up and settled you in his lap. You started your breathing back up again, but you'd still lost a lot of blood. I got some medical training from the Marines, so I got the bleeding just about stopped when one of the guys I guess you're dating? When he woke up and cleaned it. Then I'm just not sure what happened."

That was when Cian gave me his blood to heal me. I pushed off that tickley numbness that follows the thought of blood and shakily reached up toward the wound on my neck. Someone had covered it with gauze. "Help me peel this off," I said as I started working at the tape closest to my bicep.

"You shouldn't take that off yet," Thad said. "You could start bleeding again."

I rolled my eyes at him for a moment. "You and Theo shouldn't have come," I said as I picked the tape. "I don't think you're ready for my world."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I finally got enough of the tape free that I could get a good grip. I took in a good amount of air, held my breath, and ripped the rest of the tape free. When I recovered from the pain and looked at Thad's face, I knew I was practically healed. He looked like someone had shoved his fingers in a light socket; a small 'o' of surprise on his face, his eyes wide. "That's what I mean."

He leaned in and looked at the former wound. "It's just a red scab," he said as he ran his fingers over the healing holes. "How the hell did you do that?"

"I'd rather not say," I said as I eased out of Moose's grasp and away from Alec's wolf. "Have you seen a guy, about this tall," I said as I held my hand above my head, "long white hair, grey eyes…"

"Oh yea," he said. "He was downstairs about an hour ago. He says he's director of security?" I nodded as I wobbled into the bathroom. "Whose security?"

"David's, mine," I answered as I started to shiver again. "Can you send him up here?"

Thad spun me around and gripped both of my biceps. His grip was strong, but when compared to David's, it was nothing. I didn't even flinch. "I need to know, Sloane. If we're going to France with you, I need to know what to expect." His eyes were hard, probing. He was a good Marine.

I shook my head. "You shouldn't come. I didn't save Theo's life just to kill him later."

His eyes softened as his hands fell from my arms. "Are you in trouble?" he asked. "Is this trip dangerous?"

I shrugged as I turned back toward the bathroom. "I guess so," I answered. "I'll explain in a minute."

.

My first order of business had been to use the bathroom. I wanted a shower, too, but I was still without my aura, and therefore freezing to death. When I went downstairs, Sydney was helping RJ cook scrambled eggs and Achrann was sitting on the couch. Thad was standing at the corner of the kitchen where the tile meets the carpet of the living room, looking tense. "Hey…Colin," I said to get his attention. "Can we fix this now, please?"

"Of course," he answered after a quick glance to Thad. "Here?" he asked.

I looked over at Thad as I tightened the blanket I'd wrapped around me even tighter and sighed. "I'm not talking you and Theo out of this, am I?" I asked the tense statue.

He gave me a dubious look. "I'm a Marine. Theo's a Ranger. There's nothing we can't handle. We're going."

I shrugged and turned toward Achrann. "Yea, here."

Achrann stood and shrugged out of his white suit jacket, leaving it draped across the arm of the couch. "Please take off the blanket." I did as I was told and spread my arms out like he'd made me do the last time we did this. Again, his eyes focused on a point just in front of my body, scanning me. Shortly after, his hands joined in on the scanning, running across my body mere inches from my skin. I could feel the second he completed my aura; a sharp gasp left my lips, followed by a sigh of relief. "That's better," I said. "Let's make that the last time we do this, OK?"

"Perhaps you should not have taken off your token last night, Ga Binne Ri," Achrann said as he slid back into his jacket and resumed his spot on the couch.

"I didn't," I said as I glanced down. There was my triangular pendant, hanging loosely across my neck.

"It was on the floor in your bedroom," he said. "At the end of your bed."

I tried to think back, trying to remember when I would have pulled that off. "I didn't take it off," I said again once I'd replayed the night's festivities in my head. "Maybe when Nailan…"

"She could not have gotten control if you had been wearing your token. It must have come off before."

I thought back again. I suppose it could have flown off when either David or Cian backhanded me, but Nailan wouldn't have known that was going to happen. She must have been fairly confident she could overcome me, with or without my protection.

I glanced at Thad, who was watching the two of us talk like we were in the middle of a tennis match. "When are we leaving?" I asked Achrann.

"Whenever you are ready. The jet is fueled and ready to go and everyone is already packed. The vampires are already loaded."

"Alright," I answered. "Let me take a shower and get dressed and we'll go."

"Wear this," Achrann said as he handed me the garment bag Emma had dropped on the kitchen floor the night before.

.

Two hours later and everyone was loaded on to the plane. The outfit Emma had decided would be appropriate for me to wear included black Louboutin pumps with the signature red sole, a light grey sheath dress with a belted waist, and a black fitted suit jacket. Also included in the garment bag were my back holster with both katanas and the dagger attachments that draw at the hips. The jacket wasn't long enough to hide the wrist sheaths, but Emma had said it was more important to show my wrists and the fact that they bore no bite marks than to have the wrist sheaths. In order to hide the hilts of the katanas, I needed to wear my hair down, so I spent a good 45 minutes blow drying my hair in soft waves before we left. I had to say, with the touch of makeup I added and the executive outfit, I looked like I could have been plucked from any board room in the country.

I topped off my outfit with a crimson scarf and my white pea coat. In our relatively large group, I was the only one that had injected any color into my wardrobe. Besides Achrann's white-on-white ensemble, everyone else was in black suits with black ties. Even Thad and Theo had adhered to the dress code. We looked like we were going to a funeral. A funeral that required a rather specific dress code.

I sat back for most of the excruciatingly long flight playing with the ring Cian had given me as I thought about our relationship. The thought of leaving him made a jolt of adrenalized fear run from the tips of my fingers to the ends of my toes. But my heart couldn't handle knowing that I was hurting him every night I was with David. And leaving David permanently? Even if my heart could handle it, Emma and Lee had made it very clear last night that my body wouldn't survive. Short of splitting myself in two, there were no viable options at the moment. At least, no easy ones.

By the time the pilot announced we were halfway there, the four vampires were awake and milling about the cabin. Now I knew why David had chartered a larger plan for this trip; the O'Hara jet would only seat 8. The larger plane we were in could seat 12, which left us with two seats to spare. And it was not lost on me that both David and Cian gave me a large berth when they emerged. Either they didn't trust themselves around me anymore, or I had finally done something that even they couldn't come to terms with. I was willing to bet I'd finally just weirded them out. Maybe I wouldn't have to make up my mind between them after all; maybe they were going to make the decision for me.

The idea that maybe they were going to leave me because I'd finally tipped them over the edge put me in a sour mood for the rest of the flight. I kicked off the expensive shoes, pulled my knees into my chest, and spent the remaining hours looking out over the Atlantic Ocean, trying to convince myself that I'd been alone before David and Cian and I would be fine if I ended up alone again. But, for some reason, I just couldn't convince myself it was true. I tried harder than anything not to let that first tear fall, and to my surprise, I succeeded.


	143. Chapter 143

"Remember," David said to me as we arrived at the hotel. "It is Mr. O'Hara and Mr. O'Smythe. Speak only when spoken to, and try to keep your attitude to a minimum."

I shot him a rather unfriendly look and catapulted myself out of the limo as soon as we arrived outside the hotel. To say this hotel was grand would be like saying World War II was a slight skirmish. The entire outside of the antique building was sheathed in polished marble with elaborate bas-relief of cherubs and maidens sprinkled around the three story entrance. Beautiful stained glass windows graced every one of the eleven floors, which I decided was a shame. The beauty of a stained glass window was from the inside when sunlight streamed through, casting brightly colored blocks onto the floor below; since this hotel specialized in securely housing vampires in opulent luxury, I was willing to bet that none of that beauty was actually visible from the inside.

I harrumphed once, threw the designer bag Emma had lent me over my shoulder, and marched through the front doors of the hotel with or without my entourage. "Hold up," Alec said as he caught up to me, striding purposefully through the unnecessarily long lobby. "You have to wait for security to check the place out first, Sloane."

I shot him a scowling look as I continued toward my end destination. "I'll be fine." After all, I am a walking, talking shit's-going-to-hit-the-fan detector. I sidled myself up to the front desk before Alec could respond. "Reservations for O'Hara and O'Smythe," I said as I dropped David's black card onto the marble counter.

The woman behind the counter was tall but probably weighed no more than I did. Her cheeks were concave and her chest seemed to fold in on itself, as if she didn't have enough strength to keep her shoulders from collapsing into her ribcage. Her face was artfully made up; it took me a minute or two of watching her type to realize that she was wearing any makeup at all. Her hair was a warm shade of light brown, which matched her brown business suit to a tee. "Of course, _Madamoiselle_," she said in heavily accented English as she handed me back the card. "I see you have reserved three vampire rooms and three human rooms, correct?"

"Yes," I said as I tucked the card back into my wallet.

She handed me six different envelopes, three with red lettering on the outside and three with black. "These are the vampire rooms," she said as she pointed to the envelopes with red lettering. "These are the human rooms. As requested, these rooms are all connected." I looked at her and nodded as she talked, but I just couldn't find it in myself to listen or care. I noticed when David and Cian both walked into the lobby, not because I could feel David through the bond; I'd shut that down as hard as can be last night. No, the look on the hostess' face tipped me to their arrival. What used to be a no-nonsense business look lit up into a pleasantly surprised 'o'. "That is your party?" she asked as she nodded to the group of men. I looked back; David and Cian had propped themselves gracefully on the leather couches, one each. Idi and Idriis stood behind them, as did Moose and Achrann. Thad and Theo were striding this way.

"Yes," I said.

She nodded as she forked over a slip for me to sign. "_Tres magnifique_," she mumbled under her breath. I could feel both David and Cian staring at my back as I signed my name and passed the slip back.

"Thank you," I said as I gathered the envelopes and stalked back towards the waiting vampires. I passed one black-printed envelope to Thad as I passed him, then another black-printed envelope to Alec as we walked. I slipped the remaining black-printed envelope into my pocket before I reached where David and Cian had sat. "Mr. O'Hara," I said as I looked down at the remaining envelopes. "You're in room 512." I shoved the corresponding envelope in his general direction without looking up. "Mr. O'Smythe, you're in room 513." I followed the same routine and shoved an envelope at him. "When I got to Idi and Idriis, I actually looked up at the twins. "You two are in 521." The both bowed slightly in my direction before Idi took the envelope. Without another word to any of them, I stormed off back toward the limo that had brought is. "I'll get the luggage sent up."

"Please meet me in my room when you are done, Ms. McIntosh," David said coolly. "I would like to go over tomorrow's plans with you."

I turned and looked at him, and if I could have shot daggers from my eyes, I might have. "Yes, Sir," I said as I turned back toward my end destination.

.

I would rather have pulled out my own teeth than gone to David's room that night. I lingered in my room for a few minutes after having my luggage delivered as my mind swept through all the possibilities. It would be the first time we'd be alone after I (or, more appropriately, Nailan) made him and Cian go all death match. It would be the first time he'd have a chance to privately dump me. Some part of me recognized that David wouldn't be here, putting himself in danger of falling under his maker's thumb again, if he didn't love me, but I knew in my heart that love doesn't always mean there's meant to be a relationship.

I finally shored myself up mentally, marched myself up the flight of stairs to David's room, and knocked on the door. Idi opened it.

I didn't speak until Idi closed the door and David emerged from a set of double doors. My room (well, the room I was 'sharing' with Achrann) was like a regular hotel room; two queen-sized beds, armoire with a TV in it, small bathroom, even smaller closet. David's was grand, just like the rest of the hotel. "What?" I asked as I dropped myself into the armchair closest to me. I could have gone for the couch, but that would have meant that David would have the choice of whether or not to sit next to me. I didn't think I could take the rejection if he didn't sit down next to me and pulled me into his arms, so I didn't give him the chance.

He looked at me for a long moment before he nodded to Idi, silently signaling him to give us some alone time. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No," I answered curtly.

He looked at me for another long moment before he turned his attention to a small pile in front of him. "This is the man Cian and I are here to see. Please call his office tomorrow and set up a time for us to speak with him." He handed me a business card with a name a funny-looking phone number on it. "He doesn't speak English, but I believe his secretary does. If not, please call the front desk and have them send up a translator." I sighed and tucked the business card into my pocket. "Cian and I will leave to address Belle Riene shortly. One of us will stop by your room when we get back. If you do not hear from us by…" he glanced up, thinking of an appropriate length of time, "let's say 5 in the morning, please call this number." He handed me another business card, but this one had nothing printed on it, only a hand-written number. "It is Guinevere's personal number. Tell her everything then leave France immediately. Do you understand?"

I sat there, looking and the small, feminine handwriting. This was really, actually dangerous for them. It didn't really hit me until just now that this could be the last time I see them. Sure, every time could be the last time I see them; you never know when there might be an accident, but my men rarely go walking into a shit show with nothing but the clothes on their backs. "Yes," I finally said as I tucked that card into the same pocket.

"Good," he said as he stood. I followed suit, standing as he stood and making my way back towards the door. "Goodnight, Sloane."

I stood at the door, my hand on the knob for a moment while I tried to will myself not to cry. I had been doing so well, taking everything in stride, but I was suddenly having a hard time coming to terms with my seemingly impending single status. "Night," I finally said as I closed the door behind me.

I couldn't make it back to my room fast enough. When I finally got the electronic key card to work and the door to open, I didn't even bother to check if there was anyone in the room; instead, I just closed myself in the marble bathroom, turned on the water in the tub, and sank to the floor, sobbing.

.

Once I cried myself out, I started pacing the floor of my hotel room. As far as I knew, Achrann had not even been in the room once since we got the key, and he wasn't here now. I was left alone to worry endlessly about the two men that in all likelihood were going to leave me as soon as this trip was over. At about three in the morning, well past the point where I'd stripped off my shoes and started pacing barefoot, there was a knock at the door. I practically sprinted to the door and flung it open without looking through the peephole, something Achrann had told me to do every time I opened the door, no exceptions. Instead of either Cian or David, back to tell me they were safe, it was Moose. He was still dressed in his suit, but he looked a little worse for wear. His tie was loosened and slightly off kilter, his jacket hung just a touch off center on his body. His mane of hair had become a frizzy mess on the top of his head. "Hey," he said. "Can I come in?"

My heart dropped. "Sure," I said as I ushered him inside. "Is something wrong?" I asked immediately after the door closed. "Have you heard from Da…"

"No, no, nothing's wrong," he said shrugged out of his jacket. "I was just coming over to check on you."

I looked at him, mildly confused for a second as he started to unravel his tie. "I'm fine," I said.

He looked at me for a good minute, obviously checking it out for himself. "Good," he finally said as he pulled the white shirt from his pants and started unbuttoning it. "Not tired?" he asked.

"No," I answered. Tired or not, there was no way I was sleeping tonight until I knew David and Cian were back safe and sound in their coffins for the day.

"Alright," he said as he simultaneously toed off his shoes and started unbuckling his belt. "Mind if I take the bed?"

I glanced at him and started my pacing all over again. "Go for it."

He stripped down to his boxers and pulled back the comforter. "Thanks. They're going to be fine, you know?"

I didn't answer him. He didn't sound so sure.

.

There was another knock at the door around half past four in the morning. Again, I unlocked and opened the door without another thought. Filling the doorway were Cian and David, both looking no worse for wear. "Oh thank God," I whispered before letting the two of them in.

I could tell the second they noticed Moose out cold on one of the beds. They both jerked to a stop in the middle of the room. "How'd it go?" I asked.

"We are both still alive," Cian said, "so better than expected."

I took another deep breath and sunk onto the foot of the bed Moose was sleeping on. "What happened?"

David and Cian gave each other significant looks before David took the floor. "Belle Riene attempted to call me as a maker can call vampires of their line. It didn't work, which should be impossible. As you can imagine, that incensed her."

"Oh I can imagine," I replied.

"When she recovered from her rage, she attempted to proposition the two of us again," David continued.

"We declined politely," Cian added.

David nodded, agreeing with Cian's addition. "Because I am King and she is Queen, we are considered equals. I have broken no laws, committed no faux pas, so she had no basis to deny me and mine entrance to her territory. She tried, but when she called Guinevere to lodge a formal complaint against me, she was met with more hostility from the lead Council member."

"She can't openly attack us or any of you while we are here or the Council will punish her—she has made sure of that with her foolish actions," Cian added. "But that does not mean she won't try to punish David in some other way."

"Please, be careful tomorrow," David said. "When Cian and I wake, we will meet with this psychologist quickly. Achrann has been negotiating with the Vaudun all night for this meeting, which it appears will happen tomorrow night, as well. Hopefully, we will be on a plane home the morning after."

"Jean-Claude," Cian mentioned just under his breath.

"Ah, yes, Jean-Claude. There is still one among Belle's court we can trust. If he approaches you, trust him."

"How do you know we can trust him?" I asked, one eyebrow raised incredulously. "Can't he just be faking it so you'll tell him stuff in confidence, then he can go report it to Belle?"

"Remember how I told you I killed 6 guards before I escaped Belle Riene the last time?" David said. I nodded. "He killed the other four and gave me a place to hide while I healed."

"Oh," was all I could say. I took a minute to recover before adding, "So he doesn't like her, either?"

Both David and Cian seemed to think about their answer. "He does not believe in her methods, but he is addicted to her brand of love," David finally answered.

I tried not to think about what that might mean. Finally, I just sighed. "Are you alright, Sloane?" Cian asked. "You seem…stressed."

I tried not to laugh at the stupidity of that question. I'm being eaten alive from the inside out by a dead Fae goddess, I randomly lose control of my body whenever she feels like taking it for a spin, the only person that may be able to help me lives in the same town that some sadistic vampire queen who has some twisted crush on my boyfriends, and as a cherry on top of the cake, I have a sinking suspicion those boyfriends may be hitting to road soon. Why would I be stressed?

My state of mind must have shown on my face, because Cian closed the gap between us and grabbed my hand. "Tell us what's wrong," he said as he tilted my head up so he could look me in the eye.

Instead I looked back down to my knees and pulled my hand from his. "Did she sense the bond?" I asked.

I'd caught David by surprise, it seems. He didn't answer until I looked up at him. "It seems not," he said. "If you continue to block me as effectively as you have been, we may be able to maintain the charade, even if we are within close proximity."

I nodded a few times before standing. "Good," I said as I walked back towards the door. I opened it and turned back to the vampires, silently urging them to leave. "Goodnight," I said.

I don't think I've ever seen them look so confused and hurt. They stood there, looking at me, as if I had just asked them to walk into the sun. David was the first to recover, though, striding past me without even a glance. As soon as he disappeared down the hallway, Cian spoke. "It is my night, I wish to stay."

My entire body tightened in fear before I could convince it to relax. I had been hoping to avoid alone time with either vampire; it just seemed to me like a prime time for them to throw me aside. "Why?" I asked. "I should try and get some sleep before tomorrow's festivities."

He walked toward me and peeled my fingers from the door, letting it fall closed. "You are troubled about something," he said as he ran one hand up my arm. "Let me hold you until the sun rises."

That sounded perfect and terrifying at the same time. Perfect because there's nothing better to comfort than a strong pair of arms. Terrifying because I was suddenly so aware that I am just as addicted to Cian as Cian is to my blood. When did I fall in this deep? I should have known better than to let myself get so attached. And what about David? It wasn't until I really thought about it that I realized I needed him just as much. I had fallen in so deeply with not only one, but two people that it threatened to tear me apart. I should know better by now.

I stood there, in the middle of my small entry hall, frozen with indecision. Cian took that as permission and slowly lifted me from the ground, only to slowly settle me into his lap after he skooched onto the free bed. "Will you tell me what troubles you?" he asked. I couldn't find it in myself to answer him; I was still so shocked by my revelation. I sat there, dumbfounded, unable to move. My first instinct had been to fight it, to rail against it and pull myself free. _Space_, I thought to myself, _I just need space from them. They can't hurt me if I can't see them_. But I instantly knew better. They could tear me apart from half a world away if they wanted to, and there was nothing I'd be able to do about it.

It felt like it took me ten minutes, but I finally shook my head 'no'. More than anything, I didn't want Cian and David to know what kind of power they now had over me. That terrified me more than anything. My love for them was my Achilles heel, my weak point. If all they had to do to get me to comply was to threaten to leave, I'd never live my life as my own again. I'd be living my life as a shadow of their wills. I may love them, but I was enough of a realist to know that someday, there would be some situation where they pulled on that knowledge and force me to do something I didn't want to. And I'd do it.

"Well," he said as he let out a frustrated sigh, "if this is the last night I get to hold you as my own, then I suppose I should accept it as a gift."

My heart stopped then ramped into overdrive. I felt light-headed and weak and like I was about to throw up. I felt like the room was spinning even though I knew I was sitting still. _Last night?_ my mind kept asking me.

"Your heart, your breathing," Cian said as he pulled me away just enough to look me over. "You are shaking. Did you see something?"

I peeled his fingers from around my waist and jumped to my feet just in time to realize they weren't cooperating. "I'm going to be sick," I said as I fell to my knees, giving myself rug burns as I landed. I leaned over on to all fours and heaved, but it had been so long since anything went into my stomach that I didn't have anything in there to come up. I heaved seemingly without end.

When I was finally done heaving, I collapsed onto my side on between the two queen-sized beds, hoping to give my core muscles a well-deserved break. Cian's hand appeared on my forehead as he dropped to his haunches in front of me. "You are sweating but your skin is cool to the touch, even to me," he said.

I was unaware Moose was up until his head popped over the edge of the bed. "What'd you see, Mac?" he asked. "You look like hell."

I coughed, which just served to jar some already overworked muscles. Tears started to roll down my face as I painfully pushed myself into a smaller ball.

Cian stood and glanced out the functioning window. "Sunrise is minutes away," he said before looking back down at me. "Mustafa…"

"Yea," Moose answered. "Go."

The last thing I remember is someone pulling the comforter from the other queen bed and laying it over me as I lay curled in a ball on the floor.


	144. Chapter 144

"How'd I let this happen?" I kept whispering to myself as I stood under the hot water that pelted down on me from the shower head. I had that feeling of inevitability, that one where you know this road can't go anywhere good but you're stuck on it, trudging along to your doom. "How'd I let this happen?"

There was a knock on the door. "Sloane, hey," Alec said as he cracked open the bathroom door. "I was going to call room service. Want anything?"

I turned off the water. I wasn't sure if I'd done my whole routine, but at this point, I couldn't make myself care about it too much. I was clean enough. "What do they have?" The thought of eating anything much heavier than cereal made me feel a touch gross.

"Sandwiches, burgers, pasta. Good selection, considering their usual clientele, but I think they just get it from the restaurant across the street."

I stepped out of the shower and grabbed one of the big white towels from the stack. "I'm not really that hungry," I said as I wrapped it around me. Alec could have seen my naked reflection in the mirror, but he was a gentleman and looked away; what's more, I didn't really care.

"Sydney made me promise to make you eat, so what sounds the best?"

"She made you promise what?" I asked after peeling my wet hair from my back and wrapping it up in a towel, too. I looked like a little marshmallow with this much white around me.

"She knows when you get all anxious you don't like to eat. How about a club sandwich?"

I walked out of the bathroom, all swathed in towels, to pick an outfit for the day. Emma hadn't packed anything that I would consider lounging clothes, so I went with the most comfortable thing I could see; black straight-leg slacks and a tan silk camisole. The legs were a little long for me (and by a little, I mean I couldn't see my toes standing flat-footed), but I knew that once I put on the sky-high heels I'd worn last night, they'd fit perfectly. I'd put the matching cardigan on once my hair was dry. "Whatever you think," I said.

I glanced over at the floating angel in the corner of the room. His eyes were closed and his face was slack like he was sleeping; only he was doing it just inches off the bed. I shuddered and tried to think of how to explain that when the food got here.

I brushed out my hair as Alec called, and the second he hung up the phone I turned on the hair dryer. I hadn't dried my hair in _the_ position in a while; mostly because there wasn't a free plug close enough to my bed so I could lie on my back and drape my wet hair over the edge. But here there was an artfully placed plug on the side of the bedside lamp which allowed me to plug in and dry. When I finished drying it, my hair was a natural mess of curls, but it'd only look like that for a while. In a half an hour or so I'd have run my fingers through it and tossed it over my shoulder enough that it would calm down into a more conservative wave. I threw the three quarter sleeve cardigan over the camisole just as there was a knock on the door.

The woman on the other side was not who I would have expected a hotel like this would have hired. The only word I could find to describe her was menacing. She was not that much taller than me, with unnaturally tanned skin and artificially red hair. If her eyebrows were any indication, her real hair color should have been a deep, dark brown. Her chocolate eyes glared through me. "Room service," she said in heavily accented English as she looked past Alec toward me. If she could see Achrann (clearly visible bobbing gently over my head), she didn't acknowledge it.

Alec signed the bill and thanked her before giving her one last look and closing the door. "She makes me nervous," he said as he checked over the food. One bacon cheeseburger (which the sight of almost sent me right back into the bathroom) and one club sandwich, both with fries.

"Maybe she doesn't like Americans," I said as I tested a yellow paste that was in a small bowl on the side of my plate. It tasted somewhere between Dijon mustard and mayonnaise, maybe with a bit of curry thrown in. It would be good with the fries, but I couldn't imagine anyone would want it on their club sandwich. Or maybe that was a cultural thing.

"Hrm," Alec harrumphed after completely pulling apart his burger just to reassemble it. "Let me take a couple of bites of mine first, then if I don't keel over, you can eat."

I rolled my eyes but followed directions. I wasn't really keen on eating in the first place, so anything I could do to put it off a bit was welcome. I spent the next 15 minutes trying not to watch Alec eat. "I feel fine," he said as he finished his last fry. "Guess the food's not poisoned."

"Guess not," I said.

When I didn't immediately dig in, he pointed to my plate. "Eat," he commanded. I scrunched my nose at him, but ended up taking a bite or two. By the time I looked down at the damage, I'd finished half the sandwich and a good chunk of the fries. I pushed the plate away as Alec checked his watch. "Almost sunset," Alec said. "I'm going to go check on the guard. What time did you say the O'Irishes are meeting that professor?" Alec had picked up Moose's little nickname for my men (something I should probably stop calling them) and it only served to piss me off. I glared at him.

"Six thirty," I answered.

"OK, I'm sending the humans with them. Gotta look like we brought them for a reason. Moose should be in the other room, so if you need anything, just knock. I tried waking up floating beauty over there, but he's deader than the vampers right now." He shrugged. "I guess just leave him be?"

I lay back on the bed as I nodded. I was getting pretty tired again. "I'll be back in…half an hour?"

"OK," I said as I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, it was just me and Achrann in the room; Alec had slipped out. When I tried to sit back up again, the room spun and I had to lie back down before I passed out. Something was wrong.

Water. I needed water. I rolled onto my side and tried to slowly push myself to my feet, but it didn't matter how slowly I moved: my body was not ready to support me. I flopped to the floor beside the bed, the same place I'd passed out last night, and did the only thing I could think of. I army crawled my way toward bedside table. I'd given up my quest for water, now I needed a phone. I needed help.

I thought I was saved when I heard a key card slide into the door and the mechanism unlocked. My mind was on full-fledged panic mode, but my body was falling asleep. I struggled to turn my head just enough to see who was entering. I almost wish I hadn't.

The same woman who delivered our food slid into the room, closing the door silently behind her. "_I chose right_," she said to herself in French. I never knew those three years of French were going to come in handy. "_I knew the girl would get the club sandwich. What a feminine choice. At least it wasn't the chopped salad_." She circled the bed towards me as if she didn't even register Achrann in the room. When she sat on the bed to look at me, her head almost smacked right into his knee, and she seemed to sense something was wrong. She stopped and looked around her before she continued on with her personal monologue. "_Now, you are going to go over here_," she said as she pulled me to the center of the room by my wrists. She was stronger than she should have been for her size. She either lifted a lot of weights or she'd had a bit of vampire-fueled assistance. "_Sit up_," she said as she lifted my upper body and leaned it against the wall. My head rolled to the side, she righted it and then splayed my legs out in front of me. My arms hung limply at my sides as she started to dig into her pocket. "_Now you commit suicide_," she said as she produced a small razor. If I thought I was in full-fledged panic mode before, I had been mistaken.

She arranged my hands so the inside of each wrist faced up and cut a small but deep X on each one. She stood there; making sure her handiwork would cause enough bleeding before wiping her fingerprints from the razor and setting it by my side, just inches from my fingertips. When small pools of blood had accumulated on either side of me, she smiled and said, "_bonsoir_." She left.

If I didn't think about the blood, this wasn't a bad way to go. Once I got over the initial shock of the slits, the pain melted away. Shortly after, I felt light as a feather and my eyes closed. It felt like I might just drift off into nothingness. I hadn't wanted to die, but I had to admit the sensation wasn't unpleasant.

I forced my eyes open when I a heard a large bang. I forced my head to turn toward the sound and weakly registered that the door was bouncing against the wall and back toward the door-frame. "Invite me in," said an accented male voice. I forced my eyes to focus on the man that went with the voice; he seemed larger than life, but then again I was slouched on the floor. I had no idea how tall he actually was. His long curly hair shone in the overhead lights copper, bronze, red, and white. Either someone paid way too much to get their hair highlighted, or he had the most dynamic hair color I'd ever seen. I couldn't really discern his face, but I could tell what he was wearing: black, head to toe. My eyes closed again. "May I come in? Nod if I may."

Nod I could do. I nodded weakly before I lost the ability to do even that. Almost instantly, cold hands were clamped over each wrist. "Do you give me permission to close the wounds?" I nodded again. It didn't take long before a tongue appeared on my left wrist. "_Mon Dieu_," he sighed. "_Délicieuse, tres délicieuse_."

I had enough presence of mind to register that a man I didn't know just called me delicious when another voice registered. "Put your hands up and stand slowly." It was either Thad or Theo; their voices sounded so similar when they went all military.

"_Non_," he answered. "She will die." His voice sounded more accented now, like he was struggling against some unknown foe. If I could have opened my eyes, I could have determined what that foe was, but I couldn't. "Shoot me if that is your wish, but she will still die. I can…_protéger_, protect her life."

I don't know if the brothers let him continue. I was out before anything else happened.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

The Blake brothers were both standing outside Sloane's door, weapons drawn. Only Theo had his weapon pointing at something in the room, but Thad had his in his palm, pointed at the floor. "On your three o'clock," I said as I ran towards the brothers. On Thad, the one with his weapon down, looked over before focusing his attention back on the room. "What's going on?"

No one answered, no one needed to. I stood behind the brothers and took in the sights of the room, starting in the right corner and sweeping along. "Name?" I asked, obviously talking about the vampire hunched over Sloane's right wrist.

"He says Jean-Claude," answered Theo. "Should I shoot him or not?"

"Not," I said. "Stand down. He's a friend, I guess." I pushed through the two brothers and entered the room. "One of you go get David and Cian before you leave. They need to know about this."

I knelt next to Sloane, opposite the unknown vampire and took in her condition in short glances, keeping most of my attention on the vampire that looked slightly drunk. He sat on the floor, leaning heavily against the corner of the bed as the corner of his lips curled into a sated smile. He was muttering a long line of something in French and by the sound of his voice, it sounded like it belonged more in the bedroom than next to an unconscious woman. But, then again, he was a vampire. Maybe Sloane's state was a huge turn-on for him. The thought made me hate his pillow talk even more.

I wasn't even aware I'd started growling at the vampire until David and Cian stalked into the room. "Jean-Claude," David said surprise in his voice. "What have you done to warrant my pet wolf's scorn?"

Cian knelt down next to me and placed on hand on Sloane's neck. "You are growling at him," he said quietly to me after feeling a pulse.

David had taken on the persona of the strong leader. I was momentarily stunned at the look he gave Sloane's limp body, surrounded in her own blood. He looked down at her as if he should be shaking his head, chiding her like a child for doing something stupid. "What happened?"

Apparently, Jean-Claude hadn't recovered his ability to speak just yet, or maybe he was still in his own little post-euphoria happy place. I answered. "Looks like she slit her wrists," I said as I grabbed the discarded razor and turned to hand it to him. His face looked stricken, eyes laced with pain, anger, and guilt. _Oh, no you don't you fucker,_ I thought. _You do not get to look guilty on this one. I was the one that left her here alone when she'd been acting odd all day._ I turned to look back down at Sloane's pale, limp body. All the color had drained from her features, leaving her looking like a terminal cancer patient. _No, the guilt on this one lands squarely on my shoulders_.

Cian spoke up as I pulled my guilt and grief around me like a familiar blanket. "Jean-Claude stopped the bleeding, but the damage may have already been done. Where is…Colin?" Cian asked angrily.

My eyes flicked upwards, my fury finding a new target. He'd been floating there, asleep as Sloane attempted to kill herself. I didn't bother to ask why Cian or seemingly David couldn't see the floating angel right where I'd left him. Instead, I stood with jerky movements, grabbed the solid bronze lamp on the bedside table, and swung at the angel's shoulder like I was going for a game-winning home-run. His eyes flew open as he registered the change in his equilibrium my hit had caused. He was awake and he was angry, but I wasn't afraid. I was willing to bet I had more anger than he did at that moment and sometimes fights just don't come down to skill. Sometimes fights come down to who hates their opponent more.

"Garou," he warned as he reached for his sheathed weapon. He may have been reaching for something a little more lethal, but I was content with the weapon I had in my hands. I swung again, just narrowly missing his temple as he ducked away from me. He came back at me with a leg kick to the ribs, but I blocked before he could land his attack. I could have nailed him in the temple and knocked him out cold, but the little bit of sanity I had left realized we needed him alive and well. Instead, I pinned his arm behind him and forced him to look at Sloane's body.

"Look what she did while you lay there and _slept_," I seethed into his ear from behind. "You were supposed to protect her, but you let her kill herself!"

I let him go when Achrann went completely still. "She is not dead," he said. "Not yet. I can heal her, but the vampires need to leave." He circled the bed and lifted Sloane's limp body from the ground. "Anyone fanged—your invitations are rescinded. You may watch from the doorway if you want."

Achrann set Sloane's body on the closest bed before stripping her cardigan off her. Next went his suit jacket, then his many holsters, and then his shirt. By the time he was naked from the waist up, he had an audience of vampires gathered around the open door. None of them could enter, but they couldn't quite leave, either. If anyone came up that elevator, they were going to be confronted with one hell of an odd scene.

Achrann picked her limp body off the bed again and held her gently to him. "This will make me very weak," he said as he extended his pearly white wings. "Do not let me drop her." With a nod from me, he closed his eyes and transformed from his usual albino body to pure white light.

.

At some point during Achrann's 20-minute glow-a-thon, Idi and Idriis had removed Jean-Claude from the doorway. I'm not sure where they took him to wait out the remainder of his high, but it was obvious David didn't want him to know all of our secrets just yet. Moose paced back and forth just in front of the vampires' doorway going back and forth between muttering, "Why would she do this?" and, "She would never do this." I simply stood close to Achrann's nuclear glow watching Sloane's skin pinken and her breathing strengthen. It seemed like the pinker Sloane's skin got, the duller Achrann's glow got. Just before I thought Achrann's light was going to flicker and die, he simultaneously regained human form and dropped to his knees. I grabbed Sloane from his arms before he dropped her, which allowed him to drop to all fours. I had to say, he didn't look good. He was already pale, but he looked sallow, even tired. I'd seen him slashed from head to toe and he looked worse now.

Achrann was the first to speak. "Please help me out of this room," he said to the floor, his head drooping. "I will be useless tonight as I recoup."

Moose helped him stand and opened the door that connected our room with theirs. As soon as he had deposited Achrann somewhere soft, he rushed right back into the room and took inventory of the unconscious woman in my arms. "She looks better," he said as he felt her forehead. "She's warm."

"Please invite us in," David asked. I glanced up at him, fully ready to tell him to fuck off, when I caught a look of their faces. David looked pained, but Cian looked like he was about to cry.

"Come in," I whispered as I laid her down squarely in the center of the closest bed.

David was on top of her in a split second, lying kisses up and down her forehead, her neck, and finally down to each wrist. Cian hadn't moved. "You too, Cian. Come in."

He shook his head. "I do not believe she wants me there," he said quietly. He was breaking apart over there, no matter how good he was at hiding it.

If I was surprised, David was doubly so. He momentarily forgot Sloane existed in his arms as his head turned to focus on Cian. "What have you done?" he asked.

Cian didn't speak. I had a feeling it was the difference between keeping his shit together and not keeping it together. I couldn't bear to watch him struggle with himself, so I silently bowed out, retreating back to my room. Moose followed close behind and shut the door behind him.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I was somewhat surprised to be alive. It wasn't a disappointed surprise, it was more of a 'huh, wasn't expecting that to happen'. I sighed heavily before opening my eyes, only to be confronted by a very worried vampire's face. "What were you doing, Sloane?" David asked me, desperation in his voice. "Why would you do such a thing?"

I just laid there and looked at him. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Please, never do this to me again. I couldn't bear it."

I nodded, not entirely sure what I was agreeing to as I glanced around the room. David was here, but no Cian. My men were usually pretty good about coming together in their mutual pain. And if David's eyes told me anything, they spoke of pain.

I coughed before speaking. "Cian?" I asked.

David rubbed my hair before looking up towards the open doorway. It wasn't until my eyes decided to cooperate and focus when I noticed the miserable vampire. "Yes, Ms. McIntosh?" he asked from the open doorway. His voice had completely shut down.

I tried to push myself into a sitting position, but my arms weren't cooperating at the moment. In fact, my whole body felt like it was made of jello. "Why are you out there?" I asked when I settled on my back again.

He clasped his hands behind his back and entered the room, walking slowly and deliberately. "Is there something I can do for you, Ms. McIntosh?"

The distance in his voice told me his story. He was cutting ties from me. He hadn't come into the room before because he didn't want to. He wanted nothing to do with me. "No," I whispered as tears welled in my eyes. "I guess not."

He nodded and turned his back on me as fast as he could. "Very well," he said as he started back toward the door. "I will be in my room." And he left.

I don't entirely remember what happened next, but somewhere in my pain I remember revoking David's entrance into my room. Loudly.


	145. Chapter 145

The first thing I really remember, at least more than just snippets and snapshots, was being cold and walking around in not the greatest part of town. I sure I looked absolutely nuts as I walked down the street in my blood-covered clothes, no shoes or coat, muttering to myself as tears streamed down my face. I was positive the only reason I didn't get picked up by the Paris police was that the pants were dark enough to hide the drying (well, freezing) bloodstains. If I had been wearing khakis, or even just jeans, I was sure I'd be sitting in a French jail.

I had no idea where I was. I looked up, hoping that there'd be some sort of giant neon sign that would point me to where I wanted to go. Wherever that was. Where did I want to go? Home? No, too many memories. Back to the hotel? No, I didn't think I'd be able to handle the proximity. I was seriously considering jumping on Europe's famously fast train and seeing where it took me, but I had no money with which to buy a ticket. Not to mention running never really worked for me. Look at the last time I ran; I almost died in the arms of a man whose life view I'd changed forever and met another man who followed me home. Another quick sob escaped my lips as I remembered Cian, especially in the early days. Sure, at first he'd annoyed the hell out of me, but I'd come to love his humor, his zest for life.

A whole other kind of desperation came over me as I realized not only that I was miserable, but there was no thing, no one, no thought that would make me happy again. That's probably why I didn't recognize that two large men had been herding me into a deserted part of town. "You are the woman," one said in an accent that sounded more Rastafarian than French. When I turned to see the face that went with that voice, I was somewhat surprised. I wasn't expecting the light mocha skin, the short curly hair and the head to toe black outfit. Call me bigoted, call me whatever you want, but I was expecting someone that looked a bit more like Idi in a red, green, and yellow crochet hat and Birkenstocks.

I didn't answer, I just shrugged and continued on my way. "You must come with us, Madamoiselle; Mistress wants to meet you."

I sighed miserably. I wasn't in the mood for this, but then again, I wasn't in the mood for much of anything tonight. "Why?"

I plopped down on a concrete retaining wall and settled my elbows on my knees. "Why what?" the same man said.

"Why does she want to meet me?" I asked. "What's so special about me?"

I had caught both of the men off guard. "Are you not the woman bound to the visiting vampire King? Are you not here to meet with my Mistress as well?"

I sighed again and shrugged at the same time. "I don't know who your Mistress is, but I guess the vampire part describes me."

"Then you must come with us."

I pushed myself up until I was standing on my sore feet again. "I'm hardly dressed for company," I said as I made a show of looking down my body. "I'm not wearing any shoes, my pants are covered with blood, my blood, and I'm wearing nothing but a cardigan out in the cold. My face must look like I've been crying for a few hours because I have, and I'm not wearing any makeup, which it turns out is a good thing, or else it would just be streaking down my face. I have no idea what my hair looks like…"

The talkative one stopped me mid-tirade. "My Mistress does not care of your outfit," he said. "We must go now."

"I'll tell you what," I said. "Let me call my vampire and have him meet me with at least a pair of shoes. Then you can take me wherever you want."

The two men seemed to confer silently before deciding that was an acceptable compromise and directed me toward the black car. When I slid inside the car, the talkative one slid in beside me and handed me a phone. I dialed David's cell number from heart. "Speak," he said coolly.

I had already exhausted my tears for the night, so I couldn't muster too much of an emotional response to his frosty one. "I need shoes. Will you bring me some?"

"I do not know where you are, Sloane," he said, his voice actually managing to slip down another few degrees. "Perhaps you should come back to the hotel so we can talk about the string of stunts you've been pulling lately."

"They won't let me," I responded.

I could practically feel his body go stock still over the phone line. "Who?"

I shrugged before realizing he can't hear that. "It's for you," I said as I handed the phone over to the man sitting next to me.

"Yes," he said into the receiver. "My Mistress wishes to meet her. She will not wait." Another pause as he listened to David speak. "That is not acceptable. She is well enough to walk, she is well enough to meet Mistress." Another pause. "She is in no immediate danger, vampire." He listened for another few moments before handing me the phone again.

"Sloane," David said.

"Hm?" I asked.

"Answer me in simple yes or no answers. Understood?"

"Yea," I answered.

"Good. What is sitting next to you? Human?"

I shrugged. "Probably."

"Can he hear this conversation?"

"No."

"Good. Where are you? Are you inside?"

"Kind of," I answered. With as much intensity as he asked me the questions, that's how detached I was from the answers.

"Car?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Here's what I want you to do. Fake like you are going to be sick. When he opens the door to let you out, open the bond and run until I find you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I answered. "But why?"

I must have shocked David. It took him a minute to recover speech. "Because the Vaudun priestess does not function within any semblance of the rules we live by!" he yelled. "She is chaos personified; nothing she does makes any sense to anyone but her. She takes immense pleasure in pain and sex, often mixing the two. She thrives on destruction. It is no coincidence that she is so comfortable here in Paris, I'm sure she sees Belle Riene as a kindred spirit of sorts. If you go meet with her without protection, she will undoubtedly pull you apart solely for her own amusement. There is no way to determine how she will do that, but with your fragile emotional state, I worry there will not be enough pieces left to put you back together."

There was no way she could pull me apart any more than I already was. "Goodbye, David."

"Sloane, no," he said before I hung up.

"I guess he doesn't want to bring me shoes," I said to the man as I handed him back his phone.

.

When the car finally came to a stop in the back alley between what looked to be a night club and a pawn shop, the two men silently ushered me in the back door, where I immediately encountered a flight of stairs. I sighed and went down, trying hard to see the dark wood steps in the unlit passageway. After another flight down, my feet landed on the stone-covered floor. Two honest to God torches struggled to light the entirety of this cavernous room. The two men behind me bowed. "Mistress," they said in unison. "We have brought the one you seek."

A small woman, about my size, with long braided hair and burnt mocha skin emerged from the shadows. She had four werecats with her; I had never been a wildlife biologist, but if I had to guess, I would have said they were lynxes. Bright yellow eyes were the only things that stuck out from their midnight black coats. When she came to a stop mere feet from me, her cats did the same, flanking her with identical looks of boredom. "Do you like my kittens?" she asked me. When she opened her mouth, I could see that she lived through an era where dental hygiene was unheard-of.

I looked up and finally met her eyes. They were bottomless black pits that held no emotion, no consideration. "They're very obedient," I said in bored response.

She frowned. "Do they not frighten you?" she asked. "My kittens have very long teeth with which they hunt. When I called them from their hunting grounds in Africa, they were covered in the blood of their kills."

"No," I said. "These may look like cats, but underneath all that fur there are four people sitting at your feet. And people don't scare me."

She smiled wide, giving me another view of her horrendous teeth. "Do I scare you?"

"No," I answered.

She grimaced and the four cats bristled their fur. "Then I will try harder. Kittens," she said as she looked down to the animals at her feet. "Hunt your prey."

The four cats rose to their feet in unison and stalked towards me, spreading into a wide semi circle in case I decided to bolt. "Silly woman," Nailan said in my head. "She believes she is powerful, a Goddess. I am a Goddess and she is weak." I watched dispassionately as the cats inched forward, but inside my head I was rolling my eyes at the Fae Goddess. "Let down your shields, Child. Let me teach this woman a lesson."

I sighed and shrugged. "Whatever," I said out loud as I let down the fence I'd barricaded her behind.

Nailan had taken control of my body, but because I didn't fight it, she let me watch. Carefully, gracefully, she lowered me to the floor, crossing my legs in front of me so she could sit Indian-style. I felt my lips widen as I smiled. "Silly, silly priestess," said Nailan's foreign voice. It was still hard to believe that her voice could come out of my mouth. "These are not your kittens." Nailan used my body to glance at each of the approaching cats as she held her hands out toward them.

"They are mine," the Priestess said. "They are loyal to me."

"No," Nailan answered. With a quick flick of the wrist, a physical manifestation of her tightening her will, I could feel her take control of the cats approaching us. "They are mine. See?"

Nailan made a point to look around the room, at each of the cats. They were still coming towards us, but it no longer looked like they were hunting. When the first one approached, the lynx rubbed her scent glands against my palm, up my arm, and finally to my shoulder. That's when the second started nuzzling my neck. Another collapsed in my lap and started rubbing itself against my thighs. "Has this Priestess been a good mistress to you?" Nailan asked the cats that were currently luxuriating in the feel of her.

One cat, the one in my lap, bared its teeth and yowled. It didn't look like a happy answer. "No?" Nailan asked. "Never fear, I am a kind mistress," she said as she rubbed its head.

Nailan spared a look up toward the Priestess. She was angry, but Nailan wasn't impressed. "She cannot help you control me," Nailan said in her head so only I could hear. There was a definite glee in her voice that I wasn't relishing. I did the mental equivalent of sticking my tongue out at her as the Fae used my body to stand. "Do you have anything else you wish to threaten me with, little girl?" she asked the Priestess.

The priestess seethed at Nailan. "You test my patience. I will break you."

Nailan wasn't impressed. She held my arms out, as if to show the priestess she wasn't armed. "You are welcome to try."

.

I had lost time somewhere. I was on all fours on the other side of the dingy basement room from where I had been, kneeling. I watched a puddle of blood grow beneath me. I was gasping for breath as I tried to keep my eyes open.

Evil laughter from across the room. "See, you undeserving bitch?" asked the priestess, "I can break you. Would you like to go another round?"

"Another round at what?" I gasped. I wiped away wetness from beneath my nose, only to come back with a bloody hand.

"Of this," she said as she laid a hand on my back. I screamed as she ripped my barricades away, letting visions flow through me almost faster than I could comprehend.

"Stop this," boomed an unfamiliar masculine voice through the room, echoing and reverberating through my body. "She battled you honorably. If you mean to kill her, you must repay her with an honorable death. A quick death."

She stopped touching me and looked up almost sheepishly. "Yes, _PaPa_," she said, her voice just shy of reverence. With a flourishing bow, she left me crumpled in a pile in the corner of the room and walked to a velvet-draped corner. Behind the velvet hung several different kinds of weapons at her disposal. I started to silently laugh. It was comical that, even though she meant to kill me, she was still going to fix my problem. I mean, Nailan couldn't take over my body if this Vaudun priestess butchered it, could she?

The priestess took exception to my painful giggles as I struggled to push myself into a sitting position. She grabbed an honest to God ax from the wall and stalked toward me, ax raised high over her head. She was just about to make take the final blow when the two men that collected me from the streets of Paris appeared. "Mistress," the talkative one said, "her party is here for her."

She smiled maliciously. "Bring them down. I wish to play a game."

The silent partner walked upstairs to fetch whoever 'my party' consisted of as the priestess knelt down to get a better look at me. "You are bound to a vampire, correct?" she asked. I nodded obediently. "Do you love this vampire?"

"Very much," I responded.

She laughed joyfully. "I am glad I did not kill you, this will be a much better punishment."

I think she was slightly perturbed with both David and Cian emerged from the dingy stairwell, a Rastafarian on either side. Two more guards of less than human origin followed my vampires down the steps.

"Two vampires?" she asked me.

"David and Cian," I answered from my spot on the floor.

She approached the two vampires, both of whom stood stock still despite the beyond pissed expressions on their faces. Either she didn't scare them or they didn't like the odds of getting out of here alive if they attacked her. She circled David, running her fingers across his chest. "This is the vampire you are bound to. This is the one you love."

"Yes," I answered.

After getting confirmation of David's identity, she moved on to Cian. "And who is this? What is he to you?"

"That's Cian. I love him too."

The shocked expression on her face turned to pure, unadulterated joy. "Very well," she said as she stalked back toward her weapons cache. She replaced the large ax with something smaller before walking back toward me. "Then your punishment for losing will be this: someone in this room must die. Your choice is between the men you love." She handed me the weapon she'd picked for the job; a sharp wooden stake.

I had just about enough strength to take the stake from her outstretched hand, just to have my hand collapse back down to the ground. "I can't get up," I answered.

She didn't say anything; instead she just looked to the two men that had found me wandering Paris. The more talkative one came to my side and helped me to stand.

I walked toward my men slowly but surely, leaning heavily on the Rastafarian's arm. My body felt as if I had been running for days; it was sore and tired. I don't remember what epic battle Nailan had with this priestess, but I was fairly sure it wasn't hand to hand combat. Probably something magic-related. And the magic was taking a heavy toll.

"Did you bring me shoes?" I asked David as I approached slowly.

His lips curled slightly into a sad smile. "Slipped my mind," he replied he as he reached out and steadied me. With his help, I stood on my tip toes and gave him a gentle kiss.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too," he responded. "More than anything."

Next was Cian, whose face looked as if he was sure he was going to be the one to get the sharp end of the stick. He jerked when I reached out and grabbed his arm, but he didn't move away from me. I followed the same routine with Cian as I had David; I used his form to steady myself as I reached up to kiss his unresponsive lips. "You may not want me anymore," I said, "but I will always love you."

His façade cracked as he wrapped me in his arms. "How could I not want you?" he asked. "I love you." He kissed me again as he squeezed my body to him.

When Cian let me down, I turned to face the waiting priestess, making sure to step just far enough away from my men that they couldn't do anything stupid. "One death," I said. "You only want one death?"

She nodded, her malicious smile growing. "Kill one, and everyone else can go in peace."

I nodded. "Very well," I said as I readied myself. I took a firm grip of the stake and said a mental goodbye. "Then I choose me." I closed my eyes and plunged the stake toward my stomach just below my ribcage, almost perfectly centered above the scar I already had there.


	146. Chapter 146

****Sorry about the long hiatus. I hadn't wanted to leave you with such a cliffhanger, but I recently moved across the country and ran out of time to finish the edits. But now that we're all moved in to the new place, the writing should pick right back up.****

"No!" David and Cian screamed in unison. But I had made up my mind. I got them into this mess, I would get them out.

My plunge met resistance before I could feel the sharp twinge of wood in my flesh. "Stop," rumbled the same masculine voice I'd heard echo through the room before.

I opened my eyes, stunned at the turn of events. A god of a man was standing before me, a bare chest of flawless ebony skin staring me in the face, his hand holding the tip of the stake away from my body. As I looked up into the face of the man that spoke, I noticed his hair resembled Idi's; long, snake-like dreadlocks that stretched below his waistline. Protruding above his temples were two small curved horns the color of driftwood that tapered to a sharp point.

"She shows you honor twice, Ellegua-lia," he said as he looked down at me. "And you have shown her nothing but trickery and lies. I will not abide this. Perform the task she asks of you, if you can, and leave her be in peace or I will send you back to the wasteland."

Ellegua-lia, the priestess, did not look happy. "Yes, PaPa Legba," she said with a bow. "But I will still expect payment for my services."

PaPa Legba spun to face the smaller priestess, two wolves appearing on either side of him. Both snarled at the woman. "You have gotten payment enough, Ellegua-lia. Perform your duties and leave them be."

She snarled back at him, but without her cats, she was somewhat outnumbered and I had a feeling significantly outgunned. While the two faced off in what became a snarling match, both David and Cian approached me slowly from behind. Cian stripped me of the wooden stake while David wrapped an arm around my waist. I let him take most of my weight. "Are you so eager to die?" David whispered in my ear.

"What?" I asked.

Cian kissed my temple. "That is the second time today you have attempted to kill yourself."

Oh. Now I understood. "I didn't slit my wrists," I said. "My food was drugged. I was paralyzed when a woman, human maybe, with a bit of vampire-blood assistance, red hair, brown eyes, came in and did it for me. She wanted it to look like suicide."

They looked at each other over my head. "Bell Riene," they said in unison before starting a conversation I didn't catch much of.

PaPa Legba interrupted the boys' silent conversation. "She will do as you ask. What problem do you need fixed?"

"I have a dead Fae goddess living in my head. She's trying to take over my body so she can kill anything that's not Fae," I responded.

He gave me a long look, his gaze never varying in its neutrality. "Very well. Ellegua-lia," he said, beckoning her forward.

She was not happy to comply, but she came when he called. "I need blood from the vampire to which you're bound, earthroot, jasmine, mustard seed, and water from Lake Uria in the Fae homeland. Bring these things to me tomorrow and I will mark you with a protection spell."

"OK," I said.

"Now go, before I lose my patience with you."

I nodded and turned to go, only to be met with four sets of pleading yellow eyes. Four sets of long, elegant ears dropped in reverence as I surveyed them. I couldn't leave them here with her. I turned back toward the Goddess and asked, "I won the cats, fair and square, right?"

"No," she spat at me.

"Yes, you did." PaPa Legba corrected. "If you want them, they are yours."

I turned back to the pleading faces as the lynxes knelt at my feet, long dexterous tails whipping back and forth. "You're all welcome to come home with me." I got four almost excited chirps in response.

"What did you do?" asked David as he helped me toward the stairs.

"Long story, I'll tell you later," I replied. "I don't think I have it in me to do the stairs." Cian lifted me into his arms.

Luckily, David and Cian came in a stretch limousine, or else we wouldn't have had enough room for the four cats. David opened the door and allowed Cian to slide in first, with me in hand. He moved to close the door before the lynxes could join us, but I stopped him. "I can't let her have those cats," I said to David. "She was awful to them before they got the opportunity to jump ship, who knows what she'll do to them now."

David sighed, but let the cats into the limo. "What are you going to do with four lynxes, Sloane?" David asked. "You cannot keep them as pets. Shall we drop them off at the zoo?"

"No," I answered in a surprised voice as I crawled toward the felines on hands and knees. The closest lynx yowled throatily as I came closer, uncertain fear present in his strangely round eyes. It only stopped when I started to pet him on the head. "They're not real cats. They're Weres."

David and Cian both looked at me, shocked. "They do not smell remotely human," Cian answered.

"They must have been in animal form for some time," David added as the closest cat settled in, a low, vibrating purr rumbling through his throat and into my hand.

"Shift back," I said as I rubbed the lynx's silky fur. "I'm not going to hurt you; neither are they."

My request was met with chirps and mewling from all four cats. "I am not sure they can," Cian replied. "The priestess must have bespelled them, forcing them to stay in their animal form."

I looked down at the cats, pity in my eyes. "We'll fix it," I said as I rubbed his ear. "It's OK, we'll fix it."

David leaned forward and plucked me from the floor of the limo. "Perhaps Achrann can help," he said as he set me between him and Cian. "Now can I yell at you for the stunts you have been pulling? I do not know what has gotten in to you, but this is unacceptable behavior and I…" The exhaustion of my forced visions took me before David could finish his rant.

.

I came to as David laid me gently on my side on a bed. I opened my eyes just a slit only to be met with complete darkness. "She is acting erratically, sister," David said. "Maybe she is ill?"

I half expected to hear Emma's voice respond until I remembered that she didn't make the trip with us. David must be talking on his cell phone. "No, I do not believe she has a fever. Her skin feels cool from her shoe-less, coat-less walk on the Paris streets." He paused while Emma responded. "I did nothing to 'set her off', as you say." Another pause. "Yes, I told you she was acting erratically." David clicked on the lights, which only served to send pain lancing through my head. I shut my eyes quickly. "She looks…dirty and frail, to be perfectly honest. We need to fix this possession issue soon; I believe it is beginning to eat away at her."

There was a knock on the door that caught David's attention. "I will talk to you later, sister. I have business here," he said before hanging up the phone and opening the door. "Jean-Claude?" David asked, surprised to see him.

"_David, my friend_," Jean-Claude answered in French, his voice anxious. "_May we speak in private_?"

"_This is private_," David answered in the same tongue. "_Sloane will be unconscious for some time now. What is it?"_

"_It is Beautiful Queen_," Jean-Claude answered. Beautiful Queen, I just realized, being the translation for Belle Riene. I didn't put two and two together until I heard it spoken in the middle of a French sentence. "_She knows of my betrayal; she is enraged. You must go now before she attempts something else_."

"_We_ _cannot go just yet, but thank you for the warning. I will tell my guards to be especially alert_." David lowered himself onto the bed and placed a hand on my hip. "_And you, will she punish you?"_

Jean-Claude's voice switched from worry to dreamy anticipation. "_Most definitely,_" he responded. "_But I am well equipped to handle her rage. If I survive, it will be an unforgettable experience._"

"_I will never understand your _penchants_,_" David answered, finally using a word I wasn't familiar with in the context. "_Please promise that if she becomes too extreme, you will come to me in America? We will find someone for you that enjoys your brand of love._"

The next time Jean-Claude spoke, he was markedly closer to the bed I was on. "_You are a true friend, David. Has your _bien-aimé_ told you of what happened this evening?"_ Bien-aimé was another term I wasn't really familiar with; the best translation I could come up with was 'good friend'. The tone Jean-Claude used when he mentioned the phrase didn't quite fit 'good friend'. More like, 'precious treasure'.

"_She mentioned someone had attacked her and slit her wrists. Since you felt the need to rush to her aid, I assume _Belle Riene_ was behind it?" _David asked.

"_Yes. She told me of her plans just before sunrise, but I was unable to contact and warn you. Luckily, I was able to get here in time."_

Both David and Jean-Claude were quiet for some time. "_She will make an attempt again. Do you know why she targeted my _bien-aimé _above anyone else in my retinue? Does she know of our relationship?"_

Jean-Claude contemplated David's question. "_If she does, she has not mentioned it to me. Perhaps she picked her because _Belle Riene_ deemed her the weakest target?"_

"_Perhaps," _David replied as his hand roamed down the back of my thigh to the insides of my knees. I found it hard to manage much more than a painful moan as his fingers brushed against that ticklish spot at the crux of my knees. David laughed quietly, shaking the bed as he did. "Perhaps she is not as asleep as I thought she was," he said in English.

"Can she tell us who attacked her?" Jean-Claude added. "Perhaps if I can link her attacker to Belle Riene, she will be forced by the Council to follow the rules while you are here."

"Sloane," David whispered in my ear. "Are you awake?" I couldn't respond with much more than another painful moan. "Perhaps later," David answered.

.

I woke again just moments before the sun rose into the sky. I was lying alone on my side on David's bed, pain and nausea running rampant through my body. My moan came out as more of a sob when I pushed myself into a sitting position, and then again when I pushed myself to my feet. I felt hung over, like I'd spent the night as a punching bag, and I'd walked over a bed of hot coals. Slowly, painfully, I walked toward the closed double doors that I assume led to the sitting room I'd seen earlier. When I finally reached the door handles and the end of my body's willingness to cooperate, the doors opened.

"Sloane?" David asked as he looked up at me from his spot on the loveseat.

"Yea?" I responded.

David stood from his spot, but didn't approach. Because I wasn't sure I'd be able to stay on my feet if I got too far away from the support of the door handles, I didn't move either. "How are you feeling?"

I couldn't stand anymore, and now that it was just David and me, I could let the unbreakable façade falter a little. "Awful," I answered as I lowered myself to the floor, tears springing up in the corners of my eyes. I didn't just stop at kneeling or even sitting on the floor; when my head hit the floor, I moaned and closed my eyes. "Jesus, David," I moaned as I opened them again, the fattening tears threatening to fall. I took a few moments to gather myself again and tuck those tears away before I finished. "I need help to my room."

David looked toward the false window. "I cannot take you; the sun will rise shortly." David lifted me from the floor ever so gently and settled me into his lap. I missed being close to him so much; I missed his smell, his feel, the way his fingers played against my skin. I painfully wrapped my arms around his neck as the tears started to fall despite the efforts I'd put in to keeping them at bay. "Shhh," David soothed.

I decided I wasn't above begging. I needed David too much to let him get away without so much as a fight. "Please don't leave me, David."

David's whole body tensed. "Is that why you have been so distant these past few days? Did you think I was going to walk away from you?" I nodded. "Why would you think that?"

Tears were coming in earnest, followed by sobs and shaky breaths. "I made you fight Cian to the death," I managed to say between hiccups and sobs. "Then on the plane you were so distant. I thought I finally scared you and Cian away."

He rubbed my back gently as my tears sobs quieted. "I wanted desperately to hold you on the plane, but I was afraid that Belle Riene would be able to scent you on my skin. We still must hide our relationship in public, but now that I do not expect to see her, I may hold you in private without alerting her to our relationship."

I sat in his lap, letting the rhythmic movement of his fingers against my back calm me before he stood with me still in his arms. "The sun has risen," he said lethargically. He stumbled before setting back on the couch, earning himself a painful groan from me. "I will call Achrann to come get you before I sleep for the day."

"OK."

He leaned down and kissed my lips gently. "Feel better, my jewel. I love you."

"I love you too," I whispered.

David closed himself in his bedroom and I had just enough time to pull my body into a ball before the door opened. Theo sauntered in, his eyes militaristically searching the room before finally spotting me on the small loveseat. "You OK, Pinky?" he whispered. I shook my head no. "What's wrong? O'Hara said you needed help to your room."

I felt like everything was wrong. My head hurt, my neck was stiff, the bolt Emma had installed in my back to stabilize my spine when Roberto tried his misguided attempt to save his King throbbed, my limbs were heavy and sore; it felt like I couldn't expand my lungs far enough to get the kind of oxygen I needed. On top of that, I was lightheaded and felt weak. "I feel like shit, Booger."

"OK," he said, taking everything in stride. "How shitty? You want to walk or want me to carry you?"

"Try walking first," I replied as I offered him a hand. He lent me his strength as I got to my feet, letting out the occasional whimper I couldn't push back down.

"You sure you don't just want me to throw you over my shoulder? You sound miserable."

The thought of suddenly being upside down made the room spin. "God, no," I answered. "Not upside down."

"Alright," Theo replied. He wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me against the line of his body. "Let's take this slow. If you need a break or for me to carry you, you tell me."

I made it just about to the end of the hall before I wanted to sit down. "Stop," I mumbled to Theo.

He stopped immediately, following my cues and lowering me to the floor so I could lean against the wall. "You need something?" he asked. "Water? Advil? Are you going to be sick?"

I seriously couldn't think of a thing that might help. I doubted even Advil could make a dent in my headache. "Just help me back to the room, please. I want to pass out as soon as possible."

Without further ado, Theo lifted me off the floor and settled me over his back. Within no time he was lowering me to my feet just inches from the bed I was craving.

But Theo and I weren't the only ones in the room. Alec, who had stripped down to just his black dress pants and his white button down with the tails pulled out, was sitting in the corner, one distrustful eye on the four Were lynxes. He jumped out of the chair. "Sloane?" he asked as he circled the bed. "You look like shit. You OK?"

I didn't really have it in me to answer him. Instead, I climbed on to the mound of plushness and just collapsed. "What happened, and who are the cats?" Alec asked as he lifted my head gently and tucked a pillow beneath it. As soon as his skin touched mine, I moaned in relief. It wasn't much, but enough of the pain melted away that it was almost bearable.

He pulled his hand back like I zapped him, rubbing his fingers on his jeans. "Jesus," he muttered. "What happened to you?"

"I got my ass handed to me by a priestess," I finally answered. "Did I hurt you?"

He looked down at the offending hand before answering. "No," he said as he rubbed his hand on his slacks again. "You just gave me a little zap. Like a very concentrated version of when you break your aura, or whatever."

I closed my eyes. "It felt good," I murmured.

I opened my eyes to the lynxes padding closer, the only sound being the whoosh of their whipping tails. "Hey, back off," Alec shot to one of the black cats that had started her slow approach. He was unbuttoning his white shirt from the top down.

"What are you doing?" I mumbled.

"Climbing in bed with you," he said.

"No," I mumbled. "I don't want to drain your life away. If I'm getting worse, if I'm really going to start pulling more from you, I don't think it's smart to touch me at all."

He stopped unbuttoning, then shot the very persistent cat another look as it started to creep forward again. "You think you'll kill me?" he asked.

I nodded painfully before remembering that my head felt like someone had taken a brick to it. "Eventually, yes," I answered after stilling my head.

"We need to ask…Colin," Alec said. "He's in our room; I'll go grab him." He turned and growled at the four cats, all of whom inched back slowly, heads and chests to the floor. "And you need to tell me how you won four cats in a fight," he said jokingly as he knocked on the door connecting the two rooms. "Do you realize you're collecting loyal followers like the Pied Piper?"

I laughed, then spent a good few minutes trying to recover from the movement. "Just call me the snake charmer," I said.

As soon as Alec left the room, the four cats started their slow approach again. "It's OK, he's just cranky," I said as they looked up at me with similar cautious looks. "Do you even speak English? Do you know what I'm saying?"

The closest cat, the one nearly touching the hand that dangled over the edge of the bed, nodded in two sharp movements. "Good, I guess. Are you guys OK? Are you hungry or thirsty or something?" I tried to sit up slowly, but couldn't keep the grimace off my face. In the end, I settled for a kind of lounging position, an elbow beneath me to prop me up. "I could order room service."

The closest cat nuzzled against my hand and started purring loudly just as Alec returned with Achrann trailing behind. The cats kept their eyes on me, but the change in the positions of their ears indicated that all four of them were tracking the progress of the two men as they weaved their way into the room. Achrann didn't look healthy, but at least he was walking on his own, which I guess is better than the last time we were in the same room. "Get away from her!" Alec yelled.

"Hey, now," I said, beckoning them closer. "They're just scared; they're not going to hurt me. Leave them alone you big bully." I fondled the head of the one closest to me, each touch sending a buzzing warmth up my arm and making me feel slightly better one sine wave at a time.

"We may need them," Achrann added. "She is pulling their energy as well. Perhaps if the six shifters rotated in groups of two, we could ease her pain without killing any of you."

"Volunteer status only," I said as I folded myself back onto my side. "I'm not forcing anyone to give me their life. Cats included in that statement."

"I'm in," Moose said from the still open doorway, the cats' long, whiskered ears indicating his presence before I heard his voice. It was obvious that he had just woken from a nap of his own. He was in the process of buttoning a white shirt, his hair still worse for wear from the havoc of his pillow. "Who are the kittens?"

"Long story," I mumbled. "Alec?"

"Obviously," he said. "I'm already half naked. Animal or human form, Wings?"

Achrann was quiet for some time as he pondered his options. "You had mentioned you felt better when in animal form, correct?" he said to Alec, to which Alec nodded a response. "Then animal form would be best. Perhaps the magic inherent to your beast gives your aura a buffer of sorts."

Alec nodded and start taking off the rest of his clothes. I closed my eyes, still not used to the shifters' ease with nudity. "No, Moose, one of us has to be in human form at all times. I'll go first, and I'll take one of the cats."

"Volunteer," I whispered, reminding Alec of my edict.

He sighed. "Any volunteers?"

The cat closest to me (the one that had been nuzzling my hand) jumped up onto the bed, circled twice, and curled into a ball at my hip. Alec smirked before shifting, the curled himself into a ball between my side and my arm. I smiled, feeling instantly better. "That's so much better. Thank you." Alec responded by dragging a long wet tongue up my cheek. "Ew." He snorted a doggie laugh into my neck as I wiped my cheek clean.

"Pink, you have the strangest life," Theo said as he lowered himself into the closest chair.

"Indeed I do," I answered. "Will you order the cats some food please? Steaks, rare. Four of them."

"Sure," he added. "Are you sure they're really people?"

I nodded. "They're people, all right."

.

The cat beside me passed out almost instantly; Alec took a bit longer, but was eventually snoring into my ear as well. I followed shortly after room service delivered four rare steaks to our door. Theo turned him away before he could see what was going on, pushing the cart in all on his own and dropping three of the plates to the floor. The three steaks were almost gone before he had a chance to uncover the china glasses filled with water and put them down, too.

I dreamed as soon as my eyes shut. I was sitting in a dark featureless room, surrounded by eons of nothingness. Nailan was sitting not far away, chanting to herself. "What are you doing?" I asked.

She looked up, genuinely startled to see me. "How dare you interrupt my planning!" she said aloud. Still, I could hear her thoughts echoing through my brain. _Have to get more power, more life. Gotta do this quick before the damned priestess has a chance to banish me for good._

I smiled. "Worried?" I asked.

"No," she spat at me. "How are you here? I have been blocking myself from your meddling. How have you gotten past my blockades?" _Need to strengthen my charms, block her out. She cannot know what I plan._

I shrugged, generally unsure of the answer. If she needed me not to know what she was planning, then I could play stupid. Especially if she was going to keep letting her thoughts seep through to me. I couldn't help the smile that continued to tickle my lips, though. "So, this is where you make your sinister plans, huh?" I asked as I surveyed the endless nothing. "Homey."

"You should be fading, not gaining strength!" she yelled, frustrated with the fact I was besting her without even knowing how I was doing it. _I need to suck more life from her, need to take more essence. She needs to be weak and alone for this to work. I need to separate her…_

"Sorry," I replied. "Anything I can do to help?"

She screamed a wordless, formless, frustrated scream. "I have done everything right! I have planted the seed of doubt in your brain, I have harmed those that love you in hopes they would leave. I have caused the ones you love to harm you! Yet no one leaves! They circle around you like a moth to the flame! They huddle around your humanity like it is the last ember! Yet you are not human! You are not Fae! Assuming either approach does not work!" She shot to her feet and came at me swinging, but I wasn't afraid. In fact, I'd never felt more in control. I stood still with a smile on my face as she came to a stop just inches from me. "I will not die a useless husk in a human's mind!"

"Not sure you have a choice, Nailan," I answered. "But if you're a good girl, I'll let you out to play every once in a while."

She screamed again and mustered enough strength to swing at me. Just as she did, though, I ducked and she connected with air, sending herself off balance and stumbling a few feet from where I still stood. "I would rather kill you now than live uselessly!"

"You can try," I said.


	147. Chapter 147

I woke with a violent inhalation that jerked my shoulder blades off the bed and startled the wolf at my side. He looked up at me, his amber eyes somnolent, and studied my face. "She's been doing it!" I gasped as I flopped my head back down on the pillow. "She's doing this to me!"

"She?" asked Achrann from his regal perch on the other queen-sized bed. Moose was sitting in the armchair visible just over his shoulder, asking the same question with his eyes.

"Nailan," I moaned as I closed my eyes and dug my fingers deeper into the long, coarse wolf fur and the short, silky cat fur, trying to anchor myself against the pain again. That's one thing that didn't exist in Nailan's scheming chamber: I felt fine while I was there. She might have been wreaking havoc on my body, but she couldn't quite break me within the stronghold of my mind. That was quite possibly the best news I've heard all day. "She's been manipulating me and all of you, I guess. She can't defeat me when I have you guys around me, so she's been doing everything she can to make me doubt all of you and make you guys doubt me. She seems to think she needs to isolate me to break me." _And now she knows I know…_ I added in my head. _Which is just going to make her desperate. More so than before._

"How do you know these things?" Achrann asked, obviously interested but maintaining his nonchalance in his posture.

I pulled my hand out of the cat's fur to massage my temples, but without the touch of the Werelynx, the pain throughout my body doubled. By pure force of will I managed to muffle my scream into a sobbing whimper before I dug my hand back into the cat's softer belly fur and held on for dear life. I hugged both of the shifters tighter to me as I explained, "I dreamed, but it wasn't a dream. I found her, I guess, in my head. She was in a big, empty room, chanting quietly to herself. In that room, I could hear her thoughts. She's scared and she knows she's running out of time."

Achrann's face fell into more concerned lines. "Her plans are failing," he said, his voice not matching the good news that was.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Theo asked, his brother having joined us at some point while I was unconscious. Thad leaned against the wall behind his younger, more attractive brother, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two of us. Save for the four vampires in our group, everyone had gathered in my room while I…slept?

"Yes and no," Achrann added. "The fact her plan is failing is of course good news. But the fact she knows it means she's going to become more and more desperate, and desperate people make poor decisions. Even Fae goddesses. I think she could easily, although inadvertently, destroy the body she wishes to occupy."

"You mean she'll kill me," I said, simplifying for our audience. "If I don't make it, promise me that you'll protect them from the priestess." I gestured to the remaining three cats sleeping on the floor as I stared holes into Achrann's, then Moose's faces. "Promise me."

Achrann nodded, but Moose wasn't having it. "Whoa, now," Moose said as he popped up out of the chair. After circling the other queen-sized bed, he sat down on the other side of Alec and grabbed my hand through the thin sheet. "You're going to be fine." Alec emphasized the point with a wet nose to my ear before settling back into my side.

"I'm serious, Moose, this isn't just about me. They've been abused too long." I pushed Alec off my shoulder long enough so I could sit up and regretted it immediately. But I wasn't going to lie back down. I was going to beat Nailan, God dammit, even if it was just by sitting up. Small victories count, too. I took a deep breath, pushed the pain down as far as I could, and wiped the dog snot from my ear.

"I'm serious too, Mac. You're coming home with us, and that's final," Moose said as Alec followed me into a sitting position, sticking his nose back into my ear and letting out a small whimper.

"Jesus, Alec," I said as I swatted him away impatiently. "You wouldn't stick your nose in my ear as a human, so why are you doing it now?"

Alec hopped anxiously from his spot next to me and onto the floor, causing a bolt of pain to rocket through my body in his absence. Had I been standing, I would have been brought to my knees. As it was, the pain pulled my knees into my chest as I curled into myself. Alec's absence must have had an effect on the cat at my side, too, because he woke from his nap and started making pained sounds. I immediately snatched my hand away from his fur; sure I was the cause of his pain.

Alec nosed Achrann closer to the bed I was on while the cat at my side forced his head back under my hand, relieving some of that pain. "It's getting worse," I grumbled as I continued to take deep, easing breaths.

"I am not surprised," Achrann said as he swatted the wolf away. Alec wasn't taking his rejection well; he bared his formidable teeth and let out a low, rumbling growl.

"What is up with you?" I asked Alec, my teeth clenched. "You're being mighty annoying."

"More like fucking obnoxious," Moose added as he took Alec's place by my side, sliding a hand up the back of my shirt and placing it on the small of my back. "Ouf," he grunted when our skin touched as if I had elbowed him in the gut.

I glanced away as soon as I saw the air around Alec shimmer, a promise that he was planning on changing back to his less hairy form. "She's bleeding, you dipshits," Alec grumbled as someone, I assume him, pressed a something soft to my ear. "Can't you smell it?"

The cat at my side barked his agreement as he struggled to keep his eyes open. In an automatic response, the three other cats lounging on the floor behind Achrann all raised their heads and glanced at the group that was gathering on the bed, swiveling black ear tufts and twitching unique caracal tails alertly.

I reached up and grabbed what turned out to be a balled up tee-shirt from Alec's hand, managing not to look at his still nude form. "Would you put some pants on?" I asked as I glanced at the bloody shirt. A silver dollar sized crimson spot had appeared on the formerly white shirt. "Shit," I mumbled.

"She gunna be OK?" Thad asked from the corner of the room. I had almost forgotten he was there; Theo too. They had blended so effortlessly into the background I probably would have missed them even if I was looking right at them.

"I'm fine, guys," I said. "Sorry you came yet?"

"A little," Thad answered while Theo said, "Hell no."

I smirked at the brothers, trying to cover the painful grimace that I was sure was covering my face. "Just you wait. It'll get worse."

"How do you know?" Thad asked after a short glance to his brother.

"It always does."

.

Thad left to check on the vampires one last time before they rose in about an hour. Moose was out cold, recovering from the essence I'd stolen—or, more accurately, Nailan had stolen—from him. I had worked through all four cats rather quickly, leaving them exhausted and whimpering on the floor beside me. When I'd worn through the last of the cats, the first one had stumbled up to take his place again, but I'd refused him. "I didn't free you from the priestess just to kill you myself. Rest, I'll be fine."

But I didn't feel fine. I found myself struggling to keep my pain silent. "You want me to hold your hand?" Theo asked from the same corner he'd been in all night.

"I don't think so," I answered hesitantly. "I'm not even sure we'd be…I mean, you're not…dammit, this is confusing. Colin," I said, almost giving away Achrann's real name, "would it be dangerous for Theo to touch me?"

"As a human, I believe you would have no reaction to his touch and vice versa. Nailan requires a tie to the moon in her magic," he explained. "He has none."

Theo sat on the bed next to me, resting his back against the headboard like I was and wrapped his larger hand around mine. "You should have told me, Pink," he said after a while.

"Told you what, exactly?" I asked after rolling my neck for the thousandth time, hoping the motion would relieve some of the pain. For the thousandth time, it didn't help.

"That you were…special. I wouldn't have told anyone."

I smiled despite myself. He sounded so forlorn, like I had been intentionally deceiving him since childhood. "I didn't really know for a long time, Booger," I answered. "When we were kids, it wasn't like it is now. I never had visions back then; it was really just more like an innate knowledge. I never knew why I should or shouldn't do something; I just knew it was a bad idea. I didn't start having visions until freshman year of high school, and even then they were different."

"What do you mean, different?" he asked.

I shrugged as I tried to figure out how to explain it. "I don't really know," I finally said. "I guess it's gotten stronger, especially recently. Like, in high school, I'd get flashes, just hints of what's to come. They'd be fuzzy and unclear. By the time I started my PhD, I would get short, clear videos, I guess is the best way to explain it. I could see what was happening clearly, but I was just watching. Now, they're almost physical. I'm actually in my vision, for better or worse."

"You mean you can feel them?" he asked.

"It's like I'm living them. I feel them, I hear them, I smell them. And it's not just the future. I get the past sometimes, too. And the present."

"Damn," he mumbled. "Can you control them? I mean, damn, you saw me, didn't you? When you saved my life, you saw me."

"Yea," I answered.

His voice softened, getting so low that I almost had to lean in to hear his speak. "You felt that, too?"

"Indeed she did," Cian said as he walked through the door. "You must mean a great deal to her; even after suffering along with you for hours, she paced well past sunrise until she knew you were safe." Cian circled the bed until he was closest to me before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. "How was your day, Cupcake?"

"Ahem," Theo said as he struggled to pull my fingers from around his hand. I hadn't noticed how hard I was squeezing his fingers until he tried to pull himself free. "I'll go check on Thad." When he finally got his hand free, he stretched his fingers, trying to regain some of the feeling. "Stronger than she looks," he mumbled as he massaged the crushed digits on his way out the door.

Cian lowered himself into the armchair across the room and crossed one ankle over the opposite knee. "If I could not feel you struggle with your pain, I would be able to see it on your face."

I stood slowly, making sure I wasn't going to spring another leak, and settled myself on his lap. "Kiss me and make it better," I whispered into his lips as seductively as I could manage. It only came out just a little bit strained.

He kissed my lips lightly before tucking his lips into my neck and smiling against my skin. "Better?" he whispered as he worked a line up my neck toward my ear. His touch never stopped sending my heart into overdrive; my breath caught in my throat as he held me tight, working his fingers under my shirt and up my body. "You smell like wolf and cat." He left another kiss just under my earlobe as he unhooked my bra with one hand, releasing some of the pressure around my ribcage and giving himself instant access to my breasts. And he wasted no time getting to them.

"Gah, uh," I mumbled as his tongue and his fingers worked at my upper body. "Yeah."

He pulled away from me and studied my face. I was still cracking apart from the inside out, with pain racking me from head to toe, but I needed to settle closer to him. He frowned and pushed me away slightly when I wanted nothing more than to rub myself in him. "I have told you once," he said sternly, "do not force yourself to give me what you believe I want, even when it means pain for you." He pushed me far enough down his leg that I was either going to have to stand or find myself in a pile on the floor. I managed to stand, but not after stumbling a bit. "Debasing yourself like a whore is not lady-like."

I steadied myself and looked back at the vampire. "What?" I asked rhetorically as my eyebrows pulled together, long repressed anger flaming back to life. "Did you just call me a whore?" The anger heated my body like a fever; I could feel heat flash up to my face as I kept on yelling. "I'm a whore because I want you to kiss me? I'm a whore because I want you to comfort me when I feel like shit? Or am I a whore because I need David to keep me satisfied?" I could tell I hit a nerve when he stood, his fangs shot down, and he sneered at me. Only his firm grip on the arms of the chair kept him from launching himself in my direction. "That's right, you're afraid you're inadequate. You know what? You are. Now get the hell out of my life; I don't need anyone who thinks I'm no better than a call girl."

His face softened as he looked down at his hands. "Something is wrong," he murmured before looking back up to me. I was feeling a little weak as I radiated anger at him, but the anger steadied me. "I can feel the doubt being pushed at me; it is not mine. What is happening?"

Suddenly, I knew what was happening, but it didn't change how I felt about it. "It's Nailan making you doubt, but she's not making you feel things you didn't already feel. She's just making you say them. In a way, I should thank her for shedding some light on how you really feel about me," I seethed at him. "You think I'm a whore? Well I don't need you. Get out."

"No, that is just it," he answered quickly. "I have never thought you were a strumpet. In fact, I have never felt anything I said. These are not my thoughts."

"Oh?" I asked, anger seething through my voice. "You don't think being a whore is unlady-like?" I asked. "You never mentioned that I shouldn't have been so rough before? I think these are definitely things you'd think…"

"That is not what I meant, Sloane, and you know that," he replied desperately. "Consider what you are feeling? Is this what you really feel, or is Nailan forcing your hand, as well?"

"Does it matter?" I asked as I took a few more steps toward him. If I hadn't been so blindingly angry, I might have thought better of screaming at the vampire in my condition. But there was no stopping me now. "Would that change what you said?"

"No, but you would realize that I love you and would never say such things," he replied, bridging the gap between us. He reached up to caress my face, but I slapped his hand away before he could make contact.

"No, you would never have said them. You would have just thought them every day you were with me. You'd spend our time together thinking I wasn't worth your concern." I lowered my voice to drive home the final nail. "You'd think I was a whore, but fuck me anyway."

The dagger stuck. He stumbled back from me until his calves touched the seat of the armchair he'd been sitting in. "Is that how you feel?" he asked gently. "Is that what you think of me?"

"No, it's what you think of me," I replied as the heat started to seep out of me. When the heat of anger drained from my core, a strange airiness took its place. I suddenly felt like it'd be a mighty good idea to sit down. "Just leave, OK?" I begged, pain combining with the airiness to make it a struggle just to stand. "I can't look at you right now." I sunk to the floor as the tears started to gather once again. "God it hurts," I whimpered as the cats that were still in the room curled around me. The cats whimpered with me as they curled their tails around my limbs and flattened their ears back against their heads.

"Give in, Child," Nailan whispered to my frontal cortex. "I can make the pain stop. I can give you a future in the arms of those you love."

I laid among the cats Nailan had freed from their captor and couldn't help but think maybe she wasn't all bad. She could have easily overcome me, but instead she offered me peace in return for my body. She offered solace for the cats that comforted me now.

_She also tried to ritualistically cut out your heart_, my mind supplied.

_How's that different from what Cian just did?_ I asked myself. There was silence.

.

"Sloane," Alec said as he held my cheeks in his heads. I blinked my eyes up at him, but couldn't find any words. I was still trying to piece together when he'd gotten here. And where 'here' was, for that matter. "She's burning up," he said to someone outside of my field of vision. "We need to go now." He impatiently swatted the cats away from the nest they'd made around me and moved to lift me from the ground, but I stopped him. "Stop being difficult," Alec demanded before moving again to lift me from the nest.

"Don't touch me," I said, swatting him away again. "I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help." _I don't need anyone,_ I added for myself.

Alec held his hands up in surrender and backed away. "Alright, Sloane, do it yourself, but hurry you ass up because you're on fire and leaking like a fucking sieve."

"Do not be stubborn, Sloane," said David's bodiless voice. Seconds later, after I'd sat up and regretted it immensely, David's face moved into view. "You have been acting so strange lately; I am aware that being difficult is part of your core personality, but you usually recognize the need for expeditious action."

"I'm in a shitty mood, David," I answered as I finally managed to get to my feet. "Don't push me. I'll take my fucking time if I want to."

"You are in a rare mood," he answered as he cleared the path between me and the door. "Is it the pain I feel running through you that has made you so curt, or is it something else?"

"Fuck you, David." I moved slowly, but it was as fast as I could go toward the door, which would open to a hallway, and an elevator beyond that, a front lobby…the task seemed monumental. The bed behind me, however, looked downright cozy. _Keep moving_, I told myself. _One foot, then the next…they're just steps._

"Rare mood, indeed," he mumbled as he followed me out the door. Cian was standing outside the door when I emerged; I immediately turned to put him at my back and continued leading the slow processional.

"Translation:" Alec added, "she's being a bitch." It took everything I had not to turn around and deck him.

.

Fucking limos. I hadn't really realized, but I fucking hate limos. There like long caverns of darkness, and I hate the fact you can't see where you're going. I much prefer to drive. I sat at the end of the bench between the two doors, Achrann on one side and Alec on the other. Vampires lined the benches arrayed behind the driver's area, where the Blake brothers were navigating. At least the divider meant that the Blakes weren't staring holes into my head like the vampires were. It only made what I was about to say that much harder.

"Fuck," I mumbled.

"Your mouth lately belongs on a sailor," David replied calmly, his imperturbable gaze never straying from my face.

I opened my mouth to string together more words I was sure he wouldn't approve of, but thought better of it at the last second. I had just realized something that made my heart ratchet into my chest. Instead, I ignored him. I turned my head to look at Cian, who watched me dispassionately, but couldn't quite say it to his face. I dropped my head and looked at my hands clutched in my lap. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

David was the first to speak. "You are sorry for cussing? How very unlike you, Sloane."

I glared at him for another moment. "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Cian."

Cian's eyebrows raised subtly before he regained his composure. "Whatever for?"

"You were right," I answered after a moment of uncomfortable fidgeting, both because of Cian's uncomfortable stare and the consistent pain that made me want to curl into a ball and scream. "God, she's subtle sometimes. But she's getting really scared now, and really reckless. She's been playing me like a fiddle longer than I thought, and I hadn't even realized it."

"Meaning?" David asked.

I sighed and just spit it out. "Meaning that I'm sorry for the things I said to Cian." I looked to the vampire in question, but his disinterested gaze never faltered. I'd thought I pushed him too far earlier when I made him and David fight, but I hadn't known his trigger. At least, not until I screamed it at him in my hotel room.

David looked to Cian, who still had no reaction to my apology. It stung down to my gut; just another pain to add to the seemingly endless list of pains I was massing. At least it wasn't another physical pain, as much as it felt like one. I wasn't sure my body could handle another physical pain. Not that my psyche could handle another emotional one, either. Instead of dwelling on it, I attempted to move back to the problem at hand. "I must look like I'm losing it to you guys, shifting back and forth, unable to make up my mind. Doing things that aren't necessarily in my character. Like now; I think Nailan's picked her mate."

"Who?" Achrann asked with a smirk.

I literally had to sit on my hands in order to keep them off Alec. "She seems to have a taste for tall, dark, and furry," I said as I motioned to the wolf beside me.

"Whoa," Alec said as he scooted as far away from me as he could without pushing himself right out the door. "Should I switch places with one of you?" he asked, gaze switching back and forth from David to Cian almost frantically.

"Not I," Cian said, almost physically distancing himself from the conversation as he leaned back into the plush seat.

"Calm down," I said, forcing myself to ignore Cian's comment. "I'm fighting her tooth and nail. Your delicate virginity is safe."

I hadn't intended my comment to be funny, but Alec took it that way. What began as a snicker turned into a few seconds of full-on laughing before he managed to calm down. "Virginal. Huh."

"Perhaps you should stop fighting it," Achrann said.

I wasn't the only one that had a surprised look on my face. David looked like someone had just shot him in the chest, Cian's face looked more like someone had just risen from the grave. "Excuse me?" I asked.

"Yeah, excuse me?" Alec echoed.

Achrann held a towel out for me to take. "Has fighting her worked for you yet?" he asked rhetorically. "Perhaps you should give in to her more innocent urges to give yourself strength to fight her when it matters. By the way, you are bleeding."

I felt under my nose, coming back with a wet, red finger. "Innocent urges?" I mumbled through the towel I now held to my face. "What she wants to do is not innocent."

"She attempted to remove your heart while you were still alive. Is what she would like to do any worse than that?" Achrann asked.

I looked at the two vampires who were trying desperately to school their faces into disinterest, at best. "In this company, maybe," I answered.

"As you wish," Achrann replied. "You are also bleeding from the ear."


	148. Chapter 148

I knew we were getting closer to our destination based on the decline of the neighborhood around us. The number of actively glowing letters in the neon signs decreased as the number of women in skimpy outfits increased. The more women in skimpy outfits, the slower Theo drove.

I was starting to lose the battle with Nailan as we sat silently in the car. My breathing was becoming more and more labored as I fought against her presence in my head. Luckily, even though I was surrounded by people, I was left to struggle in peace. Surrounded, but utterly alone. Cian had folded in on himself, emotionally and physically. If he was even on this continent and in this decade, I'd have been surprised. David was deep in conversation with his sister in their native tongue, which either meant they were talking about me or...well, that was about it, wasn't it? Both Idi and Idriis were polishing their weapons to a blinding gleam, seemingly aware of the shitshow we were about to walk in on. Even Alec and Achrann were preoccupied; Alec ogling the street-walkers we passed as Achrann closed his eyes to meditate, his glow pulsing ever so slightly as he took slow, steady breaths.

"Sloane," Cian said. I glanced up, unaware that he had noticed anything in the car for the past half hour. Maybe he was still here with us.

It took me a few tries, but I finally responded, "Yea?" between gasping breaths.

His eyes looked sad but determined; I would have given anything to wipe that look right off his face. "Give in," he answered.

"No," I gasped. He had to know what Nailan wanted, and there was no way I was going to willingly let her do that in front of them. Letting her fuck Alec at all was on my I'd-really-rather-not list, but having her do it not only in front of David but Cian—the man whose heart I just tore out of his chest and kicked across the room—that was definitely not going to happen.

The conversation had gotten the attention of most of the people in the car, leaving only Achrann and David seemingly unaware that anything had changed. "I'm not going to fuck another man in front of you. Besides, I'm in no condition…"

"Whoa, Sloane," Alec said as he tore his gaze from the less-than-half dressed women on the street and back to his companions. "You look beyond shitty."

Nailan practically preened in my head now that we had Alec's attention. It was fitting that she won four cats in a magical fight; she reminded me of a cougar. Collagen and plastic from head to foot, desperately trying to hang on to her youth by seducing wildly younger men. But the desperation was the only thing she would really have in common with the cougar; her reasons were markedly different.

"And you're still single with sweet talk like that?" I responded, the echo of a sly grin managing to work its way onto my face despite the grimace I was sure was there.

He swung his arm over my head and laid it on the bench behind me, making a show of puffing his chest out and doing a bit of preening himself. "I'm that bad to look at, huh?" Alec asked facetiously. "Well, I can take rejection."

My body convulsed before he finished speaking, raising my shoulders from the leather seat and pulling a 'gugh' sound from my throat. I tried to open my mouth and come out with another witty remark to lighten the tense atmosphere in car, but before I could come up with something to say, my body decided the car full of supes needed an encore presentation. My shoulders had just barely lifted from the seat when Alec pushed them back down.

In a super fast flurry of activity, he unfastened his seat belt, then mine, before planting his lips on me, opening my lips with his and playing the tip of his tongue across mine. My whole body tensed under the assault, both Nailan and I melting into his touch in an unladylike way. I would have liked to be able to say I pushed him away and slapped him, but that didn't happen. Instead, I moaned into his warm, capable mouth. The shock of his sudden and very intimate move, and my more than inappropriate response, was more than my concentration could bear. With a victorious roar, she shut me out of my own body.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Her skin was on fire, but she tasted just like I remembered. Warm and sweet, like caramelizing pears. As I laid my hand across her cheek and my lips across hers, her whole body relaxed as she sighed in delight into my kiss. Honestly, that wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting her to bite my tongue, slap me, hell, anything but the response I got. As she kissed me back, I had a second of stupid panic. Now what the hell do I do? I hadn't gotten past this point with a girl in…longer than I'd like to think about, and the last and only girlfriend I had was far from traditional. To her, it wasn't satisfying until the teeth came out. So…now what? I sure as hell wasn't going to bite _her_.

The vampires whose attention I'd caught by my stunt were not pleased in the least, but David's eyes narrowed in amusement when I shot them a panicked glance. "Have you bitten off more than you can chew, Mr. Bourdain?" David asked just as Sloane's body did another up-and-at-'em routine and spasmed into me. The corresponding throaty moan surfaced, only to be muffled by my lips.

I didn't answer his snide comment out loud, mostly because my mouth was occupied with trying to keep up with Sloane. But inside, I was screaming _yes, yes, tell me what to do!_ I seized and stopped, frozen mid-kiss, reacting to something I didn't think was possible. Sloane's taste had changed, from the sugary sweet dessert to something more bitter and vinegary. Still sweet, but sour, too. "Do not stop now, Wolf," Sloane whispered into my mouth. It came from Sloane's lips, but it was not her voice. I scrambled to keep up with her complete one-eighty into Nailan as she pushed herself off of the leather seat and on to my lap. To make matters worse, my body was responding to her in a huge way. I strained against my pants as she straddled me and pressed her lips and her body against mine.

I grabbed her hips, just barely able to catch her and hold her away from me. Not only was her behavior a complete about-face, but her body seemed stronger, too. Just seconds ago she as having trouble breathing or holding herself together, now she was strong enough to not only steady herself, but to press herself into me and take control. "Um," I mumbled as I dodged another advance. "Not that I'm not flattered, Nailan…"

I didn't have a chance to finish the sentence before she reared back and slapped me hard enough to leave my head lolling to the side. "I will tell you when you have earned the right to call me by my name, Wolf. For now you may call me Goddess."

It took me a second catch up and adjust. "Sorry, right, Goddess," I answered as the car came to a stop at a light. Before I could finish the thought she had interrupted with her slap to my face, she pulled my hands free of her hips and rubbed herself against me, whispering, "I know what you want, Wolf. Help me escape this prison, and I will give you her body as often as you'd like," into my ear.

I was having trouble forming a complete thought, let alone a complete sentence, but O'Hara's response was immediate. A low-pitched hiss started to rumble from his side of the car. "Silence, vampire," Nailan demanded, getting immediate obedience from O'Hara as she did. In fact, as soon as she made her demand, all four of the vampires went completely silent. The only indication of O'Hara's mood was the seething anger that practically radiated from his face. He didn't need speech, his face said _touch her and I will castrate you myself_ all on its own.

I pulled both of my hands away from her and held them palms-out, releasing a small unhappy growl from her lips. "A little help, here?" I finally managed to ask. "What do I do?"

"The answer is simple," Nailan answered as she ran her fingers through my hair, giving her better access to my neck and ear. "Let me give you what you want." She leaned in and sucked hard on my earlobe, which seized my entire body as I tried not to explode. My former don't-shoot-me position deteriorated as I gripped the door handle on one side and the supple leather on the other for dear life. _Do not move, you fucker, _I warned myself. Whispering so low that I wasn't sure anyone else in the car would hear, she breathed, "What would you like to do with her? You can dress her up like your own personal slave. You could tie her to the bed and take your time with her."

"Oh, fuck me," I groaned as I tried to keep myself to, well, myself. She was making it difficult to keep my hands in only PG places. Well, what O'Hara and possibly O'Smythe, considering the look I was getting from him, would consider PG. Which would probably be out the window. Or maybe back in Michigan. Was the moon too far away? _It's an evil psychopath_, I kept repeating to myself, but it wasn't really helping. _OK, think about baseball. Computer coding. Football stats. Oh, Jesus Christ._

She pulled back just enough to rip my shirt open, popping white buttons free from neck to belly button. "If you wish," she whispered.

"No!" I said, scrambling back into the seat as she rubbed her hands down my pecs and toward my belt buckle. "Nai—I mean, Goddess, that's not what I meant…Oh, God." She'd reached my belt buckle. And she was unbuckling.

Fast.

I panicked. Bucking up involuntarily and earning a satisfied purr from her lips, I started to thrash in the car. "Get her off me!" I screamed. Suddenly, having this psychopathic Goddess using my friend's body to straddle me, having her try desperately to manipulate me into doing her bidding—something about it was eerily similar to being at home, Julie manipulating me with sex and 'love' into doing Father's bidding. I just couldn't handle it.

"What the hell is…_what the fuck_?" Theo asked from the lowered partition. I barely heard it. I barely registered that Nailan had stolen the blade Achrann had lent me and was holding it to Achrann's neck to keep him back. I barely registered that the vampires were still frozen where they were, only able to watch. Instead, my intense need to get her the fuck off me took over, overruling the decision I'd made not to hurt the body that was still Sloane's. I grabbed her delicate waist and threw her towards the front of the limo, making both Thad and Theo duck to avoid the blade that was still in Nailan's hand.

She smacked against the partition and slumped into Cian's lap before she could regroup, setting her eyes back onto me with a different kind of heat in them. It was a sexual heat, but predatory as well. A dangerous heat. Luckily for me, Cian used her momentary pause to wrap his strong arms around her chest and held on tight, also slapping one hand over her mouth before she could order him to let her free.

She struggled against him, she really did, but even with the extra strength she'd given Sloane's body, she couldn't change the fact that she was still a foot shorter and at least a hundred pounds lighter than her captor. Mechanically, there just wasn't enough leverage for her to take back control. But that didn't mean she stopped fighting it. I could see the strain in Cian's face as he struggled to hold her still, but I couldn't help but be thankful to the lanky fucker. Nailan had thrown me so far into the memory of a deep-seated trauma, I was still recovering from it, breaths coming short and fast. "Don't let her…fucking near me," I said between gasps. If I kept breathing like this, I was going to pass out from hypoxia in less than a minute. I struggled to get my shit together, but it wasn't working as fast as I'd hoped.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I hated this shit with a rabid passion. When the blackness faded, I was slumped against a wide, hard chest, my head falling back against a bicep. I knew it wasn't David or Idi; I could see the both of them across the limo, lounging tensely on the opposite bench as I cracked open my eyes. It would be as simple as turning my head to see whose arms I was in, but sometimes the simplest tasks are the hardest. Instead, before I could ask, my body's jumping jack impression was back, so the only thing that came out of my mouth was another attractive gurgle. Each one of the spasms functioned to reignite the pain working its way up and down my body, which at this point kept my teeth grinding against each other just to keep myself from screaming.

"Mr. Blake," David asked through the now open partition. "When, may I ask, are we scheduled to arrive?"

"Should be right up here," answered Theo's voice.

"Please pick up the speed, if you can," David responded. "I fear Sloane may be running out of time."

I dragged my eyelids open just a slice as whoever was holding me shifted me in their arms. Cian's face came into view for just a split second before disappearing once again, revealing the length of my torso in his lap. "Take your Queen," he said quietly to David, his voice overly controlled as he attempted to hold himself together.

"Perhaps it would be good for you to hold her a while, my friend," David answered just as quietly, but emotion packed in his voice. "She deserves some extra consideration in her state, don't you think?"

"You do not know what she said to me," Cian answered, the venom starting to come through. My chest jumped ever so slightly again, but this wasn't just a random spasm: it was a sob I just barely managed to keep to myself. The tears, however, weren't going to follow directions. Two trails of warm wetness fell away from either eye.

"She has had an entity in her mind that has been trying to seed doubt and pain into her every second for the past few months. She is as a schizophrenic, only one personality is actively trying to destroy the other. She has been sabotaged from within. Given that reminder, would it be so very hard to forgive a few misplaced words?"

I desperately wanted Cian to understand. I wanted him to forgive me, even if I didn't deserve it. I forced my teary eyes to open, fighting the spasms that were racking my body long enough to croak out the word, "Sorry." But he didn't even look down at me. If he couldn't get rid of me, he was going to pretend I wasn't even here. Tears welled behind a sob again, and I didn't bother to stop either of them. "Nailan," I whispered through my mind.

"Are you ready to give in?" she asked, sounding tired but triumphant.

"Fuck you," I replied before losing consciousness.

.

I dreamt of my past. I watched from a distance as a younger version of myself, hair leaning more towards strawberry blonde than auburn, which tumbled in tight, natural ringlets down my back, wandered through the house, desperately looking for something. Someone. I was maybe eight at the time, dressed in muddy jean shorts and a tank top that might have started life purple, but could have just as easily once been white. My equally muddy converse high tops were leaving smudged evidence of where I'd been as I traveled in circles through the house. "Mom?" I said, each time I repeated it the call getting louder. Finally, I stepped out the back door onto the long wooden porch of my childhood home. "Mom!" I screamed.

"Sloane?" she said, popping her head over the edge of the deck. She must have been working in her garden, she had a wide-brimmed hat on her head as she knelt on the ground. "What's wrong? Sloane Neve, why are you so dirty? It is about time you start acting like the young lady you are and stop playing in the mud!"

I ran across the deck, down the stairs, and over to the garden my mom was tending. "Mom," I said, actually unable to remember why I had been so dirty. The only thing I was sure of was the Thad and Theo had been involved. "Mom, I think I'm a freak."

She puckered her lips as she rested her wrists on each hip in a way that kept her dirty gardening gloves from her still clean clothes. "What are you talking about?" she asked. That had been my mom. Instead of telling me, 'oh, honey, you're nothing of the sort,' and gathering me into a big hug, she kept herself at a distance and wanted an explanation.

"Thad and Theo and I were playing by the creek," I started, instantly earning myself a look of disapproval from my mother, "and I saw the future. I saw what was going to happen. Mom, what's happening to me?"

She dismissed me and my worries with a flick of the wrist. "Don't be silly, Sloane. You did not see the future." With my concerns dismissed, at least in her mind, she returned to her kneeling position and continued arranging blocks of color.

I had never been that easy to get rid of. "Mom," I replied, "I'm serious. I think something is wrong with me."

"There is something wrong with you, Sloane," she answered. "You should be dressing in dresses and playing with girls your own age instead of digging around in the mud with Thad and Theo across the street. Why don't you call Monica? She's a nice girl."

I stomped my foot against the dismissal—and disappointment—my mother had given me. Instead of screaming at her, though, I trudged my dirty sneakers through the house and up to my room, where I locked the door and cried.

I remembered that day. There was a small wood plank bridge that went over the small creek we usually played by, and I'd seen an old ratty car come careening around the corner too fast and come barreling over the guard rails and into the creek. I'd had enough time to turn and look before the car came around the corner just like I'd seen. I was already running toward the car before it landed in the shallow creek with a deafening crash.

A familiar laugh echoed through my brain. "I could make her love you," Nailan said. Suddenly, she was standing beside me in a bright red sheath dress with matching red heels. That's how I knew she was in charge—that was definitely not what I would have dressed her in if it were my dream.

I rolled my eyes at her while simultaneously not looking at her. "You can't make someone love you." I replied; I wasn't going to even touch the mommy-doesn't-love-me angle she was going at. I knew my mother loved me, I just didn't follow the life plan she thought was acceptable. But then again, what child ever does?

"Indeed I can," she answered. "I can do many things you couldn't even imagine."

"No," I clarified. "You don't understand what I mean. I mean, by the very act of making someone love you, it ceases to be love. When it stops being free will, it stops being true. So no, you can't make her, or anyone else," I added, thinking of the hate in Cian's voice, "love me."

And that was when I knew she was a sociopath. She seriously didn't understand the difference. She heard me, understood the words I'd said, but couldn't actually understand what I meant. "I feel sorry for you," I finally added.

That got her attention. She was suddenly furious that anyone felt sympathy for her. "How dare you pity me?" she roared.

I flinched against her roar. A new trickle of heat worked its way down my upper lip; _this is not good,_ I thought as I wiped the red liquid away. _I'm bleeding in my own mind._

Her fury turned to triumph as she saw me bleed. "I will be victorious in the eleventh hour," she gloated. "And all because of the blue-eyed vampire. It will be his hatred that will break you."

"He loves me," I automatically replied, but it felt hollow. I knew better. I'd seen the distance in his eyes.

"He has seen the truth of you," she replied. "Soon, so will your other vampire. They will both hate you."

Tears were running down my face at a steady clip. "No," I answered.

"Yes," she replied as the scene behind me changed. "You have already seen it in your David's eyes."

I was suddenly standing in a drift of snow, but I wasn't cold. A scream I'd heard before echoed off my neighbor's house, then hit me like a brick. I knew what was going to happen before it did because I had nightmares about this night for weeks.

"Stop," I whispered. "Stop this."

"No," Nailan answered as I watched myself limp barefoot across the frozen driveway, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind me. I grimaced as David caught up to me easily and wrapped his large hand around my neck, slamming me into the side of my garage. It hadn't been the pain or the fear that haunted me about this night; it was the rage in David's eyes as he held me dangling above the ground.

Thankfully, we weren't close enough to hear what David had said before I had begged for forgiveness, tears running down my frozen face. I watched myself flounder against the wall before Idi snuck up on the pair of us, appearing seemingly out of nowhere on my right. The dream faded as David tossed me like a rag doll, sending me crashing through my own fence.

"How could he love you if he is so willing to terrorize you?" Nailan asked.

"Shut up," I whispered in response.

"I ask a valid question," she replied.

I dropped to my knees and started to sob. "SHUT UP!"


	149. Chapter 149

Always evaluate your surroundings before opening your eyes—it's a maxim of mine. I'm not sure what that says about my life so far, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be heartening. When I came back to what I was assuming was the land of the living (and not-so-living), I noticed I was no longer curled into Cian's unwelcoming lap in the back of a moving limo. Instead, I was lying face down on a rough, warn surface that smelled like blood. Once you've gotten that coppery smell in your nose, you recognize the source immediately. Maybe it was an instinctive aversion that stemmed from when humans' ancestors huddled together in caves to escape the night.

My arms were held out away from my sides while my legs sprawled on the hard slab, making me a large 'T'. My heart started to pound despite the fact I felt no restraints; I'd woken up in this kind of position before and it had never been good. Maybe it was because I felt trapped and simultaneously exposed in this position. There was an odd sort of intimacy in the position that made me feel uncomfortable.

"We must wait until I know who has control," said a woman's accented voice. "Unless you do not care to which consciousness I give this body."

A hand settled on the back of my head and stroked my hair lovingly. "It must be Sloane," David answered.

David was here. If David was here, I must not be in _that_ much trouble. Knowing there was someone here who would make sure I didn't get eaten alive, I opened my eyes, earning myself new depth to my headache and a painful twinge in my eyes. It was so very bright in here; I immediately felt the heat emanating from the dozens and dozens of bulbs that must be pointed in my direction. "Turn off the lights," I mumbled as I closed my eyes again, turning my head farther into the blood-stained wood.

"Sloane," David answered, just the slightest question in his voice.

"Seriously, David," I answered. "Those lights are burning holes into my migraine. Turn them off."

"This is Sloane," David confirmed as he laid his hand gently over my eyes, blocking most of the light. I could have kissed him, the relief was so immediate. Incomplete, but immediate, and every little bit helps. "Start the marking."

Small hands gathered the mass that is my hair, flipping it so it was no longer tumbled across my back. David untangled his hand, allowing for the shift in my hair, before pressing his hand against my head again. He started to lightly massage the base of my skull, which helped to distract me from the pain. But not the conversation. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

"The priestess can sequester Nailan in your mind where she cannot do you more damage. The process requires that she mark you," David answered.

"Mark me how?" I asked, instantly suspicious. David left out a few key details, and I'd caught on to that omission. Usually that's because it was going to piss me off and he was hoping I'd just miss that little detail. No such luck for him.

"Permanently," he replied.

My body tightened as I realized what that meant. Tattoos. Needles. More pain. "Great," I said sarcastically. "Let's get this over with, then."

"I must prepare the inks," said the same female voice. "I will need the blood of those that are tied to her."

There was a subtle crunch, like biting into an apple, before the woman could continue. "Be aware that contributing your body and blood to this ink means you will be tied to her and she to you. You cannot nullify your bonding at a later date without risking her life."

I expected a panic to filter through my body, but it never came. I smiled behind the shade of David's hand as I realized there's nowhere else I'd rather be than beside my vampires. Then I gasped as my heart physically broke, a painful emotional response to the realization that I wasn't beside both of my vampires; I was missing one. Cian no longer wanted me, and it broke me.

"I understand," David replied.

Moments passed while the priestess laid her dainty hand against my bare back and whispered words in a language I couldn't understand. "It is not complete," she rasped. "You are not the only one bound to her."

I pulled my head free of David's hands and looked up, squinting most of the light into submission. "What?" I asked.

"Perhaps it is me," Cian said blankly from the corner. "I gave her blood to heal her from your sister's attack. Of course, that was when I believed she loved me."

"I do love you," I replied automatically. I tried to push myself off the table so I could go to him and beg on bended knee if necessary, but large, warm hands pressed on my back out of nowhere before I could push myself much more than a few inches from the rough wood and urged me back down onto my chest.

"Will you give your blood?" David asked.

"I would rather not spend an eternity bound to a woman who thinks me a user," he replied. "If you are giving me a choice, I choose no."

My heart hurt at the lack of inflection in his voice, the utter emptiness with which he spoke. A tear fell from my eye, landing on the wood table. "Then as your king, I demand you give your blood to save her life."

"David, no," I whispered.

I could feel David's body jerk through his hands on my hair, his grip tightening against my head. "Sloane, without his blood, you will die."

"Have you ever heard the expression 'if you love something, let it go'?" I asked him. "If that is what he wants, I'm letting him go." Because I couldn't for the life of me look at his face if I took anything else from him.

"I will not let her die," David said, a new conviction in his voice once he had a chance to come to terms. "If you will not give her blood, then you must break your bond. Now."

"No," the priestess yelled, the dull crack of a stomped foot following her. "I do not have time for this. We do this now or we do not do it at all."

"Ellegua-Lia," boomed around the room. I jumped at the vibrations that rippled across my skin and simultaneously wanted to encompass my head. It had definitely not helped my headache at all. Thankfully, the next time he spoke, it was markedly closer; just a human resonance. "You will do as I say."

"Yes, PaPa," she replied venomously. I cringed again as she barked directions in a language I didn't understand, the sharp, staccato of the syllables cutting into my migraine like a dull knife. I had no idea who she was talking to and at the moment, with the pain in my head threatening to ripple throughout my body, I didn't much care. I turned onto my side, pulling my knees to my chest as David covered my ears with his massive palms. The physical blocking of the sound helped to dull the pain slightly, leaving me in the fetal position, breathing deep and trying not to scream.

David propped himself up on the blood stained table just enough that he could lift my head and rest it on his thigh. "Blake," he said softly, only the reverberations of his voice traveling down his arm allowing me to hear his words, "please accompany them. Also get a glass of ice, if possible."

"Yes, Sir," one of the brothers answered as I tried to focus on keeping myself breathing normally. Migraines are tricky like that; they lull you into a false sense of well being by talking your lungs into holding your breath, then when you desperately need air and finally pull a mouthful of sweet oxygen into your body, your migraine explodes into body-numbing, stomach churning, vision-dulling dragon that eats its way through your brain until there's nothing left in your head but a pile of scrambled egg vomit. Or at least that's what it feels like.

"Stay with me, Sloane," David whispered into my hair. "Talk to me. When will you be defending your dissertation?"

"Fall," I answered between deep breaths.

"I will look forward to calling you Doctor," he replied. "I wish I could come support you at your defense." He was stroking my hair, his strokes getting harder and more desperate as he talked.

"I'm going to hold it at night," I replied. "I want you there. Emma and Lee, too. And Cian, if he ever forgives me." Another tear escaped only to be swept up by David's thumb.

"I will be there for you, no matter what," he replied, a new anger and resolve in his voice. "I will always be here, do you understand me?" Tears tightened my throat, leaving me nodding my understanding. "I want to hear you say it, Sloane. Tell me you understand what I am pledging to you."

It took me a few tries to make the words come out. "I understand," I replied shakily.

"Now I want you to promise me something."

I fought to keep myself lying still and quiet. When I finally asked, "What?" it came out as more of a moan than a question.

"I want you to fight," he whispered. "Fight her because you have something here to come back to. Promise me that."

My back arched against the pounding in my head. "I am fighting her," I answered desperately. "Can't you see I want her out? I want to think for myself for the first time in months."

"You are doing so well; promise me you'll continue to fight her," he said desperately. "Say it."

"I promise," I replied.

Some of that frantic worry fell from his voice. "I will hold you to that."

**THEO'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I descended the stairway down to the dungeon Pink was in two steps at a time, a cup of ice in one hand, a cup of cold water in another. Centered in the cavernous room with the stone-lined walls was a man-sized wooden table; it looked like it had been assembled sometime around World War II and subsequently abused on a daily basis. Whatever had stained the top of the table had also trickled down the wooden legs, turning the once ash-colored wood a more chocolate-raspberry color. Pink looked absolutely tiny lying in a ball in the center of that table, her head resting on David O'Hara's thigh as she struggled to breathe normally. Even with her back to me, sweat darkening her cotton tee-shirt along her spine, I knew the look on her face would be one of pain. No one that looks that miserable from the back can look peaceful from the front.

"Got ice," I said, remembering in the last moment to lower my voice, "and some cold water if she's thirsty."

"Thank you," O'Hara responded as he held his hands steadily on her head. "Bring them here."

As I got closer, I could see the thin line of red that snaked out from under the hand O'Hara held over Sloane's ear and down her neck. "Does she need anything else?" I asked as I set the ice down on the massive table.

"Several things," he answered, "but nothing we can give. All we can do is wait."

I rounded the table, the glass of water still in my hand. While one of O'Hara's hands covered Pink's ear, the other was laid lightly across her eyes, more of a shield than a brace. My eyes followed that thin line of red downwards from what I assumed was Pink's ear, trailing down her neck, pausing at her clavicle, and then spilling back down her chest until it dripped off her opposite shoulder to the already stained table. "Is she awake?"

"She is not answering me, but she is not breathing as if she were asleep or unconscious," he answered, as if he were telling me the time or giving me directions. I just stared at him for a moment, my hand tightening around the glass of water.

"How are you this calm? Jesus, look at her," I finally spat at him. "I can't…how can you sit there and do nothing?"

He lifted his hand from her eyes long enough to dip it into the cup of ice, emerging with a few of the larger chips. As soon as he pulled his hand away, her eyebrows furrowed and she let out a low moan, letting me know she was still in there somewhere. "If there is one thing she has taught me," he said as he quickly rubbed his chips across her exposed upper chest, over her shoulder, and down her arm, "it would be patience. I am doing everything I can for her; anything else would be counterproductive."

I fidgeted uncomfortably as I watched her. In my head, I knew he was right, but there was something about my training that wouldn't let me countenance a woman lying in front of me, obviously suffering. I needed to do something, even if I didn't know what that was. And not knowing what that thing was was driving me up the fucking wall. "That's not how I roll," I finally added as I moved away from her. Somehow, not being able to see her both hurt and helped. Helped because I couldn't see how miserable she was. Hurt because I couldn't see how miserable she was.

I turned toward the door, gun drawn, as I heard footsteps descending. Thad mirrored my move but was positioned to keep one eye on Pink. I was ready to shoot, trigger finger almost twitchy for the action, but I held off. The priestess' two silent but deadly henchmen reemerged with armloads of materiel, ignoring the guns we were pointing at their chests. I was really getting sick of this you're-just-human-so-you're-harmless shit, even if it did allow us to come in armed. Everyone else, including the white-haired 'security director', had been told they couldn't even enter. Just Pink's two vampires, Pink, and the two lowly humans. And we even got to keep our weapons. I'll let them think I'm harmless until I bury a bullet in their brain at 500 feet.

The henchmen set the materiel they'd gathered at Pink's feet, among the things were string, a bowl, and a candle. At least, that's what I recognized. There were also some flakes that looked like oregano and maybe some olive oil? I glanced at Thad, who was looking at the collection with the same curiosity I was. I caught his eye when he glanced up, giving him a silent communication about being in over our heads.

"We don't know what's doing," I whispered to O'Hara, still at his spot on my right. "You tell us to shoot, we shoot to kill, OK?"

"Understood," he said with an amused smirk.

The priestess has completely ignored us. "Go ahead," she spat at Cian, the dread-locked vampire. "Divorce you silly little human before I lose patience with this."

"Explain the consequences, Ellegua-Lia," said the ebony monster in the corner with the honest-to-God horns. Not that this could get any weirder or anything.

"No," she spat back at him, obviously losing her temper. "He's made his choice, let him live with it."

"If that is your stand, then I will send you back to the wasteland and perform the ceremony myself. Never forget I do not need you," he replied calmly. As much of a lit firecracker as the priestess was, he was cool and calm; if she was ying, he was yang. They opposed each other in every way. But I didn't get the feeling he was necessarily on our side, it was more like he was against the priestess. The enemy of your enemy is your friend, and all. But I'd take that in a second, even if I did still keep a watchful eye on the hulk of a…whatever the hell he was.

She spat out a long line of hatred in another language, to which he just smiled. If the horns didn't scare the hell out of you, the teeth would. Every one of them was sharp and pointed, like he had a mouth full of canine teeth. And they were blindingly white. I had to wrench my eyes away from the monster in the corner, automatically pointing my weapon at the priestess as she flew at Cian. "If you forsake her now, you cannot take it back. Once I perform the ceremony, she can place no new bond nor can she break a bond without risking shattering the wall I will construct and bringing death upon her."

O'Smythe stumbled. It was as if his entire world shifted a few degrees, as if north wasn't quite north anymore. He stood, staring at the ground, one hand braced against the stone wall, for what seemed like ages. "I understand," he finally said in that smooth, British inflection.

"So?" the priestess asked. "Do it, or do not. But to not waste my time."

He looked up to Pink, who hadn't moved much. His face was annoyingly unreadable, the way I'd gotten used to seeing him. In fact, every vampire I'd ever met was unreadable. I don't know if its something they learn, or if in the process of becoming a vampire they lose the part of themselves that makes them feel. But wait, I knew that wasn't it. If this were purely a logical decision, he'd have made it by now. He wouldn't be fighting himself if he didn't feel something on the issue.

He glanced up, a touch of surprise covering his face before he could school it again. "My King," he said with a subtle bow of his head, the slight up tilt of a question at his statement.

O'Hara, who I was still getting used to as a King, looked even more surprised than I felt at the almost vulnerable statement. "Yes, my loyal subject?" he asked as he rubbed more ice down beneath Pink's already soaked tee-shirt.

O'Smythe's eyes dropped back to Pink, who was going to bloody her fingernails if she didn't stop grinding them against the wooden table. "I would beg your opinion on the matter, if it would not displease you."

_What the hell is with all this formal shit?_ I thought as I glanced at Thad. By the look on his face, he was thinking the same thing and not liking it. Nothing makes me jumpier than not knowing what the hell is going on.

"I would recommend you follow your heart on this matter; only you know how it feels. But may I ask a question?" O'Hara replied, not waiting for O'Smythe to answer the rhetorical thought. I guess Kings just get to ask the question. "Why did you move to Michigan? You had quite a life in London Town; secure in your position at the Queen's side, a job you enjoyed, terrain you knew…"

Whatever the answer to that question was, it seemed to give him new resolve. He dropped the candle the priestess had handed him and savagely bit his wrist, offering the now bloody thing to the priestess and grossing me out in the same move. "Thank you, My King," he answered as he looked down at Pink.

"It is I who thank you. Now, priestess, if we could hurry…"


	150. Chapter 150

****The sesquicentennial chapter. What a milestone!****

All I knew, all I could remember, was pain. Pure, unadulterated, I-can't-hear-you-over-the-screaming-in-my-head pain. And then, all of a sudden the pain snapped away, leaving nothing but a feeling of airy release, as if there had been a car sitting on my chest, and poof, it'd been lifted off me, allowing me to float to the ceiling. The shock of the sudden change was more than my hypostasis could manage: I was gone before I got a chance to open eyes.

.

I came back in bits and pieces. First, I was aware of my chest as it rose and fell with my breath. Then came pressure of my shoulders against the hard table, followed then by my arms and hands, which lay at my side, palms up. The insides of my wrists stung like first degree burns. Finally, my thighs, shins, and feet; the tops of my feet tingling as they regained consciousness. I moaned, turned my head, and opened my eyes.

And immediately shot off the table. Or, at least, I tried.

My limbs didn't want to work just yet, so what I'm sure my body meant to be a lithe, graceful leap turned out to be more of a roll-thunk-ouch. I was having a hard time caring, though. When I had opened my eyes, I was slammed with a shitstorm I didn't even know I was in the middle of. Both David and Cian were wrapped in silver chains; not against their skin but tightly enough to hold them securely in the chairs they had been strapped to. Neither were fighting their new position, but neither looked happy about it. They both glared at something behind me.

I managed to hitch myself around enough to see what they were glaring at. Behind me, the priestess stood next to another dainty woman, with long brown hair that trailed down her back in artistic ringlets she obviously spent hours on. Her eyes would be a pretty steel grey if they hadn't been brimming with malice. The anger spoiled her otherwise lovely face. Her head to toe black gown both skimmed her angry exterior and clashed with her primitive surroundings.

Behind the two women, Thad and Theo struggled against the priestess' two dispassionate henchmen, who easily held them in position. By the looks on their battered faces, the brothers were pissed enough to spit fire.

The priestess looked at my startled, confused face and laughed. "PaPa Legba can force me to wall your mind without compensation, but he cannot stop me from letting Belle Riene kill you!"

I was even more confused now, and my confusion was apparently not the answer she was looking for. She screamed her frustration, turning to Thad and Theo and taking it out on them. It was just the barest of touches, but both of the brothers yelled soundlessly, pain obvious on their faces.

It was Belle's turn to laugh, never taking her eyes from me. "Yes, I think I will do that."

I was still a little lost as to what was going on as I slowly pushed my body back towards the two vampires. David was on the ball for me, though. "Now, Belle, you are being foolish. It is unlike you."

She scowled at him, sitting calmly while strapped to a chair. "I am no such thing!" she bellowed.

"Yes, you are. You would kill the bonded Queen of an equal with no provocation? The reigning Queen of Navada?" he asked, amused humor in his voice. Thad and Theo both jerked as if they'd been goosed, their questioning eyes on me. "The council would see you staked."

"They would not," she spat back. "I could kill her under the guise of gaining the piddly fiefdom she still controls. It would be a justified kill."

"No," David replied calmly. "It would not. You cannot control territories on more than one continent; it would split you among two council members' territory. They would never allow it." The angry scowl never left her face, but you could practically see the wheels turning in her head, considering something that she hadn't thought of. "Now, if you would like to give up your territory here to rule Navada, that would be another story…"

"No," she seethed, the tone of her voice not matching the sudden sly smile on her face. She was angry enough I was sure I was going to see steam rising from her ears; then, just as quickly, her scowl turned to a satisfied smirk. "Then perhaps I should hurt her in other ways." In the flash of an eye, she had a stake in each hand and was aiming it squarely at both David and Cian's chests.

"Wait, stop," I asked, holding my hand out in front of me. I glimpsed the slightest edge of color on my skin, as if I had a bruise on the inside of my wrist. I couldn't help but be sidetracked, mostly because I didn't remember getting it. I turned my hand, facing my wrist toward my face. "What the fuck?" I asked as I looked at the intricate design that now sat proudly on my skin. Purple swirls sat within the outline of a black harlequin, navy blue dots and circles accentuating the design. I raised my hand to rub what was obviously a brand new tattoo on when I noticed a similar smudge on my other wrist. I had two tattoos. On my wrists. Needles had been at my wrists.

I started to feel light headed as I held my two wrists up before my face, staring at the two harlequins that mirrored each other. "Make her choose, Belle," said the priestess. "Make her choose which of her lovers lives and which one dies."

Belle smiled deviously. "Yes. I will take from you what you have taken from me," she answered gleefully, almost to herself.

"No!" I replied desperately, struggling to get to my feet and stay there. I managed to get to my knees, but the second I tried to put my feet beneath me and glimpsed similar designs on the tops of my feet, I was right back to my knees again. Well, if I couldn't look strong, I had to sound it. "Kill either of them and I will pull your castle down around you."

She laughed at me, a full, unbridled laugh. "Silly human! And how would stand against me? I am Queen of the strongest European territory. I would crush you."

Without the ability to walk just yet, I tried my hand at crawling. That I could do. "And I am Queen of the _three_ strongest American territories. How do you like that math, you bitch?" I answered, matching smile on my face as I started unwinding the silver chains wrapped around David's body. I was thoroughly surprised that she was allowing me to free him, making me wonder why she'd even bound him in the first place.

"She would also obviously have the support of Michigan," David added as I peeled the last of the silver from him. He stood, brushed his black button down shirt as if to straighten it, and looked at her. "The real question is how would you stand against us?" He grabbed my hand and helped me to stand, tucking me into his side and lending me his strength, but I wasn't having it. Cian was still strapped to his seat, and I was sure as hell going to fix that.

"You…" Belle began as I leaned up and kissed David lightly on the chin before kneeling before Cian. I paid her no attention, all of it irrelevant to what I was doing. My hands shook as I attempted to untangle the silver cord, making getting the knot undone almost impossible. "I will deny you safe passage from my lands," she finally decreed. "I cannot attack you, but I can also prevent you from leaving my side." After a moment, I managed to undo the knot, and eventually unwound the silver from his torso.

I managed to get Cian completely free just in time to look up at David. When it comes to vampire politics, I was really just taking a shot in the dark. I looked to the master for guidance on that threat. He seemed to feel my eyes on him and looked down, the fine lines of fear around his eyes. "That is true, my Beautiful Queen," he said as he looked me in the eye.

"Do not call her that!" Belle Riene screamed. "I and I alone am the Beautiful Queen!"

Cian spoke for the first time since he shunned me in the limo. "I will trade my freedom for safe passage for my King and his entourage," he said quietly without affect.

He gathered surprised stares from everyone in the room. "Cian, no, you don't have to…" I started before he turned to me. When I caught a glimpse of his face, the words died in my throat.

He looked at me as if we'd never met before; like he didn't know who I was. "I will do my duty as a subject of the King of Michigan to protect him and his Queen," he said as he looked at the two of us. "That is, after all, why I was brought here."

"No, Cian," I whispered, almost too low for him to hear. Still on my knees, I whipped around to David. "Stop him!"I screamed. "You're his King, tell him no!"

David looked down at me, that look he gets when he knows he's going to hurt me crackling the mask of his face. "I am sorry, but I will not."

Time stopped. I stared at his face for what seemed like decades as I processed the information before me. And what it came down to was this: I was losing Cian to the bitch queen and, at least tangentially, Nailan, and David refused to do anything about it. In fact, I could have sworn he looked almost giddy at the fact he was getting rid of Cian as competition. I recognized that flush to his cheeks, that glint in his eyes. He was doing a good job of covering his glee with false pain, but I swore I saw it.

My world turned on its head; turning my back to David, I used my newfound rage to propel me to my feet and toward the bitch queen who was in the process of shackling Cian with silver. She had him on his knees, his white shirt now just tatters around his shoulders as she used gloves to handcuff his hands behind his back. But what killed me was the fact his head was down, his dreadlocks covering his face from view. I wanted to see his eyes; I wanted to see the confidence on his face, a subtle smirk as he let the bitch queen think that she had the upper hand. But with the angle of his shoulders and the position of his head, it was obvious he had no confidence to give.

I made it two steps before David swooped in and lifted me from my feet and, using his strong arms to strap me to his chest. I hadn't even gotten completely upright before he grabbed me, which meant I must have been telegraphing my intentions. Or he just knew me that well. Unable to do much else, I screamed my frustration as tears ran down my face, kicking and bucking against David in an effort to loosen his grip and make him drop me. I got in a few good slams to his shins, but not much else.

"Blake, Blake," David said to the two beaten brothers as I tried to worm my way out of his arms ineffectually, "please follow me."

"No!" I screamed as he dragged me up a set of stairs. "Let me go!"

David actually paused, his arms loosening just slightly before he recovered and started his trek back up the stairs, me in tow. I inflated my lungs, getting ready to ask—no, demand that he put me down so I could go get Cian, using whatever influence I could pull from Nailan to actually work for me this time, but before I could open my mouth, his hand clamped over it, making what was going to be a demand nothing but garbled sobs.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I heard her coming through two closed doors. Before David even cleared the front door of the dingy, grime-encrusted club that was a rather appropriate cover for a mad woman's evil lair, I opened the back door of the limo, a confused and concerned look on my face as I did. "What's going on?" I asked over her incessant screaming. It was almost as if she no longer needed to take in breath; she was just one long, ragged scream as her body thrashed in David's arms.

"We are leaving tonight," he replied as he tried to fold Sloane's uncooperative body into the limo without beaning her in the head. "Please call Mustafa and have him start to pack Sloane's things. Idi, please make sure the jet is fueled and ready to go when we arrive…"

"Hold up," I said as I waited for the Army brothers to limp into the limo themselves. "What the fuck happened?"

"Get in," O'Hara said, more of a demand this time than a request.

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of vampires. Don't get me wrong, I'm better than I used to be, but I'm still no fan. But when David O'Hara—seemingly the king of cool, calm, and collected when the shit hits the fan—raises his voice and actually demands something of you, you tend to listen, no matter how you feel about his fanged problem.

I slid into the limo slowly, closing the door behind me. The closed door intensified Sloane's screaming as she fought against O'Hara, the echo bouncing against all the hard surfaces. I repeated my question as the limo pulled away from the curb with a squeal. "What the hell happened?"

Achrann, who hadn't moved since Cian carted Sloane out of the limo almost four hours ago, asked a more pertinent question: "We seem to be short one vampire…"

I glanced around the cabin of the limo, taking a quick headcount. "O'Smythe?"

O'Hara gave me no answer, just a quick, pained glance as he attempted to whisper soothingly into Sloane's ear. She was not having any of it. Even though she closed her eyes, the tears continued to fall as she either lost the interest or energy to rail against him. Instead, she relaxed in her body and just sobbed.

David responded by loosening his grip on her waist and pulling his hand from her mouth. As soon as she was free, she pushed herself sluggishly from his lap, finally settling in the spot that was Cian's to continue her breakdown.

I took a deep breath and turned to Theo, who had finally settled into his seat as comfortably as he could. His suit jacket was askew, his tie off kilter. Now dry blood trickled down his white shirt in a delicate pattern, probably stemming from a split lip. He was favoring one side quite a bit, keeping his shoulder steady and his elbow tucked into his side. "What happened to O'Smythe? What happened down there?" I whispered, trying to keep Sloane as far out of this conversation as I could.

Theo grimaced and shook his head while Thad answered for him. "I have no fucking clue," he started, "but the gist of it is he volunteered to stay behind like a hostage. The trade was he stays and the rest of us go free."

I nodded to Sloane, who had curled herself into a ball and started crying silently. "By the way she's crying, you'd think he was staked."

The brothers looked at me with eerily similar eyes. At first glance, they don't look all that similar; Thad's face being longer and harsher, his hair a darker mousy brown, and Theo's billboard ready face, with the sandy blonde hair and the confidence of an attractive man that he wore like a mantle. But the eyes gave them away. They were slightly different in color, but they held the same expressions, flickering over to Sloane, then O'Hara, then back to me in unison. Truthfully, it was slightly creepy.

"Not yet," Thad started, then Theo finished, "but the woman that's got him…" as both of their eyes lost some focus. "I hunt evil people for a living, and she scares the shit outta me." Thad nodded his agreement, a fearful look still in his eyes.

I shivered at the synchrony with which the two of them functioned. Do all siblings work like this? Is it genetic or was it environmental? And if I asked them to stop, would they be offended? Or would they even know what I was talking about? I ended up switching my focus to Sloane, but looking at her was really no better. Uncomfortable, I closed my eyes tightly and leaned my head back. I'd ask O'Hara what the plan was to get O'Smythe back once Sloane wasn't within hearing distance.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I felt horrible, both physically and emotionally. My heart bled for Cian, and every other feeling I could wrangle seemed to just seep out of those bloody emotional wounds in my chest. I was an empty husk at the moment, shock and pain filling me to the point where there wasn't room for anything else. And on top of that, or possibly because of that, I felt weak and ill as I slumped into the back of the limo, unable or unwilling to move as Alec and Achrann shuffled past me and out of the car, followed by Thad and Theo.

I could see David out of the corner of my eye, but I wasn't_ seeing_ him. Instead, scenes of Cian and I, happy as newlyweds, out on the town or back at home being a bit more intimate flickered through my memory. And then the happy scenes would be replaced with red-eyed rage as I remembered how David just left Cian behind to die, not even a glance for the man that had just given his freedom, and possibly his existence, to get us out of here. Then I'd plummet back to despair as I thought that maybe, probably, he gave himself to that sadistic bitch just to get away from me. _But why would he?_ I'd ask myself. _Did he really need to run from me? He couldn't completely hate me; we had some good times… _And the whole cycle would start all over again.

Which is why I barely noticed as the temperature in the limo plummeted, leaving my breath a trembling fog and a large, horned man suddenly sitting directly in my line of sight. If I'd been paying attention. As it was, I just sat there and stared, breathing, lost in my own head, as David hissed.

I still hadn't moved; my gaze hadn't shifted from the blank stare focused a few feet in front of me, when the horned man spoke. "I am here to complete the covenant Ellegua-Lia neglected to finish," he boomed through the car. "For that, she will be punished."

"What is left to finish?" David asked, a new desperate sadness lacing the interest in his voice. "She has the marks, she has control."

"But she does not know how to use either," the horned man said. There was a long pause, where I assumed all eyes were on me. But I couldn't give less of a shit, truthfully. If he tells me how to get Cian back, then that'd be another story, but until then, I'd be mostly ignoring him.

The horned man continued his speech when it became apparent I had nothing to add to the conversation. "Sloane Neve McIntosh, you must listen to me," he said. I couldn't even manage surprise that he knew my name, let alone my full name. I was screwed. "When Lia bound you, she gave you access points, should you ever need to pull from the Fae within you. This means that, should you ever feel the need to access either her knowledge or her power, you can bypass the walls that bind her and pull what you need without fear that she will gain control. But you must not use this ability liberally; for every time you do, you will be filling your body with more than it should hold. You will begin to reject yourself as if you were a foreign substance, and illness will take you."

He took my wrists gently from my lap, and I just sat there and let him. "When these access points are open, and you are able to call the knowledge and power from the Fae within you, these will grow and writhe," he said as he rubbed my new tattoos with the pad of his thumb. When I had absolutely no outwardly reaction, he placed my wrists back in my lap and sat back. "You must stop before all five marks that hold you glow, or you risk shattering the walls and, eventually, death."

Five marks?

"Do you understand?" he asked.

The only response I could manage was a blink before more tears started to fall and I ceased to pay any more attention.


	151. Chapter 151

It wasn't until we were on the plane and halfway home that I snapped out of my own head and started functioning again. Albeit, I was not functioning well, but I was functioning. Angry and hurt, but functioning. And most of my anger was targeted on the the man whose lap I was currently in. "Don't," I whispered as I pushed myself away from David and into a limp sprawl on the floor of the jet.

He didn't even look surprised as I scuttled away from him and toward the pile of lounging lynxes on the floor. Long, black ear-tufts twitched as tails thrashed through the air. They effortlessly engulfed me in their pile, wrapping paws and tails around me as they purred to comfort me.

When we landed, I hadn't moved again, and neither had anyone else. We had been sitting in tense silence for hours, and I couldn't decide if I wanted to be held and told it was all going to be OK, or if I wanted to scream and rage against all of them. Instead, I just sat silently and watched the clouds lighten out the window until the treetops blocked the view. Suddenly, my bodily inertia lurched as the landing gear touched the hard surface of the runway, and again when jets attempted to slow to a stop.

"Ten minutes until sunrise," Idi commented quietly. "Sir, perhaps…"

"Yes," David answered. "The travel coffins are in the back. We will spend the day in the jet. Alec, Mustafa, please take Sloane and her cats to see about the witch. Mustafa, do you know the way?"

Moose stood, stretched, and pulled out his phone. "I'll GPS it until we get close."

Just as David was about to say something along the lines of 'good', Theo cut him off. "We're going with Pinky—Sloane."

There was a beat before David spoke again. "Brave soldiers. You wish to go, knowing that what you find will be contrary to what you thought you knew?"

"Yes," Thad and Theo answered in unison.

"We could use the extra hands," Alec added. "I'm not happy about being outnumbered by cats." The largest of the Werelynxes, the one whose head currently rested on my hip, bared his teeth before letting out what sounded much closer to a bark than a yip or meow. Alec just gestured towards the animal as if to say, 'see what I'm talking about?'

"Very well," David said. "We are in friendly territory."

When Alec finally got me off the plane, ("Walk or I'm throwing you over my shoulder," he'd said), I noticed something was off. For example, it was December 1st, and sixty degrees outside. Not that I was complaining too much, but…what the hell? It was when I finally made that connection that I looked up. No, we were not in Kansas anymore, Toto. In fact, this looked more like…

"Shreveport," I whispered.

"Been here before?" Alec asked. Moose snickered. I just nodded.

"Why are we in Shreveport?" I asked as I crawled into the first of two black Range Rovers that were waiting on the tarmac. Four large cats crawled into the seats behind me, Alec taking the wheel.

"O'Hara says he knows of a witch that lives near here that might be able to help your cats," he said as he jerked his head back toward the Werelynxes. "You know who he's talking about?"

It took me a minute to process before I put 'witch' and 'Amelia' together. Then I groaned. Alec chuckled. "O'Hara said you might have that reaction."

"He's continuing to punish me," I whispered to myself. But I should know by now that nothing is truly my own anymore.

"Who?" asked Alec.

"David," I replied. I managed to whisper, "He took away Cian, and…" before the tears overwhelmed my ability to speak. After that, I just sat there, facing out the window so Alec didn't have to see me cry.

"Hey," he said as he gently laid one of his hands on mine, "let's get these cats back to themselves and settled in, and then you and I can go back and get him, OK? We'll get Cian back, I promise." Yips came from all four of the cats in response; I wasn't sure if they were agreeing to help, trying to cheer me up, or were excited to be human again.

I didn't answer.

It was a forty-five minute drive from the small airport in Shreveport to the rural bliss of Bon Temps. Or, at least, I'm sure some people considered it rural bliss. I considered it the middle of nowhere, but I'm sure it had its charms. I'm just not sure what those are.

There were two other cars in Sookie's driveway when we pulled in. One I recognized as Jason's aqua and pink striped pickup from when I spent more time in Sookie's world than mine. The other one I wasn't sure about; a nice, brand new pickup, black, large enough to land a helicopter in the bed. Absolutely gleaming.

When Moose piled out of the back seat of the Range Rover in front of us, I followed suit. Almost like he knew what I was doing, he turned to look at me. "Should we come back later?"

I shook my head and turned my focus to the front door.

**SOOKIE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

"No," Jason said as he lounged comfortably on Gran's old loveseat. I couldn't help but notice how at home he looked, and I smiled inwardly. He is my brother. And he's finally starting to act like it.

"It's not your job to decide," Alcide added, who was about to topple right off of the old armchair if he leaned forward anymore.

I knew there were bound to be some hot tempers when two Weres got together, even if one was a bitten panther and the other was full-blooded wolf. But this was getting ridiculous. I rolled my eyes and gathered up the empty glasses on the coffee table. "More tea?" I asked, not waiting for their response. "And maybe I'll make some sandwiches. Don't kill each other while I'm in the kitchen, please."

Jason sighed. Alcide settled back into his chair. Once I was around the corner and neither of them could see me, I smirked. The only reason I had agreed to hold this sad excuse for a symposium (a word of the day) was because Jason had reminded me that it was kind of his house, too. And that's why he was here and not Calvin. Calvin Norris, being the leader of Hotshot's inbred panther clan, was who I expected to be at this meeting in Jason's place. In fact, I would have expected anyone to be here in Jason's place. As a bitten Werepanther, he had about as many rights in their community as a child. In fact, less so. But it turned out that Calvin was on his honeymoon with his new bride and the only other panther he trusted to keep his cool and not eat his favorite telepathic barmaid was my brother. So here he was.

They were arguing over whether or not Calvin was going to become an adjunct group to Alcide's pack. Now that the Weres and shape shifters had come out of the woods, as they like to call it, the Weres were trying even more to become the alphas of the two-natured world. They wanted to 'consolidate control' in order to make the transition 'easier' for the rest of the population. It had been years since they came out, and as far as I knew, Calvin's clan was the singular hold out in the area.

"Calvin's made it my job to decide," Jason said amiably from the living room. "Look, I'm going to give it to you straight. Hotshot—it's not a place for strangers. No matter how tough those strangers think they are. Trust me. And all you and your pack are is a bunch of strangers. In the end, it wouldn't matter what Calvin said to the rest of the community, because no one would trust you, and people would stop trusting Calvin for making this deal. Do you understand?"

Alcide grumbled. "He could tell them it is purely for political reasons. Nothing would change, he's seen to that. In fact, the rest of the clan wouldn't have to know."

"Wait, you want Calvin to keep a secret from the members of his pack?" Jason asked, finally sounding even remotely interested in this whole process. "Is that how _you_ run _your_ pack?"

"No," Alcide responded quickly—almost too quickly.

This was going downhill quickly. I added some more ice to each of the glasses, poured in the tea, and hustled out there. But I'd only gotten to the threshold of the living room, where the new wood floor met the old wood floor, and I heard it.

A scream echoed so loud inside my head that I dropped the tray with the tea and crackers on it, sending them shattering to the floor, so I could clap my hands over my ears. It was a silly thing to do; the scream was telepathic, no amount of covering my ears would block it out. If only it were that easy. And it was coming from my front lawn.

"Sook?" Jason asked as the two of them looked at me with wild, concerned eyes. "You alright?" I hadn't noticed that I had dropped to my knees until I had to look up at the two of them. Jason was still sitting, but Alcide was already on his feet.

"Sloane," I whispered as I shot to my feet.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I knew I wasn't going to be able to say it without breaking down. There was no way for me to explain why I was here without turning myself back into a sobbing child. So, instead, I took a few steps toward the house, signaling the rest of the crew that had come to keep me away from razors and pills, to stay put. I was in the middle of her front yard, next to a lovely azalea bush, when I sank to my knees, then down to my butt so I could sit cross legged in the grass. And I screamed.

I pushed the internal scream out toward Sookie, letting it hold everything I needed to say inside it. Before I was done, I heard a crash come from inside and, a second later, the front door slammed open.

"Sloane!" Sookie yelled as she sprinted for me. I barely had enough time to look up before Sookie slid to a stop in front of me and pulled me into a hug. "Sloane, what's wrong?"

"Kiddo?" Alcide asked as he followed Sookie out of the house at a much slower and much warier gait. By the look on his and Jason's face, I was willing to bet at least one weapon was pointed in their direction.

"It's alright, they're friendlies," Moose murmured behind me.

I cleared my throat and the entire front yard fell into silence. Not even the insects made a noise. "I need Amelia," I whispered to Sookie.

"She's in New Orleans," Sookie responded. "Why do you need her?"

I couldn't explain, I just opened up my mind and let her pick out the reason. "Oh, Jesus," she mumbled after a few seconds. "Oh Lord in Heaven." When she pulled away, careful to not touch any part of my body, she had her crazy Sookie smile on, a bit more threadbare. "Come inside, I'll make you some lunch. It looks like you haven't eaten in days." She turned and started walking up the stairs to her recently swept porch when she added, "you can let the cats out in the woods; it will be a few hours before Amelia can get up here, even if she leaves right now."

"Can I just ask a question?" Jason said, taking one more glance at me before following his sister up the stairs. "Who are these people? You know half of them are shifters, right?" he asked as Alec let the Werelynxes out from the back of the car. I could hear their claws scritch against the side of the car before four sets of paws hit the earth. When they started stalking toward me, Alcide took a step closer and the cats stopped in their tracks.

"Hey, Kiddo," he said as he glared at the cats. "You want a hand up? And to explain this to the rest of the class? I have to know when any shifters enter my area, and I mean in advance." He was explaining this to me as if I wouldn't have otherwise known, but I knew. I was just hoping we'd be gone before he even figured it out. If he would.

"I know," I answered as I took his hand.

"Were you going to call me?"

"No," I answered. "We'll be gone before it makes a difference. I just need Amelia to help my cats."

"_Your_ cats?" he asked. "How are they yours?"

Alec approached, obviously not happy that Alcide and I were suddenly alone, yards away from anyone he deemed 'OK'. "She won them in a magical battle against a priestess. And no, I'm not shitting you."

Alcide automatically tucked me behind him and looked up and scanned a face that could have been his twin, if his mother had been in labor for a decade or so. Now that they were standing right next to each other, I knew I hadn't been dreaming the resemblance. It was uncanny. The same wavy black hair, Alcide's shorter and starting to gray a touch, the same wide cheekbones and soft eyes. Even the same indignant look on their face as they studied each other.

"Who are you?" Alcide asked.

"Alec Bourdain," he answered. "Let me guess, Herveaux?"

Alcide jolted as if someone was poking him with a cattle prod. "Alcide," he said, extending a hand. "How'd you know?"

Alec nodded toward me without taking his eyes off the packmaster. "Sloane asked if my last name was Herveaux when we first met. Now I know why."

The cats had started to inch their way forward, so I put my hands down at my sides, palms out to touch them. "It's OK," I whispered as I urged them closer. They glanced up at Alcide, then back to me, then back to Alcide. "Come on, it's OK." Finally, they relented and approached, rubbing themselves on my palms, my legs, and my hips. "It's going to take a while for the witch to get here. Sookie said you can go hunt in her woods, if you want. It's safe. Or you can hang around here."

"That's not possible," Alcide said as he watched me talk to the group. "She's phsyic _and_ she talks to animals?"

"Werelynxes," Alec corrected. "Cursed Werelynxes."

"They're not Were's," Alcide replied instantly. "Don't smell like it."

"I know," Alec added. "Trust me, I know. But Sloane insists, and they _do_ understand English…"

Alcide turned his attention to Alec. "And what are you?" he asked.

Alec suddenly was less interested in my protection from the imagined threat and more interested in getting the hell out of there. "Wolf," he replied curtly.

"Hm," Alcide replied. "Have a pack?"

Alec straight up ignored him. "Come on, let's go inside and get something to eat, I'm starving." He wrapped his arm around me as I replied, "You're always starving."

.

I picked at my eggs, sunny side up, bacon, sausage, and home fries. Both of the Blake brothers excused themselves from eating, claiming they just wanted to take some Advil and pass out. I could see why. What had been a bunch of hypothetical injuries were starting to darken and swell into a group of lovely bruises. When Theo took off his tie and shirt, asking for help with the first few buttons, I knew why he looked so miserable. The entire left side of his body was one big, black bruise. Painful, definitely. Broken? Probably. I tried to tell him and Thad to get to the local hospital to get cleaned up, but they both just laughed at me. I let it go as they passed out in one of the cars.

When it was obvious I wasn't going to do much more than push the food around on my plate, Alec switched my full plate for his empty one and went right on eating. I continued to push my fork around on Alec's empty plate with nothing on the plate to move until Sookie picked it up from in front of me and handed me a Pepsi. "Let's go outside," she said as she practically pulled me from kitchen and out the back door. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I lowered myself onto the back porch. I remembered a patio set with two Adirondack chairs back here from her past, but both times I'd been here, they were nowhere to be seen. I glanced up at the sunny sky and wrapped the coat I still hadn't taken off since I put it on in Paris around me. "If I wanted to talk about it, I wouldn't have shown you."

"I got that," she said with a smile. "But it can help to talk. Lord knows you need to."

"No," I answered quietly as the lynxes, who had smelled our presence as soon as we'd walked outside, started to inch from the woods surrounding Sookie's house.

"Trust me," Sookie said. "You need to."

"I don't need to talk!" I yelled, finally snapping under the pressure of all the silence. The cats stopped, standing almost inhumanly still, before deciding I wasn't yelling at them and started back up, picking up the pace this time. I melted onto the back porch, my knees suddenly supporting my head as I started to sob…again. "I don't need to tell anyone how I let some Fae get in my head, and I lost Cian because of it! This is my fault and I should have to suffer alone!"

I can't believe I felt that way, let alone said it out loud. Instead, I lowered my eyelids and took a few deep, calming breaths. I needed to get my shit together. I needed to hold it all in until I could get home, until everyone was protected, before I fell apart. Then I could fall into bed and never emerge, if I wanted. And that was the only thought that allowed me to rein it all back in and lift my head. "Feel better?"

I took another deep breath and stood. "Maybe a little," I lied.

Her eyes narrowed on me, as if she was seeing through me. I stared back, almost daring her to go there, but in the end, she backed down. "I'm going to go call Amelia," she said as she turned back toward her kitchen. "I have to work soon, will you still be here when I get back?" To that, I could only shrug.


	152. Chapter 152

*****I know this one is a long time coming, but I have a good reason: I was getting married. That's right, I am now MRS. GRAPEfedGODDESS.**

Enjoy.***

Jason left as soon as he could without looking like he was bailing. Moose suggested driving the Blake brothers back to the jet and letting them sleep off their respective beatings there. Surprisingly, they agreed, which told me just how shitty they were really feeling. Alcide stuck around a little longer, finally coming to sit with me in silence in the back yard; it took about a half an hour before he couldn't help himself and started asking me questions about what happened.

"First of all, are you OK?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered as I stared into the woods. I couldn't see my cats roaming, but I could almost feel them, never too far away, close enough if I needed them. It was as if they were babysitting me, giving me the illusion of privacy, but if I so much as hiccupped, they'd come running.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," I replied again.

He shrugged out of his unnecessary coat and wrapped it around my shoulders. I didn't move to accept or reject it, but I did consider it ridiculous. It was hovering right around sixty degrees out here, even as the sun started to set. I was wearing a sweater. I was fine. "Do you know who—and what—you're traveling with?"

"Yes," I replied again.

"Will you list them, so I know we are on the same page?"

I listed them as if I were making a grocery list: "One Garou, one two-natured, four Werelynxes, two human soldiers, four—no, three—vampires, and one Fairy Godfather."

He just looked at me for a moment before he dropped his head into his hands. "Where'd you get the word Garou, Sloane?" he asked when he lifted it again, surprise and sorrow in his voice. "Who told you there were Garoux? Because if you have a Fairy tailing around with you—something I believe after the last time we met—you don't also have a Garou. At least, not for long."

"From me," Alec said from behind us. I'd felt him coming, almost like a warm buzz at the back of my mind, but he'd obviously snuck up on Alcide. "How do you know about us?"

Alcide scrambled to his feet, subconsciously putting himself between Alec and me. The Papa Bear routine was cute, but not necessary. "The Garou are just a legend, dude," Alcide said. "Sorry, Kiddo," he said back over his shoulder to me, "but he's been lying to you."

I knew the second the sun set on the horizon. I gasped as an electric jolt shot through me, a new connection to the night I didn't even knew I had, crackling to life like a live wire. For a moment, I could almost feel David jolt awake for the night.

"Mac?" Alec asked, peering around Alcide. "You doing that?"

"What?" I asked.

Alec moved to circle Alcide, trying to bypass him and come to my side. Alcide wasn't having it. "You don't get anywhere near her until you come clean," he said as he placed his large palm on Alec's chest. Surprised, Alec looked down at Alcide's hand, and by the time he looked back up, his normally multi-hued eyes were pure amber, with large, focused pupils. When he bared his teeth, his canines had lengthened into a wolf's flesh-ripping weapons.

"Not possible," Alcide whispered. Alec growled from deep within his throat until Alcide dropped his hand. Again, I had no comment. I just sat, breathing, probing this new dimension. Now that the first moment of nightfall had come and gone, that liminal moment when day becomes night, that buzz was almost secondary; I had to concentrate to feel it. But it was still there, like a comforting blanket, wrapping around me.

"Mac, your wrists…" Alec said, his face suddenly back to its handsome self. "They're…moving."

I glanced down to see what he was talking about. The new tattoos at my wrists were pulsing, the faint glow dissipating almost immediately. I watched as the navy circles and the crimson swirls settled back into their original position. It passed so quickly I almost thought it was a phantasm; looking up to Alec and Alcide, their faces telling me that they definitely saw that, too.

"What _happened_?" Alcide asked as he took a quick step back. At the same time, Alec's head snapped up and focused out into the woods, towards the old cemetery just beyond Sookie's property. "Vampire."

I barely had time to look up myself before Alec swooped me into his arms and started pulling me into the house. "No," I said. I could _feel_ the vampire Alec was smelling. I could feel it coming as if it were a part of me coming home. And I could feel that it meant me no harm. It was moving just as cautiously as Alec was acting, and as soon as the four cats emerged from the woods, I knew why. It smelled the cats in Sookie's woods and was coming to investigate.

Alec put me down, protesting vehemently. "It's OK, it's Bill," I said just before he emerged from the woods. Part of me was glad he wasn't hostile. A larger, more insistent part of me sighed in despair. The last thing I wanted was someone else hanging around, someone else to explain all this to. What I wouldn't give to rewind the whole damn day and absolutely refuse to get off the plane. I mean a kicking, screaming, red-faced temper tantrum if anyone even thought to carry me off that plane. I'd plant myself in one of the reclining chairs and send the rest of the group off to deal with this growing cluster fuck.

"Majesty," Bill said, surprise in his slow southern drawl.

It took me a minute to remember that he was talking to me. "Sloane, please. Or Mac. Hi Bill."

He bowed his head slightly before tucking his hands behind him and approaching slowly. "I was unaware you would be visiting. And with such interesting company."

"It was news to me, too," I said. "I thought we were going home."

"Hm," he said as he considered the situation. "I am sorry to interrupt; I was investigating a scent I had caught while getting the paper, but I now see that you are aware of the cats. If they pose no threat to Sookie—or, of course, you, Ma'am…Sloane, I will leave you be."

I shrugged, sticking with my woman-of-few-words routine for the night. "Very well," he replied as he turned. He took a few steps before turning back, just enough to show me his handsome profile. "Actually, there is one more thing," he said. "Is Sookie home? I have business to discuss with her, as the area investigator."

"Merlotte's," I replied. "Left at four." With a courteous nod, he turned back toward his home and disappeared into the blackness of the woods.

I took a deep breath and turned back to Alec. I hadn't forgotten what he'd said in passing, and I wanted to know what the hell he was talking about. "Was I doing what, Alec?" I said with a sigh.

He looked at me for a moment, almost visibly working through my question in his head. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, his lips, already tightly compressed from clenching his jaw, drew together just a touch more, his head cocked to the left. And then he remembered: his eyebrows shooting back up, his mouth opening as he took in a quick breath. "Oh!" he said as he righted his head. "Right. There was this…" His eyebrows went right back to furrowed as he gestured blindly with his hand. "I don't know, a buzz, a pull. It's like space expanded for a split second, then rebounded on itself and shrunk before returning to normal. Kind of like snapping a rubber band." He turned to Alcide. "Did you feel it?"

Alcide frowned and shook his head. "Don't think so," he replied. "Wasn't paying attention to…space…though." He shot me a look that clearly said _this kid's lost it_ before wiping the look from his face.

Alec rolled his eyes, careful not to let the packmaster see the motion. "Well, Mac? Was that you?"

All I could do was shrug. "Who the hell knows," I whispered as I turned back to the house, letting myself in to the empty kitchen. "I've been a fucking 50 cent grab bag lately." _Buy one, reach in—who the hell knows what you'll get_. _A bag full of candy? A goldfish? Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds?_ I certainly felt like the later lately, and I was doing a fine job of destroying my own world.

.

David, Idi, and Idriis were the first vampires to arrive (after Bill's short visit). I barely glanced up from the spot on the floor of Sookie's living room I'd focused on when there was knock on the door. David, of course, could come in—he'd been invited in before and Sookie never thought to revoke his invitation. Stupid oversight on her part. Idi an Idriis, on the other hand, had never been here. Since neither Alec, Alcide, nor I had the right to invite anyone into Sookie's house, they stayed on the porch, one on each side of the front door, until Sookie returned to remedy the situation. If she would.

David greeted Alec first, then pinned Alcide with a glance before greeting him coolly. I was the last he approached, moving slowly and cautiously. He wasn't sure what kind of greeting he was going to get from me, and truthfully, I wasn't sure either.

"Sloane," he said, his voice almost a command for me to focus on him. When I did he flinched. And for a split second, I saw myself reflected, felt the doubts he felt. When I looked up, he saw the emptiness that had replaced the pain that had been there the last time I'd seen him. He had hope when my eyes held such pain; he knew from experience that no one person can hold on to that much pain for any length of time. They had to choose, fight or wither and die. He'd hoped when I chose, it would be to fight. When he saw the raw emptiness, not even a flicker of spirit in my own eyes, his hope died. Because inside, so had I. Between fight and die, I'd chosen to die and leave my body and empty shell. And, again from personal experience, he knew how hard it was to come back from that.

I didn't bother trying to explain. That if I could just let myself die inside now, I'd have the strength to fight later. I wasn't really dying inside, I was just…in a coma, taking a nap. I needed to shut down to just survive tonight. Later, I'd pull out the pain, examine it, and decide how I was going to live with it.

"Will you gentleman excuse us?" David asked, never taking his eyes from mine. When we were alone, David folded himself to the ground before me, taking my face into his palms.

"Fight, Sloane. The woman I love would not just curl up and let this crush her." He searched my eyes for another second before shaking me lightly. "Fight!"

I reached up and pulled his hands from my face and pushed them back towards him. I could stand having him close to me, but his touch made me want to vomit. I couldn't take the intimacy of it. I looked into his pained, defeated eyes and said quietly, "The man I loved wouldn't have allowed someone who looked to him for protection to sacrifice themselves. For anything. Ever."

His eyes flinched again as he pulled away from me. "You blame me," he said, almost as if he didn't believe it.

"No," I answered. "I blame me."

Eric sauntered into the room, cocky as ever, as David and I stared at each other's pained eyes. Pam followed behind and took in the sight of the otherwise empty room before settling into the nearest chair. She sighed melodramatically.

"Did we walk in on a domestic?" Eric asked. "Sookie and I never fight."

"Lie," I said dispassionately.

Eric sneered. Pam snickered. "For what do you feel guilt, Pretty Pretty Princess?" Eric spat at me.

"Killing Cian," I replied.

My head was bouncing off the plaster wall before I realized I was no longer on the floor. Eric's hand was around my neck, cutting off my air supply, and his fangs were fully extended, up close and personal-like. I felt no fear, only…only a strange sense of closure. I generated the plan that stranded Cian in France, at the mercy of their sadistic Queen. I _was_ responsible for anything that happened to him. Death included. Instead of fighting, I hung limp in his grip, staring him in his furious eyes, inviting him to take his revenge out on me. After all, I deserved it.

"Eric," David seethed. "Put her down." Eric didn't listen; I wasn't even sure he heard him. He only had eyes for me, at the moment, and maybe revenge.

Dots and stars of grey were starting to infiltrate my vision. David took a step towards Eric and Pam flung herself out of the chair and onto David like a banshee. There was a loud crash as the two of them sailed past us and right into the fireplace mantle.

I didn't want David and Pam to fight; this fight wasn't for either of them. I reached out a hand towards Eric's shoulder and threw everything I had into the command. "Stop," I croaked.

David and Pam both stopped mid motion, frozen in time in snarling poses. David was on top, straddling the smaller vampire, but Pam was holding her own. Her fangs were already bloody from a wound on David's bicep.

Secure in the fact that David and Pam weren't going to pull Sookie's house down around them, I let my arm drop and closed my eyes. With a smile on my face, I accepted my punishment.

I should have known it wouldn't last. David and Pam had attracted too much attention. Seemingly all at once, the front door slammed open, Idi and Idriis - unable to act without setting foot in the house. Alec and Alcide emerged from the kitchen, both taking in the scene at once. Just as Idi pulled a smaller version of his usual weapon from his coat and reared his arm back to throw it, the four cats tore past him, jumping on Eric in unison, tails thrashing, snarling, each fastening onto a different limb. With the teeth of a midnight black lynx imbedded in his shoulder, dangerously close to his neck, Eric's grip loosened and I fell to the floor. As I crumpled to the floor, Amelia walked in the front door and shrieked, "_Statia motus!_" as she flung her hands outwards toward the room.

Everything froze.

Well, not everything. I didn't freeze. Idi and Idriis, outside the door, didn't freeze. Amelia obviously didn't freeze. But everything else stopped, one cat in midair as Eric tossed it from his body. It was strangely surreal. She'd managed to do to the entire room what I'd done to David and Pam.

"What the fuck, Seer?" she said as she turned, almost ready to kick me before she realized I wasn't frozen. Shock, followed by disbelief, then fear flickered through her eyes. "You're not frozen."

I couldn't speak, I could barely breathe. I just shook my head as I laid on the floor taking inventory. Ten fingers, ten toes. I tried unsuccessfully to push myself to my feet. Black crept into my vision before I even got off all fours. I shook my head and tried again. This time I got to the point I could crawl, but not much further. Crawling would do for now; I had limited goals. I crawled to where Eric had sent the cat soaring through the air, managing to get upright enough to pull it from the trajectory that would have had it colliding with the door frame.

"Cats," I croaked for Amelia, sending myself into a coughing fit. "Save…cats."

"Whoa, whoa…back up a sec," she said. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Killed childe," I wheezed.

She looked at me a moment before bracing her fists on her hips and closing her eyes. She stood there a moment, inside her own head, before she shook it and opened her eyes back up. "Someone killed someone's childe. Who?"

"Me," I answered.

"Whose childe?"

"Eric"

Her eyes opened wider and she looked at the scene. "Pam's…fine, I think," she said, taking another inventory of Pam's state. "She's fine, right?"

I just nodded.

"I don't understand. You killed Eric's childe? But Pam's…." Finally, recognition flooded into her eyes. "Oh. Oh. He has—had—another childe." I nodded.

One second there was silence, the next, the room exploded again, the cats going after Eric, Alec stripping off his shirt, Alcide wading into the fight in human form. Pam and David were still motionless, under a different command than the one that froze the rest of the room. The cat I had saved from the back-breaking impact with the door frame whimpered before disentangling himself from my arms and relaunching itself into the fight with Eric. One-on-one, the cats didn't have a chance. Four-on-one, however, they were having some luck. Eric bled from every limb.

Alec rolled me onto my back and cleared the hair from my face. "You OK?" he asked. I nodded. "Good. I'm not even going to ask what happened. Did you freeze O'Hara and the woman?" I nodded again. "You gotta let them go, Sloane. The horned fuc—guy in the limo said you can't use those skills anymore without risking yourself. You have to let them go so you don't get sick or some—"

He was cut off before he could finish his sentence, flung back against the couch by Eric, who rolled on top of me and continued where he'd left off. A now bloody hand clasped around my throat as he straddled my hips, pushing me into the floor.

…

I was standing on the Parisian streets, Pam to my left and another vampire, small, frightful woman, dark hair in ringlets and light, ashy skin to my right. Pam looked up at me and smiled. The other woman didn't smile, but I could tell she was ready for this fight. Fighting is what she lives for.

I was Eric. I was King. I was going to take back what is mine.

The vampires at my sides disappeared into the night, enacting the plan we'd decided on during the plane ride over. I would be the distraction, Pam and the other woman would infiltrate, searching for Cian and killing everything in their path. We'd extract him, I'd take him home. He was my first childe, my favorite son. And he would be again.

The night fast forwarded. I—Eric—we were now on our knees, Pam again on my left and the small vampire on my right. The Queen of France was standing before us. We had underestimated the Queen, her guards had captured us before we could even set foot within her compound. She pulled a sword from her guards' gear and swiftly decapitated Pam and the vampire to my right.

The vision faded, and I was right back staring into the face of the man who was going to kill me. I gathered my will, grabbed his wrist and pushed at him mentally. _Don't lose one childe to save another,_ I said. I had no idea what I was doing, but I just _knew _that the message would get through. I fed him as much of the vision as I could before I blacked out.

….

I coughed and it hurt like a bitch. I moaned, and that hurt even more. Instead of trying something else and drowning myself in pain, I stayed stock still, not moving a muscle. I didn't even open my eyes. I laid on my back, breathing as shallowly as I could trying not to hurt.

"Pony," Sydney said from somewhere on my right. "Wake up, I need you here. I think I'm pregnant."

Nothing could have gotten me out of bed faster.


	153. Chapter 153

**EPILOGUE**

It took six agonizingly long days from the time I was awakened in my own bed by Sydney's startling confession to the point where I could get enough order in my life to enact my plan. For six painstaking days, I stayed silent, went about my business, attempting to deaden the pain I was feeling with routine. I spent hours in the lab, immersing myself the most monotonous chores, to take my mind off it. I wouldn't speak, I wouldn't listen to music. After the first day, the rest of my lab mates stopped trying to talk to me. They all assumed I was PMS-ing. Only Moose knew the real reason for my eremitic behavior, and it made him unbearably overprotective. If my plan was to work, I needed him to lay off. I needed everyone to lay off.

When I got home from the lab, I'd talk to Sydney and only Sydney, although she did most of the talking. She was scared, excited, apprehensive…she didn't know if RJ (who, she told me, was undoubtedly the father) was ready for her news. I guess family had always been somewhat of a sore topic for him. She was afraid that telling him might freak him out. I asked her what her alternatives were, and the look in her eyes told me she had contemplated them all. She'd thought about aborting, but she loved the thing already, even if she wouldn't admit that to herself. Beyond that, what were her options? Leave RJ because of how he _might_ react ? Even she realized that was ludicrous.

I wanted her to resolve this issue before I enacted my plan. I had to know she was OK, she'd be OK. The first day I'd gotten out of bed, I'd set the wheels in motion to make sure she'd always have a place to live. I'd gone to the MSU Law Council office, an office that usually deals with rental issues and harassment claims, about setting up a will. The secretary had been startled that I wanted to write my will, but I told her that my best friend was pregnant and I was sick, and I wanted to make sure that if I relapsed, she and the baby would get what they needed. I guess the smudges under my eyes along with my dull skin and hair helped to convince her.

My will was short. Sydney got my house and everything in it and my car. She got everything except the ring Cian gave me: that went back to Cian. The lawyer printed out a copy of the will, and warily observed while the notary and I signed it. I smiled weakly at him and left.

Any time that I wasn't holding Sydney's hand or in lab, I was running errands. There were things I needed to set up, things I needed to buy. Some of it easier than others. The plane was easy—I just made a call to Nala Black, Queen of Arkansas, and called in a favor. No questions asked, she set it up. I had the Arkansas version of Air Force One at my disposal any time that I wanted. The head to toe leather was harder to find, especially something that would make as big an impression as I needed it to. It had to be something that would mess with the people I was going to scare. Something sensual yet scary, something that would show off every last one of my weapons, even if some of them were in my head. Something that telegraphed my power. Oh, and it has to fit someone that barely tops five foot. Not as easy as it sounds.

I found a leather worker in the Lansing area that usually made motorcycle leathers. He looked me up and down, listened to what I wanted, and instantly turned me down. "I don't serve sickos like you," he said.

"I'm not a sicko," I'd replied. I pulled the katana I'd gotten used to carrying on my back and placed it on the counter, followed by daggers I'd tucked into the wrist sheaths, placing them next to the katana. With each weapon I unleashed, his eyes grew wider. "I need it to have harnesses for all these. And two more daggers on my thighs. And somewhere to tuck throwing stars, maybe on my hips." I stopped, thinking, taking inventory of my sword safe and deciding what else I wanted to take. "Oh, and maybe holster for a .45 at the small of my back." I still had one of Achrann's guns tucked away up there. May as well diversify.

"O-OK," he said as he glanced from the katana to my face. "Just don't kill me."

"You're not my target," I replied before restocking my weapons and leaving.

I spent time buying clothes for the four cats, now in human form, who had taken over the light-tight room in my basement. I spent time reassuring them that they could stay as long as they liked and, no, they did not need to follow me everywhere. Apparently, the priestess had kept them in their cat forms for five years and since two of them looked like they weren't old enough to drink yet, they were understandably traumatized. And their English was rudimentary, at best. The four blonde-haired Werelynxes that had taken over my basement spoke mostly French, meaning the only David and I could communicate with them. And David no longer had an invitation to my home.

The last place I needed to go was a salon. My long hair, while good for hiding the long sword at my back, tangled around the hilt. I needed something shorter if I was seriously expecting to draw it. I sat down in the chair of my normal hair stylist, who, as always, was excited to see me. When I told her what I wanted, that I was going to cut off about a foot and a half of hair, she just stared at me. "You want to donate it?" she asked when she recovered from the shock.

"Yes," I'd replied.

When I left the salon, I was ready. My hair was short and asymmetrical, which would only bother me a little. In the back, it hit me just at the nape of my neck, but it fell down past my clavicles in front. She'd blown it dry and straightened it out, and when I looked into the mirror, I didn't recognize myself. My normally wavy, silky, tenebrous hair now looked like a weapon in and of itself, the sharp angles emphasizing the new, mean angles to my face. _Now_ I'll look the part.

That was the day before I put my plan in motion.

Sydney freaked out when I'd gotten home. "You cut off all your hair!" she shrieked.

I shrugged, trying not to look as bereft as I felt—like I'd amputated an arm or something. "I'm sick of waiting three days for it to dry," I'd answered. I'd left her stunned in the living room as I went upstairs to pack everything I would need discretely. It ended up being quite a pack.

I hadn't seen David since Bon Temps.

Here I was, six days later, alone, flying toward France, and I felt…free. I was ready. I wasn't nervous. I was…exhilarated? I _felt_ like Shiva the Destroyer, on my way to right the wrong. She'd taken Cian from me, she'd hurt him. I would destroy her.

When Arkansas' plane got close to the coast, as the lights glittered on the night's horizon, I'd changed into my new leather persona, strapped on my weapons, touched up my black eyeliner and my red lips, fluffed my newly shortened hair. I was ready.

The most worrisome part of my plan was yet to come. I had no contacts in France, no clout. I couldn't call in favors on a continent where I was friendless. Except one. I'd had to call Guin for a car.

When the plane landed, the car Guinevere had promised was waiting on the tarmac. A black Hummer. I rolled my eyes as I sauntered up to the car. I couldn't help but saunter; the black stiletto boots I'd chosen to compliment the skintight leather pants and the leather top that consisted mostly of a bra with a few extra straps wouldn't let me walk normally. Saunter, it was.

I recognized the handsome face that met me at the car, the black hair that was slicked back, away from his eyes. The deep, black eyes. The golden skin. After all, I'd called Guinevere, and I was a damsel in distress. Could I really expect Sir Lancelot _not_ to show up?

"Lance," I said as I hopped into the passenger seat. It was an American vehicle; the steering wheel was on the right (er, correct) side. "Was a Hummer necessary?"

"Ms. McIntosh," he replied in a smooth British accent that made my heart ache for Cian. "Was the leather?" He started the vehicle, shifted into drive, and took off. "You look like death."

I glanced over at him. "I am. You don't fuck with what's mine." He drove the rest of the way in silence.

We'd stopped a block away from where he'd ascertained that the surveillance on the Queen's complex stopped. I'd be walking the next three blocks. Alone.

He moved to get out of the car. "Where do you think you're going?" I asked as I stood on the sidewalk, readjusting my katana. It's just not comfortable to sit in, really. It forced me to sit up really straight.

"With you," he replied. "You cannot hope to storm the castle alone and survive."

"I have a trick up my sleeve," I replied. "You're staying with the car."

"Does your trick involve those lovely tattoos you have, Birdy?" he asked

I shot him a glance over the hood. "Yes."

"Those marks are unpredictable."

"So am I," I replied. "Stay with the car. I'll call if I need you."

"And where in that outfit are you hiding a cell phone?" he asked, a slight glimmer in his eyes.

I smiled at him and left.

I wasn't surprised when I was met at the gate of her estate. Stone walls twelve feet high circled the old mansion in the heart of Paris's seediest areas. "_Good evening, gentlemen,"_ I said in French.

"Bonsoir," the two men answered with smiles. One wasn't much taller than me, but he held himself as if he were 6 feet tall. The other really _was_ that tall. They appraised me as if I were tonight's entertainment, until they got close enough to determine all my weapons were silver. Then they weren't so friendly. "_You will give up your weapons and follow us_," the taller one said.

"_I keep my weapons, and I'm following you only if you're taking me to Cian._"

"Non," the taller one replied. I repeated myself, projecting the influence that I'd accrued during Nailan's prolonged stay in my head. They fought it, dragging their feet, trying to stay right where they were, but in the end, they failed. They marched me directly to where I wanted to go.

The house was not large on the outside, but I could feel the vampires roaming the tunnels and hallways beneath me. The complex extended underground for blocks in every direction. We entered the front door and were greeted by something straight out of the 1850's. Tapestry-hung walls, velvet-covered upholstery, gilded mirrors. The floor was black and white marble, the walls were crimson, the ceiling was frescoed. It was strangely lovely, and it made me hate it even more.

The guards took an immediate jog right, down a narrow hallway. There were dozens of vampires milling around, but because I had an escort, none of them gave me a second glance. They probably thought I was being 'taken care of'. Instead, I was doing the caring. It took everything I had not to smile at them.

At the end of the hall was a wooden door, and beyond the door, a staircase down. _More_ _underground rooms_, I thought as I rolled my eyes. _Well, when they pick a theme, they certainly stick with it. _The walls were plastered, but I could see that ended not too far up the hallway. Electric sconces gave way to the oil-fueled versions. I followed the two guards to the end of the hall, where they immediately took another right and opened the second door on the left.

I couldn't step inside. I knew what she had been doing to him every night because I could feel the tendrils of it, but I was still afraid of what I was going to find. "_The Beautiful Queen will kill you for your actions_," said the shorter guard. Now that they had obeyed my geas, they were free to do as they pleased. Apparently they didn't have enough clout to just kill me outright. They should have.

I glanced back at the two guards who, now that they weren't under my thumb, had continued their weary watch. "Be sweethearts and go get her, please. Tell her the real beautiful queen is here." With a flick of the wrist, I commanded the two of them to be my errand boys. Scowling, they went.

When they turned the corner, leaving me standing alone in front of an open door, I paused. The fighting and death I could handle. But if they had harmed even one of Cian's smart little dreadlocks, I was going to lose it. And I already knew they had, so…it took me a minute to ready myself to see that. Finally, I took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

Two vampires were chained to the wall, the not-so-subtle smell of burning skin wafting about the room. Blood ran in tendrils from the wall to the drain in the center of the floor and disappeared.

I knew I was avoiding looking at the man I'd come here to save. I continued to let myself have my little moment of procrastination and took in the other vampire in the room. Even after looking at him, it took me a minute to understand what I was seeing. His hair was matted and red, his head tilted forward so I couldn't see his face. It was his skin that I could smell burning; the silver wrapped around almost his entire body was still burning into his skin. It wasn't until I bit the bullet and touched his bloody hair, tilting his head back, that I recognized that mask of blood. It was Jean-Claude. Or, at least, it had been.

He wasn't conscious until I touched him, which jerked him back to life. "Jean-Claude?" I asked. "Are you OK?"

"She means…to…punish me…" he said in painful gasps. Each time he spoke, the chains around his chest and waist moved, burning into new skin.

"If you want, I'll take you with me," I offered, only after remembering what Cian and David had said about his predilection towards violent love. This time, he didn't speak, he just nodded before passing back out.

"You shouldn't have come," Cian said. His voice cracked, either from not being used enough or being used too much.

I couldn't postpone it anymore. I steeled myself against what I'd find on the other side of the room as I automatically turned on my sarcastic leather-clad persona. "Don't be silly," I said as I forced myself to look at him. "No one fucks with what's mine. Crazy bitch needs to be reminded."

Cian wasn't as bad as Jean-Claude. He, too, was completely nude, but he was not covered in a layer of blood. Well, not completely. They'd strung him up with chains that I couldn't reach even with my boot-aided height, letting him hang uncomfortably from his shoulders. Blood trickled down from small cuts all over his body, cuts that were still there. Such small cuts, a vampire of his age should be able to heal almost instantly. He must be dangerously low on blood. On top of the cuts, bruises covered his torso in the shape of a long rod, which I now noticed was sitting blood covered in the corner of the room. I didn't have to pick up the baton to know it was made of silver, too. One eye was swollen shut.

Cian started to laugh, but the movement must have been painful; he stopped almost as soon as he began. "Now what's the plan?" he asked.

"I walk out of here with you two, obviously." I moved to clear some of the blood from his face before remembering how we'd left things, immediately pulling my hand down to my side. "After taking the bitch down a peg."

"Are you speaking of me?" the Queen said from the doorway. She had brought several dozen vampires with her, all of whom stood at her back. I plastered the smile on my face and cocked a hip.

"Why, yes I am!" I replied as I checked my wrist. It was glowing, the black and blue of the tattoos swirling in and on themselves. I needed to wrap this up, and now.

"You mean to threaten me? In my own home?" She looked around her and the vampires at her back laughed. "I will kill you."

I rolled my eyes, urging her to pick it up. "Look, I'm double parked, so let's move this along, shall we? You'll threaten me, I'll posture back, yada, yada, yada. Now can we get to the fighting?"

She looked as if I'd already slapped her. I had a feeling no one in her court would dare to say something like that to her, and she hadn't heard what my dad likes to call 'smart-assery' in a very, very, long time. "Very well," she said. She pulled a dagger from her back and, before she could throw it at me with deadly accuracy, I commanded, "stop."

She froze, stalled in the middle of throwing, the dagger still barely in her hand. "Drop it," I said. Again, she complied.

"What are you doing to me?" she shrieked. "This is black magic!"

"No, not black magic. Fae magic. You shouldn't have fucked with me, Moira."

She gasped that I used her real, given name. Her brunette curls would have caught fire if she steamed any harder from her ears. "You presume to know me?" she asked. "You presume familiarity?"

I shook my head dismissively, silently commanding her to shut the hell up. "I told you I wasn't interested in talk, Moira." Every time I said her name, she bristled even more. "So I'll get to the point. Don't _ever_ try to take something that's mine again. And I'm not going to list what I think is mine. If there's any doubt in your mind whether or not it's mine, then it's mine. Understand?"

She fought against it, but I had compelled her to answer my question. "Yes," she answered tightly.

"Good. Now, come over here and undo their chains." She stared at me. "Come on, now. And no gloves."

"Why don't you undo their chains? Silver has no effect on you."

"Not the point, Moira. I want you to do it and I want you to hurt while you do. How else will you learn I don't share well with others?"

She bristled again, but she couldn't stop herself from following my command. "What are you all waiting for? Attack her!" the Queen bellowed as her fingers sizzled on Jean-Claude's chains.

I turned back toward the growing group of vampires that were watching, most of them now among the guard ranks. "Uh uh uh," I tch-ed at them. "She got herself into this mess, she can try and get herself out."

I hadn't intended my words to carry the punch I'd been using with the Queen, but now that I was on a roll, I guess I was having a hard time turning it off. The entire group of vampires froze where they stood.

When the Queen got Jean-Claude freed, he collapsed to the floor. He didn't even attempt to catch himself, he just puddled where he stood without a sound. Well, except for the 'thud' when he hit. Cian, on the other hand, grunted painfully as he dropped to his knees, only able to hold himself up with the aid of the wall that was already daubed with his blood.

The time it took to unwind the two of them almost killed me. My wrists, feet, and the back of my neck, the places where I could feel the tattoos slithering beneath my skin, burned. The painful seconds it took her to unwind them tested my patience and my ability to stand still. Because I would have liked nothing more than to scratch those five points into oblivion.

I mentally sighed in relief as she finished. "Now," I said, turning to the peanut gallery. "I'll need some buff helpers."

"What for?" the Queen asked. "You cannot have them. Jean-Claude here," she said as he kicked his limp body, "is my subject. You cannot kidnap my subjects."

"No," I replied as I helped Cian to his feet. "He accepted a position in _my_ kingdom," I said as I struggled to hold Cian up. Was he getting heavier as I talked? "Meaning he is now _my_ subject." I smiled at her. "Don't fuck with what's mine, Moira. I will destroy you. Case and point: all of these good vampires here now know you're weak. Did they know I stole the ability to call your child right out from under you? David no longer obeys your call. And they all know I protect what's mine like a momma bear. They are all invited to join me in my kingdom, no questions, no problems." I turned to face the crowd. "That's Nevada, for those of you who don't know me." To nail my point home, I picked a rather mousy-looking female from the back of the peanut gallery and turned down the compulsion, asking her like a normal person to come forward. Shyly, she did. She had a hard time pulling her gaze from Jean-Claude's body on the floor, fear and anger in her eyes. "Please help him out of the complex. I won't force you to disobey your Queen, because we all know what happens when you disobey her." The entire peanut gallery shivered. "But I ask you to help your friend in need."

She glanced at the Queen, then back to me, then down to Jean-Claude. Finally, she came back to me. "I wish to leave with you, tonight."

I smiled, hoping it looked sincere over the burning in my tattoos and the weight of Cian's body. "Of course. Let's go."

I like to think I'm pretty used to the things vampires do. Then, all of the sudden, someone meek and small, mousy and shy, lifts a full grown man over her shoulder like it were an empty backpack.

The peanut gallery parted like the seas, letting us through. It was painfully slow going, but when we made it to the front gates, Lance had the Hummer all ready for us. I barely tucked Cian into the back seat of the massive SUV and collapsed into the passenger seat before the burning stopped. I glanced down, the nuclear glow that had been emanating from my wrists was dark now, just tattoos on skin. I stripped off the weapons as Lance drove, piling them at my feet.

"Majesty," the meek woman whispered. "I am Marielle."

"Sloane," I sighed over my back. I was barely wearing a shirt, it was winter in Paris, and I was sweating.

I could see Marielle bow as she sat in the middle seat. "I am honored, Majesty."

Cian groaned as we went over a bumpy segment of road. "She hates being called that," he said. "She meant, 'call me Sloane'." I just nodded as I rolled down the window, hoping to let in some of that cold, snowy air.

"Please, forgive me," Marielle replied. "I will call you whatever you wish."

"I like the haircut," Cian said minutes later. "It suits this new you."

I nodded my thanks before turning my face back toward the open window. "There's TrueBlood at your feet," I said as we sped toward the airport. I could feel the payback for the abilities I'd stolen starting to weaken me, the tattoos were starting to extract their payment. My lips were dry, I felt like I was on fire. I probably couldn't have gripped my weapon if I needed to. It would be useless to fight my own body; isn't that was I was really doing in the first place? Instead, I closed my eyes and let the fever take me.

I opened my eyes as the car came to a stop and took in where we were. Outside my car window sat the plane I'd flown in on. Without a word, SUV doors opened in unison, all of the able bodied piled out. At first, I wasn't among them. It took me a minute to gather enough strength in my limbs to open the door, and then even more to slide out of the car, putting my heeled feet on the tarmac and pushing myself out of the car.

"Ms. McIntosh," Lance said as he descended the ramp. He'd already had time to help Cian and Jean-Claude into the plane before I'd had a chance to get out of the car. "I was wrong before; now you look like death."

"It's the backlash," I said as he laced his hand around my waist and took most of my weight. "I packed for this."

"You are ill, I can smell it. What could you possibly have packed to help?" he asked as I attempted to climb the steps into the plane. First attempt: no go. My foot didn't clear the step. There was no second attempt; Lance lifted me clear and carried me into the plane.

"I wasn't sure what was coming," I said. "Ibuprofen for a fever, bandages for burns, water, bags of IV fluids, antihistamines…"

He lowered my feet to the floor as soon as we entered the small plane. "Where?"

I pointed to the duffel bag on the floor. He leaned me against the door as he rooted through the bag. "Which of these will help?"

"Hand me the clothes, first," I replied. First, I need to get out of this damn leather. Trust me, it's not as comfortable as it sounds. At least, not new leather. I can't imagine how anyone stuck with it long enough to wear the leather in. Talk about painful.

He handed me a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. I took them, looking at the monumental task of putting them on. "Marielle," I said, summoning the small woman.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Will you help me out of these clothes?" I asked. "I need to be in something more comfortable."

"Of course," she said, instantly unhooking the straps of the bra and letting me drop it to the floor. Lance spun on his heels, both giving me privacy and providing some with his broad shoulders. I slid the tank top on over my head as Marielle unbuttoned the leather pants and slid them down my hips. I held on to her shoulders as she leaned before me, helping to guide each foot into the proper hole and sliding the yoga pants up my hips. "Anything else, Mistress?"

"Sloane," I correct.

"Forgive me, Sloane. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Ibuprofen and water," I reply, "and help me over there," I said as I point to one of the few remaining seats. The plane itself was different than David's; technically, it seated ten, but that counts three people per each of the two sofas. Since Jean-Claude was out cold on one and I'd mentally given Cian the other, that left four bucket seats, two sets of two. I'd thought that would be more than enough when I'd first planned the trip, I'd thought it'd only be Cian and I. And I only brought one change of male clothing.

Cian looked up at me after funneling another TrueBlood down Jean-Claude's throat. "Wheels up in one minute," Lance said as he buckled himself in across from me. Marielle sat across the aisle, and as soon as the TrueBlood was empty, Cian gingerly lowered himself onto the opposite couch and downed one himself. "It is an hour and fifteen minute flight to London. I will have someone waiting at the airport with more supplies and another change of clothes for Jean-Claude."

Of course we were going to London. Had to drop off Lance, I suppose. With a tight smile and a subtle nod, I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes. "Nervous flier?" Lance asked quietly. I had thought he was talking to me until Cian answered, "No. Something is wrong, I can taste it. She is weak, ill."

"I'm right here," I mumbled, my eyes still closed. "I can hear you. And yes, I feel shitty; it's from what I did to free you. I just need that ibuprofen and to pass out for a few hours and I'll be fine," _hopefully_, I added. I'd had a vision but it wasn't that specific and it definitely wasn't that encouraging. Everyone I knew and loved were dressed in black, coats wrapped tightly around their bodies as they stood in a wintry cemetery. Some cried as the preacher talked and talked, but I couldn't hear any of it. All I could hear was the wind whipping past my ears. The only one that wasn't there was me and, although I never got a chance to see the headstone they were all crying over, I did the mental math and figured it out.

It was mine.

Hopefully, I'd compensated. I'd added more weapons and I didn't hesitate to bring out the big guns. I'd brought the pack of goodies to stem whatever backlash I'd get from using Nailan's magic. Not knowing exactly what that was made it more difficult to pack, but I would have made the Boy Scouts proud. They're the ones that are always prepared, right? Because I'd brought everything.

Cian broke me out of my own memory. "You are sweating, Sloane," he said, his voice markedly closer. A hand reached out, cleared my newly shortened hair from my face, and pressed its palm against my forehead. "You are hot again."

"Stop worrying all over me," I replied, "and sit down. We're about to take off."

There was a moment of silence before I opened my eyes, responding to the sudden tension in the cabin. "We took off ten minutes ago, Ms. McIntosh," Lance replied. "We are at cruising altitude already."

I'd only been in my own head for a few moments, at most. I looked at Lance then down to Cian, who was completely dressed, mostly free of blood, and looking mighty worried. "Ibuprofen, please."

He grabbed the bottle, untwisted the cap, and handed me two of the small white pills, followed by the sealed bottle of water. I popped the two pills in my mouth and tried to open the bottle of water, but my hands didn't want to work that well. I couldn't grasp the cap tight enough to twist it open.

I didn't have to ask, Cian took the bottle from me and upcapped it before giving it back to me. "What is the ibuprofen for?" he asked.

I downed the entire bottle in one swig. "Fever, pain, heart attacks," I replied. "It's an anti-inflammatory."

"You definitely have a fever." He took the empty bottle from me before glancing at the other two conscious vampires on the plane. "Sloane, I need to talk to you. Privately."

I looked around the plane as my heart started to ramp into overdrive. The only reason I'd been able to function since I pulled Cian out of there was pretending that there wasn't any past there. Now Cian wanted to rub that past in my face, and I wasn't sure I could take it. "Now?" He nodded. "Where do you suggest we have this conversation?"

He flexed his fists as he did the same visual search I had just done. "When we land in London, then," he said tightly.

I sighed, bit the bullet, and said: "Look, Cian, I don't know what you think you need to say, but you don't. Just because of…what I did, don't think you owe me anything. When we get back to Michigan, you can do whatever you want. Stay, leave, I don't care. OK?" I closed my eyes, trying desperately to hold the brimming tears at bay. "Goodnight."

.

Those were the last words I spoke for six weeks. Shortly after passing out on the way to London, I slid into a coma. When Cian tried to wake me for our 'conversation', I wouldn't wake up. That, coupled with my increasing fever and my shallow breathing, made Cian insist on taking me to a hospital. Ten minutes after arriving at London Bridge Hospital, my heart stopped for a minute and 44 seconds before they could get it pumping again.

I was in a coma for three weeks, during which my kidneys shut down, followed by my liver, and shortly after that, my lungs. They hooked me up to machine after machine to help quell the symptoms, but none of London's doctors could figure out what was causing my body to shut down. They tested my blood for bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins…there was nothing there but slightly anemic blood. They even called in the UK's version of the CDC in on the case. My heart stopped again during a routine body scan. Again, they managed to get it up and going.

Then, one day, I started getting better. My liver enzymes started to level out, my kidneys started to function again. I no longer needed to be intubated. I opened my eyes on New Year's Eve, if only for a few moments while the nurses were changing my IV. I drifted in and out of consciousness for the next ten days. I didn't speak, but I opened my eyes enough to notice the steady stream of nurses and doctors in my room. Then, I relapsed again.

I spent one more week in a coma before I snapped back out of it. No one knew what caused my sudden relapse, and the doctors were even more confused when I started to recover—again. But considering the puzzle that was my illness in the first place, they just wrote it off as my 'infection' mutating before I could completely eradicate it from my body. Complete and utter crap, personally. I knew what caused my illness—I'd used the tattoos more than I should have and it almost killed me. As for the relapse? I really couldn't say. Maybe I'd accidently used them again? Or maybe Nailan thought that would be the perfect time to try another bid for freedom? I really didn't know.

When I opened my eyes again, Sydney was asleep slumped in the corner of the room. I was awake just long enough to smile at her as she opened her eyes before mine closed again. I drifted in and out for another two days before I finally opened my eyes and kept them open for more than a few minutes. And, this time, it was David keeping vigil at my bedside.

"Hi," he whispered as he rubbed his knuckles across my cheek gently.

"Hi," I whispered back.

"I love you."

"Not mad?" I whispered.

"I'm furious," he replied, "but I am so happy to see you awake again that I am willing to overlook your vigilante idiocy and just be happy you are alive."

I wasn't going to touch the thought process behind my actions and, even if I could, I wasn't going to try and explain it to him. Instead, I tried to roll on to my side, but found myself too weak to move. "Everyone OK?"

David searched my eyes. "You and Jean-Claude fared the worst. Jean-Claude has silver poisoning along with extreme blood loss. The later was easily remedied, but he still suffers from the former. You died twice."

My heart ached for Jean-Claude. He was just another person suffering because of me. If I'd never gone to Paris, he'd never had to go against his Queen, and she'd never have punished him. Just another one of my victims.

I couldn't deal with that thought right now. Instead, I said, "I'm thirsty," and glanced away.

He kissed my forehead before he stood to his full height. "I will find you water, and perhaps your doctor. And I am sure Ms. Mets would like to see you."

Before the door could even swing shut after David left, Sydney slid into the room and immediately climbed onto the bed. I gave her enough time to settle onto the bed before I laid my head on her shoulder. "You are in deep trouble, young lady," she said before I could even say hello.

I snickered. "Yes, mom."

"I'm serious!" she practically screamed. I flinched away, only settling back on her shoulder when her muscles weren't so tight they were going to pop right off the bone. "You left a will on the kitchen counter and disappeared! I thought you'd gone somewhere and committed suicide."

It was my turn to bristle. "Why does everyone think I'm capable of killing myself? Does no one actually _know_ me?" I sighed as shock filtered into Sydney's face. "Never mind."

I took a minute before Sydney said anything. "What was I supposed to think, then, Sloane? After the week you had, and then the will, what was I supposed to think?"

"You were supposed to think I was covering all my bases, being the responsible one! With you expecting, and my affinity for 'life threatening idiocy'," I said in David's thick brogue, "someone needed to make sure you'd be OK if something happened to me!"

"Shhhh," she hissed as she looked toward the closed door. "Stop shouting it to the world, I haven't told anyone!"

I was dumbfounded for a second. "Not even RJ? Why not?"

"Because I'm scared he'll bolt," she hissed at me. "And because I'd barely come to terms with it myself before I had to come over here to say goodbye to my dying best friend!" Tear started to well and, in no time, were streaming down her face. I wrapped my arms around her waist and just held her as she sobbed. "Please, don't go all lone soldier on me again, OK? It's scary to think that you could be dying in a ditch somewhere and no one would be around to help you."

I shook my head. "I got Cian into this mess because I took backup I didn't need. I'm not going to put other people's lives at risk to deal with my own problems anymore. Besides, I wasn't alone."

"Oh yea?" she asked sarcastically. "Who'd you take with you? Your new imaginary friend?"

I stuck my tongue out at her as a smile started to grace my lips. She wasn't crying anymore, and that was better than its weight in gold. "Sir Lancelot, Knight of the Round Table, if you must know."

She laughed at me. "So that's a yes to the imaginary friends idea, then?"

I winked at her playfully, but in truth, I was exhausted. I think she saw it in my eyes. "I'll let you sleep," she said as she extracted herself from the bed. "I could use some, too."

I was just about to drift off to sleep again when I heard the door to my room open. Sighing, I opened my eyes slightly to see who was going to be doing the poking and prodding this time. Instead of a nurse, it was Cian.

Annoyingly, my heart ramped into overdrive. That was only annoying because I was still hooked up to the heart monitor, and that hitch in my heartbeat was audible for everyone to enjoy. "Are you staying in London, then?" I asked as I closed my eyes again and tried to will myself not to blush.

His voice was controlled, vampiric. "Guinevere did offer me a place in her kingdom again, but I did not accept."

I nodded, my eyes still closed, and waited for the ax to fall again. I waited for him to tell me that he hated me, or that, once I was better, he was going to hunt me down and kill me for the things I'd said to him, even if it wasn't really me saying them. I waited for him to scream obscenities and tell me I was useless and ugly and evil. The longer the silence, the more my heart hurt, and the more the tears threatened to fall.

"Are you in pain?" Cian finally asked after what felt like ten minutes of agony.

I shook my head, forcing my eyes more tightly closed. "I'm waiting for you to say what you came in here to say," I whispered, not trusting my voice to stay steady if I actually used it.

"What do you believe I am going to say?" he asked, his voice still cold and rigid.

I hadn't planned on answering him, but sometimes saying something out loud can be so cathartic, you mouth overrules what your brain has decided. "You're going to tell me that I'm ugly and evil and horrible, you're going to tell me that you hate me and that you never want to see me again. You're going to tear my heart out of my chest and stomp on it some more. You are going to tell me that no one should ever love me because I don't deserve it. You're going to tell me that the world should balance its wrongs and kill me…" The words just started to fall out of my mouth faster than I could think of them. Finally, my breath caught on a sob and wouldn't start again, and I was relegated to silence.

I didn't dare open my eyes during the silence that followed. I couldn't bear it to see the confirmation on his face. When cold fingers appeared on my face to wipe the tears away, I jumped at the shock of it. "That is not what I came to say," he whispered. He sighed and pulled his hands away from my face. My heart tore at the distance. "I need to hold you, Sloane, but I cannot presume I have the right anymore. Will you give me permission?"

Keeping my eyes well and shut, I nodded in jerky motions. Quickly but gently, he lifted me from the bed and settled himself beneath me before curling my head into his neck. I could feel his chest expand with one long inhalation before he spoke. "What I came to say was that you are the bravest, most selfless, most beautiful woman I have ever met in all my long years. I am sorry for the way I treated you, and I would understand if you no longer wanted to see me, but I would never give up fighting for you." He left a light kiss at my hairline before adding, "And I would destroy any world that took you from me."

My heart hitched again; longer this time. So long that it physically hurt. I grabbed at my chest as the tears started to fall harder, but the pain lasted much longer than the arrhythmia. Cian held me tighter as he said, "I am not asking for things to return to how they were, I know I have hurt you much too much for that. I am just asking that you give me a chance to win you back."

I could barely breathe past the sobbing, there was no chance I was going to respond. Instead, I buried my teary eyes in his neck and seized handfuls of his shirt. I didn't let him go until the sun threatened to rise.


	154. Chapter 154

***I'm baaaaack! Had a great sabbatical from writing; took some time to…write, actually. I had a few projects I needed to get out of my head and onto paper. Well, digital paper. Yet-to-be-titled books 1 and 2 are in progress and I'm hoping to have drafts finished for each before the new year. Already have an idea for book 3, but am yet to put (digital) pen to (digital) paper. You guys will be the first to know when/where those will be published.**

**My awesome, wonderful, splendiferous beta, treewitch703, has a new original piece herself. Everyone cheer! Just search Treewitch703 on WordPress-takes you right to it. Well worth the read. But, keep in mind that this means I'm on my own for some of my beta-ing. Please be kind.**

**Fanfic gets a new feature: images. If there are any artists out there (of which I most definitely am NOT) and would like to submit some cover art, I'd be more than happy to display it (and, of course, give credit where credit is due).**

**NOW: Back to Sloane and David. Did you miss them? I sure did. Last we heard, Sloane and crew had taken a trip over to France and into the clutches of David's evil maker and an even more sadistic Vaudun Priestess as a last ditch attempt to get this Nailan business taken care of. It came down to the wire, the Fae Goddess in Sloane's head putting up a good fight for freedom before she was sequestered with five identical tattoos: one on each wrist and foot and one on the back of her neck. Sloane was protected, but only at the expense of her relationships with both Cian and David. Feeling alone and responsible, Sloane channels a little bit of special forces femme fatale and gets Cian back by breaking the one rule that was given to her: don't use the tattoos. But now that she's back, can things ever be the same with her guys?**

**Part 11:**

I spent Christmas, New Year's, and even Valentine's Day in London Town. Shortly after the first time I spoke after rousing from my coma in Mid-January, I sent Sydney home with the promise that I was going to be fine and would be following her shortly. Besides, she had her own rapidly complicating life that she needed to get back to. RJ (and Alec, for that matter) were holding down the fort back at home, and she needed to get back and break the news to RJ before she started to show.

"What if he freaks out?" Sydney had asked, her eyes shimmering with tears at the thought. "I can't do this alone, Pony, I need you to come home with me."

I scootched up in my hospital bed, putting her head more comfortably on my shoulder as she wrapped her arms around my torso. "You're being hormonal," I'd replied, a smile making it through to my voice. "He may need a minute to come to terms, but he's not going to leave you high and dry. I think he really loves you."

She sniffled before pulling her head from my shoulder and looking up to my face. "Couldn't you just…you know…look into it for me?" she had asked, her eyes pleading.

I smiled wider as I cleared the fly-aways from her face. "Would that make you feel better?" I asked. She nodded her head, wiping her tears away. "Alright. Let me concentrate for a minute."

I'd leaned back into the hospital bed I'd spent way too much time in lately and closed my eyes, trying to call what I wanted to the forefront of my mind. I flipped through the visions that held no answers for me, instead, focusing on the second I—Sydney—walked in the front door, RJ trailing behind her with her suitcase.

Sydney took a deep breath and turned, startling RJ behind her. "I have something to tell you," she said.

"Oh yea?" he asked nonchalantly as he walked around her and started up the stairs with her suitcase.

She followed him, waiting until he lifted the suitcase up onto the bed. "I'm serious," she said, fidgeting. "It's, ah, it's important."

He turned, his brows furrowed, and really looked at her. "What's up?" he asked. "Are you OK? Are you sick?"

"No, no," Sydney said as she urged him toward the bed. She waited until he had perched himself on the colorful bedspread, hands tucked in his lap and concerned look on his face before she continued. Or tried to continue. She opened her mouth and seriously attempted to spit out the words 'I'm pregnant', but she just couldn't. She froze. Staring into RJ's worried eyes, her entire body froze.

"Babe?" RJ said, taking her trembling hands in his. "Syd, what's up? You're shaking…"

She took a deep breath and just spat it out. "I'm pregnant," she whispered, unable to look into his eyes. There was a moment of silence before she forced herself to look at him, but she wasn't expecting what she saw. Instead of anger or fear, his face lit up with joy.

"You mean…" he started, his grin widening. "I'm going to be a dad?"

The tears started to fall then, more out of relief than anything else. "You're happy?" Sydney gasped between sobs. "You're not mad?"

"Honey, no," RJ cooed as he wrapped her in his arms. "Why would I be mad?"

Sydney had already worked herself into sniffly, hiccupy sobs. "You never like to talk about family things, I just thought…"

RJ held her at arms length, smiling down at her. "I've been holding on to this because I thought it might be too soon, but I want you to know how I feel," he said before sitting her on the end of the bed. He knelt in front of her before fishing something out of his pocket. "Sydney Mets, I have loved you since the first moment I saw you come through that door." He opened a small box, presenting Sydney with a beautiful diamond ring. "Marry me?"

Sydney sniffled one last time as she cleared her eyes. "Oh my God," she whispered. "Oh my God! Yes!" she cried as she threw her arms around his shoulders. "Yes!"

As the vision faded, I realized that Sydney was wiping tears from my cheeks. "He's going to hate me, isn't he?" she sobbed.

I cleared the last of the tears and smiled at her. "I think you should go home and see for yourself, Syd," I replied. She was about to beat the answer out of me if she had to, but I yawned just as my doctor—a small, fierce woman named Bridgit Feidelburg walked through the door. She shot Sydney a disapproving look.

"Sorry," Sydney mumbled as she blotted her face and crawled off my bed. "Pregnancy hormones." With that, Sydney patted my covered feet and left the room. I'm told she came back later that day to say goodbye, but I was asleep and she didn't want to wake me. Even the doctors and nurses had learned if I was sleeping without screaming, they better not even touch me.

Next to visit was, surprisingly, Jack a few days later. I woke to a warm hand wrapped around mine. "Good afternoon," he said as he smiled down at me. "I brought you flowers."

"Jack?" I mumbled as I cleared the sleep from my eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting a friend in the hospital," he replied, answer obvious. "The real question is, what are _you_ doing here?"

I sat up as he laid a gentle kiss on my knuckles then tucked my hand back in my own lap. With a sigh, I answered, "I was sick. I _am_ sick. How did you know I was here?"

"Where do you think Sydney had been staying?" he asked rhetorically. "She's a handful, that one."

"Yea," I replied. "She is."

"So," Jack said as he slid onto the bed next to me, tucking me under his arm. "What brought you back to England low those many weeks ago? Were you going to tell me you were in town?"

"I was in Paris," I replied. "I actually wasn't planning on stopping by London; it was more of an emergency stop."

"Because you got sick?" he asked. I simply nodded, keeping the more interesting points to myself, like clothing Jean-Claude and dropping off Sir Lancelot. "Well, I'm obviously not thrilled you almost died, but I am happy I got to see you again. I was about to break down and come visit you myself."

"Really?" I asked as I reached over him for my ever-present sippy cup of water. I apparently was not ready for drinking out of a cup like a normal human being just yet. "I'm not sure you'd want to come visit me now, there's probably still tons of snow on the ground back home and my place is a madhouse."

"Madhouse?" he asked, setting the cup back down for me once I was done. "How so?"

"Well, Sydney's boyfriend moved in not too long ago and brought his best friend with him, Sydney's pregnant, so that's just going to get weirder and weirder, and I have four Werecats living in my basement. I'm pretty sure we're breaking some occupancy laws or something."

He just looked at me for a moment, blinking. "I forget how strange your life is. Tell Sydney congratulations for me."

"Isn't she staying at your place?" I asked, eyebrow raised. "Congratulate her yourself."

"As of yesterday, she was," he replied. "I dropped her off at the airport last night."

I smiled, remembering my vision. "Good." She should be getting engaged right about now. I had a brief moment of panic when I realized what that might mean for her and me. She had always been right there, right across the hall when I needed her. But if she was pregnant and getting married, she probably wouldn't want to live with her troublesome best friend anymore. Lord knows I'm no good to start a family around. "Oh, God, she's going to be moving out soon," I whispered to myself.

"I take it you think that's a bad thing," Jack replied.

I shrugged and tucked myself farther down the bed, and subsequently farther into his side. "I'll just miss her. She's like my sister; she's always been just across the hall. I won't know what to do with myself without her."

Jack wrapped an arm around my shoulder and was about to give me a hug and some encouraging words when Cian walked through the door, large bouquet of flowers in one arm. "Good afternoon, Cupcake," he said as he set the bouquet directly in front of Jack's.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jack said under his breath. "How'd you know she was here?" he asked the annoyingly chipper vampire in the room.

Cian fluffed his bouquet, then handed me a single peony with a flourish. "I was the one who insisted on a hospital when it was clear she was not feeling well," Cian replied almost seamlessly, only hiccup in his smooth inflection being when he saw Jack was on the bed with me. He covered his reaction well, though; a less schooled eye like Jack's might not have even picked up on it.

Jack looked down at me, his movement catching my attention. "He went to Paris with you?" he asked.

I shrugged, replying, "Kinda."

Cian gracefully lifted me off the bed and shooed Jack so he could crawl into my bed and settle me into his lap. "I go everywhere my Cupcake goes, don't I, lover?" he leered into my ear.

I couldn't help but giggle as I shivered. I pulled the blanket up to my ears and said, "Jesus, what were you doing? Hanging out on a block of ice? You're freezing!"

He laid a light kiss underneath my ear as he leered, "Then warm me up, my delectable treat."

"You're in rare form tonight, Cian," I said as I shooed him out of my bed. "Come back when you're body temperature is at least room temperature, and we'll _talk_ about you climbing into my bed."

He pouted, but surprisingly followed my wishes. "I will return," he said as he smoothed the blankets over my body. "And I will win you back, my warrior princess."

"I'm sure you'll try," I replied as he closed the door behind him, leaving just Jack and I alone again.

"What was that all about?" Jack asked as he rubbed my legs over the blankets to warm me.

I rolled my eyes as I curled farther into the bed. "Cian being Cian," I replied. "Were you expecting anything less from him?"

"Alright," my doctor said as she buzzed through the door. "Visiting hours are over. Sloane here needs some rest, now."

Jack apologized silently before laying a light kiss on my knuckles. "I will be back tomorrow," he said before letting himself out of my hospital room.

Dr. Feidelburg waited until after the door had closed to say, "You have more visitors here than my local patients. If they don't let you get some rest, you're never going to recover enough to get out of here."

"I'm feeling fine," I grumbled as I rustled at still being stuck in bed. "When can I go home?"

She laughed as she checked my chart. "It's only been a week since you woke up, Sloane. Give your body some time to rest, heal."

I full on pouted at her, even kicking my legs a little in a childish temper tantrum. "I need to get home, I have things I need to do, people that need me."

"Well, then," she said as she gave me her best indulgent doctor face. "If they really need you, then they won't mind waiting until you're healthy enough to go home." Before I could appropriately gripe, she handed me the remote to the tiny TV in the corner. "Watch the telly and relax, Ms. McIntosh," she said on her way out the door.

"British TV shows suck!" I yelled after her. I could hear her laughing all the way down the hall.

.

As it stood now, it was the Ides of March, and I was all alone on the charter plane back home. I had asked—no, begged—David to go home and take Cian with him. I couldn't take Cian's over the top courting, and looking at David, while I loved him, still made me a little angry. Especially when they were together. I would see Cian, remember what he sacrificed, and then remember how David sat back and did absolutely nothing to stop it. When I told him to go, and with those hurt eyes he asked why, I told him the truth. "Because I can't help be angry and disappointed with you every time I look at you," I'd replied.

He'd dipped his head and said, "You cannot punish me more than I am punishing myself for my selfish actions," and left.

"Ms McIntosh," someone said as they laid a light hand on my shoulder. I jerked awake, pulling the headphones from my ears. "I was just making sure you were alright," said the middle-aged pilot.

"Shouldn't you be flying?" I asked as my heart rate settled back into the 100's.

"Autopilot," he replied. "I have a moment to check on you and use the bathroom."

I settled back in and turned my attention to the movie that was still playing on my computer. "I'm fine, go pee." He just laughed at me and shook his head as he retreated to the back of the plane.

It was mid-morning when the plane touched down at Capital City Airport in Lansing. I stretched, packed up my backpack, and carried both it and the duffel bag full of goodies from the plane. "Ms. McIntosh," the driver of a black town car said. "I can take your bags."

I was instantly wary of the unknown man. "Do I know you?"

"I was contracted to pick you up from the airport and drive you home," he said before he checked a small yellow receipt. "Address 5161 Teel Ave?"

Yes, that was my house, but I didn't know this man. Generally not a good idea to get into a car when you have no idea who's driving it. "Um, thanks," I said as I gave the man a wide berth, "but I'll just get a cab."

"He said you might say that," the driver said as he shoved his hand into his breast pocket. I froze, unable to move, while I waited for him to pull out a weapon. Instead, he held an envelope. "This is for you."

Shakily, I took the envelope and opened it.

_Dearest,_ it read in David's scratchy lettering.  
_I have arranged for this driver to take you home, or where ever it is you'd like to go.  
David_

I took a deep breath as I folded the note back up and tucked it into the outside pocket of my backpack. "OK," I said as I handed him the heavy duffel. "Home, please."

"Yes, Ma'am," he replied, tucking my bags in the trunk and making sure I was comfortable before taking off.

I was about to doze right back off in the back of the comfortable car when we pulled up outside my house. I was just reaching for the car door when it was practically torn from its hinges and I was swooped out of the warmth of the heated cab and into the frigid spring temperatures.

"Mac," Moose whispered in my hair as he pressed me to his chest. My heartbeat was again beating out of control, almost painfully so, as I took handfuls of his black sweater.

"Moose," I managed to croak before he crushed me to him even harder, cutting off circulation and most of my breathing.

He held me to him, just petting my hair consolingly, until well after the driver had deposited my bags on the front step and driven away. "M-m-moose," I said, now shivering without a coat.

He seemed to remember I was there, finally setting me back down on my feet and holding me at arm's length. "Don't you _ever_ fucking do anything like that again; you hear me, Sloane?" he screamed as he shook me. "We thought you were dead; you know what that did to me?" I was stunned silent during his tirade, unable to answer as he glared down at me, his eyes angry but full of heat. "Promise me, right, now, that there will be no _next time_, Sloane, promise me you won't go off and kill yourself again for some stupid fucking vampire. Promise me!"

I shook, not entirely from the chill, as a tear started to fall down my cheek. "O-OK," I stammered as I nodded my head vehemently.

His angry eyes softened as they saw the fear in my own, but there was still something very foreign about them. Before I could sniffle a tear away, he was crushing me to him again, his lips forcing mine to open and let him in. It took me a millisecond to start fighting against his tight embrace, but he held me steady, one arm wrapped tightly around my back, pinning my arms between us, and the other buried in my hair, holding my head steady for his vigorous assault. "Never again," he'd whisper into my lips as he periodically stopped for air, making me take in gasping breaths whenever he did.

"Moose," I was finally able to add when he came up for air, but before I could ask him what the hell he was doing, his lips were on mine again and I was back to struggling against his tight hold.

I felt like I had been fighting his advances for an hour when he finally came up for air long enough to let me get more than a word out. "Moose," I said between deep breaths, "what the…"

I couldn't finish my sentence; all the air in my lungs was forced out when he slammed me onto the wet, snowy ground before falling on top of me. I barely had enough time to restart my systems again before he was between my legs, one hand holding my wrists over my head and his lips were back on mine. I could feel what he wanted as he ground his hips into my sensitive area painfully, causing me to whimper in pain into his mouth.

I really started fighting him. Before, I had just been somewhat struggling, just enough that it might break him out of whatever funk he was in but not enough to hurt him. Now I was terrified. It was Moose on top of me, after all, and if there was one thing Moose would never do, it's hurt me. I bucked up, trying to throw him off balance, but all it did was excite him. He growled in response, shoving one hand between to the two of us and fumbling with the button to his jeans. So I did the only thing I could think of: I bit him. Hard.

Just as he reared back in pain, a mass of black sprung out of nowhere, lifting Moose off of me. It wasn't until they landed in a thud in the melting snow that I realized it was Alec who had freed me and was currently in the process of pummeling Moose into the ground.

I knew I was in trouble when, once Moose was out cold, Alec turned his foreign gaze back to me. It was the same hungry, possessive look Moose had given me. "No," I mumbled as I struggled to get to my feet. If I could just make it to the front door, I could put a physical barrier between me and any shifters. But he was faster than I was. I had made it maybe two steps, to the precipice of the shoveled sidewalk, when I was tackled from behind, sending me to the ground and bouncing my head off the frozen pavement.

"You're home," Alec growled at me, his voice sounding more like his animal's than his.

I pushed against his massive shoulders, trying to dislodge him from his perch on top of me, but he didn't budge. "Alec, get the fuck off me," I hissed as I fought against him.

He didn't answer me; instead, he caught my punch mid-swing and pinned my wrists to my chest before crushing his own lips down on mine. I swung my head, trying to make it impossible for him to land his lips on mine, but he quickly recovered, holding my head steady with his grip on my hair.

Unable to stop myself, I started to whimper as I pushed against his hold. "I can't stop," he growled into my mouth between kisses.

I could have cried with relief. He might not be able to completely control what he was doing, but at least _he_ was in there. At least I could count on his help in stopping whatever this is. "What's-s happening?" I asked as he struggled to pull himself off me. He was not at all successful, only managing to pull far enough away to let me breathe.

"I must mate with you," he said, hissing in satisfaction as I tried to wiggle out from beneath him. He crushed his lips down on mine again as the hand that had been holding my head steady moved to lift my shirt. When he surfaced for air a minute later, he said, "Stop fighting me. My wolf likes it when you fight."

I went as stock still as I could, slamming my eyes and my mouth shut. But he didn't stop his assault; he wormed his knee, then his hips, between my legs, mirroring the position Moose had been in earlier, only much gentler. "I said stay still," he growled into my neck as he nipped and bit at my skin.

"I can't-t stop-p sh-shivering," I replied, my words being fractured by shivers. Alec may run hot, but I was lying in a snow bank in yoga pants and a tank top. I was freezing. Sharp little pieces of ice were digging into my back as Alec ground into my body.

He growled again, this time in frustration rather than in pleasure. "Wrap your legs around me," he said after nipping at my earlobe.

He should have stayed away from the earlobe; it's my own personal libido kick starter. I gasped in pleasure, bucking into him as he continued to suck on my earlobe. "Keep d-doing that-t and I won't w-want you to st-stop."

"God, stop moving," he said, ecstasy in his voice.

"Stop-p with th-the ear and-d I'll tr-try to st-stop mov-ving," I replied, the shivers getting worse as the snow melted, soaking my clothes in ice-cold water.

He laid another passionate kiss on my lips, forcing my head on an angle as not to cut my lip on his lengthening teeth, and wrapped his arm around my back underneath my soaked shirt. "Hold on to me and I'll try to get inside," he said as that arm that had been warming my back roamed lower, his fingers working their way under my yoga pants and grabbing my bare ass. "You had to not be wearing underwear?"

"Sor-rry," I said as I wrapped my legs around his hips. Almost instantly, as if all his body needed was a little cooperation, he released my wrists from their spot pressed against my chest and continued his attempt to get me naked with two hands. "St-stop undress-ssing me."

"Stop fucking_ moving_," he replied. He lifted me off the snow bank as if I weighed nothing and stumbled the three steps through the door, finally setting me back down on the dining room floor so he could continue his handsy tour of my legs.

I wrapped my legs tighter around him, realizing that he can't pull off my pants if I'm wrapped around him. "Now what?" I asked.

He kissed me again, this time sucking on my lower lip, which was another trigger of mine. I moaned, partially in delight and partially because now I wanted him but couldn't have him. As soon as I did, he lifted up momentarily, just enough to pull his black t-shirt over his head and toss it aside. When he was the most distracted, his hands working on his shirt and his eyes covered, I unwrapped my legs and pushed away from him, but I didn't get far. I was barely to all fours when Alec pulled me back toward him, stripping me of my own top before he pushed me back down to the floor. "Oh God," he moaned into my mouth. "No bra, either?"

It wasn't like I packed for a few months when I went to France; I was lucky my yoga pants and tank were still intact. Or else I would have had to wear my leather getup home, and who knows what that would have done. "Sorry," I said, a little bit of exasperation in my voice. "Now what?"

His kissing slowed, either because he was thinking about it or because he was fighting against the urges as much as he could. "OK," he said as he licked and nibbled a line down my neck and straight for my chest. "I'm going to try and carry you into the kitchen," he said before nibbling on my nipple. Predictably, I moaned appreciatively and wiggled against him. "God, don't do that," he replied to my movement. "When we get into the kitchen, I want you to grab the butcher knife and stab me in the gut, just above the hip, OK?"

"No!" I replied. "I'm…oh…not going to stab you."

"Better ideas?" he breathed into my belly button. Whatever the plan is, we needed to formulate it soon, because he was going to have me completely naked within a minute or less. "Because I am itching to pull these pants off you."

"Why don't you just fuck me?" I asked as he used his teeth to pull my pants down ever so slightly, just enough to expose my hip bone. He moaned, rubbing his face on my stomach just below my belly button.

"I'm trying to not rape you here, Sloane," he said, his bristled chin pushing my pants down farther and farther as he kissed a trail lower. "Ohhhh, you smell ready," he whispered. He was over extending even his long reach, unable to both hold my back to the floor, my wrists steady, and my hips to the floor. Just a little bit looser and I might be able to get loose…

"Weird," I replied, mostly to his strange smell comment. "It's not rape because I'm telling you to. Unless you have a plan that doesn't involve me gutting you…" Now. He had loosened his grip on my wrists just enough that I could twist them free. Instead of trying to run again with my new found freedom, an action that was sure not to get me far before Alec reeled me back in, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and used all the momentum I could get to roll the two of us so he was on his back and I was on top. "Better."

Alec was sidetracked with looking at my breasts, one hand firmly gripping each of my hips. "OK, ideas?" I asked as he ground my spot against his hard length. Ohhh, that felt good…

"Oh, God…oh God that feels good," he whispered almost to himself as he continued to move my hips for me. I voiced my agreement with an almost inaudible moan. "David's going to kill me."

"OK, how about this," I said as I tried to think about baseball, or homework, or shit, just about anything other than how good he felt beneath me. "If I make you come, do you think that would do it?"

"We're about to find out," he said, his eyes closed and mouth slack. I just needed to push him over that edge. Without thinking, I pulled his massive hands from my hips, attaching them to my breasts before I leaned down and kissed him hard, probing my tongue in his mouth as I buried my hands in his hair. It worked; his body bucked as he groaned into my mouth, triggering my own body to tighten. He crushed me to him as his body twitched beneath me.

"OK, OK," he said as he grabbed my hips, which were still moving against him, and tried to pull me off him. "I'm good for now, but I make no promises if you keep doing that."

I groaned, disappointed, but rolled off of him. "What about me?" I asked, almost pouting.

He laughed as he tried to catch his breath. "It'll be dusk sooner than you think, then you can go hog-wild with whoever's night it is tonight."

I couldn't keep the pout off my face. "I'm taking some time off from David and Cian," I replied, finally remembering that I had beaned my head pretty hard against the pavement outside. I reached a hand back and felt for a bump, but got more than I bargained for. My hair was wet, but it wasn't all melting snow. The very tips of my fingers were tinted red. "Shit."

"What?" Alec asked, finding it hard to be very concerned about much of anything right now.

"Nothing," I complained. I was pouting, but as far as I could tell, I deserved it. I was tired, bleeding, I was going to have a monster headache any minute now, and on top of that, I was completely unsatisfied. Before I could find anything else to complain about, I pushed myself into a sitting position, reached over Alec's still sated form, grabbed my tank top from the floor, and pushed myself to my feet. "I'm going to go shower," _and satisfy myself, if no one else is going to do it,_ "will you check on Moose?"

"Oh," he said, shaking himself out of his euphoria. "Yea. Lock the door when you're up there, OK?" I just nodded as I headed up the stairs.


	155. Chapter 155

I had locked myself in my room, which turned out to be a good idea. As soon as Moose regained consciousness, Alec had to tackle him to the ground (gentler, this time), to make sure he didn't break down the door to get to me. "I'm going to get him out of here," Alec said through the locked door, struggle plain in his voice. "And I should leave, too."

"Alright," I replied, standing in the middle of the floor, baseball bat at the ready. "Once they're up, I'll call in David and Cian, and maybe Niall; see if we can't figure out what the hell is going on." I glanced at the window; sunset should be any time now. Now where the hell is my phone?

Oh, right. Downstairs, on the front porch, with the rest of my things. "OK, guys, I'm going to give you five minutes to get out of here. Then I need to go get my phone, so I'm unlocking the door. Any shifter I see is going to get pummeled."

I could hear Alec's muffled chuckle through the door. "Alright, then. Call when you know."

"Clock starts now," I called. I listened as Alec shoved Moose towards the stairs, then a short tustle as Moose tried to fight him to get back towards me.

"Let me go," he said as he struggled.

"Not until you're back to normal," Alec replied.

When the front door slammed shut, I gave it another 200-count before I unlocked my door and peeked my head around the corner, looking for danger. "Hello?" I called down the hallway towards the stairs. No answer. Once I was relatively sure I was alone in the house, I crept down the stairs, bat still in hand, into the foyer. At least someone, probably Alec, had piled my things on the floor just inside the door. With a glance into the empty kitchen, and then again into the empty living room, I set my trusty bat down and grabbed my duffel bag, were I had last seen both my phone and my wallet. As the oldest vampire I knew (at least, in the area), I dialed Cian's number first.

"I knew you couldn't resist me," Cian answered. "Booty call?"

Oh, God, that sounded good. With a deep breath, I quelled the disappointment in my core and answered. "No, no booty calls."

"A date, then?" he asked before I could continue.

"Cian, stop it. I have a problem, here," I replied, hoping the exasperation I was feeling also came through in my voice.

"What kind of problem?" he asked calmly. "I hope it's a please-help-me-out-of-my-clothes problem. I will gladly help."

I let out a long sigh, if only to cover the grin in my voice. "I'm calling David."

"No need, my Sweet. I will be over shortly. That _is_ what you wanted, correct?"

"It _was_, but now I'm second guessing myself." He laughed on the line, which I had to fight with myself not to enjoy so much.

"I will be there soon," he said as the front door opened. I turned around; expecting Syd and RJ to come back from whatever has been occupying their time all day, but instead the four Werelynxes burst through the door, coats wrapped firmly around them, carrying multiple shopping bags each.

"Oh, shit," I mumbled as I backed away from the group. Their eyes immediately went glossy and foreign; Didier and Christian dropped their bags and stripped their coats. "Shit, I forgot about the cats. Hurry, please." Without waiting for Cian's reply, I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the counter. I had left my bat at my bag, which was now at the feet of the four Werecats in my foyer. Sure, I was pretty close to a set of butcher knives, but I didn't want to hurt them, just keep them off me. "_Stay right where you are,_" I said in French, holding my hands out in a stop motion and putting the kitchen island between them and me.

I don't know why I bothered to say anything, the four of them just kept on coming. Christian and Amalie circled around the island one way, Didier and Colette coming the other way. I needed a weapon.

Rolling pin. I had a rolling pin in here somewhere. I turned around, toward the cabinets behind me, and pulled them open, but not fast enough. I barely had a chance to dig into the back of the cabinet for the long, wooden rod before an arm linked around my waist, and pulled me back up to my feet, bending me over the island and holding me still.

"Get the fuck off!" I screamed as I threw my elbow back into Didier's face, knocking him off balance and probably breaking his nose. I managed to scramble half-way around the kitchen island before I ran face-first into Christian, already shirtless and working on becoming pantless, too. Instead of wait for him to grab at me, I sucker punched him in the gut, doubling him over in pain. I should have been home free, but I had neglected to consider the two women in the group, one of which had already stripped off her top. "Fuck, you too?" I asked as I backed away from them.

"_I have to get that smell_," Amalie said in muted, absent French as he dropped her skirt to the floor. "_I want it on me_."

I was backing away from them, toward the foyer, when Colette grabbed for my arm and swung me to the floor. I yelped as I hit with a painful thud, bouncing my head, once again, off a hard surface. I wanted to grasp at my head and pull my now excruciating migraine into my chest as I rolled into a ball, but neither Amalie nor Colette were having it. As Colette grabbed my hands, holding them to the side so she could bury her head in my chest, Amalie was lying on my legs, rubbing her cheek against my exposed hip. For half-starved little things, they were extremely strong. Strong, and persistent. As I was attempting for the fourth or fifth time to get the off me and keep them off, Didier had recovered from his blow to the face and tore Amalie off me by her hair, flinging her across the room. She yelped as she smacked into the wall with a thunk. I took a quick sigh of relief until I really looked up at Didier; his eyes still had a singular focus: me. "No, Didier," I said as I pushed Colette off me and scrambled backwards.

"_She's mine_," he whispered as he descended. He was completely nude now, and as he grabbed at my fresh t-shirt to try and make me the same, I kicked out, connecting not with his groin like I had planned, but with his knee. Instead of curling into a ball and singing soprano, he collapsed on top of me, knocking the wind out of me as he landed square on my chest.

I was stunned motionless for a moment while I tried to remember how to breathe, just long enough for Didier to strip me of my shirt and make significant progress on my pants. As he slid my jeans down past my knees, I reared my fist back, just barely missing his temple when he fell back onto me, forcing his hips between my knees. A tear started to fall as I started to thrash beneath him. As he got closer to raping me and I panicked, my fighting became less organized and more get-him-the-fuck-off-me. He ignored my attempts to free myself; instead he clamped his teeth over my jugular and shoved into me roughly. I sobbed silently as I tried to stay as still as possible, remembering Alec's words earlier. The only move I made was a light gasp of pain as he shoved into me repeatedly.

"Mmmm, Cupcake, did you invite me to an orgy?" Cian asked from my foyer, just out of view for me. Finally, I screamed painfully.

Cian was there in an instant. He ripped Didier off me and threw him across the room and down the basement stairs as I scrambled away, sobbing, in no particular direction except for away from the cats. When my back slammed up against the sliding glass door, I pulled my jeans back up, buttoned them, and threw the glass door open so I could keep running. I made it halfway around the back yard and was fumbling with the gate when a cold hand appeared on my shoulder. I screamed and turned to fight, but instead of someone else come to rape me, Cian's worried eyes stared back. "Sloane," he whispered as I dropped to my knees in the snow and started shaking. "It's OK, I have you," he whispered as he shrugged out of his blazer and wrapped it around my shoulders.

He let me sob, waiting close by in case I needed anything, but careful not to force himself on me. "No shifters," I said once the sobs quieted and the shivers took over, as I huddled Cian's jacket around me. "Keep them away from me."

"As you wish," he said as he lifted me from the ground, huddling me close to his chest. "Let's go back inside before you freeze."

I started fighting, trying to wiggle out of his embrace, but he just held on tighter. "No," I whimpered, repeating myself until he stopped moving. "It's not safe in there, not safe for me."

"I will _make_ it safe for you," he replied.

He wasn't listening to me, no one was. "No!" I screamed as I tried to push myself out of his arms. If no one was going to listen to me, I would go it alone. I could always trust myself.

"Shh, OK Sloane, we will not go inside," he said as he held me even tighter. It wasn't until he added, "Tell me where is safe for you, and we will go there," that I calmed in his arms.

"No shifters," I said as I shivered. "They're not safe."

He shifted me in his arms as he asked, "I can take you to my home; there are no shifters there."

I nodded again, shivering in his arms. I was wearing no shirt besides Cian's blazer, now wet jeans, and no shoes, and it was starting to take its toll. "Don't go inside," I said, tightening my grip on his neck, as he moved toward the still-open glass slider. "I don't want to go in there."

"Alright, Cupcake," he replied as he did a 180. "Can you open the gate?"

I reached down and flicked the clasp open, swinging the relatively new wooden gate open before us. "I can walk, put me down."

"With no shoes in the snow?" Cian asked rhetorically as we approached his sleek sports car. "I prefer to carry you, anyway."

"I'm OK," I said as I pushed myself away from him, forcing him to put me on my feet mere inches from his car. It took me a minute, but I finally managed to rally myself back into some sort of sanity. "Just don't make me go in there."

"Never," he replied as he leaned in close, reaching past me to open the door for me. "Your chariot, m'lady." I giggled silently because that's what Cian would expect me to do, but it was covered by another full-body shiver.

.

Cian had recently (as in, last week) installed a gas fireplace in what had been the old farmhouse's massive wood one. When I asked him why go through the expense and the work to make the switch, he answered, "I lived hundreds of years having to gather wood, dry it, and build a fire. I no longer want to," he'd said as he flipped the switch to turn on the flame. "Besides, with as flammable as I am…"

As it stood now, I was in a pair of Cian's pajama pants and one of his black t-shirts, swathed in blankets, sitting as close to that roaring fire as I thought safe. "Yes," Cian said into my cell phone as he paced the floor in front of me, periodically looking down at me as he passed. "Yes, please bring them, as well."

I held my shiver until after he passed, when his back would be to me, then I let it rip down my spine and into the floor. "Who was that?" I asked as he handed my cell phone back to me.

"Sydney," he replied. "She will be here soon, and she is bringing the dogs."

I smiled; I missed my Zeus. "Why?" I asked, letting another shiver rip through me while Cian's back was turned.

"Because you need her," he answered quickly, before adding, "You know, I can hear you shivering back there. You needn't hide them from me."

"I'm not hiding anything," I fibbed.

He turned, giving me a look that said clearly, 'cut the bullshit.' "Sloane, Cupcake, it is alright—no, it is healthy—to have a slight break down after what you've been through," he said softly as he dropped to his haunches. "And while I appreciate your efforts on my behalf, please do not feel that you must act as if nothing has happened for my benefit."

I sat on the floor, shivering again, and dropped my head so I couldn't see that worried look in his eyes. "I function better when I just act like nothing happened," I whispered, taking a moment to gather myself. Once I felt stronger, I looked up and added, "So can we get everyone that needs to hear this from the horse's mouth so I can tell this painful story once and then I can bury it with the rest of them?"

"'Them', what, Cupcake?" he asked. "What else are you burying?"

I took big handfuls of the comforter that was wrapped around me and grinded it to a pulp in frustration. "What did I tell you about that fucking psycho shit?" I seethed at him. "Stop doing your shrink thing on me, God dammit!"

"I am trying not to," he replied. "I merely want to understand why you refuse to let go. Perhaps if you do, you will stop shivering."

"I'm shivering because I'm cold," I replied, teeth clenched.

"You are not cold anymore," he replied. "In fact, your cheeks are flushed."

I wanted to hit him. I wanted to stand up and pummel him to the ground for not saving me sooner. I shot to my feet, dropping the blankets to the floor as I did, and screamed at him. "Can't you just leave me alone?" Tears had started to gather at the corners of my eyes; my chest constricted. "Can't you see that if I let go, if I start crying, I may never stop? I can't live with that. I can't be that girl." The tears were falling in earnest now, obstructing my vision as I sunk to the floor again. "I can't…" I started before the sobbing became too much and I couldn't find the breath to finish the sentence.

"Shh," he said as he slowly gathered me into his chest, settling me into his lap on the floor. "I have you."

"No," I sobbed as I hit him in the chest, weakly pushing against him as I fought to pack it all back inside. "You should have been there sooner. You should have stopped him…"

**SYDNEY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

RJ and I arrived, dogs in tow, at Cian's old farmhouse as soon as we could. I had never been here before and, for some reason, I was having a hard time believing this was the right place. I mean…an old farmhouse? It was so…benign. "Coming?" RJ asked as he lifted the duffel bag from the back of the car.

"Yea," I replied. "Are you sure this is the right address?" I asked again, even though Cian's car was in the drive. This could not be Cian's house.

"I'm sure," he replied.

I whistled for the dogs, who had immediately gone about exploring once I had opened the car door. They came sprinting back, running circles around me as I walked up the beautifully lit path to the front door.

It opened before I had a chance to knock, allowing the dogs to sprint past me and into the living room. "Did you bring her things?" he asked quietly.

"Right here," RJ replied as he lifted the duffel bag.

"Thank you," he said as he took the loaded bag from RJ and put it down just inside the door. "Please, come in. Sydney, may I talk to you in private for a moment?"

My eyebrows furrowed; something was wrong. The last few times I had seen him, he had been back to his obnoxious, sarcastic, witty self. Now, he was all business. "Where's Sloane?" I asked, finally catching on.

"That is what I would like to talk to you about. Come," he said, flourishing an arm towards another small room, the only lighting coming from a lit fireplace.

The room was a library, with floor to ceiling bookcases, all filled with leather-bound titles. In the center of the room, on a shag rug, sat an opulent leather couch facing the burning fire with a mound of tufted fabric on top. It was only after I saw a lock of auburn hair poking out from underneath the green plushness that I recognized the mass was human-shaped.

I immediately moved to go to her, but Cian cut me off, laying a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Be gentle with her," he whispered. "When I arrived tonight, one of her cats had her on the floor and was…on her."

I took a minute to think about what he was saying, but when it finally dawned on me, my heart stopped and the room spun. "What do you mean, 'on her'?" I asked as I reached for the nearest bookcase for support, knowing full-well the answer. Before Cian could answer me, I continued angrily, "You mean, he was raping her?"

Cian's non-answer was answer enough for me. "RJ," I called out the door angrily. When he appeared, concerned look on his face in response to my tone, I continued slowly, calmly, "Please call Alec, have him kick those fucking Werecats out of my fucking house."

His eyebrows shot up in response to my swearing, something I almost never do. I can't afford to let those words become part of my everyday lexicon if I'm going to be around kids all the time. Before he could recover and make the call, Cian said, "That may be a bit harsh. I believe they may not have been truly themselves."

I turned to him slowly. "Excuse me?" I asked, my voice seething, as the dogs rushed into the room and immediately curled themselves into Sloane's wrapped body. Lola harrumphed sadly and laid her head on what I assumed would be Sloane's lap while Zeus burrowed himself into the green quilt, whimpering as he poked his nose into Sloane's body. Slowly, Sloane uncurled herself and enveloped the massive dog in the blankets with her. Once they were both comfortably inside the green cocoon, Sloane went back to her deathly stillness, only moving to breathe. I perched my hands on my rapidly expanding hips and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Which cat?" I asked as I looked at the unmoving mass on the couch.

His eyes screamed that he didn't want to tell me, but he must have seen the simmering anger just underneath the surface that said, 'don't tell me at your own risk'. "Didier," Cian replied quietly.

"Should I call Bordy or not?" RJ asked, keeping his voice low.

"Someone should make sure they are still alive," Cian replied. "I was quite rough with Didier, and Christian and Amalie were unconscious when we left."

I tried to process the information, but I just ended up blinking at Cian in silence for a while. "What happened?" I finally asked to no one in particular as I circled the couch, shooing Lola in an attempt to fit myself on the couch. "Hey, Pony," I said delicately, "are you OK?"

She turned to me slowly, looking me over before she turned back to face front. "You're glowing," she said, her voice completely void of affect.

"Thanks," I replied as I frowned. "Are you OK, though?"

"I have a headache," she replied, not even sparing me a glance this time.

I looked back at Cian, 'fix this' written all over my face. RJ, who I could see talking on the phone just past Cian's shoulder, shot me a look I knew all too well. The shit has hit the fan. "OK," I said as I turned my attention back to Sloane, rubbing her back through the green quilt. "I'll see if I can find you some Advil." I shot a look at Cian, making it clear that foraging for drugs was going to be his responsibility, as I pulled her into my arms, shifting her from her formerly sitting position so she could lounge against my side, her head on my shoulder. She didn't resist as I moved her, she just accepted her new position as if nothing had happened.

Just as Sloane's eyes were drooping shut and her breathing had slowed, RJ came barging into the room. "Wake up, Sloane," he said as he came to a stop just at the back of the couch. I looked over Sloane's head at my new fiancé, death in my eyes. "Bordy says there's blood on the sidewalk where he tackled her, right about where her head was."

"_Alec_ tackled her?" I asked. "When?"

"Long story," he replied. "He thinks she might have cracked her head, meaning concussion, meaning no sleeping," he said as I pulled the makeshift hood from her head, exposing her staticky hair. She didn't move, she didn't speak, she just laid there and let RJ probe around the back of her head until he said, "she's got a bump here," he said. "And maybe a scab, but she's got a lot of hair. I can't tell." He pulled his fingers from her hair, revealing pink-tinged digits. "Or maybe she's still bleeding," he added as he rubbed the scant amount of blood on the hem of his t-shirt.

"Pony?" I said as I tilted her head up to look at me. "What happened, hun?"

"Shifters aren't safe anymore," she replied before closing her eyes. "My head hurts."

"I know," I cooed as I let her tuck her head back into my shoulder. I looked up to Cian, who hadn't moved from his spot leaning against the doorway, and mouthed'Emma?' He responded with a simple nod, letting me know that she had been called and was most likely on her way. "Emma will be here soon, and I'm sure she'll have something stronger than Advil with her."

Sloane didn't respond, only Zeus let out a sad, harrumphing sigh as he settled more comfortably on her lap. When a few moments passed and Sloane made no move to acknowledge me, I mouthed to RJ, who was standing closest, 'Is she asleep?'

He circled the couch so he could get a good look at her face, but as soon as he did, Zeus jumped from his spot on her lap and stood his ground on the floor in front of her, growling deeply at RJ. Even Lola looked up from her spot on the floor just beneath me and yipped her agreement.

"Woah," RJ said as he took a few steps back. "Alright, boy; settle down."

It wasn't until RJ had circled back behind the couch and was almost out the door Zeus and Lola settled back into their lounging positions. "What the hell was that about?" I said as I looked into Zeus' big, brown eyes. He just stared back at me, adding a massive, doggie-breath yawn to the mix.

"Perhaps the dogs felt you were threatening either Sydney or Sloane," Cian said, not bothering to move from his spot against the couch. "I would suggest that you keep your distance for now."

"Were her eyes closed, though?" I asked, keeping my voice low. Even as the dogs stirred and then resettled, Sloane hadn't roused. It didn't mean much of anything; even if she was asleep, a dog that probably outweighed her by close to twenty pounds had just used her lap as a springboard to launch himself at my fiancé. That should have wakened her, if nothing else. No, she wasn't moving for an entirely different reason.

RJ shook his head as he took a spot behind Cian. He was getting better at treating the vampires, especially those close to Sloane and I, as people, but I could tell he was still wary of them. He was not yet comfortable enough to put one at his back for any appreciable length of time. "Her eyes are open, but she looks tired."

"Perhaps she—and you, Miss Mets—would be more comfortable upstairs? The master suite has a king-sized bed in it," Cian offered. "It is yours as long as you would like it."

"Might be a good idea," I mumbled as I shifted Sloane into a more comfortable position for me. As it was, she was tweaking my hip, which was putting my left leg to sleep, and her bony elbows were pressed sharply just under the baby. "But someone needs to get her off me before I even attempt to move."

Cian pushed himself away from his spot against the door frame gracefully and approached slowly, one eye on the dogs' response as he did. Just as they had with RJ, once Cian had encroached on some invisible barrier the dogs' had deemed as too close, they both jumped to attention, Zeus planting his feet squarely on Sloane's abdomen as he leaned into his growl. I couldn't even see his muzzle and I knew he was bearing his teeth menacingly. Even with the massive dog's weight pressing uncomfortably on her internal organs, Sloane didn't even peep. That is, until Cian dismissed the dogs' protests and continued approaching, causing Zeus to hunker down even more, snarling and snipping at Cian. Then, Sloane whimpered almost too low to hear. The only reason I knew she was doing it wasn't because my ear was within inches of her lips, but because I could feel her chest jump and her throat vibrate against my arm. "Stop, stop," I said, repeating myself quietly until Cian not only stopped moving forward, but retreated until the dogs had stopped ruffling at him. "Zeus, down," I said forcefully, using my free hand to point to the floor beside Lola. At first, he didn't want to follow directions. "Down, Zeus," I repeated. Finally, he dropped his head and put his back feet on the ground, but insisted on keeping his front paws and head firmly in Sloane's lap; even after I swiped his paws away, he immediately returned to his half on, half off position and burrowed his head into the oversized black t-shirt. "Alright," I said once it was obvious that was as far off Sloane Zeus was going to get. "Try again."

Again, Cian started for Sloane slowly, as not to over spook the dogs, and again, once he crossed that barrier, the dogs jumped to action. This time, Zeus and Lola stood side-by-side on the floor and snarled at Cian, who was nonplussed with their attempt at defending what they perceived as theirs. Once he got close enough, Zeus snarled and lunged forward, barely missing Cian's leg only because of Cian's incredible speed. "Stop," Cian said calmly as he looked the dog in the eye, looking as if he fully expected the simple word to work. Predictably, at least to me, it didn't. Zeus lunged again, and Cian caught him by his neck and tossed him lightly to the other side of the room, where he landed with a thud and a whimper. Sloane whimpered too, which pulled Cian's attention away from the other attacking dog just long enough to let Lola latch on to his shoulder, just shy of his jugular, and jerk her head in an attempt to shred him to pieces.

"_Den javelin_," Cian hissed; even without knowing the language, I knew the tone of those words and couldn't help myself from tisking him. He shot me a rather unfriendly look as he tried to pry the dog from his shoulder without hurting her, but it was taking too long. Zeus had since recovered and was about to take a chunk of Cian's thigh when a deep bass growl came from just out of my view.

"Dude," RJ said as he shot Sloane, who was still whimpering and had since started shaking in my arms, a worried look, "you have to get out of here."

It was only then that the massive wolf appeared from the other side of the couch, fur feathered out in anger. He growled again, and the dogs, knowing they were finally outmatched, yielded to Alec's wolf form by pressing their chests to the floor, then finally rolling onto their back, exposing their tender bellies.

Sloane had seen Alec as well, which did not help one bit. She started to fight against my gentle hold, mumbling something to fast, too frantically for me to hear. When she finally tumbled out of my lap and on to the floor and scrambled away rather ineffectively, both the dogs and Cian immediately moved for her, only Alec was there first. He leapt over the two dogs and the vampire and put himself between the mass and Sloane, who had just curled into a corner and wrapped her arms around her knees, and growled deeply, showing a set of fangs so impressive that I gasped in response.

Cian responded in kind, taking an offensive stance against Alec's wolf and showing off a set of impressive fangs of his own.

Almost instantaneously, Alec was standing before me in human form, gloriously naked. I gaped for a moment before RJ cleared his throat, then I blushed heavily as I stared diligently at the floor. "Stop," Alec said, his hands out in front of him in a stop motion. "O'Hara sent me."

"For what reason? To torment her?" Cian asked nastily as the dogs, not seeing Alec's human form as much of a threat, inched forward.

Alec noticed them too; he took a moment of remind them who's boss with a snarling growl before going back to the angry vampire in front of him. "If it's only the shifters that are effected, which, since she's interacted with both vampires and humans since this was brought to our attention, so that's likely, then surrounding her with animals—dogs, no less—is a bad idea."

"Where _is_ David?" I asked, a bit of anger in my voice as well. I wasn't sure there was much he could do to help, but he didn't even care enough to be here. Instead, he sent his pet wolf.

Alec shot me a look that read both _being an asshole_ and _you have no idea how bad the shit has hit the fan_ in the same span. "Indisposed, apparently," he finally replied orally.


	156. Chapter 156

**SYDNEY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Sloane had objected—loudly and violently—to Alec being near her until he shifted back into his wolf form and curled into a rug-sized ball on the floor beside her. With Alec there to remind the dogs to behave, Cian was free to lift Sloane off the ground and carry her up the stairs, laying her gently on the bed and returning to get the green blanket as well. Apparently, it had been the comforter from the same bed she was now on, curled into an unresponsive ball. Cian covered her, kissed her forehead, and joined us in the library. "I don't want to leave her alone for long," Cian said as he wandered through the door. "She is so very fragile at the moment."

"What the hell happened?" Alec asked, who was back in his human form and had commandeered a cashmere throw blanket to sequester his assets. "She was fine when I left this afternoon."

"Explain what happened this afternoon, please," Cian said dismissively. "We aren't mind readers."

Alec explained how he had found Moose and Sloane sprawled in the snow in the front yard. At first he thought nothing of it until he noticed Sloane was struggling against him, and Moose seemed oblivious to her distress. As soon as he dislodged Moose, he caught a whiff of her natural perfume, he couldn't help himself. "I knew what I was doing, I knew it wasn't right, but I couldn't pull myself off her," he said as he stared abstractedly at the floor. "What's worse, I could smell how scared she was as she fought and I _liked_ it. My wolf _liked_ it."

Cian was not appreciating the way the conversation was going. With inhuman speed, he grabbed the man who was taller than him by a head, probably outweighed him by at least a hundred pounds and dangled him by his neck. "If you so much as thought about violating her, I am going to tear you to pieces," he seethed.

"Calm down," Alec choked, not fighting the grip of the vampire that had him. When Cian saw how passive Alec was being, he put the huge Were back on his feet, but didn't back down. "Once she realized I was fighting whatever was happening, she calmed down significantly. And once I got her to stop wiggling, it was easier for me to control the impulses. But I couldn't pull myself away from her. It was as if I _had_ to mate with her, I needed to claim her for my own," he said, holding his hands up defensively. "Trust me, I didn't hurt her," he said. "She was fine, if a little frustrated, when I left. I swear."

Cian calmed slightly, but you didn't need to be around vampires as much as Sloane was to see the simmering violence just beneath the surface. "Continue," he commanded.

Alec bristled slightly at Cian's demand, shooting him a _stop being so fucking annoying_ look, and continued. "At that point, we needed to come up with a plan quickly, because I couldn't stop once her top came off." His eyes glassed over and a look of almost ecstasy covered his face. "All that bare skin, and I could smell what she wanted from me…" he said, dreamily. Only a hiss from Cian pulled him back to his story. "I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep myself from prying those pants off her and…taking her."

"What did you do?" RJ asked, more enthralled with the story than seemed healthy.

Alec shrugged and looked purposefully at anything but Cian. "I told her I'd carry her to the kitchen so she could get one of the butcher knives and gut me, but she wasn't having it. Instead, she crawled on top of me and made me…yea," he finished. At least he had the courtesy to blush.

Cian was containing himself, but just barely, and everyone in the room seemed to notice. "And after you climaxed?" Cian asked, his voice full of hostility.

"Dude," Alec said quickly, back pedaling into the door frame. "I had my pants on and so did she. We weren't even kissing, OK?"

Cian repeated the question with the same venom in his voice. He was obviously not comforted by the fact that they had been at least partially clothed while Sloane made him come for her. "Answer the question."

Alec settled, but only slightly. "I don't know, whatever it was that was driving me just stopped. In fact, I haven't really had the same urges since I got here, even though I can smell Sloane all over this house. If I had been here before she…yea, it would have driven me crazy. Now, its…" he just stopped talking, refusing to finish the sentence.

"It's what?" I asked, obvious than no one else was going to ask it.

He looked down at me, gathering himself from wherever he was mentally. "I can still feel it, but it's different. It's hard to explain, unless you're a wolf."

"Try," Cian said venomously.

Alec breathed out slowly. "When Alpha males mate, at least in the wild, they do it for life. Once they mate, it's their _responsibility_ to protect their mate and their offspring. No," he said, correcting himself. "It's more than a responsibility, it's an _instinctive imperative._ It's like I'm the Alpha male, and Sloane is my mate. I know something's wrong, even though I don't know what, and my wolf is just itching to go up there and pee a circle around her to protect her." He glanced up the stairs before shaking himself and focusing back on the group before him. "Now tell me why she's not talking."

Cian wasn't going for the soft approach; he went with brutal honesty instead. "Her cats raped her," he said nonchalantly.

Alec went feral. He tossed the blanket aside, leaving himself gloriously uncovered for a moment before he was back in his wolf form and sprinting up the stairs.

Cian followed him immediately. RJ and I arrived a few moments later. Alec had stripped the blanket from her body, which hadn't moved, and was curled around her, snarling viciously at Cian. When Cian took a step forward, Alec snapped at him.

I did not see this ending well and was about to pull RJ out of the room and shut the door when Sloane stirred, digging her fingers into the thick fur of Alec's shoulder and pulled it toward her. When Alec abandoned any attention he had been paying to Cian to tuck his nose gently into her hair, she curled into him, fitting her balled up body neatly into his belly.

Alec whined gently and Cian looked like he was falling apart. "Perhaps she does not need me," Cian said moodily as he stomped away from the room and back down the stairs. RJ rolled his eyes at me before following him, calling, "Hold up a sec," as he hustled to follow the vampire.

I moved slowly and as quietly as I could, and sat next to Sloane on the bed. Startled, Alec bared his teeth at me before he realized I was no threat and went back to coddling Sloane.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I had finally drifted to sleep alone in the bed Cian and I had shared as a couple, rolled in a ball and covered completely with the emerald quilt that he had wrapped me in a million times before. The fond memories and the undeniable smell of Cian in the bed had helped to calm me enough to let me drift off to sleep. The only reason I woke was because I was simultaneously too hot and too cold. I was too hot because I was lying beside something or someone that was radiating an incredible amount of heat. I was too cold because the blanket that had been surrounding me with Cian's comforting scent was pulled away, which left me feeling chilled to my core. I needed something comforting, something protective to hold me together. I had been pushed to my limit today, I had broken, and I was fighting to pull myself back together.

When I opened my eyes and was confronted by the big, intelligent wolf eyes and immediately put two and two together, realizing that the unnatural heat had been donated from a shifter, panic rose in my chest. My mind flashed to Moose, then those early moments with Alec, and then to the four cats who had taken from me. I screamed a panicky, shrill, pained sound as I scootched away from the now bewildered animal. I backed further away as his black ears perked in curiosity until I slid right off the edge of the bed, tumbling head over heels. But I never hit the floor. Cian was there instantly, scooping me into the air as I was just inches from the floor and clutched me to his chest as I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck. I buried my head in his neck, just trying to regain that safe, secure feeling as he cooed gently to me in a language I didn't understand. "They're not safe, the shifters aren't safe, you promised I was safe…"

"Out, wolf," he seethed as I clung to him, trying desperately to rein that carefully crafted control back in. It wasn't happening. I was breathing too quickly, too shallowly; I felt like I was floating and drowning at the same time.

"Bite me," I gasped into his neck as I tried to stop the shaking and the hyperventilating. I had calmed my mind, but my body wasn't following suit, and that was quickly ramping my mind back up into panic mode. I needed something I _knew_ as safe. And Cian, while temperamental and selfish, was safe.

"What?" he asked, surprise clear in his voice and the sudden stillness in his body. It was never so apparent that I was breaking apart as when my panicky flailing was contrasted with his utter stillness. There was no where I'd rather be than in his arms at the moment, yet my body was still fighting against him, pushing him away from me with large, frantic kicks while simultaneously clinging to him. "Help…me," I said between gasping breaths. "Make…it…stop."

This time he didn't hesitate; with inhuman speed, he settled us on the bed so my chest was pressed to his, my legs haphazardly flying off to one side, still thrashing. Firmly, he tilted my head to one side and sank his fangs into me. He didn't drink, he just sat there, holding me tight, his fangs in me with his lips sealed around the wound. I started calming immediately. My legs stilled, my body settled in. When I propped my head gently against his shoulders, he pulled his fangs out of me with a disappointed moan and went to cleaning the wound. "You're OK," he said between licks. "I have you."

**SYDNEY'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I checked my phone again as I paced the living room. Alec had just bolted down the stairs and out the door, and with a worried look, RJ had followed him, calling after the wolf. _Where the fuck is she?_ I asked myself when I saw there were no text messages. _Cian said he'd called Emma, so where the hell is she?_

**EMMA'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Discretely, I checked my phone when it buzzed for the third time in a minute. "Problems, Queen O'Hara?" Fidel Herrera asked venomously.

"Running a Kingdom is never easy," I answered, distraction in my voice as I shot David a worried glance. But looking at him was no better; Cian's call had come in just as the North American and Lead Council members had walked through the doors of Rum Runners and sat across from us. It was Sloane; of course it was Sloane. And she needed a doctor, which concerned me more. Quietly and quickly I had suggested, "Perhaps you should call Dr. Lupe; I am busy here at the moment."

"No shifters," he had replied. "It is a long story."

Just before hanging up the phone and greeting the two most important vampires on the continent, I said, "I will be along as soon as I can."

Stroke. Of. Genius. If Sloane needed me to wear the doctor hat, that is the hat I am going to wear. No vampire business can be to the detriment of the King or Queen's business dealings, so I will wear my medical degree as my crown for the moment. "However, this is business related," I said as I scooted out of the booth and gathered my purse. "It seems as if a patient of mine is in crisis and I must go tend to them."

David's head, knowing full well who I was talking about, swiveled long enough to throw me a broken look. I wanted to tell him she was going to be fine, but I couldn't give anything away. Councilman Herrera loathed Sloane; she had killed his favorite childe and co-opted his territories. As it was, he and Guinevere were here to negotiate the transfer of Nevada from Sloane to Victor Madden, which would delight Fidel to no end. Of course, David and I were against it, claiming that, not only did we have no standing with which to bargain for the position, neither did Fidel. He was not allowed to interfere with the Council's ruling any more than I was; Sloane must be left to make that decision by herself. Fidel was claiming that Sloane had not acted expeditiously, and that voided any ruling handed down from the Council. Which was why Guinevere was here.

I softened my gaze as I glanced at David, hoping he would see through my illusion, and turned. "I will be back as soon as I can," I replied, tendering bows to both of the Council members. Guinevere returned the bow graciously, while Fidel just bristled, trying to think of any reason to make me stay here. I was gone before he could come up with one.

I was in my car with the engine running before I called Sydney. I did not want to take the chance that Fidel had someone in the parking lot waiting to eavesdrop on anyone that came or went. "Where the fuck are you?" Sydney asked angrily as she picked up the phone midway through the first ring.

"Vampire politics are tedious, dear," I replied. "We sent the Garou; was that not enough?" During a short 15 minute dinner break, David had called Sloane, gotten no answer, and immediately called her personal bodyguard, Alec. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he was going to find out for us.

"No, not enough," she replied, anger still in her voice. She took a moment to calm herself before she answered, "Look, from what I can tell, she's somehow driving the shifters crazy. First Moose attacked her, then Alec to a lesser degree. Alec said it's like this undeniable urge to mate with Sloane."

It felt as if my non-existent heartbeat ratcheted up another notch; my chest clenched tightly around my lungs, stalling my speech for a moment. Sloane was strong and had training, but she couldn't take on a shifter and expect to win, especially since, knowing her, she wouldn't want to hurt them. "Where is she now? Who is with her?" I finally managed to croak.

"She's with Cian, upstairs at his place," Sydney replied quickly. "She was fine until her cats came home."

I was speeding through the streets of East Lansing before, but now I was taking it to a whole new level. I punched the gas as I ran a red light, phone still plastered to my ear. It didn't matter how much she fought if there were four shifters that were after her. "Is she conscious?" I asked, just barely able to keep that practiced doctor's calm in place.

"Uhh," Sydney replied, "last I saw, -ish."

"She was conscious-ish?" I asked. "What does that entail? Is she bleeding? Does she have broken bones?"

"Bleeding a little, no broken bones. She's just not really all there."

"You are making no sense," I replied harshly. "I will be there within minutes. Goodbye, Sydney."

.

The word Sydney was looking for on the phone is catatonic. Psychological catatonia, to be exact. As I walked in the door, Sloane was curled in Cian's lap, her head buried in his chest. I could see her eyes were open, but they did not track my movement or focus on objects directly in front of her; to her, it was as if I were not there. In fact, to her, nothing was there.

"_Diagnosis?"_ I asked Cian softly in an older version of Gaelic.

"_Psychologically or medically?"_ Cian replied. When I made it clear that there were few distinctions at the moment, he continued. "_Psychologically, she will most likely recover if you stop bombarding her with shifters_."

I rolled my eyes at his tone and set my bag down on the end of the bed. "_And medically?" _ I asked.

"_Few injuries,_" he replied. "_Perhaps a _concussion," he continued, not knowing the medical term for concussion in Gaelic. I didn't blame him; the language hasn't modernized much since English became so widespread, I wasn't sure there was a Gaelic term for concussion. Then again, with the popularity of rough sports like Rugby, perhaps they had come up with one.

I sat on the bed and reached my hand around to her scalp, feeling my way until I found the culprit. On the very back of her head, she had a silver dollar sized bump. She definitely could have a concussion. "_I cannot test her for the concussion properly until she is responsive_."

"_She was complaining earlier of a headache," _he replied.

I wavered as to what to do. The only pain medication I had with me was in liquid form, requiring a needle. In her condition, I would not want to scare her more than necessary. And if she had a concussion, medication could do more damage than good. However, if she was in pain, I wanted to ease it. "Perhaps later," I said quietly in English. "Can she hear me?"

Cian shot me a rather elegant look. "She is not deaf," he replied. "Cupcake, Emma is here."

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I wish people would stop treating me like a fucking child sometimes and just let me be. Sure, I was recovering from a rather close call with a complete mental shutdown, but I was fine now. The fact that I hadn't spoken had little to do with freaking out and more to do with just having nothing to say. "Cupcake," Cian said into my hair, "Emma is here."

"I'm not a fucking child," I replied quietly, not bothering to move from my spot on his chest. "And if you think I've lost it completely and can't hear you, why bother with the cryptic language shit?"

Cian's chest jumped lightly as he laughed silently, Emma just stared at me for a moment before asking, smile in her voice, "Do you have any other injuries, Sloane? Besides the gash on the back of your head?"

"Yes," I replied simply.

When it was obvious I wasn't going to expound, she asked, "What, dear?"

"Didier bit me."

"When I arrived at her home, Didier was on top of her," Cian replied before adding something else in another language.

"Am I going to have to formally ask you to stop doing that shit?" I said rhetorically.

Emma gathered my hands in her own so violently, I looked up into her eyes. She looked like she was about to do some breaking apart of her own. "He raped you, Sloane?" she whispered.

I shrugged. After a moment, I replied, "I wouldn't say that. He wasn't himself, then Cian threw him down a flight of stairs."

"Ahhh," Cian added, "now I know how you are recovering so quickly from this ordeal. You are merely going to pretend it never happened."

"I told you," I said after a deep sigh, "I function better that way. I was fine before you poked at it with a stick."

"Perhaps by your definition," he replied under his breath.

"But more importantly, Sloane " Emma said, shooting Cian a look that clearly said, _let her deal with it in her own way_, "does this mean you forgive Dr. O'Smythe? I must admit, he has been unbearable these past months without you. As has David, to a lesser degree."

"No," I replied shortly. "Are you going to cut the shit and tell me what's up or am I going to have to beat it out of you?"

Emma shot Cian a questioning look. Not so much a what-the-hell-is-she-talking-about look, but more of a how-the-hell-did-she-know look, and it made her oh-so guilty. "Whatever do you mean?" she asked when I felt Cian shrug.

"Perhaps we can go back to discussing, Sloane, when you will have forgiven me," Cian said. "I prefer that topic."

I sighed, took in a deep breath of his spicy, comforting scent, and looked up at him. "At the _moment_," I replied, "there's nothing to forgive. Continue with this baby-the-invalid shit, and there will be."

"Then I shall tell you," Cian replied quickly. Before Emma could demand he shut the hell up, and trust me, the look on her face said she was about to, Cian blurted, "Fidel Herrera and Guinevere du Lac are in town; Fidel claims you have not acted fast enough on picking a monarch for Nevada and that, as Filipe's second, Victor should get it."

I sat for a moment, waiting for the fear to sink in, but after the past six months, I just couldn't find it in myself to be that afraid of a few powerful vampires. Not here. Not with everyone at my back. After all, I had beaten a Fae _goddess_ out of my head, then marched into enemy territory to face a sadistic vampire queen and her entire retinue _on my own_. Two vampires meant diddly squat.

"So," I said as I pushed myself out of Cian's lap, "What you're telling me is that I need to go to Rum Runners to deal with this."

"Let David and I handle it for you, Sloane" Emma said as she followed me off the bed and across the room. There was a large antique armoire in the corner that was filled with my clothes; or, at least, it had been when we left for France the first time. I opened the top drawer hoping that Cian hadn't gotten around to packing it all up. Thanks to Cian's selective laziness, my clothes were still there, including a drawer full of the most exotic, uncomfortable lingerie that Cian would insist on buying me. I'd almost rather go commando, but there are some occasions you should really wear underwear for, however uncomfortable.

I sighed heavily and picked out a matching set of magenta lingerie, then moved down to the next drawer and pulled out one of the several pairs of jeans. "No," I finally replied, my head still turned into the armoire. "I can handle it."

"Sloane," Emma chided. She was about to continue when I spun quickly around faced her.

"No, Emma. I'm not letting you take the fall for me anymore. Look what happened when I went to France," I said as I pointed toward Cian, who was still lounging on the bed. "He could have died, they all could have died. So from now on, no. I am an adult and will handle my own problems."

Emma glared at me, frustrated, before turning her attentions toward Cian and saying something in low, foreign tones before doing the equivalent of a vampire storm-off. Once she was gone and the door was rocking on its hinges, Cian called me. "Sloane," he said, his voice alluring and soft. Had I been angrier or less exhausted, or even if my head hadn't been pounding quite so hard, I probably would have told him where he could shove it, too. But, in the end, I just gathered the clothes I had picked and collapsed onto the bed next to him, clothes still in hand.

"What?" I whined into the bed.

"If you want to handle this on your own, then there is no stopping you. However," he said as he gently leaned over me, kissing me on the temple, "my advice would be to get a few hours' rest before you do. I can see your exhaustion in your eyes and can smell your pain, and neither of those things equips you to deal with those vampires."

I didn't respond to his statement, instead I said, "This bed smells like dog."


	157. Chapter 157

I tried to sleep, but I just couldn't close my eyes without seeing Didier on top of me, all humanity gone from his face. So instead of get the rest Cian had suggested before he covered me with the blanket and left me in his room alone, I got up, took a shower, and blow dried my hair before dressing and stumbling down the stairs. My headache had surpassed the subtle thudding at the back of my head and started to meld into a full-fledged migraine, complete with nausea and light and sound sensitivity, and it was starting to mess with my depth perception, too. I could have sworn I had hit the ground floor, but when I went to move across the old hardwood floors, there was no hardwood floor beneath my feet. It wasn't until I stumbled, taking a hearty grip on the banister and falling flat on my ass that I realized I only _thought_ I took all 13 steps. I had really only taken 11.

Sydney was the first to dash out of the living room to see what had made the commotion. "Sloane?" she asked as she went to help me stand. "Are you OK?"

"Tripped," I said tiredly. "Someone take me Rum Runners?" I asked, assuming, as they usually did, that Emma and David were using their flagship establishment as a meeting place.

Sydney looked over my shoulder worriedly, presumably at Cian, but it was RJ who spoke. "You think that's a good idea?" he asked.

"I think it's a necessary idea," I replied. "Besides, if I have to stay here and look at everyone tiptoeing around me, I may go fucking postal. This way, at least if I go postal, it'll be on someone I really don't like."

Sydney shot RJ another look as I hoisted myself to my feet and put on a pair of peeptoe flats I had long ago left at Cian's house. I closed my eyes for a moment to quell the pain caused by the light of the front porch, but opened them with a gasp when I remembered Christian's hungry look in vivid detail.

When I opened the door, it was apparent that not only was it too cold for no coat, but it was too wet and snowy for peeptoe flats. My feet were already tingly, meaning a cold numbness was sure to follow soon. But I had no choice at the moment. I stepped out on the front porch, shielding my eyes from the obnoxiously bright porch light, I turned back again. "If no one's driving, can I at least use a phone to call a cab?"

Cian followed me out the door before wrapping me in a coat I was sure I'd left at my place. "I cannot stop you, so I will drive you," he said, sounding somewhat resigned.

"Not the kind of enthusiasm I was looking for, but I'll take it," I replied as I started for the driveway.

Cian was following at my slow pace until he grabbed me by the wrist and spun me until I was standing behind him. "You must leave," he said, not as harshly as the protective stance he was taking would suggest necessary.

"I just want to say I'm sorry," said Alec's grumbly voice, letting me know he was dangerously close to devolving back to four legs. "I didn't mean to scare you, Sloane."

I peeked around Cian, but even with the porch light on at my back, I couldn't quite make out what I was seeing. "I'm OK," I said, shakier than I wanted it to come out. "How are you here and not going crazy?"

I think I saw him shrug; I had to squint to see even that. "I guess that whole…thing's out of my system. At least, for now it is."

Seeing the calm in his eyes bolstered my confidence. I took another step, coming side-by-side with Cian, and said, "Are…are you sure?"

"I am sure," he replied before he whipped his head around and growled. "But you need to leave before those dogs stop listening to me," he said with his eyes off in the distance.

Cian grabbed my hand and pulled me along, putting himself between Alec and me as we passed. It wasn't until I was shutting myself in the passenger seat of Cian's death-mobile that I asked, "Are you coming?"

Alec's head whipped back toward me before he asked, "Me?"

"You're not going to eat me, are you?" I asked, my heart rate ramping up with the thought of being stuck in a car with a shifter of any sort.

Alec snorted as he started toward me. "Farthest thing from my mind," he said as he approached the car, "but that's a two-seater. Even if there were a seat for me, I wouldn't fit in it."

Cian sighed dramatically. "Perhaps we will have to take my new toy," he said as he climbed out of the driver's seat. "I think you will approve, Cupcake."

I rolled my eyes as Cian used the remote in the car to open the newly expanded garage. All four single-car garage doors opened at once, revealing pieces of the rest of his collection. He had the car we were sitting in now, what I call his 'Bond, James Bond' car, which was a silver vintage car with the steering wheel on the wrong side; a sleek yellow powerhouse that, while not large enough to carry two people _and_ a suitcase, probably cost more than my house; a set of crotch rockets that looked as about as obnoxious as the people that usually drive them; and one more. This car I was not familiar with. Parked in the garage in the stall farthest from me was something that blended into the shadows, only the moonlight glinting off the metallic black finish hinted to the lines of the vehicle. Based just on the glinting shimmer, this car was much larger than anything else Cian owns.

"What is that?" I asked as I attempted to get out of his death-machine. I got one foot on the ground, but when I went to pull the other one to join it, my toes got caught on the door sill and pitched me forward into Alec's warm chest.

He caught me easily, settling me against his chest as he set me firmly on my feet. "You are very clumsy today, Sloane," Cian said as he rounded the car. But my heart started racing at Alec's touch. My breathing all but stopped. My hands, pressed against his chest, started to shake. I was panicking again as Alec's hands around my arms reminded me of Christian's and Didier's rough hold.

.

I was sitting outside, but I was wrapped in warmth. My ear was pressed against a warm chest, which was vibrating steadily as I shook. "Don't press me," Alec rumbled, something I heard in a strange stereo. "My control is hanging on by a thread tonight."

"You are the problem, Wolf," Cian snarled from not too far away. "Leave her to me."

"Don't you think I'd like to?" Alec growled. "But she's _mine_ to protect. _Mine._"

I pushed my head away from Alec's chest, finally realizing what had happened. I had a slight panic attack and my body had shut down. "I'm OK," I mumbled as my eyes tried to adjust to the searing light given off by the front porch. I tried to push myself out of Alec's arms shakily, but he wasn't letting go. "I'm sitting on my tailbone wrong, Alec; it's putting my legs to sleep," I said as I tried again.

He lifted me from the ground with one last snarling growl for Cian and tried to set me on my feet, but my feet weren't quite working yet. Instead of holding me, one of my ankles gave and sent me tumbling back into Alec. "I'm OK, I'm OK," I said quickly as Cian moved for me, causing Alec to take offense. "Jesus, you two are bad tonight," I mumbled, "it's just that my legs are asleep, remember?"

Alec set me down in the passenger seat of Cian's new car, which turned out to be a very nice Audi sedan, letting me massage my thighs and calves to get the feeling going again. "It's happening again," Alec said as Cian approached, causing the muscles in Alec's shoulders and arms to contract. "I can feel it building in me."

I panicked a little, my eyes going wide and my heartbeat picking back up into the unhealthy range. "What's happening?" I asked, my voice coming out as I felt.

"Don't worry," Alec said as he pet my hand. "It's different now. I'm acting as if you're my mate, trying to protect you from threats, which apparently, O'Smythe's a threat."

I settled slightly, but the panic I had been feeling just a moment ago turned to anger. "Great," I replied under my breath. "Now I have to deal with _three_ of you?"

"Three of whom, Cupcake?" Cian asked as he slid into the driver's seat beside me.

I admit, I was cranky. And cranky people don't make the best of decisions. "Just take me to Rum Runners."

.

Cian slowed significantly as we approached the crowded club, cruising past suspiciously slow. "The paparazzi are here," he said as he slowed. As soon as he mentioned it, I noticed the rather suspicious looking man dressed in black leaning against the corner of the building, camera in one hand, as well. "If one is here, there are more."

"Who are they here for? Is there some big name playing inside?" I asked, aware of the music I could hear not only through Rum Runner's door, but through the car, as well.

"I suspect there are here for you, my Sweet," Cian replied. "The human girlfriend of one of the most famous American vampires falls ill abroad while fetching said vampire a special holiday gift?" Cian said, the lilt of a sarcastic, rhetorical question in his voice. "And when David, a vampire who is increasingly in the public's eye, jumped on a plan to be with you…such forbidden romance. You made the front page of the New York Times for two weeks, Cupcake. And now you're home. Guinevere and the hospital protected you from these vultures while you were in London, but now that you are home…I suspect the torment may pick up a bit," he said as he drove around the block. "You are, after all, gorgeous," he finished, true to his playboy side.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Fuck," Alec mumbled behind me. "I can't be seen on camera, but the thought of going ahead without you makes my beast restless."

I turned to see what he was talking about; Alec's eyes had lightened to an eerie yellow-green and his teeth had lengthened in his human face. "OK, so what do we do?" I asked.

"We spirit you both in the back way," Cian replied, the playful tone if his voice now giving way to tight-lipped anger. "That is, unless our Sweet Sloane here would like to confront her admirers."

I shot Cian the look he deserved and mumbled, "I might kill him."

"I am certain you would," Cian added, "I have met this man; it is amazing _I_ did not kill him."

"Oh," I shot back, "and you have such an even temperament."

He looked over at me and grinned. "The back way?" I asked impatiently. "They're going to have someone on the alley entrance too, Cian."

He waited until he parked two blocks away and helped me out of the cab, my legs still tingly. "I bet they do not have someone on the roof," he said with a suspicious smile.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you talking about…"

Before I could finish my sentence, Cian had wrapped his arms around me, leaving my feet dangling in the air as he took off into the sky. I screamed as I buried my head in his chest, willing myself not to think about how high off the ground I was. Just a moment later, my feet landed on rough gravel. "Put me down, put me down," I repeated until well after Cian had let me go.

He laughed as I kept my eyes slammed shut, my arms wrapped around my waist. "You are safe, Cupcake. Look, you are standing on solid surface."

Alec joined us a moment later, just as I opened my eyes for the first time, and gracefully vaulted himself up the side of the building and onto the second story roof. "Please do not make her scream again," Alec said, struggling not to bear his teeth again.

"Yes," I finally said, "let's not do that again."

Cian rolled his eyes at me. "You are such a princess. I would not have dropped you."

"I know that in my _head_," I replied, "but phobias are not rational. Can we please go inside now?"

Cian flourished a hand toward the roof access door; I all but ran toward it. Either because my legs were still tingly or I was feeling a little unstable from my unexpected flight, I couldn't do much more than stumble toward the door before I threw my weight against it. It didn't budge.

"It's locked," I said, a touch of panic in my voice. "Cian, it's locked."

"I heard you," he said from right behind me. I banged the handle against the metal door frantically as Cian reached up to just above the door frame and flicked a switch. The door opened effortlessly; so effortlessly that I almost fell down the dark flight of stairs as the door bounced back against the wall and toward the two men, staring at me and my panic attack.

"I don't like heights," I mumbled into my hands as I sunk to the step, curling in on myself and taking deep, calming breaths.

"Sloane," David said as he swooped me into his arms and held me. "I felt your terror. What scared you so? Are you alright? O'Smythe said you were hurt on the phone…"

Cian laughed. "She is apparently just fine; she just does not like to fly."

"Bourdain," David said as he set me back down on my feet, his head cocking to the side. I curled my fingers into his and leaned my head against his bicep. I remembered, in the back of my mind, I was still angry at him, but at the moment, I was so comforted by his presence that I really didn't care so much. "I expected a text from you hours ago."

Alec growled at David, giving the both of us a view of his lengthening canines. "Please come here Sloane," he said as he kept his eyes on David. "Just until you stop smelling so scared."

David looked down at me when I started to go, so I patted his hand and gave him a strange smile. "I promise to tell you all about it, but we have to get rid of Guin and Herrera first."

He looked down at me, shocked, for a moment before he figured out what had happened and he glared at Cian. "You and I will speak later," he seethed at Cian.

"Yes, Majesty," Cian said as I climbed the two stairs and stood beside Alec. I could feel the tension drift from Alec's stance as he grabbed my hand and buried his nose in my wrist.

I stood there, looking anywhere but at the vampires standing in the stairwell, while Alec took deep breaths of my skin, abandoning my wrist and moving to my neck, just above where Didier bit me. He must have been able to smell it, because he growled again. "That cat is dead," he whispered in my neck. "I'll see to it."

"Don't hurt him, I'm sure he feels awful," I replied.

"I will make sure he does," Alec growled. "Can I lick it?"

I pulled away from his looming form so I could look him in the eye. "What? Why?"

He smiled at me, as if what I had asked was about to make him laugh. "Chalk it up to one of those wolf ownership things," he finally replied. "So can I?"

"Uhh," I mumbled as I looked over at the vampires, who had smartly schooled their expressions. "I guess?" Now that he had permission, he leaned down and ran his tongue over the bite. I had to fight not to shy away from him, instead closing my eyes and gritting myself against the wet sticky feel of his tongue. When he was finished, I opened my eyes. "Are you going to be offended if I wipe that off?"

He laughed, relief showing in his eyes. "No," he replied.

"Oh thank God," I mumbled as I used the collar of my shirt to wipe his saliva away before a creeped-out shiver ran down my spine. "Let's try and keep these creepy little things to a minimum, shall we?"

"Stop screaming and smelling like other animals, and it shouldn't be a problem," Alec replied.

I rolled my eyes at him, letting him know that I'd rather it be that way, as well, and started down the stairs. "Your usual booth?" I asked the cranky vampire at my back.

"That is where I left them," David replied.

Carefully, I walked down two flights of stairs, landing myself in the middle of a massive party, with flashing lights, loud noises, and just enough body heat pounding at my body to make me migraine just absolutely awful. I grimaced before lowering my lids and trying to deal with the sudden increase in pain.

"I'll be around," Alec whispered in my ear before he disappeared into the masses. He would stand head and shoulders above everyone else in here, but still, it's like he just vanished into the mob.

I slid into the booth opposite Guinevere, Queen of England and lead councilwoman, and Fidel, King of Mexico, and most-annoying councilman. When I looked up, from the drink that had suddenly appeared in front of me, meeting both of the vampires' eyes before I asked, "So, you want to put Victor in power."

"Yes," Fidel responded as Guinevere nodded in assent.

"No," I replied simply.

Fidel bristled, the rage plain on his face. If he had any blood flow, his face would probably be turning a fine shade of crimson. Instead of addressing me, he turned to David, who had slid into the booth beside me. "You allow your human to talk to me like this?"

Coolly, calmly, David replied, "She can talk to you however she pleases. And she belongs to no one but herself."

Fidel's face contorted into an ugly, hissing sneer; Guinevere merely smiled. "If you want to talk to me," I said calmly, "then talk to my face. Not David's. Mine. I'm Queen, so treat me like it."

"You're human," Fidel sneered, as if that were reason enough to ignore me.

"Am I?" I asked as I cocked my head to the side innocently. David grabbed my hand under the table, silently warning me to be careful here. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze as I leaned my head against his shoulder. _I know what I'm doing,_ I told him with my body.

I had flustered him, maybe because he was seriously reconsidering his assessment of me, or maybe he just wasn't expecting my answer. Who knows. Instead of wait for him to recover, I turned to Guin. "Gather the contestants, I guess," I said as I rubbed my eyes, both to wake me up and to protect my migraine from the light for just a few seconds. The lights and sounds of the busy club were making my migraine vomit-and-faint bad.

"Again, we will host the auditions as the Royal Complex," David said as he rubbed circles on the back of my hand. "As soon as we have a date, I will make the arrangements. Now, if you don't mind, I have business to attend. Sloane," he said as he turned to me. "If you would come with me."

I wasn't about to fight. I took his outstretched hand, allowing him to help me out of the booth. My legs, still tingly, barely got me upright before David swooped me into his arms and kissed me hard.


	158. Chapter 158

David lowered me to the ground in the middle of his office, the door closed tightly behind him. Instead of standing, though, I lowered myself so I was sitting on the floor cross-legged, my head in my hands. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked quietly.

"I think I might puke," I said as I kept my eyes tightly shut. My head swam when I had my eyes closed, but with my eyes open, the glaring fluorescent lights made my stomach churn.

I heard the door open and close, but since no one spoke, I had no idea what had happened. I wasn't going to open my eyes and let my stomach win this battle. "While I thank you for the warning," David said, "that doesn't answer my question." His voice was frosty, which was the first thing that told me something was wrong. The second thing was that I wasn't in his arms yet. In fact, ever since Alec licked me, David had only touched me either out of warning or necessity.

I leaned over, lying myself on my side on the cool wood floor, never opening my eyes. "Something's wrong with the shifters," I finally said.

I jerked when I heard the other voice in the room, but I resisted opening my eyes. "Lay off her," said Alec, "she's had a rough day."

"Yet no one seems fit to tell me anything," David said grumpily. "Explain about the shifters."

I took a deep breath to start the explanation, my eyes still shut tightly, but before I could say anything, my stomach heaved. It felt endless, the pain that radiated through my head, my stomach, my neck and back, before I finally stopped heaving. I hadn't had anything to eat since London, and my stomach seemed to want to protest that fact. When nothing came out the first time I heaved, it was as if my stomach just started to try harder, leaving me panting, curled in a ball on the floor.

I had been lying motionless for a few moments before David asked, "Are you done?" I didn't answer; I was relearning how to breathe.

"Don't be such an asshole," Alec seethed as he laid his hand on my head, clearing my wayward hair from my face.

"Is this your new lover, Sloane? Are you so disappointed in me, you've replaced me?" David asked. I could hear the anger in his voice, and my body shuddered with it, but there wasn't much more I could do. My eyes were closed and I was still seeing gray starbursts cross my vision.

Alec roared, a sound that shouldn't be able to come out of a human throat, which just made me cover my ears and whimper. I don't think either of the men in the room registered the fact I was still here, though. Finally, I opened my eyes, squinting against the fluorescent lights, to see Alec had backed a rather angry looking David into the corner, Alec's shirt torn to reveal a half human, half wolf form. I tried pushing myself to all fours, remarkably able to handle the small change in altitude with only a slight dimming of my vision before I crawled toward the still closed door. If they were about to make a bunch of noise, I'd rather be out in the hall. It was just as loud, but at least the light in the hallway was about as dim as it could be without being pitch black.

I had just about reached the door handle and let myself out of the room when David roared, making me curl back into myself and collapse back to the floor, my hands over my ears.

.

"No concussion," Emma said quietly as I came to, now lying in the dark with something cold and wet resting on my forehead. "Just a headache; perhaps a migraine. This should help." Before I opened my eyes, my shirtsleeve was rolled up and a slight prick pinched my bicep, making me moan.

Even after opening my eyes, I couldn't see anything. It was so dark in the windowless room, I couldn't even get a sense of space; was in the office on the settee, or was I in a coffin? Or maybe I was in a cavernous cave that extended for miles. I couldn't be sure either way. As whatever Emma had just given me set in, my body relaxed, my breathing deepened. Oh, sweet relief.

"Does anything else hurt, dear?" Emma asked quietly. "You are covered in bruises."

I tried to sit up, but it was too early. I collapsed back onto the soft surface I was on and moaned. "Well, that didn't feel good," I said, "and my back is killing me, my legs are tingly, my neck is burning…"

"Alright," Emma said. "You said your legs are tingling?" I simply nodded, hoping she could see the movement in the deep darkness. "Roll onto your side, please."

I struggled, finally able to move like she wanted me to with the help of a cold set of hands. "Ahhh," she said as she probed my lower back. "You have some swelling here around the bolt in your spine. It should go down on its own; however, it may be painful or difficult for you to walk in the meantime."

"Great," I mumbled. "You can probably turn the lights back on, the migraine's gone."

The lights flipped on, momentarily blinding me before I could see who was standing around me. Emma, of course, was kneeling on the floor of the office at my head. Behind me were Cian and David. Alec was sitting on the floor at my feet. "Have you filled them in?" I asked Alec.

"Everything I knew," Alec replied.

"Good," I replied as I pushed myself into a sitting position. "Thoughts?"

"Another curse, perhaps," Cian said.

"Side effect of the binding?" Emma added.

"I don't think it's because of the tattoos," I said. "I was shut in a car with Alec, for one, on the way back from when you left Cian there to die," I shot at David coolly, "and nothing happened. And then again on the plane and at Sookie's; nothing but shifters and no problems."

"Something that happened when you came to be my Princess in Shining Armor?" Cian asked, not paying any attention to the bristling David was doing beside him.

"I was in leather, for one," I said, "and it's possible. Although I haven't a clue as to what. You were there for most of it; can you think of anything?"

"Nothing," Cian added.

"Everyone out," David said quietly. Emma, who was kneeling beside me, went even more still. Calmly, David added, "I wish to speak to Sloane alone."

Cian was the first to leave, with a flourished kiss to my hair before he silently left. Next went Emma, although I could tell she was incredibly conflicted about leaving me alone with him. Alec wouldn't budge. "Bourdain," David said, "that includes you."

"No," Alec said. "For one, she's mine to protect, you gave me that responsibility. Secondly, I don't trust you not to hurt her."

"Alec," David said softly. His tone of voice startled Alec so much, that he looked up into David's eyes. Wrong move. I could see the set of Alec's shoulders relax as David glamoured him. "Leave," David said. "Wait in the hall."

Silently, Alec stood, walked across the floor, opened the door, and walked through it. "That wasn't nice," I said as the door closed behind him.

"Why are you so angry with me?" he asked accusingly. "Is Cian not safe now? Did it not all work out in the end?"

I was starting to get angry. "Yes, Cian is fine. Because _I_ went to get him. You couldn't be bothered to save _your_ constituent; your _human girlfriend_ had to do it. It makes me wonder; why wouldn't you go get him? You know what kind of hands he was in, you probably know better than anyone else. Yet you _let him suffer._ Why? Are you really petty enough to let Cian rot because you no longer wanted to share? Is that it? Is his situation really _my_ fault? Because I couldn't choose between you two, you felt forced to do something so extreme, so….so _contrary_ to the man I thought I knew?" At this point, tears were falling freely from my face, obscuring my vision of his face. "And what? You thought with Cian out of sight, out of mind, I'd forget about him? That I'd fall madly in love with you and forget about that piece of my heart that was missing? I could _feel_ him, every night; I could feel what she was doing to him. Every night, my heart broke because he was taking something that should have been _my_ punishment. And you let him! You let her take him, you let her torture him, making no plans to fix it." I didn't realize I had risen to my feet until I sunk to the floor, the sobbing cutting my screaming ran short.

"Sloane," David said, his heart in his voice. "Cian knew the consequences of his choice. I wish it could have been me, but you would have been too vulnerable; _Michigan_ would have been too vulnerable without me. It had to be him."

He leaned down and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, but I shrugged him away violently screaming, "Don't you touch me!"

I sobbed for what felt like an hour before he spoke again. "You think me a coward."

"Do you blame me?" I asked maliciously.

"No, I suppose I don't," he replied. "But I will gladly take your scorn, only because you are alive to give it. Without Cian's sacrifice, that would not have been the case. He knew that, and I knew that." He stood and slowly, silently, walked toward the door. "I would have rather taken an eternity at the hands of my maker than have to see you look at me with such contempt. In the end, I wonder who has given more to ensure your safety." And, with that dig, he was gone.

.

Thankfully, they left me alone to sob for a while before Emma shut herself in the office with me, sitting on the settee at my back. "I would explain the politics behind the hard decisions that both Cian and David had to make, explaining how David's decision was not only the right one, but the only one, but I fear you would not listen to me because I am his sister."

"You'd be right," I replied, affect still missing from my voice. After the day I had, with the exhaustion I felt, I was having a hard time dealing with much of anything else.

"Then I will not waste my breath," she replied. "Instead, I will ask how you are dealing with the stress of the day." I sighed as my answer. "You are handling your assault well. Too well."

"Would you stop?" I snapped. "Just leave me alone."

She stood and straightened out her charcoal skirt. "I will always be just a phone call away."

.

Alec had assured me twice that my house was empty of all shifters and he had cleaned up the mess that was left before I would even consider going back into my house. Even then, I stood on my front porch, shivering and in pain, for at least ten minutes before I could work up the courage to open that front door. By the time I actually stepped through the threshold, Alec had gone in the back door and started a fire before completely disappearing. I knew that he was there somewhere; I had heard David and him talking about my protection now that the auditions for Nevada had been set and the fire had been lit under not only Victor, but Fidel. I was also willing to bet he wasn't the only one here keeping an eye out. But I didn't see any of them, and I wasn't about to go looking. Instead, I ignored the fire and went upstairs, locking myself in my room. I couldn't handle looking at _the_ spot. I knew as soon as I went into the kitchen, my mind would flash to Didier on top of me as I frantically tried to fight my way out from under him. So instead, I instantly turned right and went straight up the stairs, through my room, into the bathroom, and locked the door before I sunk to the floor and started having a panic attack.

_I just need to breathe through it_, I reminded myself as I shook on the floor. _Come on, start breathing…_

.

I was still sitting on the floor in my bathroom, my back leaning uncomfortably against the cabinets when the light from the sunrise streamed through the crack under the door. I was still sitting there when I heard Sydney and RJ come home with the dogs, their uncut claws scratching against the wood floor of the foyer. And I was still sitting on the floor when the sun set and Cian showed up outside my bathroom door and asked, in gentle tones, "May I come in?"

"It's locked," I replied.

"Would you unlock it?" he asked.

I did ask he asked, stretching up from my position and just barely able to reach to the handle to unlock the door. When the door finally swung open, I was still sitting on the floor, in much the same position as I had been. Cian lowered himself to the floor, offering me cheesecake as he did. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes," I said as I took the plate of cheesecake from him. God, yes, I was hungry. I had been hungry the second I had gotten home, but I was terrified that if I went downstairs and into the kitchen, everything would replay in my mind, or worse, I'd get attacked again. I was too terrified to move about my own house.

"Why are you in the bathroom?" he asked as I took my first bite.

"It's safer in here," I replied between bites.

"Water?" he asked as he offered me a cold bottle of water. I took it too, opening the bottle and downing half of it in one swig.

He waited for me to finish eating, then for me to finish the water before he stood. "I have cleared your room myself," he said as he offered his hand. "I even promise to leave you be if you simply move to your bed."

"And if I don't?" I asked.

"Then I will hound you tirelessly until you relent and make hot, passionate love to me."

I cracked a smile, which was far short of the response he was waiting for. "I want to take a shower," I replied finally.

"Then shower," he added simply.

I shook my head before answering, "I can't move."

"And why is that?" he asked.

"I can't feel my legs."

Cian physically jerked. "Should I call Emma?"

"No," I replied. "They're probably just asleep from sitting here all day."

"And why did you sit here all day?" he asked.

"Because it's safer here," I replied.

"Would you like me to help you shower?" he asked, trying to keep his face serious but failing.

I shuddered at the thought of being naked in front of anyone. In fact, I shuddered at the thought of being naked at all. I couldn't stand being that vulnerable. "No," I finally said.

"What would you like?" he asked.

"More cheesecake," I replied truthfully. With a smile, he nodded, disappearing at human speed down the hall, but not before shutting the door behind him. Once he was gone, I tried moving my legs; I was completely unsuccessful. When it was clear that I wasn't going to be able to move that way, I leaned over and started to army-crawl toward my bed. I felt absolutely disgusting, but if I wasn't going to be able to handle a shower, my next order of business was attempting to sleep.

I had barely made it out of the bathroom and onto the cold, wooden floor of my bedroom before Cian came back, a plate of cheesecake in one hand and another bottle of water in the other. He walked past me, set the food down on my bedside table, and came back, lifting me up in the air and setting me gently in the already pulled down bed.

"Are you still hungry?" he asked as I put the now empty plate back on the bedside table and opened my second water.

"Kind of," I admitted after a swig.

"More cheesecake?" he asked.

"Chinese takeout?" I asked.

"Ah, I remember," he said as he hopped off the bed. "Shrimp fried rice and…steamed dumplings, correct?" I just nodded, confirming my usual takeout order. "Perhaps while I am downstairs ordering your food for you, you could change into these," he said as he took out a pair of sweats and a ratty old t-shirt and handed them to me. "And perhaps some rest would do you good."

I didn't start changing until after her had left and closed the door behind him. At that point, I easily changed out of the day-old shirt and into a fresh one, but I had a hell of a time getting out of my pants. I easily unbuttoned the jeans, but when it came time to actually take them off, I couldn't quite get it to work. By the time Cian came back, I was in tears, with my jeans partially off.

"Shh," he said as he quickly undressed me, then helped me into the sweat pants. "There. Better?" Unable to speak, I just nodded as I tried to get my breathing back in check. "At the risk of it be being the wrong time, I would like to talk to you about David."

"Why?" I asked, my head swiveling toward him.

"Because you are punishing him unduly." He lifted me gently, moving me so I was no longer leaning against the headboard but was lying on my back, my head resting on my pillow. "He was right, I knew the choice I had made. At the time, I may have had some…ulterior motives, but that does not change the fact that it was the right decision."

"He was going to leave you there," I replied venomously.

"He might have liked to, but he would not have," Cian replied. "Vampire politics are…complicated. Most of it is posturing and games. The longer he left me there without bargaining for my freedom, the less Belle Reine would think he values me as a subject, and the more bargaining room David would have had."

"So how long was he going to let you rot there? How long before she got tired with you and killed you? How long until he told me what was going on, instead of letting me think that I had killed you?!" I screamed.

"With as much as you seem to loathe him at the moment, I doubt he would have last much longer before bargaining for my freedom and begging for your forgiveness. As for how long until she killed me; she would not have. If she kills me, she loses a rather rich bargaining chip. And as for how long he was going to keep you in the dark—only he knows."

"So instead of telling me what's going on, he lets Eric almost kill me, then lets me almost kill myself. Oh, I'm feeling the love, alright," I replied sharply.

I could feel Cian's body beside me sharpen. "Eric almost killed you?"

I nodded. "The only witch that David could think of that could fix the cats," I said, a shiver running down my spine, "lives in Louisiana. She's a friend of Sookie's. When Eric arrived at Sookie's to see why we were in town, I told him I had killed you."

It was a few moments before he spoke again, and when he did, his voice was too controlled. "I will talk to my maker, but in the future, please do not goad him."

I shrugged. "I could have stopped him. I didn't."

Cian went deathly still; I curled onto my side, putting him at my back. When the doorbell rang what felt like hours later, he didn't make a move to answer it. So when the doorbell rang again, I threw the covers off and was surprisingly able to move my legs. At least they had regained consciousness in the time that I laid silently in bed. But when I stood, a sharp, grueling pain shot up my back and down my legs, which I just barely managed to keep silent. One step, then two. I could do this. The pain was starting to dull as I continued to move, but as the pain dulled, my panic attack grew. I was going downstairs. Where I'd been…where it had happened. By the time I had made it halfway down the stairs, I was shaking. And when I opened the door, the delivery guy did a double take.

"You call for a delivery?" he asked, one eyebrow curiously raised.

"Yea," I replied. "What do I owe you?"

He checked the check stapled to the brown paper bag. "Paid by credit card. Hey, are you that girl…"

"I'm a girl," I said as I took the bag from him.

I was about to close the door in his face when he said, "Wait, I need you to sign."

I was about to break down at any second now. I snatched the receipt from him, signed Cian's name, and handed him back both the receipt and the pen before shutting the door in his face. _I can do this,_ I told myself. _It's no big deal. How many times have I walked into the kitchen and nothing happened? Hundreds. Thousands. It'll be fine. You'll be fine. In fact, you'll feel silly when you walk into that kitchen and nothing happens…_

.

Somewhere, I was aware that Cian was talking to me, but it wasn't until he touched me that everything snapped back into focus. I screamed and twirled around, ready to fight whoever was lying their hands on me again, when I was suddenly pressed against Cian's cool chest. I took a deep breath and was instantly calmed by his familiar scent, his comfortable embrace. "I'm OK, I'm OK," I said into his chest as I pushed away from him.

"I know how you grate against orders, but you will eat, then sleep. You cannot heal these wounds until you let yourself rest," he replied as he held me at arm's length.

I looked down to the brown paper bag, having completely forgot what brought me down to the kitchen in the first place. "OK," I mumbled as I lowered myself into my chair at the kitchen table.

"No fighting?" Cian asked. "A miracle. Should I call the papers? I can see the headline now: Most Stubborn Woman in the World Takes Command: Sloane McIntosh Eats, Sleeps."

"You're a pain in the ass," I mumbled as I opened the takeout container holding the dumplings. He chuckled.


	159. Chapter 159

I don't remember how I got upstairs and into my bed. The last thing I remembered, I was sitting at the kitchen table, struggling to keep my eyes open as I finished the last of the dumplings. But, when I opened my eyes, I was lying on my own pillow, swathed in my own comforter. A cold hand was tangled in mine, which I was squeezing so tight that if they had blood flow, it would surely have been cut off.

I about jumped out of my skin when I brought the hand to my face and it didn't smell like Cian's comfortable smell. "Jesus, David, you scared me," I said as I rolled on my back so I could look at him. He was lounging on my bed, distant except for his hand in mine.

"That was not my intention," he replied coolly.

"Are you really being snippy with me right now?" I asked as I let his hand go. I threw the comforter off and got to my feet, cringing before I remembered how much my back had hurt last night. That pain had not dulled in the meantime.

"I am not being snippy," he objected before adding, "Cian will be here after he teaches, then you will be rid of me like you wish."

"You're such a fucking child," I shot over my shoulder. "Why are you here, anyway? To make me feel bad about being legitimately mad at you?"

"Perhaps," he replied. "Or perhaps I simply missed you."

"Miss this," I said as I locked myself in the bathroom.

It took me longer than I'd like to admit, standing there fully dressed with the water running, before I could talk myself into stripping and getting under the hot stream. And even when I did get under that stream, it was one of the fastest showers I had ever taken. I washed my hair, shaved my legs, and washed my face before practically bolting out of the shower and feverishly climbing back into my clothes. I just felt better clothed, more secure.

When I reemerged from my locked bathroom, David had moved from my bed to the office chair in the corner. He sat, with his hands clasped in his lap, his eyes on the floor in front of him. "You lock me out of your bathroom while you shower. You trust me so little?"

"You know what, David?" I seethed as I climbed back into bed. The tears were already falling, the stinging tightness was already in my chest. "Not everything is about you. So if you're going to be such a child tonight, leave me alone. I have my own problems to handle; I don't need yours."

"And what is so wrong in your perfect little life?" David asked. "You have your precious Cian back, your wolf is as devoted to you as ever…"

"I'm gathering fanged enemies like it's going out of style, I was _raped_ in my kitchen," I screamed. "Oh yea, just dandy over here. Get the fuck out of my house. Your invitation is rescinded." The door slammed behind him. Twice.

Sydney was sitting on the end of my bed within five minutes. "Well," she started, "David is pissed."

"Fuck him," I replied quietly.

"I ate your shrimp fried rice," she said next. I just laughed, which I think was the response she was going for. "Good," she said as she rubbed my back. The slow, repetitive motion was working its way toward putting me back to sleep as I lay curled on my side. "Are you feeling OK?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Why?"

"You look a little run down. I'm probably being paranoid, but…"

"I'm just sick of this shit," I said. "I want my guys back. I want my life back."

"You have to take it back," she replied. "Or, more appropriately, you have to let it resume."

"How?" I asked. "How can I look at David without seeing a coward? How can I look at Cian without remembering the things he said? He just turned his back on me, Syd; he just left. He chose to break our bond and leave; I have no idea why I'm still feeling him as if we're bonded, but that's not the point. He wanted out, whether or not he got it. How do I just forget that?"

"I'm sure if you let David explain what was going through his head, you'll start to see him under a different light. He and I may not get along, but if there's one thing I admire him for, it's that he genuinely seems to have your best interests at heart, to hell with his best interests. And Cian…well, from what I hear, you said some pretty awful things, too. I think, in light of what was going on, maybe it's best that you both just put it behind you and start over."

I sighed as my eyes closed. "What would you do if you were me, Syd?"

"Right now?" she asked. "I would eat some ice cream covered potato chips, because I've been craving something sweet and salty all day. And then I would invite David back in and let him hold you. He's seriously tearing himself apart out there. Have some mercy on the man."

I laughed before pulling her down for a hug. Her little hump of a belly pressed against my back as I looked at the engagement ring. "Congrats, by the way."

"You little snot," she said as she slapped me lightly on the arm. "You had me thinking the entire way home that he was going to storm out, and instead he asks me to marry him!? I looked like an idiot, standing there, speechless."

"I know," I replied as I tried to hold in the giggles. "So have you set a date?"

"Not until after the baby comes, that's for sure. Will you be my maid of honor?"

I rolled onto my back and pulled the larger woman into my side. "Of course, Syd."

She held me tight for a moment before managing to push herself out of bed. "I missed you, Pony. Should I go invite David back in?"

"Please," I replied. "I can't…I can't go down there just yet."

"Alright," she said. "Brace yourself, here he comes."

I could hear Sydney descend the stairs and the squeaky front door open. Milliseconds later, David was in my room, kneeling by my bed. His hands hovered inches from mine for a moment before he pulled away, stood, and went to the other side of the room. "I apologize for upsetting you," he said calmly. "I was unaware of what had happened."

"Come hold me, David," I replied. When he was beside me in an instant, I jumped, causing him to freeze in place. "Slowly."

He nodded and slowly, gently, lifted me from the bed before he set me back down in his lap, my head resting in that hollow spot between his clavicle and ribcage. "Tell me who, and I will rip them to pieces," he almost whispered as he ran his fingers though my hair.

"No," I replied. "It's not his fault. It's this damn…whatever the hell is going on with me and the shifters."

"Describe it," he replied.

"Didn't Alec tell you all of this?" I asked.

"Apparently not the whole story," he seethed. Then, his voice and the muscles in his chest softened, and he said, "If it is too painful, I will understand."

I shook my head as I tried to come up with a way to explain it. "Remember when you kept going for my neck? Before you got that little amulet from Naill?" I asked.

His body jerked, but he held me as steady as he could. "I almost killed you three times," he said painfully. "How could I forget?"

I rubbed my hand against his chest and curled into him, letting him know I wasn't holding him responsible. "It's the same thing," I said, "only with the shifters, their main drive isn't blood."

"I have called Niall, but it appears his answering service is slow. I will call again tonight so we may fix this latest issue," he replied. "Bourdain seems to not have this problem; is it not all shifters?"

"No, he struggled with it too, but not as much. The…" I paused, trying not to point fingers that would get friends killed, "…other shifters weren't even home while it was happening, they were just mindless zombies. Alec was there, he was fighting it, but he just couldn't stop."

"What changed?"

"After I, uh…" I was trying to think of a way to explain this where Alec gets to keep all his parts. "Fuck. You're going to kill him."

David's arms tightened almost painfully around me. "Is he the one that raped you, Sloane?"

Cian's voice came from the other side of the room, making me jump a foot in the air. I hadn't even heard my door open. "Would I have let him anywhere near her if that were the case?" he asked.

"Jesus, Cian," I said under my breath. Then, to David, I replied, "No, it wasn't Alec."

"Then why am I going to kill him?" David asked.

"There was apparently some heavy petting that the wolf enjoyed entirely too much," Cian added. "In the process, he claimed her as his."

"You are right," David said, his jaw clenched. "I am going to kill him."

"You're not helping," I murmured to Cian. "Anyway, after I pleasured him, he stopped," I finished with a hearty blush.

I could feel the anger radiating off David. Alec was in deep shit. When he went to get up and set me back down on the bed, I tightened my grip on him. "Can't we just sit here for a bit longer?" I said in a small voice. "I feel better when you hold me."

I could see the pain cross David's face. He wanted oh-so badly to pummel Alec into the ground, but I had confronted him with another tempting offer. With a calming sigh, David settled back onto the bed and wrapped the comforter around us. "Low blow, Cupcake," Cian said with a smile. "But it worked."

"Of course it worked," I mumbled into David's chest. "I'm such a damsel in distress right now, how could he say no?"

"Perhaps I am the one that manipulated you, Sloane," he said as he linked his hand with mine.

"I don't mind," I said. "Can we have some time, Cian?" I asked as I looked at the other vampire in the room. "We need to talk privately."

He looked to his King, who seconded my request, so he had no choice but to leave. "Under protest," he said, "I will leave."

"Don't go far," I replied. "You're next." His body jerked before he continued closing the door behind him.

"What do we need to talk about?" David asked once it was clear we were alone.

"Sydney says I should give you a chance to tell your side of the story," I replied.

He took a deep breath, letting out a long sigh into my hair. "I owe that woman," he mumbled before he kissed my hair. "Would you like to hear it?"

I thought about that for a second before answering, "No. I just need to know…and think truthfully about it: did you really have my best interest at heart when you left Cian there? Or did a piece of you secretly want me to yourself for just a little while again?"

"I will admit, I was taken by surprise with Cian's offer to stay behind and, at first, all I could think about was getting you to safety. It wasn't until we were back at the hotel and about to leave that I began to formulate the rest of the plan."

I stilled in his lap for a moment before I asked, "So for a little while there, you were just going to leave Cian there to rot."

"Of course not," he said as he rubbed a hand down my arm. "I have known Eric and Cian a long time; I trusted him to know what he was doing, and more, to know that I would do what was best for you and for him. Just because I couldn't see his plan right away did not mean that I was willing to let him rot, it just meant that I was trusting him to have left me an option, even if I couldn't immediately see it."

"There had to have been another way," I finally replied.

"I have had plenty of time to contemplate what had happened, and I can tell you in all honesty, that this truly was the best option. There were others that would have endangered either my standing among the Kingdoms, and therefore those that look to me for protection, or endangered those that we travelled with."

"I didn't make it worse, did I?" I asked in a small voice.

He chuckled to himself. "No, the way Jean Claude and Marielle tell it, you were beyond formidable. And, what's more, you were completely 100% you. I wish I had seen it."

"We can go back," I said, "I'll give you a replay."

"Don't you dare," he replied as his arms tightened around me. "I would not risk losing you just so I could see the devastation on Moira's face."

"You're calling her Moira, too, huh?" I asked.

I could hear the smile in his voice when he responded, "It seems she does not like it. I enjoy annoying her."

"Yea, I got the impression she hated it when Guin made a point of telling me her name."

His body contracted to sharp points before he relaxed minutely. "So she did help you invade France, did she?" Quieter, as if to himself, he added, "I will have to talk to her about that."

"If it makes you feel better, she tried to talk me out of it, and even then she sent Lance."

"It does not, but I will take that under advisement."

"How big of you," I said sarcastically as my stomach grumbled. "I'm hungry again."

"I hear that's common among humans," David replied as he lifted me free of the blankets and started carrying me downstairs.

"No, no," I cried as I tried to fight my way out of his grip. He stopped halfway down the stairs, confused look on his face, as I clung to him saying, "It's not safe down there, not safe…"

"Alright, alright," he said as he carried me back into my bedroom.

"I can't go down there yet," I said as he lowered me back into his lap on the bed. "Not yet." I clung to him as I tried to get my breathing back in check.

"Alright," he said as he lifted me slightly before removing a phone from his pocket. "Yes," he said into the receiver. "Sloane is hungry. Would you please bring her something?" There was talking on the other end of the line before he said, "Thank you, Miss Mets." After he hung up the phone, he hugged me tighter before saying, "Sydney is making something for you now."

"Uh oh," I replied. When David looked at me questioningly, I continued, "She's not the greatest cook."

We were sitting there, me curled into his lap, for what felt like hours when David startled me out of my reverie and asked, "Do you forgive me?"

I shrugged, adding, "I guess," quietly. "Why didn't you tell me the plan, though?" I asked. "I thought…I could have forced myself to hold on if I knew at least there was a plan."

"I should have," he replied. "I should have, but I did not, and I almost lost you for that oversight. I apologize."

.

After dinner, which consisted of undercooked pasta and from-the-jar spaghetti sauce, it was Cian's turn to talk. I had sent David away with a kiss and a promise that I would not kill the paparazzi and I would be at his condo at sundown tomorrow. When Cian opened the door to my room, he was holding a plate of cheesecake, a can of whipped cream, and had a very guilty look on his face. "Am I in trouble, Ms. McIntosh?" he asked as he offered me the confection.

I gave him a considering look. The very fact that he thought he was in trouble made me think that he might be. After all, he has to have done something to get in trouble _for_ in order to be in trouble, right? "Maybe," I replied after a moment of consideration.

"Are you going to punish me?" he asked, his eyes lighting up mischievously.

"You' like that, wouldn't you?" I asked seriously as I took my first bite of the cheesecake. If he continued to ply me with sweet treats, I was going to be 400 pounds by next year.

"Perhaps not as much as Jean Claude, but I do like the idea…" he said, his eyes going foggy as he thought about it. "And only if I get to return the favor."

I laughed, took one last bite of cheesecake, and opened my arms. He paused, looking at me as I opened my arms for him, and raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Unless," I said, faltering, letting my arms drop slowly. "Unless you're still mad at me?" He still didn't move. I dropped my arms completely, burying them back under the comforter that still covered my legs.

"Are you attempting to manipulate me, as well?" he asked as I laid back down and pulled the comforter all the way up until all you could see were my eyes and my wild hair. "Because this old vampire…you should not play with the hearts of men, Sloane. It does not take much to destroy them."

"No," I whispered as I turned my head away from him. "I wanted to apologize for being a bitch in France, and I wanted to thank you for taking a punishment that should have been mine, and I wanted to thank you for taking care of me while I lost it there for a minute after…after." I took a deep and disappointingly shaky breath to hold back some of the coming tears, and finished, "And I want my Cian back."

He was quiet for a moment before he asked, "What exactly is it that you want back?"

"I want us to forget about the past…" I stopped, tallying how long it's been since my life exploded, "let's say six months and just start over. I want you to call me yours and spend every other night finding a way to keep me naked and in your arms." I closed my eyes and shivered at the thought of being so…vulnerable in front of him, or anyone, at the moment.

"How about," he said as I opened my eyes, "we start with trying to forget and let the moment take us where it will, shall we?"

I nodded as I felt him slide into the bed with me. "I am so sorry," I whispered as he gathered me into his side.

"Shh," he replied once I laid my head against his shoulder and tucked myself into him like my body remembered. "I want to enjoy this for a moment more before you go all woman on me and ruin it," he said with a smile in his voice.

I snickered for a moment before adding, "I was _going_ to tell you I love you, but you're being such a dick…"

"But you _do_ love me," he replied.

"Oh, shut up."


	160. Chapter 160

I woke the next day with a lightness in my heart and a smile (albeit a hesitant one) on my face. I managed to take a regular-length shower with only a minor panic attack before putting on jeans and a blue Henley. I stood at the top of the stairs for a moment, mentally bracing myself, before I heard the voices in the foyer.

"And who are you again?" asked an unfamiliar male voice.

"I live here," Alec answered. "And who are you? Another fucking paparazzi?"

"Do you see a camera?" asked the unfamiliar voice. "I have a proposition for Ms. Sloane McIntosh. This is her residence, correct?"

"Ouf," I mumbled as I took the first step down, reacting to the sharp pain that shot up my spine and down my legs. Once I managed to get about halfway down the stairs, I said, "Who is it, Alec?"

Alec's body jerked in surprise when I spoke, which matched his expression when he looked back at me. "Hey," he said, suspicious smile on his face. "Feeling better?"

"I just woke up and I'm exhausted, but at least I'm dressed," I replied, purposefully putting the view of my kitchen to my back. If I couldn't see where I'd been raped, it was easier to forget that it had happened at all. I circled the open door and looked at the older nondescript man standing on my front porch. "I'm Sloane. Who are you?"

He looked me up and down before saying, "You're smaller than the pictures made you look."

I shrugged before saying, "Anyone looks small standing next to him," while I jutted my chin in Alec's direction. "Who are you again?"

He handed me a card, adding, "I work for Time Magazine. I'd like to interview you for an upcoming edition."

"Interview me about what?" I asked, "Grad school life?"

He chuckled lightly. "No. The edition is going to be the 'all about supes' edition. I'd like to interview you and David O'Hara about what it's like to be an inter-species couple."

I looked down at the card, the name Tom Bakkos was printed on white card stock. "Well, let me talk to David about it. I'll give you a call maybe tomorrow."

"Thanks for your consideration. The two of you would get some good press out there, especially with all the paparazzi that are hovering around now that you're home." With a slight bow, he turned and walked down the sidewalk, toward the unfamiliar car parked in the driveway. "Call me," he called behind him as he shut himself in the driver's seat.

"Well," Alec said as he closed the door. "The vultures have officially descended."

"Oh?" I asked. I was putting off turning around and looking at the kitchen, so instead, I stared at the now closed front door.

"Yea," he said as he stood next to me, not asking about my odd behavior. "I'm not even bothering to reset the first level traps until this dies down a bit. They keep tripping them."

"Sorry," I said. "Will you grab me the Advil? It's in the kitchen…"

"Sure," he replied as he jogged into the kitchen. "What are your plans for the day? Going to lab?"

"No," I replied, swallowing two pills without water. "I think I should stay away from places I'm likely to run into anyone two-natured."

"Besides me, of course," Alec said as he sat on the bottom step. "So where to, then? RJ and Syd took the dogs over to my place…their place…"

"So they're taking over your place, huh?" I replied. "I figured it's only a matter of time before Syd moved out. I'm kind of toxic; I wouldn't want to raise a child here."

"That's what I assumed, too. So, can I move in here?" he asked sheepishly. "Wolves and babies…not a great idea."

"Sure," I replied. "We'll have to get a bigger bed for your room, though. I assume Syd is taking hers with her…"

He shrugged. "We can figure it all out later. So, where to?"

"David wants me over at his place by sundown, so I thought I'd just go over there now."

He checked his watch. "It's noon."

"I know," I replied. "But I can't stay here. I can't look at it…" I took a deep breath and propped my hands on my hips, leaning my head against the old wooden door. "I just need to get out of here."

"OK," he said as he stood, running his hand across my shoulders encouragingly as he passed. "I'll grab your stuff, then we're off. You don't have to come back here until you're ready, OK?"

I just nodded.

.

"Please state your name," chirped David's automatic security system.

"Alex…ander Bourdain," Alec said as he preceeded me into the darkened condo. He flipped a switch on the wall like an old pro, flooding the pitch black condo in artificial light before he deposited my backpack on the floor just inside the door.

"Voice sample confirmed. Welcome, Alec."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said as Alec walked away from me, his gait carefree. "Too many questions right there."

"What?" he asked as he kept his back to me.

"Well, for one, why are you programmed into David's security system? Also, don't think I didn't catch that little hiccup when you said your name. You were about to say something else, weren't you?"

"I'm your protection, Sloane. I need to be allowed into any place you're allowed in to. I have a code at Cian's, too," he replied, ignoring the second half of the question.

"Do I need to beat the answer out of you?" I finally asked as I followed him into the living room, where he sat lounging on the leather couch. I circled the couch, standing so my legs were inches from his knees and perched my fists on my hips. "Spill."

"What?" he asked as he blushed. "I did just that; I hiccuped."

"Cut the shit," I said. "Spill or I'm taking the info I want by any means necessary."

He sighed, his shoulders falling a bit. "It's just…I need to keep some of my secrets for myself, OK? It's safer for you that way."

Wrong answer. I straddled his knees, perching myself on his lap, and plastered my hands on either side of his face. "No, Sloane," he said as I closed my eyes, only seconds later feeling his hands gently encircle my wrists. When I opened myself to the visions, they came barreling at me.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

_Shit_, I thought as she straddled my legs and perched herself on my lap. I leaned back away from her, saying, "No, Sloane," as she grabbed my face and closed her eyes. I was debating how pissed she'd be if I threw her across the room when, with a deep, cleansing sigh, her entire body went limp.

I caught her, laying her on the couch beside me before she fell back into the glass coffee table. "Sloane," I said as I crawled over her, intently staring at her face, as if I could will her to just wake the fuck up. "Shit, wake up, Sloane."

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Alec was an adorable child. RJ, too. I sat in the body of an orphanage councilor and Garou wolf, watching the two boys play in the water of the small lake behind the old mansion the orphanage was housed in. The wolf I was inhabiting glanced down, inspecting the sharp points she had filed her nails into. Once she approved, she crossed her legs and looked back up. Alec had RJ in a sleeper hold, his body just seconds away from shifting into the young wolf. "Alexei," she called to the two young boys. Alec's head swiveled until he was looking at her with foreign, amber eyes. "Leave Ramsay alone until he's big enough to fight back."

"Awww, come on," RJ said as Alec released him. "We were just goofing."

"Goof when you've got a fighting chance, Rams," I replied. "Aren't the other boys more your speed?"

RJ shrugged before pushing Alec playfully. "Alexei wouldn't hurt me, because if he did, I'd tell the girl he has a crush on that he likes her."

I shook my head at the boys as a smirk tugged at my face. "I've got my eyes on you two," I said, giving Alec a significant look in the mean time. The Garou children were supposed to shy away from the normal children; it was supposed to make it easier later on when the Garou would start to fight and the normal children would go on to get jobs or go to college. But Alexei, or Alec, didn't want to give Ramsay, or RJ up. And that concerned the Garou councilor. Ties to the outside world tended to give the fighters…qualms about what they were doing; a conscience, so to speak. Father didn't have quite the strangle hold on the fighters that he needed when they had friends on the outside world. And, short of killing Ramsay, which she didn't want to do, there wasn't really much she could do to separate them. But she would talk to Father about that soon. Maybe a crush is just what Alexei needs.

.

I opened my eyes; Alec was looming over me as I lay on my back. For a moment I panicked, but when I saw the concerned look in Alec's eyes, I latched on to both the look and his arms, forcing myself to calm down. "Please don't do that," I mumbled as relief flooded Alec's eyes.

His eyes panicked again. "What? Did I hurt you? Are you bleeding again?" he asked as he ran his hands down my torso, looking for wet spots. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," I said as I pushed myself into a sitting position, "but it's probably best not to lean over me like that until I can get…" _Didier out of my head,_ I finished for myself. "Just leave me some room, OK?"

"Sorry," he said as he sat back down on the other side of the couch. "You scared the shit out of me. I thought I'd killed you."

I smiled as I remembered the adorable little brunet boy in my vision, and the blond's certainty that he was safe. "Alexei wouldn't hurt me," I mumbled.

He jerked, then smiled. "I guess I shouldn't have even tried to keep a secret from you."

"Keep that in mind next time you try it," I replied. "Although I can see why RJ would want to take his name to the grave."

Alec snickered. "Ramsay," he replied as he shook his head, taking a wistful moment for himself. "It's nice to remember, though. I've been Alec for so long, I was starting to forget to Alexei Bordminov was."

"Why do they have to be two different people?" I asked. "Isn't a rose, by any other name, still a rose? You're still you," I said as I tapped my palm against his chest. "Alexei, Alec…it doesn't matter what I call you. You're still my big, cuddly wolf."

He looked up from where he had been staring with a small smile. "Thanks," he said. "Look, every once in a while, when no one's around, would you…"

"Sure thing, Alexei. I'll remind you."

.

I was exhausted. I had needed more sleep than usual ever since I woke up in London, something the doctors have said was normal, but this was getting ridiculous. After all, I felt like I just woke up. Still, I yawned as my stomach growled, which caused Alec to look up from his laptop. "You OK?" he asked.

I would have complained about him worrying all over me if I didn't feel so shitty. "Ugh," I complained instead as I allowed myself to topple over onto my side, my head landing on the soft throw pillow.

He laughed. "That good, huh?" he asked as he reached down and grabbed both of my ankles with one hand, then set them on the couch next to him.

"Ugh," I complained again. "I'm hungry, but I'm willing to bet David doesn't have any food in here."

"I'm surprised he has a kitchen," Alec replied. "We could order a pizza."

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at him. "I'm not the only one that's hungry, huh?"

He just grinned at me and produced a cell phone. "Do you think Bell's will deliver out here?"

.

Bell's does, in fact, deliver to Stadium District Condos. There was a knock on the door and I went to stand, but Alec vetoed that. "I'll get it," he said as he opened the door, triggering the electronic system to chirp in.

"Please state your name."

"Alexander Bourdain," he replied with a heavy eye roll in his voice.

"Voice sample confirmed. Welcome, Alec."

"Sorry," Alec mumbled. "New fangled security system. I have to figure out how to turn that off."

"No problem," replied a young sounding pizza boy. "That'll be fifteen dollars."

"Jesus, Alec," I called from my position on the couch. "What the hell did you order?"

"Two larges," he called as the front door shut. He waited until he rounded the corner and I could see him burdened with the pizzas to say, "What? I was hungry."

.

Two pieces in and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. "Really?" Alec asked. "You're already done? That's weak."

"I'm small, remember?" I answered as I leaned my head back against the back of the couch. "I don't…" I sighed, taking a moment to gather more strength and stave off another yawn, "eat as much as you." My eyes closed without my permission, only to jerk back open when I was momentarily back on the floor in my kitchen.

He finished off the crust of his fifth or sixth piece and tossed his napkin onto the coffee table with the rest of the pizza. "You want to watch some TV?" he asked as he grabbed the remote from underneath one of the pizza boxes.

"Sure," I mumbled as my eyes closed again. This time, they stayed that way.

.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Sloane's neck was tipped in an uncomfortable position as she fell asleep sitting up. "Hey," I whispered as she sighed and turned her head just enough to put her slightly off balance. Slowly, inch by inch, she slid toward me until her head finally came to rest on my bicep, when she sighed and fell into a deeper sleep. Carefully, as not to disturb her, I set my laptop down on the floor and simultaneously freed my arm from under her head, tucking her into my side as I tried to reach the throw tossed over the back of the couch just out of reach. It took me a few minutes of stretching, but I finally got enough of a grip that I could pull it over Sloane's legs without waking her. When she was warm and looked comfortable, I leaned back against the couch's arm, turned off the TV, and closed my own eyes. I doubted I was going to be able to take a nap, I never really had been able to, but I may as well try.

.

Something jerked me out of that pre-sleep state again. It was probably Sloane with another nightmare (or vision, how the hell am I to know the difference?). Only, when I concentrated on the warm body that was pressed against my side from ribcage to shin, she was still as could be, only the slight rise and fall of her stomach against my palm let me know she was even alive.

"Bourdain," said David. My eyes shot open as the rest of my body tightened and jerked, allowing me to see the vampire that was standing on the other side of the coffee table, strained blank expression on his face. I could feel my teeth sharpen and my jaw lengthen slightly into a muzzle. Sloane reacted to the movement in her sleep, turning her body away from my chest and toward not only the back of the couch, but my arm.

"Don't startle the wolf," I whispered as I took deep breaths, forcing my body back into its human form. "If my claws had come out, they'd be in Sloane's gut right now."

"David?" Sloane slurred in her sleep as she wormed her fingers between mine and took a grip of the hand at her stomach. "So warm."

When it was clear that Sloane had fallen comfortably back to sleep, O'Hara asked, "Perhaps you should not hold my bonded as a lover would, and I will not tear your throat out."

I stared at him, challenging him for a moment, until I remembered that he could glamour me into doing pretty much whatever he wanted. Then I dropped my gaze. "You need to make up your mind," I said as I glanced back at Sloane, giving me a reason to break the staring contest. "You said 'see to her when I cannot'," I said, trying to mimic his deep, throaty accent. "Does that include keeping the visions away, or not? What about nightmares? What if she's simply cold? At what point does your comfort override hers? I'd like to get the rules straight."

He bristled as I made my point. "She thinks I'm you, anyway," I said, unable to keep the slight disappointment from my voice. O'Hara liked that, a light coming to his eyes as he considered that. "And she's such a light sleeper, I don't want to move her. Now do you have a thermometer?"

Confusion bled into O'Hara's face. "A thermometer?" he asked. "For what purpose?"

"She's a little flushed, and she's been sleeping a lot. She hasn't really eaten a whole lot since she got back, at least not that I know of. I want to make sure she's not sick."

"Sick in what way?" David asked as he circled the couch and started moving toward the front hall.

"Like, a cold or something," I whispered.

O'Hara reemerged from the front hall carrying a small box. "Emma has given me this box of medical supplies for Sloane," he said as he set the box down on the coffee table. "What would a thermometer look like?"

"Like…" I said, trying to think of a way to explain the many different forms a thermometer could take. "Just give me the box."

"Give me my wife," David replied.

"You know what? Come try and take her."

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I was hot. Really hot. Like, sitting on the surface of the sun hot. And while it felt good in the cool air of David's apartment, it confused the hell out of me. But when I opened my eyes, I knew why I was hot.

"Just give me the box," Alec grumbled, which I could feel vibrate though his chest at my back.

"Give me my wife," David replied coolly.

"You know what? Come try and take her," Alec replied, his grip on my fingers tightening faintly.

"Excuse me," I said as I rolled on to my back, pressing myself tightly between the back of the couch and Alec's body before I sat up. A shiver ran down my spine at the assault of the cool air. "Your who, David?" My whole body ached, including my head, and when I sat up, I about groaned.

"My wife," David replied. "That would be you."

"Did we get married and I forgot?" I needed to pee. And I wanted a Pepsi. And I wanted to crawl back into bed and just stay there until about Independence Day.

"I would be hurt if you had forgotten that lovely little ceremony," David replied. "I in a suit, and you in a lovely cocktail dress; you handed me an ornate dagger."

"Oh, yea," I replied as I attempted to extract myself from between the couch and the wolf beside me. "That."

David smiled. "Glad to know it made an impression."

I quit trying to get off the couch. Instead, I just settled into the position I was in, my legs flung haphazardly over Alec's, my back pressed against the back of the couch. "Are you just going to watch me struggle, or are you going to help me up?" I asked the amused vampire.

"I thought you would never ask," he said as he lifted me free of the couch and set me down on my feet. I groaned. "Look for your instrument, Wolf," David said.

"Here," Alec replied as if he had been ignoring the entire exchange. When I turned to look at him, he was rooting through a box, a long, slender item in his hand.

"What are you two doing?" I asked as David took the item and uncapped it, studying the machine as if he had never used one before. It was a small digital thermometer, like the ones you stick in kids' mouths when they're trying to fake sick. Well, I suppose he probably never had used one before. "Are you going to take your temperature?" I asked, a smile in my voice.

"I was going to take yours," he replied as he handed me the machine.

"Take yours first," I replied.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked at me. "For what reason?"

"I want to see what it says," I replied. And I wanted him to give me time to pee and take some Advil before he started poking and prodding me incessantly.

"How?" he asked ask he studied the slender machine again.

I pressed the on button and stuck the end in his mouth, burrowing it under his tongue. "Keep it there until it beeps. And don't talk." Once he gave me a look that clearly said, _why do I indulge you, again?_, I hobbled my way into the bathroom and shut the door.

I was still in the bathroom when I heard the thermometer beep. "What does it say?" I called through the door before I opened it while continuing to dry my hands.

"Seventy two point six," David replied. "It is blinking red at me."

"I would be concerned, too, if I didn't know you were dead," I replied as I took the thermometer and read it for myself. With a short chuckle, I looked up and said, "Why am I taking my temperature, again?"

"You look flushed," David said. "Would you please just do it for me?"

I pouted, lowered myself back onto the couch (away from Alec's still sprawled legs), and stuck the instrument in my mouth. "Happy?" I garbled around the thermometer.

"No talking," David replied.

I waited the thirty seconds for the thermometer to beep at me, too, then pulled it from my mouth. An even one hundred degrees. Considering I had just spent a significant amount of time pressed up against someone that ran much, much hotter, I considered that acceptable. "See?" I said as I tossed it at David. "I'm just fine you worry wart."

"Is this not high for you?" David asked as he looked back at Alec for confirmation. As if he didn't trust me to give him a straight answer. Because I probably wouldn't.

"Don't look at me," Alec said as he looked at the temperature on the thermometer. "I run at about one-oh-five."

"It's fine," I answered. "When you consider who I spent most of the day sitting next to, then I'd say it's just fine."

"I will call Emma," David replied. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and immediately started dialing.

"Or don't listen to me," I mumbled as I headed back toward the open bedroom door. I opened the drawer that held most of the sweaters that stayed here and surveyed my options. When I finally picked one that at least didn't clash with my Henley, I pulled it over my head and rejoined the guys in the living room.

"More pizza?" Alec asked as he picked over the two pies that had been sitting out on the counter top since I had fallen asleep.

"No, Pepsi," I replied as I opened the fridge. Of course, the only thing in the entire spotless space was a few packs of True Blood and enough Pepsi for a small army. "Oh, God, yes," I mumbled as I opened the frosty 20 ounce and took my first sip.

David finished up his conversation as I settled into one of his kitchen table chairs. "So?" I asked. "Is she coming over to poke and prod me or what?"

"She says that, while it is high, it does not warrant action—yet."

"Great," I replied. "Well, in that case, we have things to discuss."

Interest covered David's face. "Oh?"

"Yea. There was a reporter on my front steps today," I said. David's eyebrows furrowed as he looked to Alec, who just nodded his head in agreement. I searched my back pockets until I found the card he had given me. When I found it, I handed it to David. "From Time Magazine. He wants to do some feel-good story about our 'inter species' relationship for some upcoming issue."

David studied the card. "This man has approached me before. I told him that you were a private person and would not like the spotlight."

"Well, that's true," I replied, "but he had a point. It would be great press, and if it gets some of this media feeding frenzy off our back, it might be worth it."

David leaned down and left a light kiss on my lips. "How very wise of you," he replied. "I will set it up."

"I told him I'd call him tomorrow with an answer," I added.

When he just smiled at me, I fidgeted. His face fell minutely as he regarded my fidgeting. "Was there something else?" he asked.

"You're going to hate this idea," I replied. He didn't say anything, he just waited for me to continue with a pleasant look on his face. "I think we should bring Cian…you know, tell the world."

Not his favorite idea.


	161. Chapter 161

Alec left to get some sleep and run some errands, which left David, Cian, and me sitting in David's kitchen.

I was concentrating on the Pepsi in front of me, swiping at the irregular patterns in the condensation. Neither David and Cian had touched the True Bloods in front of them, they were more interested in staring at me.

"So?" I asked. I had explained what I wanted to do, which was give Time Magazine the real scoop, with all three of us, and air the dirty laundry. That was several minutes ago. Neither of them had said anything since. Actually, neither of them had _moved_ since. "It's going to come out eventually," I added when they made no indication that they were still on this planet. "Wouldn't it be good to control when and how?"

"This would…" David started before he reconsidered what he was going to say. "Polyandry…" He stopped that sentence, too.

"You would become a pariah," Cian finally said. "David is right; polyandry is still hugely taboo in this country. In most any country, in fact. People would hate you; they'd target you."

"I don't really care," I replied.

"Why are you so passionate about this?" David asked. "Our arrangement has been sufficient up until now, why the sudden desire to change it?"

"That's just it," I replied. "It hasn't been sufficient. He can say what he wants, but Cian's getting the short end of the stick, here." I looked at the blue-eyed vampire. "I want to make this fair for you. I want to make you happy." I looked over at David. "I want you _both _to be happy."

"Ah," Cian said as he looked at David. "Sorry, David, but this one is my fault."

"How so?" David asked.

"I had, in passing months ago, mentioned a few things to Sloane about the dynamics of our relationship. I had told her how I wished for more." Cian turned his attention to me, softening his gaze as he spoke. "This is not the way to make me happy," Cian said as he pulled one of my hands from their busywork and up to his lips.

"Then how?" I said.

"The fact that you are willing to make yourself enemy number one to make me happy is enough to do so," he said as he trailed kisses up my arm.

"Perhaps she has a point, though," David replied. "This is unfair to you, old friend."

"True," he responded as he laid a light kiss against my cheek. "Shall we negotiate?"

David smirked as Cian continued to nibble at me. "What is your opening bid?"

"Are you two seriously going to bid on me?" I asked.

"Six nights a week," Cian started, ignoring my objections, "unlimited gifts _without complaint_," he added as he nudged me, "and four months of uninterrupted time to vacation with Sloane."

David countered immediately. "Four nights a week with one month of uninterrupted time to vacation. And I have no control over attempting to give her gifts."

"Four nights," Cian agreed, "two months of vacation time, unlimited gifts, and special privileges within the kingdom."

David's eyes narrowed. "Privileges like what?" David asked.

"To be determined later, when the opportunity arises."

David stared at Cian, who went back to nuzzling himself into my neck. "Deal," David finally agreed.

"Excuse me?" I asked as Cian laid one last kiss on my lips and leaned back into his own chair. Both of the vampires looked at me expectantly. "You really expect me to just ignore that?"

"What, Love?" David asked.

"You just bid on me like I was an antique table!" They both gave me looks that read, _your point?_ "You know what? Fine. But no gifts, and no vacation time."

Cian pouted. "Why not?"

"When am I going to vacation, Cian? It's not something that really works its way into either my budget or my time-line."

"Then move in with me," he replied. "Two months a year, you live with me."

I sighed. I didn't need my clairvoyance to see this conversation was never going to end unless he got his way. "I'll think about it," I said. Maybe I could put it off long enough that he'd forget. I looked up at his intent eyes and simultaneously knew that 1) he would not forget, and 2) I would do just about anything to make him happy. "But no gifts," I added grumpily.

"I'll think about it," he parroted back at me. With a triumphant grin, he lifted me out of the chair and kissed me deeply. Sometimes, like when he knows he's about to get his way in something very important to him, you can get a glimpse of the boy that Cian had been. And it was worth every second. "What are you smiling at?" he asked as he lowered me back down to my feet.

"Nothing," I replied, my smile shaping my voice. "So, since I don't get a say in all this, who's night is it tonight?"

"Whose night would you like it to be?" David asked.

"We're in this because I couldn't choose, what makes you think I'd start now?" I asked. "I want you both."

.

Cian stayed and helped us go through the pile of interview requests, cameo offers, and business deals that had been offered to me and/or David since I had fallen ill, and a few that predated our trip to France. I had no idea there had been so many.

"Oh," Cian said as he read the offer, his eyes lighting up. "Playboy centerfold. Please say yes."

"No," I replied as I leaned against David's chest. I craned my neck so I could look up at him. "Why would you even keep that one?" David just smiled and kissed the tip of my nose in response.

"Hustler?" Cian asked next.

"No," I replied.

"You are no fun," Cian replied as he shuffled through the remainder of the pile. "This is for both of you: would you like to endorse…"

"No," I replied. "Nothing where I have to either a: take my clothes off, or b: act."

"I'm not sure a product endorsement is acting, Sloane," David replied. "As I remember, that was a jeweler, correct?"

Cian nodded. "Christmansen Jewelers, New York City."

"Are endorsements really the image we want to project?" I asked. "I'd rather do something with a charity than a jeweler, anyway."

David kissed my head. "That is a wonderful idea."

"The American Red Cross," Cian added. I burst out laughing before David said, "Clever."

In the end, we decided on giving three interviews (two with accompanying photo shoots) and one charity endorsement, charity to be decided on later. I was hoping it wouldn't be the Red Cross. Don't get me wrong, they have a great message, and the comedy of a vampire endorsing the Red Cross obviously appealed to me, but at some point I'd probably have to give blood, and just the thought of it made the color drain from my face.

As it stood now, I was lounging between the two vampires on the couch, my head tucked into Cian's chest and my legs in David's lap, as they reminisced about living during prohibition. I was barely aware that David was still speaking as he said, "I made quite a bit of money during prohibition. Tell a reasonable man that he cannot have something anymore, and regardless of whether or not he wanted it in the first place, he now cannot live without it." My eyes were closing without my permission as I fought to stay awake and listen.

Cian pshawed. "I had no need for money at that time," he said. "I preferred the women!"

David laughed. "With a maker like Eric, I suppose you never hurt for money."

"He was not a rich man when he made me," Cian replied. "Together, however…together, we made enough to live quite comfortably."

"Hence the women," David added.

"So willful, so strong, so wild," Cian reminisced. "And the haircuts were phenomenal."

"That was when Emma cut her hair," David replied.

"I remember her long hair," Cian added. "Beautiful curls, but the mass overwhelmed her small frame." The two sat in amiable silence a moment before Cian said, "Do you remember Pam's hair? Ha!"

David laughed. "I do not think I will ever get that image out of my mind."

"I teased her mercilessly," Cian added. "Until Eric ordered me to go back to London, that is."

"Were the women not as wild and free in London Town, then?" David asked.

"Not nearly," Cian replied. "Going from New Orleans to London was quite a change. Although I was glad to be home."

"Do you miss London now?" David asked.

"Of course," Cian replied. "It was my home for nearly four hundred years. Half my immortal life. But I am happier here."

.

Cian was still lounging on the couch with me against his chest when I almost rolled off the edge of the couch while only half awake. One handed, Cian caught me and rolled me back onto his chest before going back to what he was doing. "Good morning," Cian said as I sat up, trying to roll the cricks out of my neck. "Why you insist on falling asleep on couches confounds me. You always end up tumbling off them." I laid a light kiss on his lips before he continued, "You should be required to confine yourself to the direct center of large, plush beds."

"But then I wouldn't need you to catch me when I fall," I said as I pushed myself up. My entire body groaned when I got to my full height, complete with an ear shattering crack that came from my hip.

"You can always use me for other things," he said suggestively. I laughed, straddling his lap and wrapping my arms around him. Gently, I ground myself against him, which earned me a view of his stunning fangs and an appreciative growl. "I was such a good boy while you were gone," he said as he pressed a few teasing kisses down my neck, running his fangs against my skin just over my jugular. "There were so many offers I turned down, so many empty beds I could have filled," he continued. "Do I get a treat?"

"Depends," I said as I ran my hands up his sweater. When my hands were within reach, I took a good grip of his dreadlocks and maneuvered his head until his mouth was inches from mine, lips open. "Why did you turn them down?"

Cian's voice sounded dreamy. "They were not you," he whispered, his lips moving against mine as he spoke. I grabbed his lower lip with my teeth, holding it there for just a moment before kissing him deeply. He moaned into my mouth.

"Right answer," I replied. I continued to kiss him, touch him, love him, and he let me grind myself on top of him lightly, even taking control of my hips and doing it for me. When his hands roamed up under my sweater and started to play with the line of my bra, however, I gasped and pulled away quickly.

"Do we need to stop?" Cian asked gently. The tenderness in his gaze, the caring in his voice, warmed me. You just can't fake that kind of love.

"No," I said as I relaxed back into him, gently trailing my fingers down the side of his face as I stared into those midnight eyes. He tilted his head, laying his cheek firmly in my palm. His lips parted ecstatically as I touched him, held him. "Just let me do the undressing," I whispered into his lips before lying a light kiss on them.

"Mmm," Cian said as he leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. "A striptease. Please, go on."

I stood, my knees almost touching his, and pulled off my sweater slowly to reveal the Henley beneath it. "Tease," he said with a frown. I giggled as I stripped off my socks in a rather ungainly move, which left Cian less than impressed. When he was about to object, I turned my back to him and unbuttoned my jeans, only a momentary panic attack pouring through my system before I could continue. Well, until I forced myself to continue. Slowly, I started pulling down the jeans inch by inch, revealing the bright blue panties I was wearing. "Mmmm," Cian moaned again. "This is starting to get good." When I had my jeans down around my knees, I let the fabric go and let them slump at my feet. And nothing bad happened. I smiled hesitantly before, with my back still toward Cian, I slowly pulled the Henley up over my head. _I'm OK_, I told myself as the Henley hit the floor beside me. _I'm in my underwear and I'm OK. Cian's not going to let anything happen._

"While I love the view from back here," Cian said as he slowly, gently laid his hands on my hips, which elicited only a slight jump on my part, "I prefer to see you from the front." Lips landed feather-light on my lower back as his hands roamed forward and started to play with the hem of my panties.

Just as Cian was gently turning me toward him, David emerged from his office and leaned against the wall. He smiled at me, and I pulled strength from his nonchalance, from the tenderness in his gaze. How could anything bad happen, ever, when these two men loved me this much? Then, when I had just managed to smile back at David, Cian pulled my attention back to him when he nipped at my belly button.

"I must go over to the Complex," David said before he laid a kiss on my lips. He lingered as I continued to kiss him, even winding my hand up in his hair so I could hold him to me. When Cian gently cupped his hands behind my knees and pulled me toward him so I was straddling him again, David released me from the kiss. "I will not be long," he said as he gave me a hungry look.

Cian and I were alone, and I was wearing nothing but my bra and panties, straddling him. "Tell me if you need to stop," he said as he kissed a line up between my breasts, his arms wrapped around my back so he could better reach me. "Do not push yourself on my account."

I buried my hands in his hair and ground myself into him. I couldn't come up with a verbal response, so I yanked his deads, pulling him away from my breasts, and kissed him deeply. His grip on my waist tightened as he moaned into my lips. "Don't stop," I finally said into his mouth. I licked one fang, then the other, before I nibbled on his lower lip again. "Hold me tight."

His arms tightened around my back, just tight enough to let me know he was there but not tight enough to hurt. "Tell me what you want me to do, Mistress," he said. "Command me, I am yours."

"Unhook my bra," I said as I used my own hands to unbuckle his belt. I was so sure of him, so sure of us. Instantly, my bra was undone and he was pulling it off my shoulders and throwing it to the side. His focus immediately moved from feeding at my mouth to paying my breasts more than adequate attention as I fumbled with the button of his jeans, and then the zipper. He moaned and jerked as I freed him and took him in my hand, gently rubbing the most sensitive areas.

"And now?" he asked as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the back of the couch.

Now was as good a time as any. I reached down and pulled my panties to the side before I slid onto him, releasing ecstatic moans from the both of us. "Make love to me, Cian."

Cian did as he was told. It took half an hour at his slow, lingering pace, but when that first orgasm came, he had me screaming his name. And when my hips tired and my body no longer wanted to cooperate, he moved so we were lying on our sides on the floor as he continued his slow, gentle assault of my body. He had touched me with such tenderness, tears dropped from my eyes, only to be kissed away as Cian held me close.

"Lie to me, Cian," I said as he gathered me into his side as we laid naked, draped in a blanket on the floor in David's living room.

He lifted his head so he could look at me, but when I tucked my teary eyes farther into his chest, he gave up trying and laid his head back down. "Lie to you?" he asked. "About what?"

"Tell me it'll all be OK. That I'll be able to go back to my life, and that you'll be happier this time around…"

"I could tell you that, but it would not be a lie," he replied as his phone buzzed across the glass coffee table above us. He grabbed said phone, holding it deliberately so I couldn't see the screen as he checked his text message.

"Other girlfriend?" I asked as he set the phone back where it had been.

"David," he replied. "He wants me to take your temperature?"

I rolled my eyes for only my benefit; I still wasn't giving Cian the chance to see any remnants of panicky pain in them. "He's worse than my mom sometimes."

"Are you ill?" Cian asked. "You seem…different to me."

"I'm fine. Alec told David that I've been sleeping a lot, something that the doctors say is completely normal, by the way, and because it was a little high the last time he checked it, now Emma has David checking my temperature every half hour, seemingly."

"Then you are ill," Cian replied.

"No, I fell asleep next to a shifter who runs very, very hot. It was probably just a contact fever," I said as he freed himself from the blanket and wrapped it around me. Like a contact high, only with temperature.

"How high was it?"

"One hundred," I replied. As he lifted me from the ground, I asked, "Where are we going?"

"To bed with you," he said as he carried me through the kitchen.

"Why?" I pouted as I tried to wiggle out of his arms. No such luck.

"So you may rest and get better," he replied as he set me down in David's bed.

He had barely turned around when I grabbed his hand and slithered out of bed. "I just woke up," I complained, "and I'd rather hang out with you."

"I will be right back," he said as he extracted his hand from my grip. "I am just getting…"

"No," I said as I grabbed his hand again. My heart had started racing as soon as he had pulled away and irrational fear rocked through me. I could be alone in a room; I'd done it a million times before. So then, why is the prospect of Cian leaving me in here alone so terrifying? I suddenly felt a very real urge to cover my naked body and curl into a ball, but I wouldn't let myself give into it. I was OK, God dammit. I shouldn't be afraid because there's nothing here to be afraid of. And, what's more, I don't need the borderline scrawny vampire that stood before me to protect me. I can handle myself.

I looked up into Cian's worried eyes as he stopped in the middle of the room, his hand now gripping mine. Sometimes bonds are nice; they give insight into the mindset of someone you may not understand as much as you think you do. And at the moment, looking into Cian's eyes, I could tell that he knew something had terrified me, even though he had no idea as to what. "Just…wait a minute." _Just until I can get this irrational shit under control_, I added for myself. Cian just nodded slowly, so we stood there, naked and hand in hand in the middle of the bedroom, for what felt like hours before I could get my body to listen to my head. Finally, I made myself release his hand. "OK," I said stiffly. "I'm going to get dressed."

"I will be but a moment," he replied before giving me one last look and disappearing from the room. You could always tell how upset or frazzled he is by how he talks; the more old-fashioned his sentence structure, the more frazzled. It's like he forgets to translate whatever runs through his mind into a modern sentence before it comes out of his mouth. And saying something like 'I will be but a moment' usually meant he was about one stubbed toe away from reverting all the way back to Gaelic.

I grabbed a pajama set that David has stocked in his room and threw it on before climbing into his California king sized bed, tucking myself under the covers and leaning against the headrest. I had barely gotten comfortable before Cian was back. He had put his boxers on, nothing more, and had my Pepsi in one hand and the thermometer in the other. When I pulled down the comforter, inviting him to join me in the bed, he just gave me an amused look. "What?" I asked.

"You wish me to join you in my King's marital bed?" he asked.

"Stop worrying all over me and get in," I said. "Unless you're afraid of what David will do when he gets back…" I added, challenging him.

He's an easy mark. His eyes narrowed before he slid under the covers, allowing me to curl into his side as I triggered the TV to rise from the foot board. Wordlessly, he handed me the thermometer. I pouted back at him, but complied. If it made him feel better and stop talking like it was the 1800's, I'd do it. When the machine beeped thirty seconds later and still read an even hundred, I frowned.

"Are you ill?" he asked, responding to my facial expression. I had purposefully positioned myself so that he couldn't see the thermometer's readout (just in case).

"Error message," I lied as I cleared the data. Must have been some sort of glitch. Even if I did have a fever, it wouldn't read the exact same temperature, especially considering the differences in circumstances. I started the machine again and stuck it under my tongue. When it beeped in another thirty seconds, it read the same thing: one hundred degrees even. "Huh," I replied as I shoved it at him. "Here, take yours."

"For what reason?" he asked.

"Because I want to make sure it's working," I replied. At least I'd know that if it told me Cian was one hundred degrees, too, that something was broken. He rolled his eyes at me, but stuck it under his tongue like I showed him and took his temperature. Eighty one point five. "Well crap," I said.

"You are ill?"

"No," I replied quickly. "I'm fine, I just have a bit of a fever for some reason."

"What is your temperature?" he asked.

"One hundred," I replied. When he went to get out of bed, I whined, "Are you really going to tell David?"

"I am going to tell Emma," he replied as he instantly climbed back into the bed, this time phone in hand.

I pouted at him. "She's going to come over here and poke and prod me," I said with an exaggerated frown.

"It is too close to sunrise for her to come here now," David replied as he entered his bedroom. I hadn't even heard the security system engage when the front door had opened. He stripped off his shirt and his shoes at the same time, then pulled his belt off before climbing into the bed opposite of Cian. "And with only one shifter allowed within a one mile radius of you, Dr. Lupe is out of the running, as well." He looked at me as if he disapproved, but without some other option out there, he was stuck with it. I mean, it wasn't like he was going to let someone he didn't know anywhere near me. Sometimes, it's hard to tell who is more territorial: vampires or werewolves.

"Wait," I said as I sat up straighter. "If it's close to sunrise, then why are you still here, Cian?"

"I was waiting for David to get home," he said quietly as he kissed my temple. "I have a few moments yet before I have to leave." Well, at least he was talking more like I was used to.

I pouted and kissed him, which made him smile, before I turned and kissed David.

.

Cian dressed and left; I worried that he wasn't going to be able to make it home, but David assured me that he would be fine. "He's an old bat," David had said. "He will no doubt be fine."

David had lasted another 15 minutes before he kissed me, tucked me under his arm as he settled into the bed, and died for the day. I laid there for a little while, comforted by David's presence even if he was dead, watching the horrible early morning TV before I heard the security system chirp. "Please state your name."

"Alexander Bourdain," Alec said breathlessly as the door slammed behind him.

"Voice sample confirmed. Welcome, Alec."

"Sorry I'm late," Alec said as he walked through the condo. I couldn't see him moving, but I mapped his progress as his voice bounced off the walls in different ways. He was heading toward the living room. "I got caught in…Sloane?"

"Bedroom," I replied just loud enough so he would hear.

"Oh, uh…" he stuttered as he stood at the threshold of the bedroom. "Well, I'll just be in the living room, then."

"Will you bring me a piece of that cold pizza?" I asked as he whipped around, putting his back to me.

"Uh, sure," he replied as he started walking away briskly, his head down. I frowned at his back; I wasn't sure why he was being so…so. I knew it wasn't because he'd never seen a vampire sleeping before, he'd come to get me at Cian's house once when I wasn't keeping it together so well and, while mildly freaked out, he'd even touched Cian. So what was different now?

When he returned, he had two pieces of pizza on one of the plates that had since appeared in David's condo, a paper towel folded up like a napkin, and a fresh Pepsi. And his eyes were slammed shut as tight as he could make them. He tried walking with them closed, but he jammed his foot into the side of the bed and swore. "What's with you?" I asked.

"You and David are both bare-assed and in your guy's bed," he answered as he stopped dead on the other side of the bed from me and held out the food. "I'm trying not to intrude."

I looked down. I suppose, with the comforter pulled all the way up to my armpits and the tank to the pajama set being thin-strapped and close to my skin color, I could look nude. And David never sleeps in a shirt, so his bare chest gleamed in the light the TV threw.

Instead of taking the pizza, I sat up and threw the comforter back, revealing that both David and I were clothed. "Its fine, Alec, open your eyes."

He barely opened one eye, saw that we were both clothed, and let out a huge sigh of relief. "Good, you're wearing shorts," he said as he handed me the pizza. "I wasn't sure what my wolf was going to do if he realized that you were naked in bed with someone other than me."

I was midway through taking my first bite of cold pizza when I stopped. "Um…," I started before I returned the pizza to the plate. "What?"

He shrugged. "My wolf claimed you as his mate, my mate, when we…yea," he started. "Most of the time, vampires track as dead things to my wolf and don't bother him, but I don't want to chance triggering his territorial instincts in case he took offense."

I just looked at him a moment, mulling over what he had just told me. First of all, I was having a hard time understanding that Alec's wolf was different from Alec, or at least Alec considered it that way. Also, I was struggling with the whole 'mate' thing. I mean, it wasn't that I didn't want to belong to Alec in some sort of weird primitive way, I could think of worse things, but I had enough on my plate at the moment. "Sloane?" he finally asked. "Are you alright?"

I guess I had been silent longer than I thought I had. "Just trying to understand," I said. "Do I need to get out of bed?"

"If I were going to stay, probably," he said, "but I'll be in the living room, so it shouldn't bother him." Quickly, he turned around and marched out of the bedroom. "Holler if you need anything," he said over his shoulder.


	162. Chapter 162

Nightmare. This had to be a nightmare. I was surrounded by blackness; I could only see about three feet in front of me as I ran down an endless hallway. I wasn't sure what I was running from, but I was sure that it was going to eat me.

My foot caught on something I couldn't see, sending me sprawling across the floor. Terrified, I scrambled back up to my feet. When I looked up, I saw Filipe standing in front of me, dark eyes gleaming with malice. I gasped and turned to run as he reached for me, but when I turned around, what had been pursuing me for what felt like eons was right in front of me. The glowing yellow eyes of a black caracal cat filled my vision as it lunged for me. I fell back screaming, the weight of the Eurasian lynx holding me down, while he struck at my neck, his sharp teeth rending my flesh as Filipe laughed.

I could swear I felt those long, sharp teeth still tearing at me as I bolted upright in bed. "Shh," Alec cooed frantically as I pulled my hands free of his and groped at my own neck. "Please stop screaming."

My breath came heavily as I tried to get my heart rate back in check, but I had stopped screaming, like Alec had asked. "Jesus," I mumbled as I flopped back onto the bed, my head landing on a plush pillow. I hadn't realized my hands were shaking until I raised them to push the hair out of my face. Instead, I just tucked them out of sight.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

_No, not even a little. _"Yea."

"Can we try and keep the screaming to a minimum, please?" Alec asked as he brushed his own hair away from his face. "My wolf is already restless when I'm around you, and if you keep doing that…"

"Trust me," I said as I rolled toward him, "it's not on my list of fun things, either."

His eyes softened. "Sorry, I know that." He looked at me for a moment, and I looked back; I could have sworn I saw something foreign flash behind his eyes for a moment before they were back to their usual multicolored hue. I tried to school my features into a mask of serenity, instead, fisting the edge of the silken comforter. "Stay here," he said as he shot to his feet and jogged out of the room. I could hear rustling coming from the kitchen, and I sat up to ask him what the hell he was doing, but before I could ask, he returned with an apple and shoved it toward me. "Take this."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "An apple? Why?" I asked as I took the fruit from him anyway.

"I'm a dominant wolf, Sloane. I'm protecting and providing for my mate."

I kept my eyebrow raised. "By giving me an apple?" I asked.

He let out a frustrated sigh and perched his hands on his hips. "If we were both really wolves and you were upset, I'd go hunting and bring you back something to eat. Would you rather I have brought you a dead rabbit?" he asked. I scrunched my nose, letting him know that, no, that was not acceptable. "That's what I thought. Please eat it."

It was my turn to sigh. "I will eat it under protest. I don't like apples," I said before I took a bite. It was a green apple, so it was tart, and juicier than I was anticipating. I actually enjoyed it.

His eyebrows furrowed. "Then why does David have them in his fridge?"

I shrugged. Who knows why David does the things he does. For all I know, he didn't know they were apples. Or he didn't put 2 and 2 together, realizing that if I don't like apple juice, I probably am not going to like apples, either. "Mmm," I mumbled as I took another bite. "This is actually good." I took another bite and swallowed it. "Really good."

I ate the thing down to the core while Alec watched. When I was finished, I asked, "Better?"

"Better," he replied. With a nod to acknowledge him, I threw back the comforter and got out of bed. He followed me out of the bedroom and to the kitchen, where I threw away the apple core, and then towards the bathroom. He tried to follow me into the bathroom, but I put a hand on his chest.

"I'm going to pee, Alec," I said. With a blush, he smiled, turned around, and marched into the living room.

I left the bathroom with my head lowered so I could more easily pull what remained of my hair into a ponytail. "Hey, do you…" I started when I bumped into a hard chest. Startled, I pushed myself away from the stranger with a humiliatingly girly scream, landing square on my ass before I even thought to look up and see whose light grey trousered legs I had bumped in to. I was scuttling away before my mind processed _I know him, he's OK. He's not going to hurt me._

Alec was between Achrann and me in an instant, body poised and ready for a fight. Achrann, surprised at Alec's readiness to pounce, held his hands out as if he were unarmed. But he wasn't unarmed. His two gleaming silver Berettas were tucked underneath his arms in their holsters. Alec was still going to pounce.

I pushed myself up to my knees and grabbed Alec's hand, but he just flicked me away without even looking back at me. _What the hell would sidetrack a wolf?_ I asked myself as Achrann started backing up. "I do not wish to hurt you, Garou, but attack me and I will," he said calmly.

"I have to," Alec said through gritted teeth. "My wolf's in charge, and you hurt my mate." Achrann could not have looked more surprised if he tried. His eyebrows shot up as he looked from Alec to me and back again.

If Alec was a dominant, then Achrann needed to be a submissive if we were going to get through this without and blood. "Get on your knees, Achrann," I said as I backed away.

"Absolutely not," Achrann replied. "I would be defenseless if he attacked."

With a frustrated sigh, I begged, "Please?"

"No."

_Fucking men,_ I grumbled in my head as I backed farther away, almost into the bedroom. I put the kitchen island between the men and me, hoping that if I couldn't see them that they couldn't see me, laid down on my back, closed my eyes, and screamed bloody murder.

_That's how you sidetrack a wolf,_ I thought as I felt Alec drop to his knees beside me and gather me into his arms. "Sloane, Sloane," he said frantically as he checked me for injuries.

I forced myself to stay limp until well after Alec stopped growling at Achrann and waited until it was obvious that Alec was back in control before I flung my arms around Alec's neck and said, "I wonder if that'll work when David and Cian fight…." Not that I've ever seen them fight (while in their right minds, at least), but it would be a good nugget to remember for later.

"Sloane," Alec said as he looked down at me, relieved. Then his face turned from relief to anger. "You _faked_ that?" Oh. He was mad at me, but only for a second before he really thought it through. Then his face softened as he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against mine. "That was stupid, I could have shifted and torn this whole place apart," he said as he held me tight.

"But you didn't, you came to the rescue of your damsel in distress, didn't you?" With a sly grin, I added, "Aren't you just the most valiant wolf."

"Yea yea yea," he replied. "You're laughing now, but just wait. I'm not letting you go for a second. Next time you have to pee, you'll do it holding my hand."

"Well, then," I said as he lifted me from the ground and carried me into the living room, "let's hope Achrann can fix this before I have to pee again."

It's as if mentioning his name reminded Alec that Achrann was still in the room. "Where the hell have you been?" Alec asked as he lowered me into his lap. We were there for a second before Alec hoisted himself back to his feet, me still in-arm, and carried me into the kitchen again. "It's been two days," he said with his head in the fridge. "What if Sloane was hurt?"

"She was not," Achrann replied from the leather chair in the living room.

Alec still had his head in the fridge as he held me to him. As a shiver ran down my spine, I said, "Shit or get off the pot, Alec. I'm cold."

Alec grabbed another apple with the hand that was currently wrapped around my back and closed the door. "Would you mind explaining what the problem is so I may determine if I am even needed here?" Achrann asked. "I have important business in Fairy."

Alec circled the couch and set me back in his lap before he tucked the throw around my legs and handed me the apple. "Again?" I complained.

"You did it to yourself," Alec replied. "Eat it."

I shot him a rather unfriendly look before I took a bite of my second apple today. "I'm driving the shifters apeshit," I replied to Achrann's question between bites.

Achrann sat for a moment, watching me eat an apple in Alec's lap, before he asked, "How so?"

Alec told the story of what happened when I first arrived back home while I finished my apple. Thankfully, he didn't go into the details of what happened after he left; instead, he left it in the abstract as he tightened his arm around me. I showed him the apple core with a glare on my face before I tried to stand so I could throw it away. "Nope," Alec said as he held me right where I was and plucked the core from my hand. He tossed it onto the coffee table before settling back in. "You're not going anywhere after that stunt."

"However interesting it is to watch you struggle with your wolf," Achrann said, "I do not see how you need me."

"It's like when David and Cian started going after my neck," I replied. "Only the shifters don't have blood in mind."

Achrann seemed to pick up on what was going on; he stood and slowly approached, keeping one eye on Alec's response. "May I see your tattoos?"

I frowned at him, but raised my hands up so he could examine my wrists. After a moment of contemplation, he examined the tattoos at my feet, then moved on to the one at my neck. "Ahh," Achrann said as he ran his finger down my spine, sending a shiver through my whole body. "Yes, there is a problem."

"What?" Alec asked as he shifted me on his lap so he could see the back of my neck. I sighed, letting the two men poke and prod at me.

"You see this, here," Achrann replied as his fingers landed butterfly soft on the back of my neck. "Sloane, please show me your wrist again." I did as I was told, lifting my wrist up so he could see both my neck and wrist at the same time. "Do you see the difference?" Achrann asked Alec. "This line here," he said as his fingers traced my neck, "does not match this line here," he said as he traced another line on my wrist.

"She did the tattoo wrong?" Alec asked.

"No, I do not believe so, or else this problem would have surfaced much earlier," Achrann replied as Alec settled me back in his lap. "What were you doing just before this became a problem?"

"Well, I was in a coma for a while, then I had to stay at the hospital in London…"

"Why were you in a coma?" Achrann asked, his voice finally showing more concern.

I shrugged. "Had to go get Cian," I replied. Achrann just looked at me, confusion covering his face. So I expounded. "I used the marks to take over the wills of a room full of vampires for about half an hour so I could get Cian back from France's queen."

"Ah," Achrann replied. "You were told not to use the tattoos, correct?" I nodded yes. "Yet you did anyway."

"It was my fault he was there; I was going to get him out. I had to."

"And you knew it could kill you," he asked. Again, I nodded. "I am not obligated to help you because you have done this to yourself," he said. Before Alec could get all pissy, Achrann continued, "However, I see your actions as noble and, what's more, you are unlikely to do something like that again, so I will see what I can do."

"Oh, how very kind of you," I quipped.

"You are lucky I am here at all, Ga Binne Ri," he said calmly as he stood. "Fairy is still in uproar since the downfall of the Water. The Garou are using this unrest to wipe out those of our weaker kin. You are not my only charge."

Alec went very still beneath me. I patted his shoulder as I asked, "Anything we can do?"

"You are enough trouble when you are not looking for a fight, Ga Binne Ri," Achrann added dryly.

"What about me?" Alec asked.

Achrann considered him for a moment before replying, "Perhaps, Wolf. For now, however, you must protect Ga Binne Ri from harm until I can contact PaPa."

"What does that even mean, Ga Binne Ri?" I asked. "You keep calling me that."

"There is no equivalent term in your language," he replied tightly before he popped out of my living room.

.

Alec made me eat two more apples before I cried uncle and begged him to stop feeding me. "I'll sit in your lap until the cows come home, Alec, but seriously—no more apples," I begged.

"There's pizza in there, and I think I saw…"

"No, I mean no more food." I replied as I fidgeted in his lap. I had attempted to move so I was just sitting beside him, but he wasn't having that. He had just scooped me right back up, despite my protests, and plunked me right back in his lap.

He frowned at me. "Sloane, I have to…"

"I can't eat any more, Alec," I replied as I threw my hands up. "If I were a wolf, how would I signal 'thanks for hunting me a tasty rabbit, but I'm full now'?"

"Sleep," he replied. "I would keep feeding you until you fell asleep."

"Then I'm taking a nap," I replied as I attempted to scoot off his lap. Surprisingly, he let me go, but it was only because he was shifting his position, too. I hadn't even gotten my feet on the couch and covered with the blanket before he tucked me under his arm and threw his legs up beside mine.

.

I dreamt I was sunning on a beach, David in a chaise lounge on one side, Cian on the other. I looked over to Cian, who was wearing black swim trunks, and smiled; he smiled back. I switched over and looked at David in navy swim trunks. He smiled and said, "Two days in a row I find you in the arms of your pet wolf."

I furrowed my brow at him momentarily before I looked at the swelling ocean. "It's so pretty out here," I replied, nonsensically.

Alec walked out of the ocean, water dripping from his obnoxiously loud Hawaiian print swim trunks. He chuckled before saying, "Don't push me today, O'Hara."

"She is my wife," David said as he reached over and intertwined his fingers in mine. He smiled at me before adding, "Not yours. You do not get to hold her all day while I barely get the slightest kiss all night."

_What?_ I asked myself as I glanced back at Alec, who had made it halfway up the beach.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

David leaned over the back of the couch shortly after sunset and kissed Sloane on the cheek before whispering, "Two days in a row I find you in the arms of your pet wolf." He gave me a scathing look before straightening himself back up and circling the couch slowly.

I growled at him, which vibrated through my chest and into Sloane's ear. She mumbled something unintelligible as she curled into me before I replied, "Don't push me today, O'Hara."

"She is my wife," O'Hara replied, one hand running through his still wet hair as he lowered himself into the leather chair opposite us. "Not yours. You do not get to hold her all day while I barely get the slightest kiss all night." He worked to make his voice sound neutral, but there was sadness in his voice that made me not want to fight with him tonight.

"I know," I said. With a sigh, I added, "Look, it's not that I'm trying to steal your girlfriend—wife—from you. It's just…my wolf…"

"Your wolf?" David asked incredulously. "You _are_ your wolf."

I shrugged. "The way it feels to me, we're two separate people. For example, _I_ know that sitting here in your secret hideout, Sloane's perfectly safe and happy and humoring you, me, and Cian, and if I make her eat one more apple she's going to hit me, but _my wolf_ sees her as someone to protect, someone to care for. She's his mate. After she pulled that stunt today…"

"Stunt?" David asked. He settled into the chair as he said, "She is fond of stunts."

I rolled my eyes. "Achrann finally popped in and scared the shit out of her for a minute; I was about to kill him when Sloane distracted my wolf."

"How so?"

"She screamed and went limp just long enough to change my focus."

David's eyebrows raised minutely as he smirked. "Did _that_ stop the fight?"

"Of course," I responded. "I thought I hurt her; my wolf still thinks we hurt her. I haven't been able to let her go or stop feeding her apples since without reverting to a snarling beast. Which is why she's asleep instead of eating."

"Wolves are so much trouble," David replied with a sigh. "What did Achrann have to say?"

"She did something to her tattoos," I replied. "He's looking into how to fix it."

"Good," replied David. "Can I have my wife back now?"

"No," I said, taking deep breaths to calm my wolf. His hackles were up, and he was just looking for a reason to rampage. "Sorry, but no."

"I could just glamour you and take her," he replied, his voice tightening.

My wolf jerked into action at the thought of letting Sloane go, but it was the only way that it was going to happen. I could feel my eyes darkening and my canines lengthening; something needed to happen soon. Either O'Hara needed to stop goading me or I needed to be glamoured, because I was dangerously close to shifting. I wasn't worried about hurting O'Hara—he could handle himself. I was more worried about Sloane. I know my wolf wouldn't intentionally hurt her, but she could easily get caught in the crossfire. "Do it," I responded as I looked him in the eye. And everything went blank.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

David was running his fingers across my waist as I woke. "Hi," I said before a full body shiver. I had gotten used to Alec's heat and without it my body was trying to adjust. I sat up and kissed him lightly before a long stretch, then settled back into the bed next to him.

"Good evening," he said.

"What's up for tonight?" I asked. "Where's Alec?"

"Alec is in the living room," he said with an exasperated sigh. "And, if you are feeling up to it, we have an interview at Rum Runners."

I furrowed my brow at him as I threw the blanket back and stood. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, Love," he replied as he watched me walk toward his open bathroom. "This is the second night in a row I wake to find you in Alec's arms. I am just worried."

I stopped in the middle of his room and turned to look at him. "About?"

"Your relationship with the wolf, and how long it will take before it is more than purely platonic."

I full on frowned at him. "You think I'm going to cheat on you?"

"No," he replied quickly. "I trust you to be an honest woman. But I do not wish to share you with anyone else," he said, hastily adding, "besides Cian, of course."

I felt a little weak as I saw the week before we went to France replay in my mind. Cian's resigned demeanor, the asides , the admissions. It was happening all over again, only it was David I was making miserable this time. I guess I had probably been making them both miserable for some time now.

David must have been able to read my face because he stood and slowly approached. "I just got you back, Sloane," he said as he caressed my face. "I did not think I would, but I got you back. I've almost lost you so many times that I live in fear of when it will finally happen. Is it so wrong that I want to get as much of you as possible before it does?"

I grabbed his hand from my face and studied his. "Are you unhappy, too?" I asked. I fought to hold back tears of inadequacy as I waited for his answer.

David pulled me into his arms, pressing my teary eyes into his chest. "Shh, no."

"But you're not happy, either," I said into his cotton shirt.

"I had been so unhappy for so long before you came into my life, Sloane. I am happier now, with you, than I ever was."

"When you're drowning, even a breath of smoke tastes good," I whispered, unable to meet his eyes.

"That is not what I meant," he said, frustration in his voice. He hooked his finger under my chin and lifted until we were eye to eye. "I meant that you and you alone have pulled me out of my spiral. You could not have done that if I was not truly happy with you."

I wrapped my arms around David's waist and hugged him tight. _Please, please, please don't go,_ I begged him silently. "I want to make it better," I said.

He kissed my hair and replied, "You are."


	163. Chapter 163

David lifted me gently from our hug and carried me into the bathroom, where he set me down on the plush bath mat. "Smile, Love," he said as he traced my frown lines. "I want to see you smile."

I tried to force it, but I must have fallen short of my mark. David frowned at me, his fingers running ever so softly across my cheekbones. His eyes bored into mine, as if he were looking for the meaning of life in my eyes. I blinked and glanced away, instead focusing on the marble tiles that lined the bathroom wall.

He sighed sadly before letting me go, turning to turn the water to hot in the tub. "Promise me something," I said as I watched him work.

"Anything," he replied.

"Don't settle. If I'm not making you happy, tell me. Don't just let it fester until it drives us apart like it did Cian and me."

He shifted over and kissed me, but I didn't respond. "That will never happen to us, Love," he said as he pulled the stopper, turning it from a bath to a shower.

"Promise," I repeated.

He sighed, set me down on the edge of the soaking tub, and knelt in front of me, the water all but forgotten. "Of course, I promise." I watched his face, looking for signs of deception. He just watched me, waiting for me to accept what he'd said.

I _had_ opened my mouth to tell him, "OK," but instead I asked, "Did you force Cian to stay bound to me?"

Shock and confusion covered his face for a moment. "Why would you think that?"

"I can still feel him," I replied as I blushed. "He wanted to break the bond, but I can still feel him. Did you force him to stay bound to me, or did it not work? The bond-breaking ritual?"

"That is a question for Cian," he replied. "But I can tell you that I honored your wishes."

I frowned again. "What does that mean?"

"Ask Cian what happened," he replied. "It should be him that answers your questions. Now are you going to bathe before we go to Rum Runners?"

"Yes," I replied, frown still on my face.

"Then I would like to join you," he replied nonchalantly.

"But you just got out of the shower."

He smiled at me, a fangy, salacious smile. "True."

.

David watched appreciatively as I stripped out of the pajamas I had been in all day and tested the hot water. Silently, he asked permission to touch me; when I gave him a slight nod, letting him know I was alright, he ran his fingers oh so gently over my hips, up to my breasts, and to my neck. "I can still see the bruise where he bit you," David whispered as his fingers ran down my shoulder blades and to the small of my back. "Cian's bite marks cover it slightly, but you should still wear something that will cover it." He leaned down and kissed my lips lightly before adding, "Unless you would like me to heal them both for you."

"What do you think would be best? For the pictures?" I asked as my fingers started playing with the fastening of his jeans.

He purred happily as I worked the buttons of his jeans and pushed them down to pool at his feet. "They will no doubt want bite marks, but they may want them to be fresh," he replied as he stripped off his boxers. Without warning, he lifted me off my feet and carried me into the extra large shower, positioning me so all seven shower heads were focused directly on me.

I tilted my head to the side and presented the layered bites to him. "Do it, then," I said as I leaned my forehead against his wet chest.

There was the subtle click of his fangs coming down, then moments later, his light-as-a feather touch landed on my neck. I closed my eyes and leaned into him, letting him wrap an arm around me to hold me up. "Is something else wrong?" he asked quietly, disappointment clear in his voice.

In truth, I didn't feel great, but instead of tell him that, I shook my head no before landing a line of kisses across his chest and I wrapped my arms around his waist. I could see the look in his eyes last night when I was in Cian's arms; he wanted what Cian was getting and he wanted it last night. And I had to be fair. If Cian got to hold me, touch me, love me last night, then David wanted the same tonight. I didn't feel bad enough that I couldn't give it to him. "Hold me," I said into his chest.

He wrapped one arm around me tighter while the other went to shampooing my hair. "I have missed you," he whispered as he rinsed the shampoo from my hair.

"I missed you too," I replied. I continued to hold him close, my cheek pressed against his chest, as he conditioned my hair and rinsed it clean. Next, he lathered his hands and washed my body, starting at my shoulders, running down under my armpits, and to my hips. He pulled away from my embrace long enough to wash my front, then kneel at my feet and wash my lower body. I stood still, my hands on each of David's shoulders, as he kissed a trail up from my knee to my inner hip, bypassing my most sensitive areas and continuing to work his way up. I threw my head back, mumbling, "oh, David."

"Oh, I missed you," David said again as he kissed a hungry line up my neck to my ear. "I missed this."

I threw my arms around his neck, letting him lift me from the shower floor as he stood to his full height. "Make love to me," I said as he turned off the water.

"Yes," David said. Instantly, he was lying me gently on my back on the bed and looming over me, careful to be gentle in his simple caresses.

I had a momentary flash back to Didier and clamped my eyes closed, my hands tightening almost painfully around David's forearms. "Sloane?" he asked quietly.

"Let me be on top," I said as I scooted myself far enough up the bed that David's form wasn't quite so threatening. I sat, shivering as water ran down my skin and dripped from my hair, trying to calm my breathing as David nodded, climbing up onto the bed himself and sitting at my side.

"We do not have to do this," David said gently as he pulled my wet hair back into a pony tail.

"Yes we do," I replied.

"Sloane…" he chided.

"Stop complicating it, David," I replied. "I want you to make love to me, I want you to be sweet and gentle and caring, and after that I want to lie in your arms until we absolutely have to get out of bed."

He smiled gently before he leaned forward, leaving me plenty of space, and kissed my lips lightly. But I wanted more. I planted one hand on each of his cheeks and leaned into the kiss, breaking open his lips with my tongue and kissing him deeply.

Surprise pulled him back away from me, but I just crawled farther onto him, climbing into his lap as I kissed him. He didn't kiss me back immediately, and I pouted. "Don't you want me?" I asked breathlessly.

"I don't want to push you," he replied between kisses. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Just let me be in control and you won't," I replied as I crawled up into his lap. A hungry moan escaped my lips as I felt his hard flesh up against my softest spot. I kissed him again, hard; he matched my moan as I rubbed myself against him. "I want this."

He wrapped one arm around my waist to hold me to him as he maneuvered the both of us so he could wrap the comforter around me. "Then take it," he replied.

I slid onto him as he lowered himself to his back, which released a growl of pleasure from his lips. I rocked back and forth, my rocking getting more and more fevered as the pressure grew. I was so close; I leaned down and locked my lips on his as he rolled the two of us onto our sides.

He knew exactly what I wanted. His hand hitched my leg up his thigh as he started moving inside me; in no time I threw my head back in pleasure as I released. As soon as I was done twitching, he rolled me onto my back. As he pulled out, I pouted at him. "Don't stop."

He chuckled once. "You do know how to make a man feel wanted," he replied as he disappeared under the comforter. I was about to ask what he was doing down there when his lips came in contact with my most sensitive area, making my question come out as more of a gurgled moan. Then, as quick as it started, he was gone, leaving me to just my heavy breathing. "Did that feel good?" he asked, the subtle lilt of a smile in his voice.

"More," I replied breathlessly.

"Yes, Ma'am," he replied just before he sucked at me again. My body bucked, but his hands were there, gently holding my hips steady for him.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God," I repeated. "Don't stop, please don't stop."

He timed his next move seamlessly. Just as an orgasm rocked through me, leaving me screaming his name, he climbed up my body, wrapped his arms around my back, and entered me. My body tightened around him as he surged, making him shout as he released into me. My body responded, triggering another response in him.

I was still re-learning how to breathe as David collapsed onto his side. His chest wasn't heaving like mine was, but he was still struggling to function normally. "I can't move," I said between gasps. David laughed one of his rare carefree laughs as he tucked me into his side, shifting my legs for me so I was in a more comfortable position.

"We only have 15 minutes until we are supposed to be at Rum Runners for this interview," he said.

"That's not going to happen," I replied.

He moved, but I couldn't for the life of me pivot my head so I could see what he was doing. "I will text Emma and tell her to let them know we are running late."

"Hm," I grunted. Now that I wasn't being blissfully rocked by orgasm after orgasm, I was back to feeling slightly off kilter.

Almost instantly, his phone buzzed across his stomach. "Emma says he wishes to know how late. What should I tell her to tell him? Should I tell her that you enjoyed my body just a little too much and are recovering?"

"That's TMI for your sister," I replied. "How about tell her that I'm resting."

His fingers moved at the speed of light before he laid his phone down exactly where it had been. "What is TMI?" he asked.

"Too much information," I replied. "Would you want Lee coming down and telling you that he rocked your sister's world so hard, she can't move?"

"It would not be the first time," he replied. I shuddered.

.

It was just about closing time and the bar was emptying quickly. "Sorry about being late," I said as I slid into the booth opposite the smaller, intelligent looking man. "I've been sleeping a lot lately."

He reached for the sleek black tape recorder on the table and pressed a button as David slid into the booth beside me. "I can imagine things have been stressful since you got home. Do you mind if I tape this interview?"

"Not at all," I replied as David said, "Please."

He settled the tape recorder in front of David and me, situated his notebook, and asked, "First of all, Sloane, how are you feeling?"

I shrugged before adding, "Besides the fatigue, great. The doctors said I'd be tired for a while, though, as my body gets used to having to function again."

"That's good to hear," he said. "There's been a lot of speculation out there; what exactly took you to London in the first place?"

I smiled; I had had enough time since I woke up in London to come up with a pretty convincing lie. The way David squeezed my hand under the table, however, reminded me I had never shared the lie with David. "I wanted to get him something special for Christmas," I replied as I leaned my head against David's shoulder. "Something you can't get in stores."

He waited for me to tell him what it was, but I just stared cordially at him. "Are you going to tell me what it was? The curiosity is killing me."

"She convinced a friend of mine to come visit," David interjected, "Someone who has not left his home for some time."

Tom the interviewer smiled. "That was very thoughtful," he said. "I assumed you succeeded?"

David laughed; "She has a way of getting what she wants."

"Persistence," I replied.

David nodded. "Bull-headed persistence."

"And then what happened?" Tom asked. "When did you know you were really sick?"

"I had convinced him to come home with me," I said falling into my seamless lie, "so we got on this little jet Emma helped me book, and I curled up in one of the seats. I hadn't really been feeling like my usual self on the flight over, and I guessed I looked a little off, because David's friend asked me if I was feeling OK. I shrugged it off as a pre-holiday bug, maybe something stress related, and fell asleep." I shrugged again, and let David wrap his arm around my shoulders and hold me close. He was practically vibrating unease as I told the story, almost as if he believed that if I even talked about it, I'd relapse into a coma again. "I guess David's friend tried to wake me up after we took off; I wouldn't answer him, I was burning up with fever, I was sweating—I guess he realized I wasn't OK and told the pilot to turn around and take me to a hospital. Good thing, too, because my heart stopped shortly after the ambulance arrived." David held me even tighter, laying his lips gently in my hair as he took a deep breath.

"David?" Tom asked, pulling the attention to the distraught vampire. "How'd you learn what had happened? Where were you?"

"Right here," David said as he pulled his lips from my scalp. "In this exact spot. My friend called me and told me what was happening."

"What did you do?"

"I called Emma right away. She is Sloane's personal doctor, so she got on the line with Sloane's caretakers in London and gave a medical history. I called Sloane's best friend and told her what was going on, then I flew out to see Sloane."

"Who went with you?"

"Sydney…" David answered.

"My best friend," I interjected as explanation.

"…Emma, and her husband, Lee. Oh, and a member of our security team."

"Wow," Tom said. "It looks as if this whole ordeal is still affecting you quite a bit. How has David been since you got home?" Tom asked as he turned his attention back to me.

I laughed. "A little overprotective," I answered, "and very sweet. Although he's always been both of those things."

"Does he bring you breakfast in bed?" Tom asked. "That's what I do when my wife's sick. She had cancer a few years ago—she tells me I went a little off the deep end while she was dealing with it."

"She does not have to be ill for me to bring her breakfast in bed," David replied. "But I do admit I fear I am being suffocatingly over the top. I just want to make sure she is back to her old self."

"Have you two talked about the future?" Tom asked. "Is there a vampire Sloane in the works?"

I shrugged. "Not really. Plans always change." I squeezed David's hand. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Tom smiled at me. "Back to the interview. Legislation is working its way through the House that would make it illegal for a vampire to bite anyone without written permission from them. David, what do you think about that?"

He smiled and looked down at me. "Would you give me written permission?" he asked. I rolled my eyes in response, to which he said, "I'm taking that as a yes."

"So how does that make you feel?" Tom asked.

David sighed and glanced at the ceiling, something that was an overly human gesture for him. "Personally, it would not change my habits. Sloane has been my one and only for some time now. A piece of paper would not change much. And I can see what the legislators are attempting to do, protect its people, which I commend. But if this law were to go into action, it would merely be an exercise in stupidity."

"How so?" Tom asked.

"It would not be hard to garner a signature," he replied. "Even if there weren't a plethora of humans out there looking for the thrill of a bite, it would not be hard for even the youngest of us to glamour a signature out of most people. That is perhaps not the most PC of answers, and I am sure I will be getting a call from the AVL about it, but it is the bare naked truth."

Tom sat stunned for a minute as he digested the answer before moving on to the next question. "Sloane, this one's for you. It's looking as if Michigan is about to follow in Vermont's and Louisiana's footsteps, thanks mostly in part to your ordeal and an outpouring of support for both you and David. Are you hearing church bells?"

I laughed. "Well, someone hasn't asked yet," I said as I nudged David, "but I'm in no hurry. What's wrong with merely enjoying each other? I don't need a ring to tell me how much he loves me."

"David?" Tom asked. "Same question."

"Well, I am an old-fashioned man," he said.

"You're just an _old_ man," I replied.

He smiled down at me as a lone chuckle escaped. "True. Regardless, I would like the opportunity to at least ask." I looked up at him, some of the surprise I was feeling on my face. He winked quickly at me before kissing my lips.

"Now that we have some of the hard questions out of the way, let's ask some more mundane ones," Tom said. "Sloane, tell me about your usual day."

"Well," I said as I tried to gather my thoughts. "Depending on what I'm doing that day, I may not get up until noon or so. If I have to go into the lab, then I'm usually up earlier, but that's not really set in stone, either. Anyway, I usually get some work done on my thesis, whether its lab work or writing. Depending on the semester, I may teach, so I could spend some time grading or holding office hours or, of course, teaching. I'm not teaching this semester, thank God, and I haven't been back to lab since I got home, though. After that, I'll either hang out at home for a while until he gets up," I said as I nudged David. "Sometimes we hang out at his place, sometimes mine, sometimes we're at one of his clubs. Sometimes I don't get a chance to see him at all. It just depends on what the both of us are doing at any given time."

"So no routine?" he asked David.

"No," David responded. "No routine. Her schedule can get hectic, even more so than mine, and we'll go a few days without even speaking. Sometimes we're attached at the hip. We tend to get our time together in when we can."

"What do you two like to do together?"

I glanced at David, letting him take the question. "On those rare occasions where we have a chance to relax, we do just that. She makes me watch the most ridiculous movies…"

"What?" I asked, feigned disappointment in my voice, "You didn't like Dinocroc vs. Earthworm?" He gave me an elegant look, causing Tom to chuckle. "Well, I'm hurt. I thought that was a science fiction masterpiece."

"I was disturbed by the fact you knew all the words to every scene," he replied.

I shrugged, a slight blush covering my cheeks. "I've seen it a few times, I guess."

David laughed. "Yes, just a few."

"Well, what would you rather watch?" Tom asked David, "What kind of movies do you like?"

"Watching her face while she recites these silly movies from heart is all the entertainment I need," David replied. "She's so expressive when she thinks no one is watching."

I thought back to the last time we had cuddled in bed and watched one of those horrible late night sci-fi movies. I remember him laughing at all the right spots, but it had been just a beat or two slow. Had he really just be watching me? Laughing at me? I blushed again, this time burying my head in David's side. He laughed harder. "So shy," he said as he kissed my hair again.

I was just about to poke David really hard when I heard Awesome's familiar voice. "Sorry to interrupt, boss, but I need Mac as a tie breaker."

I pulled my head from David's side and looked at the massive bouncer. "What's up?"

"We want to order some food, but we can't decide what to get." He handed me a small printed menu I recognized as Troppo's. "Sarah and Cassie want Troppo's," he said, then handed me another brightly colored menu, "But Rock and I want Mexican."

"You want me to pick for you?" I asked. "I'm not really hungry."

"You should eat," David said as he leaned toward me and pulled his wallet from his pocket. He pulled out his black card and handed it to Awesome. It wasn't the first time I'd seen David buy the staff dinner after a long night, and Awesome graciously accepted the card. "Why don't you get both. What do you want, Sloane?"

I pouted at him for a moment and was about to remind him about the apples I'd consumed when I saw the worried look on his face. "Sorry, Awesome, but I'm going with Troppo's. I guess I'll have the pasta with clam sauce." With a nod, he took the card and the menus and retreated back to the bar, where the pianists and the bouncers were talking. Technically, Varana was there too, but since they were currently talking about what was for dinner, Varana wasn't really in the conversation.

"I'll get out of your hair soon," said Tom, "so you can get back to your night. Just a few more questions, and these are mostly for Sloane. What's it like dating a vampire?"

"Not much different than any other guy, in my experience," I answered. "We go on dates sometimes, we hang out together. We just do it at night, that's all."

"Do you go out to dinner?"

"Of course," I replied.

His eyebrows rose slightly before he glanced at David. "I was under the impression vampires don't like to watch people eat."

"I don't mind it," David replied, "and it means I can eat well later, myself."

Tom's attention swung back to me. "Does he…eat from you often?"

"Normally, maybe twice a week," I replied.

"Tell me what it's like," Tom replied.

"Well, it doesn't hurt," I replied, "it's just kind of this…warm blanket feeling. Like taking a hot bath or curling up with a cup of hot cocoa."

"Do you do anything differently dating a vampire than you normally would?"

"Well, I've always been a late riser, and I guess dating a vampire hasn't helped that much. And I have to make sure I eat meat more regularly than I probably would normally eat it to help keep my blood count up, but other than that, not really."

He scribbled onto his note pad quickly before looking back up. "OK, I think that's enough for tonight. My photographer's not going to be in town until tomorrow night, are you two free?"

I looked up to David, who replied, "We can be, yes."

"Then I'll give you a call when she gets in and we'll get this thing sewn up." He turned off the tape recorder, tucked it in his pocket, and grabbed his notebook before sliding out of the booth. "Now I'm not used to this middle of the night schedule, so I'm going to go get some sleep. You two have a nice night. Thanks again for agreeing to talk to me."

"Have a good night," I replied. Just as Tom was shuffling himself out the front door along with the last of the paying customers, I leaned my whole body into David's side. "Ugh."

"Is something wrong?" David asked.

"Not really," I replied. "Just…ugh."

He laid his hand gently on my forehead. "I believe your fever is back," he said, worry in his voice.

"It's not a big deal, David. Sometimes people just don't feel good."

He wound his hand around the back of my neck and started massaging gently. "Eat, and then we can do whatever you like for the rest of the night."


	164. Chapter 164

The paparazzi were out in full force as we left. Flashbulbs lit up the night as Awesome and Rock preceded us out the front door. I let out a sigh as questions were hurled from the right and left. "It's late, ladies and gentleman," David said as he tucked me into his side. "Why don't you go home and get some rest?"

"Sloane, you haven't been home in a few days," yelled one of the closer paparazzi as he continued to snap pictures.

"It's creepy that you know that," I responded quickly before he could finish his thought with a question.

The rest of the photographers chuckled good humoredly as the paparazzi in question shot me an unappreciative look. "What I mean is, where have you been?"

"Obviously succeeding in staying away from you," I responded.

"Have you been staying with David?" asked another paparazzi; a shorter, slightly older version of the first questioner.

"Of course," David answered, "Emma is keeping a very close eye on her health as she deals with the stress you are exposing her to. I feel better with her and Emma at the Complex, should anything happen, and she is courteously humoring me." He leaned over and whispered into my ear, "Very few know I own the condo. I like to keep it that way." I answered with a smile and a kiss.

I hugged myself closer to David as I noticed someone in the back of the crowd, about fifteen feet from David and me. "Shifter," I whispered almost too low to hear as I subconsciously tucked myself behind him. He obviously hadn't caught a whiff of me yet, but it was only a matter of time before the wind shifted and we had a rampaging animal on our hands.

"I see him," he replied softly as he lofted me onto his back. I seamlessly wrapped my arms around his neck as he laced his fingers under my butt. "Well," he said to the crowd, "it's been…predictable to see you all. Have a nice night." And before they could hurl any more questions our way, we were gone.

I closed my eyes as he ran—it's a necessity unless I want to get seasick. When he came to a stop just outside his front door and I opened my eyes, giving myself a second reconnoiter myself, two people were waiting for us: Guinevere and Jean Claude.

"Jean Claude," David said amiably, as if he was expecting to see him, as he lowered me to the ground. I grunted in pain as what felt like knife pricks ran up and down my spine. "And Guinevere," he added with more surprise, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Word's been given for those hoping to audition for Nevada," Guinevere said. "They will begin arriving in four days."

David nodded as he unlocked the front door. "Please let Emma know the details so she can make the appropriate arrangements." When Guinevere made no move to leave, David asked, "Is that all?"

"I wish to speak to Sloane," she said as David pushed open the door and disengaged the security system. "Alone."

David looked down at me; I just sighed. Being slightly off all night had progressed from merely being uncomfortable to being straight up miserable. "Quickly," I replied as I walked past David and into the living room. Alec was still sitting, stock still, staring off into nothing, just like we'd left him. I plopped down next to him, but he made no acknowledgement that I was near. "What's up?" I asked.

Guinevere studied the Werewolf at my left for a moment as David and Jean Claude retreated to his office. "How do you feel?"

"Tired and achy," I replied.

"I am sorry to hear that. You should have David turn you; those things would no longer bother you."

"No thanks," I replied. "Did you just come to ask how I was?"

"No," she replied. "I want you to be careful; Fidel is…not rational when it comes to you. And Victor, as you well know, has a vendetta against you, as well. You are in extreme danger while those two live."

I blinked once at her. "So you're telling me to kill them before they kill me?"

She nodded once, then replied. "Nothing of the sort, and I will deny you said such a thing if I am ever asked."

"Why come warn me at all?" I asked. "Isn't that against some sort of vampire code?"

"You are the bonded and pledged queen of Michigan's King; you are the monarch of your own territories. You are loyal to those that are friends to you, no matter what the cost. That is vampire enough for me," she replied. "Besides, I am allowed to have my own ulterior motives."

"Oh, so you just want me to do your dirty work."

"Of course not," she replied. "I haven't told you to do anything yet."

"Uh huh," I grunted. "So…OK, then."

"Besides," she added, "it may not have been me, but those under my command once wronged you. I owe you restitution. It matters not that I like you."

"I'm all warm and fuzzy over here," I said sarcastically. "There should be a bottle of Advil in the bathroom," I said as I pointed toward the small entry bath. "In the medicine cabinet. Will you grab it for me?"

She nodded, and in an instant was standing in front of me, bottle in hand. "Thanks," I mumbled as I took three pills, swallowing them dry. "So, how do you suggest I keep myself alive?"

"That is up to you and David," she replied, "and, of course, Cian." The way she said his name, I could tell Guinevere cared for Cian. Probably not as a lover, she had Lance for that, but maybe more as a child, or a younger brother.

Ah, yes. Lance. I had forgotten about Lance. "Is Lance here?" I asked.

She smiled as she stood, cryptically adding, "Lance is never far from where I am. It would be good to remember that."

My eyes narrowed as I looked at Guinevere, trying to divine the hidden meaning behind her words. "Well," I said slowly, "tell him I'd like to see him before you guys leave. I want to thank him."

She nodded as she walked toward the front door. "I will." When it was obvious she wanted to leave, I stood, groaning on my way up. "Please, do not get up on my account," she said. "I will show myself out."

"I need to let you out or the security system kills me," I replied as I walked past her. When I opened the door and stated my name, she left with just a silent bow.

"OK, David," I called not much louder than my normal speaking voice. He was at my side in an instant, gently lifting me from the ground.

"I should call Emma," he said as he carried me back into the living room.

"No," I replied. "I just took some Advil, I'll be fine."

"You are miserable," he replied as Jean Claude joined us, David lowering the two of us into one leather chair as Jean Claude took the other.

"True, but that doesn't mean I need Emma. What I need is for the Advil to kick in." With a pat on the chest for David, I turned my attention to Jean Claude. I don't remember much of him before I rescued him from France's dungeon, but he didn't match what I did remember. He seemed…less, like he were a fragment of himself. "Bonjour, Jean Claude."

"Ah, bonjour, ma bichette; ça va?" he replied.

I furrowed my brow. He called me a doe and asked how I was. At least, I think I got that right. "Bichette?" I replied. "That's 'doe', right?"

"Yes, little doe," David replied. "Princess of the animal kingdom. I find it rather appropriate," he said as he nodded toward the Werewolf on the couch. "And it is a term of endearment."

"Ah," I replied as I turned back to Jean Claude. "Oh, ça va, et vous?" _I'm so-so, and you?_ I had replied.

"_The same_," he replied in French. "_Your French is very good, however you need not use the formal with me. You are now my Queen."_

I cringed. "_Not for long," _ I replied. "_Are you really alright? You look…_sallow."

"Cireux," David replied, translating the one word I couldn't think of. I nodded in thanks for the translation before I turned my attention back to Jean Claude.

"I am tired," he replied in heavily accented English. "I have never been tired."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

"You are doing it," he replied. "I enjoy the social interaction."

I smiled. "I like talking to you, too. Are you hungry? David has some True Blood…"

Jean Claude waved me off. "No, I barely had a taste for the stuff before I fell ill, and now that I have silver poisoning, I find it does little more than whet my palette."

"Is that why you're so pale? Are you not getting enough to eat?" I asked.

He laughed. "My goodness," he proclaimed, "now I know where David gets his overprotective streak. I am just fine, thank you."

I frowned at him as David chuckled with him. "I'm serious. I'm ordering you to tell me if you're not getting enough. I feel bad."

"For what purpose?" he asked.

"She was punishing you because of me, Jean Claude. You're sick because of me. So I want to do anything I can to make that up to you."

He sighed. "If you are ordering me, then I will tell you that I have not eaten tonight. However, that is not your problem to fix. The night is young; I will feed."

I pushed myself out of David's lap after some silent protesting on his part and offered my wrist to Jean Claude. "Yes, you will," I replied.

"Sloane, not until you feel better," David said as Jean Claude protested, "You are ill as well."

"I'm just sore," I responded, letting a little white lie go, "and the Advil is starting to kick in. Jean Claude, I don't care who you eat, but you will eat, right now, or I'll order you to do something very embarrassing."

Jean Claude smiled just slightly before he asked, "Like?"

I faltered. I didn't expect him to ask, which sent me scrambling for something that might have an effect on the vampire. "I'll….make you sing I'm a Little Teapot at karaoke night," I finally replied.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "I do not sing," he said as he took my wrist. Without any warning, he bit a gentle hole in my arm, just far enough up that he wouldn't mess up my tattoo.

David sighed and leaned back into his seat. Jean Claude moaned appreciatively, wrapping his other arm around my hips as he pulled me closer to him. I attempted to keep my breathing easy and uniform as I stared at the ceiling. "Emma is going to have my neck for this," David said. "Do not tell her I let this happen."

"Our little secret," I replied as Jean Claude continued to drink. When I started to feel like he might never stop, I tapped him on the shoulder. When that didn't work, I said, "OK, enough." It wasn't until I plugged his nose, making it impossible for him to create any suction, that he finally stopped.

"That…was…"Jean Claude said as he licked his lips ecstatically.

"Yea, yea, yea," I replied as I covered the still trickling wounds on my arm, "I'm tasty. Feeling better?"

"I am," he replied, "incredibly. Would you like me to close and clean those?"

I nodded, thrusting my arm back in his direction and looking at David. He was watching Jean Claude with interest. "Mon ami, you look much better."

"Sloane, ma bichette, you are my miracle cure," Jean Claude said.

I smiled down at him. "Glad to hear it."

When I wavered a little before starting off toward the bathroom, and Jean Claude placed a steadying hand on my hip, David's brow furrowed. "You better not be worse," David said.

"I'm fine," I said again, not as much heart in it as the last million times I'd told him I was fine. In truth, the Advil had kicked in and I still felt awful. My head throbbed, my back ached. Instead of look him in the eye so he could see my deception, I showed him the hand I had just used to cover the bleeding holes in my arm. "I have to wash off my hand."

I washed off my hand and lowered myself onto the toilet after I shut myself alone in the bathroom. The room was starting to spin just a little as I sat and breathed through my nose.

"Now you are not well," said a voice that was way closer than it should have been. I screamed before I looked up while simultaneously pushing myself off the toilet and to the floor, jamming my back painfully into the cabinet door pulls as I did. In no time, David and Jean Claude were both breaking down the door to see what was wrong.

Achrann, who hadn't moved since he spoke and spooked me, stepped aside so he wasn't between me and the vampires. David swooped me into his arms before Achrann, unfazed by the fact he was now dangling a few inches off the ground with Jean Claude's hand around his neck, said, "I have news from PaPa."

"How many times have I told you to knock?" I seethed at him. With my heart pounding, the adrenaline coursing through my veins, I felt both better and worse. Worse because my body was struggling to carry enough oxygen to my muscles with the limited blood supply it had. Better because my mind couldn't care; the only signal it was getting was _fight!_

When it was clear that Achrann was not a threat, Jean Claude set him down, one weary and interested eye on the guardian angel. "On what?" Achrann finally asked after he straightened himself out. "I could speak to you without my body, but that may just scare you more."

I closed my eyes; as the adrenaline left my system, I was starting to feel nauseous. "Put me down David," I said quietly. He followed directions, setting me gently on my feet, but it didn't help. The pain doubled where my back had crashed into the cabinet door pull. "Now I don't feel good," I said, closing my eyes and putting one hand over the pain.

David laid one supportive hand on my back before saying, "Perhaps you should…" but he didn't finish. When one knee gave out, he swooped me back up into his arms. "I am calling Emma," he said as he sat me down on his bed. I don't even remember moving into his bedroom, but suddenly I was lying on that plush velvet comforter that smelled just like him.

"No," I replied as I grabbed his hand before he could pull away. "I don't want to get you and Jean Claude in trouble. I'll be fine, I just need a moment."

"No," Achrann said from the open doorway. "If you are to fix her markings, you will need a large group of vampires, and most likely a doctor."

"Why?" I asked as David perched on the bed beside me, one hand in mine and the other placed gently on my hip.

"PaPa has said that in order to reverse the issue, you must repeat whatever you did to cause it to happen in the first place. You must open all five marks and hope that, once you close them, they return to their normal position."

"Hope?" David asked, criticism in his voice which was quickly ratcheting up into anger. "We are to _hope_ that it just fixes itself? She almost killed herself the last time she did this, and you want her to try again based on _hope_?"

"She does not need to hold the marks open nearly as long, just long enough to engage all five marks, then she can close them. It is not as dangerous. Besides, I will be there as a buffer."

"A buffer?" Jean Claude asked from just behind Achrann. "Of what kind?"

"I can take some of the damage to myself, sharing it among the two of us, as she attempts this."

"It's as good an idea as any," I said. "When?"

"As soon as possible," Achrann replied as he turned his gaze from me to David. "How many vampires do you have at your disposal?"

"Over a thousand across the state, perhaps several hundred within an hour's radius." he replied dejectedly. "We must be sure that this will not harm Sloane; she is already ill enough and I could not stand it to almost lose her again so soon."

"Unless something unforeseen happens, she will be fine," Achrann answered.

David's brow furrowed as he clenched his teeth. "That is not comforting."

"But it is the truth," Achrann replied.

.

David had called Emma and told her to gather as many as she could on such short notice and have them meet at the Complex before he had crawled into the bed with me. "Just rest for an hour," David had breathed into my ear as he held my back tightly against his chest. "Let me hold you while you gather your strength back."

It was almost two hours later when David woke me gently. "Sloane, Love, wake up," he said as he kissed my ear.

"But I'm so comfy," I replied as I turned to face him and curled into his chest.

"As am I," he replied, "but Emma is ready for you."

Begrudgingly, I got out of bed. "Boo," I replied, childishly as I stomped my way across the bedroom, through the kitchen, and into the living room.

"Release the Garou," Achrann said, "we will need him to test his reaction."

David did as Achrann suggested, but not before he leaned down and kissed me passionately, leaving me gasping and weak kneed as he pulled away. "Alec Bourdain, wake up," he said quietly. As soon as David finished speaking, Alec filtered back onto Alec's face. First confusion, then recognition, then a frantic desperation until his eyes fell on me. He was up and at my side in an instant.

"Any news?" he asked Achrann as he lifted me off the floor and into a bear hug so he could better rub his stubble-covered cheeks on each of mine.

"Yes. We are going to the Complex, your assistance is required," Achrann replied.

Alec rubbed his forehead against mine before he set me back on my feet and tucked me into his side. "You smelled like blood and dead things," he said to me.

"Um," I replied, "do I apologize? Or…."

"No, just an observation," he replied. "But now you smell like me."

"Um…" I said again. "Good, I guess?"

"Unless you want a four hundred pound wolf in your hands, it's very good," he replied. "Are we ready to go?" I nodded, and Alec turned us toward the door. "Then let's go."

.

We had to take two cars. Achrann, Alec, and I rode in my car, Alec's hand on my thigh as I drove, and David and Jean-Claude his David's car. I don't know why they didn't just run and beat us there by at least five minutes, but I didn't have it in me to ask.

As we approached the front gate, I was surprised at the lack of paparazzi. Not a one in sight, even though David had hinted at the fact that we were hunkering down in there. "What's wrong?" Alec asked.

"No paparazzi," I replied.

Alec gave me a confused look as I pulled up to the gate. "That's a bad thing?" he asked.

"Just confused," I replied. Mike, the eternal front gate guard, had me roll down my window.

"Ms. McIntosh," he said.

"Hi Mike. Where are the paparazzi?"

"I made them leave," he replied. He must have seen the look on my face, because he added, "I didn't hurt them."

"Of course you didn't," I added, merely because it was good manners to not to assume he was out there draining paparazzi dry.

"You can go," he said before he leaned out of my window and went back into his guard room.

I met David and Jean Claude by the front steps, each of them taking a moment to take a long, steady look at me. "I'm ready," I said under their gaze. With a trepidatious nod, David opened the door.

I stopped for a moment, actually taking a step back as I faced off with fifty or so milling vampires. "Whoa," I said as I surveyed the crowd. Quite a few of the vampires I recognized. Idi and Idriis, of course, and Emma and Lee, along with Devon, Varana, Cian, and another tall male vampire I recognized but didn't know by name. A few that I had seen at the sheriff's ball lingered in the back, mostly giving me dirty looks as they noticed Alec at my side instead of David.

David stepped into his leaders role seamlessly. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Most of you know my bonded and pledged, Sloane," he said before leaning down and kissing me lightly on the temple. "This is her day protection, Alec Bourdain," he said as he nodded toward the wolf that had plastered himself to my side.

I waited for David to introduce Achrann, but he never did. "The vampires do not see me," Achrann whispered in my ear. "Only you and Garou can sense me."

"What happens here does not leave this room," David continued. "Anyone that does not believe they can abide this rule may leave now with no consequences."

"Is she truly a Fae?" asked someone in the back in an accent that suggested he spent a good amount of time at one point singing sea shanties and drinking ale.

"No," David replied. "I will be honest with you, because I expect nothing less from you in return. My Sloane is not Fae, although she is not human, either. Knowing this, do you agree to stay?"

"Aye," the vampire in the back asked. "I will stay."

"And the rest of you? There are no consequences for leaving," David reminded them. "Do you all stay?"

A chorus of 'yes's and 'of course's rang through the large ballroom.

"Good," David replied. "Know that by staying, you ensure your queen's health and safety." David looked at me, and with one more kiss, he said to the crowd, "I will let Sloane describe what she needs from us."

"Um," I started as the attention shifted to me in an almost uniform motion. "Let's see…David, Cian, Emma…if you could come stand behind me, just in case something goes wrong. Alec, you're behind me, too." The four of them moved so they were flanking me, just a few steps behind the seam in the tile I was standing on. "Everyone else, if you could take a few steps back." Again, everyone did as I asked, stepping so even the closest vampire was a good fifty feet from me. "I'm going to try and compel you to do something. What I want you to do is fight it. Make me work, OK?" I glanced at David, who merely made a 'go ahead' nod in my direction. Suddenly, this felt like a really bad idea. "Sorry, this is going to be a little uncomfortable. But if it makes you feel better, it's going to hurt me more than you." I shrugged then added, "Hope that makes someone feel better. Here goes nothing."

I felt that part of me that I gained from Nailan flare to life before I reached a hand out toward the mass of vampires in front of me. "Come to me," I said, flexing every last inch of that will on the vampires. They all lurched forward in unison. Some of them took one step then stopped, physically trying to stop themselves from moving, the struggle plain on their faces. Others still struggled against my will, but were losing, slowly (and some not-so slowly) inching forward.

"More," Achrann said. "Only two of the marks are active."

"They need to fight more," I said, concentrating on just saying it and not compelling it.

"Make them do something they would not like to do. They will be more likely to fight," David said.

I turned my attention back to the vampires that were coming for me. My wrists blazed; glancing down, I could tell that every last swirl, every last circle that decorated the inside of my labyrinthine wrist tattoos was glowing as they slowly slithered their way up and down my arms. It looked as if snakes had taken up residence under my skin and were moving around.

I suddenly wasn't feeling so good, and it had more to do with the visual I had just given myself than the marks taking a toll. "More," Achrann said again as he plastered a hand on my bare shoulder.

"Crawl to me," I said, my voice quieter than the first command I gave.

Just a few of the vampires, the ones that had made the most progress towards me, dropped to their knees. In that group was Devon, Deb's boyfriend.

"One more mark," Achrann said. I glanced down, the tops of my feet blazed like my wrists, the tattoos slithering under my skin.

"Tell me how," I whispered.

"Stop this, Sloane," Cian pleaded from behind me. "I can see this is making you ill."

"I need to fix this, Cian," I said as forcefully as I could. "Tell me how to open it, Wings."

"Force it," Achrann said as he put his other hand on my shoulder. "Find that place that controls the marks and force them open."

I did what he said. I went to that place, I went to Nailan, and forced the links open. When the dam broke and the fifth mark blazed to life, I screamed and dropped to my knees.


	165. Chapter 165

"Sloane," David said as I felt the marks slam closed. When I didn't answer immediately, David said, "Emma, please…"

"Sloane, honey, open your eyes," Emma cooed.

My eyes were closed? Oh, I guess they were. I was so preoccupied with watching the sunbursts on the back of my eyelids that I hadn't realized my eyes were closed. I opened them, blinking a few times until focus came back. "Did it work?" I asked.

"I think so," Alec said as his head popped into my view. "I mean, I'm still drawn, but I don't think my beast is going to go on a rampage."

"Good," I sighed as I attempted to sit up. I needed just a little bit of help with those last few inches, but I was finally upright. "Thank you," I said to the jittery group of vampires standing behind David.

"Aye, my Queen," said the same vampire that had questioned my humanity before. Up close I could see that his teeth were bright white but crooked, his fangs at full length, framed by his Van Dyke beard and wavy copper hair that just barely grazed the tops of his shoulders. "You are most welcome. But I would be much obliged if you ne'er asked that of me again."

"I think I can do that," I replied as I went to lie back down. Sitting was tiring. Lying down, even on the cool, hard tile floor was inviting. "OK. Yup. Lying down is better."

"She should rest," Emma said quietly. I don't know why she insisted on saying it quietly. Every vampire in the room could hear her.

"I'm good, surprisingly good," I replied. Achrann had come through for me, just as he said he would, his hand in mine. "Just…lying down is better."

"Rest," Achrann replied. "I did not absorb the damage; I merely diverted it so I could return it to you incrementally. You will need rest to recoup as I return it to you."

I would have said something to the winged Fae, but he was incognito here; no one but Alec and I knew he was even here. Well, I suppose David knew he was somewhere, even if he couldn't see him, but only Alec and I could hear him.

Emma clucked at me, giving me the perfect excuse for my response to both of them. "Well, I guess I've been overruled on this one," I said as I gave David a significant glance. He lifted me from the floor and set me back on my feet, seemingly understanding my stare and keeping one hand on my elbow for stability.

"Thank you all," David said to the crowd. "You are welcome to stay or go, it is your choice, but if you wish to speak to Sloane or me, it may be better if you came back tomorrow."

Many bowed, a few curtsied, before finding their way out of one of the many entrances to the room. Devon stepped up, fist extended. I bumped it with my own as he said, "Good to have you back, Mac."

"Good to be back," I replied.

"Deb's birthday is coming up, you coming to the party?"

I smiled and leaned into David. "Sure thing, let me know when and where."

Devon faltered for a minute, then looked at the man at my side, and back down again, as if he believed David would be able to glamour him, too. As far as I knew, vampires couldn't glamour other vampires, but I stopped saying 'can't' and 'never' a long time ago. "You are also invited, Majesty."

"David," David corrected, "and I would be glad to come. Is your birthday not also approaching?"

Devon's head snapped up, surprise and confusion on his face. "Uh, yea," Devon finally replied. "Mid-April."

"You are surprised I remember your birthday," David said as he tucked an arm around my waist and pulled me tight. "Why?"

"I just…"Devon stammered. "I guess…" He stopped, tucked his hands in his pockets, and blurted out, "I'm a vampire, I don't get birthdays anymore."

"So because you died, you were no longer born?" David asked rhetorically. "Celebrate everything that makes you uniquely you, Devon. Do not resign yourself to stereotype of what you think you should be. If you remember when your birthday is, you are lucky."

"Thanks, David," Devon said. "I'll remember that."

Achrann had been standing a few feet away, his hand around my wrist, dispassionately observing the scene, when his head whipped up. If he had been a dog, his ears would have perked, as if he were listening to some signal that was out of my auditory range.

"I must go," Achrann said. "The Garou are attacking again…"

Alec's head shot up as he stared a hole right through Achrann. "Where?" he asked.

"Not close enough for you to help," Achrann replied. "I am sorry, Ga Binne Ri, but I must give you back your pain before I fight."

Devon and David were both looking at Alec and me as if we'd grown second heads. Achrann reached out to me, placing his hands on the side of my face. As soon as he touched me, the floodgates opened.

"Ow, you motherfucker!" I yelled, purely as a response to the pain as I swatted his hand away. But Achrann was already gone, popped out the room and out of existence.

"Sloane?" David asked as he took more of my weight.

"Fucking fairies," I replied. "Wings had to go, so I got everything back ahead of schedule." I leaned into David more; suddenly, as the pain of the sudden onslaught lessened, I started to not feel so well.

"Your temperature just spiked," David said. "Are you alright?"

"Most definitely not," I replied. My head pounded, my extremities felt weak and heavy. I just really, really wanted to take a seat for a moment. "Oh, definitely not."

"Do you need Emma?" David asked, worry suddenly rampant in his voice.

"She'll make _you_ feel better, so bring her along," I said as I took a step toward the entrance that led to the grand ballroom. Beyond that was the staircase, and up those stairs was a large, comfortable bed. "All I really want is to curl up and pass out."

And I did.

"What do I say?" asked a familiar voice as I attempted to pull myself from my groggy waking up place. I hadn't even moved and I already knew I felt like crap. It was at the forefront of my mind, the consuming, persistent misery running rampant through my body.

"You're asking _me_?" asked another voice. This one I could place: that was Alec. "I doubt you'll have to say anything."

"I…I _attacked_ her. I have to say _something_," the familiar voice said, his voice determined.

Recognition was filtering into my sleep addled brain. Moose was here; Moose was the one that had to say something, because he'd attacked me in my front yard. My eyes shot open as I threw the blankets off me, barely recognizing where I was before I jumped into Moose's arms. "I am so sorry I bit you!" I said as I hugged him, my arm tightening around his neck.

His arms slid around my back slowly until I spoke, at which time he squeezed me tight. "I don't know what came over me," Moose said into my hair. "I've never done anything like that before…"

"I know," I replied, "it was my fault, you don't have to apologize."

"Hey," he said as he pulled me out of our hug and held me at arm's length. I didn't remember his hair being that long when I left; what had been a borderline afro that looked like a lion's mane now fell down below his shoulders. His face looked longer, thinner, now that his hair was somewhat weighed down. "I don't care what you did, it was _not_ your fault. You're the victim here, OK?"

I rolled my eyes at him, "I'm fine. Now give me a hug, I missed you."

He swept me back into a hug, spinning me once before he set me down. "Missed you too, Mac. How are you feeling? You want to take those monitors off?"

"What monitors?" I asked as my brow furrowed and I looked down. That's when I noticed little white pads attached to my chest just above the scooping neckline of my tank top. "Oh," I said as I started picking at them. Man, they are sticky. "Jesus, superglue?"

"Stop being a wimp about it," Alec said. "Just rip them off." I glanced up so I could glare at him and noticed the hospital room that had erupted in David's room at the Palace. A heart monitor was silently protesting being disconnected from my body, an empty IV pole stood guard at the bedside. My knees went just a little weak as I looked back down at my chest, considering why there would be an IV pole at my bedside.

"I'm this close to shaving off your eyebrows while you sleep," I said as I continued to work at the pad on the left side of my chest.

Alec reached forward, grabbed the one that I hadn't started working on yet, and ripped it off, earning himself a girl yip in response. "You're an evil little fucker," I snarled at him as I covered the now burning skin.

"Uh huh," he replied as he grabbed the other pad, the one I had abandoned, and did the same thing.

"Ow!" I said as I kicked in his direction. "I hate you right now."

"Had a fun couple of days together?" Moose asked as he watched the back and forth between Alec and me.

We both shot him eloquent looks before I turned for the bathroom. "So?" Moose asked. "How were your first few days back?"

I cringed, my back to the guys, before I shut the door with them on the other side. "Not too pleasant," I replied loud enough so that he could hear me through the heavy wooden door.

"Uh oh," Moose said. "Trouble?"

I took care of my business, brushed my teeth, and washed my face before opening the door again and answering him. "All in the past, I guess."

"I want to know what you mean by that, but the look on your face right now tells me I really don't," Moose replied; I sulked past Moose and collapsed back onto the bed, my head hitting the mussed comforter with finality as I curled into a ball. "Mac?" he asked as he rushed towards me. "Are you OK?"

"I've felt so crappy for so long, I think I've forgot what normal feels like," I replied as tears ran hidden down my cheeks and into the comforter. "Well, I'm crying uncle. Knock me out, I don't want to feel it anymore."

I seemed to have stunned them silent; neither of them made a peep as I slowly cocooned myself back within the comforter I had just escaped from. "Should we take her to the hospital?" Alec asked quietly.

Moose didn't answer immediately, waiting a few beats until he answered, "Maybe?"

"No," I replied with a deep sigh. I had a moment of weakness, and now I'd pay for it; I should never have said anything. "I'm just being melodramatic. I'm fine."

"Liar," Alec said. "You want us to stop hovering, we can try, but you don't have to try and hide it."

I buried my head under the comforter and just let the silent tears fall, not bothering to answer him. The weight of Moose's hand materialized on my back, rubbing up and down gently over the comforter. We went on like that for what felt like hours, long after the movement of Moose's hand on my back melded into the background, as if he weren't touching me at all, long after the pain that pulsed through my body to the beat of my heart was all I knew.

I was trying so hard to keep the shields in place, but they just kept slipping. It was as if, the more I concentrated, the harder they were to maintain. But concentrating on my shields was infinitely better than focusing on the pain. Until, of course, I was focusing so hard on not letting them slip, that they fell away completely.

It was just for a second, just a brief glimpse of what was to come. It was a sunny day and whoever I was seeing through was looking to the sun in the sky as he or she spoke. They had just enough time to say, "The chances…" before their momentum changed and a tearing pain in their side seized their chest as they barreled through the air.

I stayed still enough, quiet enough through the vision that neither Moose nor Alec noticed the change. And it was a while until I noticed something was wrong, too. Well, I guess, more wrong than I had been. I was cuddled completely under a large comforter and I was cold. I was cold and my body felt light, weightless. I meant to open my eyes, but instead I fell under.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I was lying on the floor, my hands behind my head, as Moose attempted to comfort Sloane. He rubbed her back, up and down, up and down, as the entire room fell into silence.

I took in a bunch of air through my nose as a precursor to ask if Moose wanted anything from the kitchen, but got sidetracked. I smelled that wet, ferric sweetness I'd come to know just a little too well. I smelled blood. "Did you cut yourself?" I asked Moose, my brow furrowed, as I sat up.

Moose looked at me, confusion on his face. "No," he replied.

I stood up and looked around the room. The small mass under the comforter that was Sloane rose and fell slightly with slow regularity, letting me know she had probably fallen back asleep. It was just the three of us in here. I took another deep breath through my nose, hoping that my nose had fooled me the first time, but I still smelled that unpleasant wetness. "Do you smell that?" I asked him as I watched his hand on Sloane's back. "Smells like…" Shit, Sloane. "…blood," I finished as I ripped the blanket off of her body. As soon as the cover was pulled off of her, the smell intensified a thousand-fold, enough that my face twisted in a grimace. She was lying limply on her side, her face slack and pale, the only color coming from her red-rimmed eyes. That, and her tear-stained cheeks told me she had been silently crying for some time.

I took a quick inventory of her body, not having to go far for the offending area. Moose had already peeled the hem of her blood-soaked tank top up to reveal two sets of uniform, semi-circular wounds, one starting at her ribs, curving a dotted line to her belly button, and then winding back up to end at her hip bone. The second one mirrored the first, curving an identical path across her back. I'd seen wounds like this before. This was a bite mark from a rather large wolf.

"Is that what I think it is?" Moose asked as he returned from the attached bath with a towel.

"Looks like a wolf bite," I replied as I felt her skin. She was cool to the touch, which didn't surprise me; with the amount of blood that had pooled on the bed around her and the pallid look to her skin, I was almost surprised she was still steadily breathing.

Moose pressed the towel to the wounds, applying even pressure on both her front and back. "Press your hands here," he said as he showed me where on her stomach to hold the towel. He mirrored my position, pressing his hands against her back.

"Has the bleeding stopped?" I asked, knowing full-well that the warm liquid seeping through the towel and into my hands was fresh blood.

"Just about, I think," Moose replied.

"Should we be doing something else?" I asked, mentally keeping track of the pulse I felt faintly, slowly beating alone deep in her abdomen.

Moose peeked under the corner of the towel for just a moment before he pressed the towel back against her skin. "Do you know if Emma has a stash of medical supplies around here?" he asked me.

"Not that I know of," I replied as I noticed a slight hitch in Sloane's pulse, "but I don't hang out here or anything."

"What's in that box at the foot of the bed?" Moose asked as he nodded toward the banker's box.

I leaned back, making sure to keep adequate pressure on her wound, and tried to make sense of it. "IV bags is all I can make out. And I think I see a box of alcohol wipes."

"Can you keep pressure on both of the wounds for a minute?" he asked. "I'll try and insert an IV, that should help."

I nodded, and he maintained the pressure as we attempted to lift her so the wound on her back was pressed against my chest. Once she was settled in and I had my hands pressed against her stomach again, I said, "Hurry up, her pulse is going all wonky."

"Define 'wonky'," Moose replied as he rooted through the box, setting things on the bed as he found them.

I felt her pulse, trying to characterize what I was feeling. "It's not really thu-thump, thu-thump anymore, it's like…ttthud…ttthud…ttthud…"

Moose reached up and took a grip of her wrist, falling silent as he felt what I was feeling. "Keep an eye on it," he said finally as he released her wrist and started assembling tubing. Adeptly, he plugged everything together, but when it was time to actually insert it, he faltered.

"What?" I asked. "Hurry up."

"I've never actually inserted an IV on a real person before," I replied.

"So what happens if you do it wrong?" I asked.

"In theory…" Moose started, but I held on bloody hand up to stop him.

"Can it be any worse than her bleeding out?" I interrupted.

"No," Moose replied.

"Then let's do this."

"Third day is not the charm," said a voice filled with Irish brogue. "Unhand my wife, wolf."

I swiveled my head toward the sound; David was leaning against the door frame, fresh from sleep. My back was to him, and as Moose was still sitting on the floor on the other side of the bed; all David would be able to see was the fact that I was holding Sloane again. I turned just enough to let David see that I was holding a bloody towel to Sloane's stomach before I said, "She needs a doctor."

He was gone, then instantly he was back again, Emma in tow. "Mustafa," she said as she rounded the bed. "Report."

"Has to be a vision," I replied. "We were just sitting there, Sloane was on the bed, I was lying on the floor—then all the sudden I smelled blood."

"Let me see," Emma said as she peeled the bloody towel away. I was trying not to notice that Emma was still wearing a negligee, but with her leaning over Sloane's body, it was all I could see. Intentional or not, she was giving me a prime view straight down her top. I scrunched my eyes closed.

"Clean, but not healing just yet," Emma said as I felt her back away, the movement of the bed indicating where she was. When I felt her get off the bed, I opened my eyes again. "Mustafa, are you going to insert that IV, or just hold it?"

"I've never done it before," he replied, "at least not on a real person."

"Ah," she said as she knelt next to him. "Now is as good a time as any to learn. Palpitate the vein," she said, coaching Moose through the process.

"Found it," Moose replied.

"Take the needle and insert," Emma said, "remember that she is a small woman; insert as if it were a child's arm."

"I've never done it on a child," Moose said as he held the needle centimeters from her skin.

"Her vein is very close to the skin," Emma said, "you will not have to go far."

Moose took a deep breath and plunged the needle into Sloane's limp arm. "Like that?" he asked.

"Very good," Emma said. "Now you must tape the needle down, or she is liable to pull it out the second she regains consciousness."

I was listening so intently to the two of them talk, that I had stopped paying attention to Sloane's heartbeat. When I finally started again, I couldn't find it. "You know how you told me to keep an eye on her pulse?" I said.

Both Emma and Moose looked up at the same time. "What?" Moose asked.

"I don't feel it anymore," I replied.

Emma crawled back onto the bed and lowered her head to Sloane's chest. I looked up at the ceiling as I realized now I had not only David's wife, but his sister in my lap at the same time. Oh, he is going to kill me. "It's there," she said after a moment, "but very faint. How long did she bleed until you noticed the smell?"

I shrugged. "Who knows? Enough to make that puddle over there," I said as I nodded in the direction of where she had been laying.

"You did not notice she was bleeding this profusely?" David asked, his words directed at me.

"I should have," Moose said. "I was sitting right next to her, rubbing her back. I should have felt the ones on her back immediately, but through the blanket…" he said, finishing his thought with a shrug. "I guess I assumed if something like that happened, she'd have done something; moved, made a sound, something."

"She has wounds on her back?" Emma asked. "When were you going to tell the physician?" Both Moose and I shrugged. With a disappointed cluck, she said, "Let me see."

"In the interest of full disclosure," I said as she helped me to lean Sloane's upper half forward, "she was feeling really shitty before she had the vision."

"How so?" Emma asked.

"She wouldn't tell us," Moose replied. "But it was enough to make her cry." There must have been a questioning look on my face, because when Moose caught it, he quietly added, "I could feel her crying through the blanket."

"Mustafa, wolf," David said as he slowly entered the room, "You are dismissed."

Moose and I just looked at him, shocked. "What?" I asked.

He held his hands out and said, "Give me my wife. You are dismissed. Go."

I was just gearing up to tell him where he could shove it when Emma laid a hand on my arm. "For your safety and hers, go, just downstairs," she said quietly. "I will call you back up here if anything happens."

I was going to tell her to fuck off when I noticed the look in her eyes. She wasn't looking at me or Sloane—she was focused on David's face. And that's when I looked at him, too. It was David, but it wasn't at the same time. It was the odd expression on his face that made me do as he asked.

"Emma," David said as he settled into the bed, cradling Sloane in his arms delicately.

"Master," she said as she bowed for him. When she looked over to see if we had left and noticed me standing at the door, she mouthed, "Go."

So I went.


	166. Chapter 166

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

The tears were falling again as I struggled to sit still in David's arms, trying not to bring attention to myself as I dealt with the pain. "You assured me that Mustafa would be able to handle any and all medical issues," David seethed.

"I believe he can, Master," Emma replied calmly.

"He evidently cannot," David replied venomously. "He cannot insert an IV without coaching. He is useless. You are useless."

Emma was silent for a moment before she quietly replied, "Yes, Master." Seconds later, a door shut.

"Sloane?" David asked gently as he noticed the tears falling down my cheeks. I didn't answer, I just continued to cry silently. "Sloane, Love, tell me what is wrong."

I didn't want to speak. I didn't want to be useless, too. So instead I stayed as still as I could, my eyes closed, as the tears fell as I fought the tremors that wanted to run throughout my body. "Love, please answer me. Just let me know you are awake."

I didn't answer, I didn't move. Not until I heard that faint shredding pop that usually meant that fangs had met vampire skin. When David tried to gently open my mouth so he could feed me his blood, I clamped my jaw together and turned away from him. Sadly, somehow, I just wanted it to be worse. Funny, that, but the last time I used the marks, unconsciousness had followed. That was a much more attractive option than this pain, even knowing what that kind of illness had done to my body. I would have given anything to feel better.

"Drink Sloane," he said as he tried to right my head. Well, anything but that. I fought him, little painful moans coming from my throat as I did. When it was clear that I wasn't going to drink from him, he sighed and set me on the bed next to him, lying me down so I was on my side in the fetal position.

God, it hurt. This much pain, I should have been out cold. I took handfuls of the comforter, pulling it into my body as I buried me face in it and let out the screams that had been building in my body. I screamed and I screamed until I couldn't make my voice work anymore. Then my screams became silent.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

It had been almost an hour since the vampires kicked us out. Moose and I paced in the lobby, within sight of the room that Sloane, David, and Emma were in. If the vampires were talking, they were talking so quietly that I couldn't hear them, even with the door open. When Emma emerged, her head bowed, her demeanor defeated, my heart started ramming into my ribcage. "What's going on?" Moose asked, "Is she OK?"

Emma looked up, her cheeks sporting bloody trails. "I am no longer needed here," she said as she threw a coat on over her negligee and buttoned it to the top. Moose and I stared on, stunned, as she walked out the front door, shoeless, and just left.

"What the hell?" Moose asked as he looked at me. We stood there for a moment, trying to decide what do to, when I heard that first scream. That bone shattering, mind-numbing scream that came from the same room Emma had just left.

"Shit," I said as I bounded up the stairs, Moose following not far behind. I stopped short at the door and searched the room. David was sitting on the bed, hovering over Sloane, who was curled in a ball, screaming into the mattress.

"She will not let me help her," David said as he glanced back.

"Why not?" I asked over her screaming.

"I do not know," he replied.

"She's going to rip those scabs," Moose said loudly over my shoulder. "We need Emma to sedate her."

"Emma left, remember?" I replied.

"Emma left?" David asked.

There was a pop, and Achrann just appeared in the middle of the room. "Why is she screaming?" he asked.

"No idea," Moose and I replied at the same time.

"Why are you here, Fairy?" David asked.

Achrann glanced back down at Sloane, who was curled in as tight a ball as she could get as she tried to muffle her screams. It was getting steadily quieter, as if she was running out of juice. There wasn't any less effort on her part, just less noise. "She called to me," he replied as he took off the white suit jacket, lying it on the end of the bed, carefully avoiding anything bloody. "Whose blood is this?"

"Hers," I responded.

"Ah. I will try to ease her screaming now." He stood beside her and simply reached out, touching her cheek. As if she had shocked him, he grunted, dropping to his knees, leaving him just about on eye level with her. "Now I understand," he said through clenched teeth.

"What?" David asked. "What is to understand?" Sloane quieted almost immediately, frantically crawling off the bed and landing with a thump. Achrann lowered himself so he was sitting, his back against the wall, as Sloane ripped his shirt open and climbed into his lap, pressing as much of herself as she could against him. She worked her arms underneath his shirt and gun holster, pressing her cheek tightly against his collarbone.

"This is quite painful," Achrann replied as he wrapped his arms around her. "And I merely halved her pain, I did not take it all."

Tears were still falling down her cheeks, but at least she wasn't screaming anymore. In fact, excluding the tears, she looked strangely peaceful. "Well, this is new," Cian said as he sauntered into the room. "My King, Lee Wong wishes me to tell you, and I quote, '_dangsin eun eolgan i_'. I hope I did not butcher that."

David looked surprised for a moment before his brow furrowed. "You did not," he replied as he crawled off the bed. "Wolf, you said my sister left?"

I nodded and replied. "Put on a coat and walked out the front door."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"She just said something like, 'I'm not needed here,' and left."

"Perhaps I am an ass," David replied to Cian, who gave him a pleasantly blank, yet confused look. "I will be back as soon as I can."

Cian, Moose, and I watched David as he put a long sleeved t-shirt on over his sleep pants and padded silently out the door. "Huh," I said, confusion in my voice.

"Indeed," Cian said before he turned back toward Sloane and Achrann, his face with a forced amiable blankness I was getting used to as his I'm-hiding-how-I-feel face. "If you are going to caress to my lover, Fairy, perhaps you should use the bed. It is, after all, more comfortable for love-making."

"You test my patience with you, Vampire," he replied through gritted teeth.

"I don't think he could stand, let alone lift Sloane," I added. "Right, Wings?"

"That is true. The pain is debilitating."

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Oh, God, sweet relief. I clung to it as if my life depended on it, wrapping my legs around its waist and my arms around its chest as I clung to all that alabaster skin. It was a miracle, the drug-like effect it had on me. Even down to that warm, fuzzy feeling that courses through my veins as the drug takes hold, making me pleasantly slow. I felt like that now. Minutes passed as I couldn't hear, see, feel anything but that almost ecstatic numbness. But who the hell cares? I wasn't screaming. I wasn't screaming and, God, it felt so good.

Awareness was slowly filtering back in to my consciousness as I took care-free breath after care-free breath. _How could anything be wrong if I feel this good?_ I thought to myself. I could hear voices, but I couldn't concentrate on them. I didn't mind. As long as I didn't hurt, I didn't mind.

"…pain is debilitating," rumbled through the chest I was pressed against, the voice amplifying as if I had just come out of a tunnel and my radio was getting reception again.

"Do you want to be on the bed?" asked another deep, throaty voice.

"No, I am quite fine on the floor," rumbled through the chest I was pressed against. "Truthfully, the less I have to move, the better."

I dug my nails into skin as I attempted to crawl farther into that warm, comfortable place. I didn't want to come out of my miracle fog. I wanted to stay pleasantly pain-free for just a little while longer. I wanted that numbness, I wanted it back so badly my entire body shook with it.

The chest I was pressed against rumbled, painful sounds reverberating into my ears. "Please help me take off my shirt," it said. "I need more touch, more skin, before she tears my back to shreds."

There was movement, but I was hanging on so tight, I barely felt it; a brush here, a hand there. "Fuck," said that same throaty, deep voice as before. "That's gotta sting."

"Comparatively, I barely feel it," reverberated through my miracle's chest. "We need more of her skin."

Another voice entered the mix. Soft and musical, this voice sounded like sex. "I cannot believe I am about to help you strip my lover," it said from very, very close.

"Perhaps just expose the arms," my miracle replied. "This shirt of hers covers too much."

"I can do you one better," said the voice that felt like sex. "Hold her steady."

Shredding, ripping noises were followed by an attempt to jerk me away from my miracle, but I wasn't going to be separated from my savior. I climbed on tighter, the rest of the pain just melting away as my bare chest touched its hard skin.

My whole body relaxed, my grip on its skin lessened until my hands slid down its back. _Oh, God, yes_.

**EMMA'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I sat cross-legged on the footbridge that spanned the small stream on the outskirts of the Palace property. I sat angled so I could look out of a small clearing in the canopy of trees and gaze upon the stars. When we had first come here, first purchased this mansion for the three of us, I had worried about this location. The bridge crossed from the south to north, and the opening in the canopy was only visible if you faced directly east. The first time I saw it, my first thought had been, _David would find this a lovely place to die._ I had been so worried about him; I still was. I had been tiptoeing around him for a century, doing everything I could to ease his life for a century, and then in saunters Sloane. In saunters Sloane, and suddenly I am nothing but a way to keep her alive to him. I was once his beloved sister. Now I am just his employee.

"Go away," I said to the footsteps behind me as I cleared the tears from my face. Much to my dismay, I was acting Queen. I had done it to save David from himself, and had hoped that once he was well again, he would take back his duties. But regardless of why I was Queen or how unhappy I was about it, the Queen does not let just anyone see her cry. The fact that the shifters had undoubtedly noticed was bad enough.

"As your maker, I could force you to talk to me, but I feel as if that would be counterproductive," David said softly.

I turned my head away from the sound of his voice and curled my knees into my chest. The bite of the cold spring night was starting to work its way into my bones, but I did not mind. I found it strangely appropriate. If there was one person I did not want to talk to right now, it was David. He made me feel cold to the core. At least now, I actually was. Since I was vampire and not human like his precious Sloane, it was not a painful cold, it was just an acknowledgment of temperature.

"_I apologize, sister_," he said in our native tongue.

"_Go away,_" I repeated, more softly this time.

"_If that is what you wish, I will leave you be, but until after I have said what I came to say_," he said, matching my soft tone. I felt him move behind me, I felt him lean down so he could touch me, but I shied away, scooting to the edge of the small bridge to get away from him. He let out a sigh and moved away, but did not leave. I wanted him to leave.

"_You are not useless, sister. I am sorry. Without you, I would be lost, and I know that. I owe you my everything. Can you forgive me?_"

I sat, silent, as tears started to fall down my face again. I waited a beat, then two, but he made no move to leave. "_Is that all?_" I asked, putting years of practice into controlling my voice, making it empty and emotionless.

"_Yes,_" he replied.

"_Then go._"

"_You have not answered me,_" he replied, his voice soft and fragile once again. But this time, I found it nearly impossible to care. I had spent so much time trying to manage his depression, I had ignored my own.

I sat motionless for a moment, looking at the stars reflection in the lazy water, water that reminded me of the home I had to abandon as a child, water that reminded me of the nightmare that was my human life. I sat and took a selfish moment to blame David for all of it. "Go," I finally said, switching back to our adopted language. "Leave me."

The only indication I had that he had followed my wishes and left was the rustle of the leaves as he sprinted away.

.

I had not moved in the time it took for David to send another for me. I knew he would; I did not live with him for over a century and know nothing about the man. I did not expect who he had sent, though. The pale, buttery skin, the midnight blue eyes, the dreadlocks. It was an old but distant friend, our newest citizen. It was Cian.

"My Queen," he said as he walked through the water from the east.

"Cian," I replied. The tears had all but dried, most of the blood ending up on the sleeves of my coat. I looked upon him dispassionately as he trod through the ankle-deep water, his pants sticking to his thin legs. "Must you walk through the water? You will have to discard your trousers before you will be allowed back on to the carpet in the Palace."

He smiled at me, a brilliant flash of white and fang. "I do love being difficult," he replied.

He stopped mere yards from me, lowering himself into the water as he sat cross-legged in the shallow stream. "I did not expect him to send you," I finally said as I studied his pleasant face.

"Neither did I," he replied. "Although I believe he chose correctly."

"What do you mean?" I asked. I asked as a queen should; as a demand, not a request.

"Anyone else, you may have ordered away, and they would be forced to listen. I am most likely not to obey."

"It would be blasphemous not to listen to a direct order from your Queen," I replied, my voice strangely void of the threatening rage that should have accompanied that statement. I had been pretending for so long, I had forgotten what it felt like just to say what I meant to say; no double meanings, no careful consideration. Just to speak as if you were speaking among friends.

"Would it not also be blasphemous to ignore a friend in need?" Cian asked. "You are, after all, a friend first, my Queen second."

"That was a dangerous statement," I replied.

"But a true one," he answered without hesitation.

"Perhaps," I replied. "You count me among your friends?"

He nodded and added, "Of which I have very few."

"You are too humble," I replied with a sigh.

"Not as much as you would think," he replied. "Eric and Pam, of course, because they are blood of my blood. Guinevere, as my centuries long Queen, became a close friend. Beyond that, I count only you, Lee, and David as vampires I would entrust my life to. Only the three of you have gained my friendship not out of blood or what began as a forced servitude. Only the three of you have truly earned it."

"Why do you tell me this?" I asked. "Why now?"

"Because in the nearly a century I have known you, you had yet to ask," he replied simply. With a shrug that was nearly Gallic, he added, "And because I suspect you needed to hear it, and have it be truth."

"It is always nice to hear you are appreciated," I answered finally.

"Ah," Cian finally said, as if the light had shone on some mysterious secret. "Now I see."

"I do not believe you do," I replied.

There was a moment where Cian studied my face before he asked, "Do you remember prohibition?"

I stopped for a moment, stunned by the question, before I could regain that stilled composure that had come with practice. "Of course," I finally replied.

"I was speaking of it with David just the other day," he replied, lying his hands back into the flowing water and leaning upon them. He leaned as if he knew he looked winsome, but only subconsciously. He had been doing it for so long, it was now an automatic response. He leaned his head to the side, resting his head on his bunched shoulders, and continued. "His face when he talks of you…even if it was only just your beautiful, curled hair…it can lighten the room. You are his own personal sun, and he revolves around you. He loves you."

"He did, once," I replied as I glanced to my lap. "But no longer. I am nothing but a means to keep his precious Sloane—your precious Sloane—alive. I am merely his staff doctor, and a useless one at that." The grimace that followed, I could not hide. I had meant to, I had meant to stay emotionless, blank, but I just could not manage that.

"You do not believe that," Cian replied softly.

"I do," I replied. "What proof do I have to the contrary?"

"I will tell you it is not true. You must only look at him as he talks of you to know it is not."

I sighed, stood, and smoothed my now bloody coat against my body. "It is not like him to care about my emotional state this much," I said, my voice several degrees cooler than before. "Why is it he sent you?"

Cian stood too, water dripping down his trousers, and clasped his wet hands behind his back. "Not everything David does has an ulterior motive, Emma," he replied.

"But this one does," I added.

Another Gallic shrug, as if to pass blame to another set of phantom shoulders, before he said, "True."

"Do share," I commanded when it was clear he was not going to expound.

"It is Sloane," he said, the ghost of a flinch on his face. "She is in immense pain. Will you help me to ease it?"

I glared angrily at him. "I took a Hippocratic oath, did I not?" I seethed. "Just because I am vampire, does not mean I do not have to abide by it."

"I said nothing of the sort, my Queen," Cian replied as he turned back toward the house, leaving me at his right side. He took a step, walking slowly, as he dripped water up the bank of the small stream, his bare feet barely leaving impressions in the soft sand. He expected me to follow him, and in that moment, my head told me to rail against him. I planted my feet, watching him walk away, feeling vindicated in my stubborn will. Instead of turning back, however, he merely kept walking, saying over his shoulder, "We will wait until you are ready to join us." And he disappeared into the trees.

.

I could not resist following him. I may have been angry, but I realized that I was not angry with Sloane, she had done nothing wrong. She was just as much a victim of David's will as I was, in a way. So I hitched my chin up, forced my features into more neutral alignment, and walked calmly through the front door as I rolled up the sleeves of my coat.

I climbed the stairs to the varying stares of the men in the lobby. Idi and Idriis watched me with identical, calculating eyes. Cian watched me, confident that I would do the right thing. David, red rimming his eyes, stared apologetically, but I refused to look at him. It was Lee whose gaze I pulled strength from. He had always been my port in the storm, he always seemed to know exactly what I needed. And now I needed to see the love in his eyes, solely for me; I needed to see that I was still someone's everything.

I walked through the door of David's room, where I had left Sloane in his arms, expecting her to be on the bed. She was not. Instead, she was in the arms of her Fairy protector, the two of them in the corner of the room. At first glance, it looked as if I had walked into something very intimate, but after a moment, it became clear that the noises coming from Sloane were not pleasant ones; I could only describe it as a whimper as she struggled in his lap.

My eyes followed the line of Sloane's bare back, perfect once again after her mid-afternoon vision, past the very bottom of that diamond tattoo on the back of her neck, and to the face of the man in whose arms she laid. His chest was bare, his arm draped weakly around Sloane's back. His usually alabaster skin looked pale and ashen, as if he were ill. As he looked up at me, his light grey eyes and the set of his jaw spoke of pain. "Diagnosis?" I asked, my voice more curt than I had expected.

"I do not know what you mean," he replied.

"What seems to be the problem?" I replied as I stared down at the two of them. I wanted to sedate Sloane immediately, if only to stop the painful noises coming from her throat, but I had to know what her symptoms were before I could do such a thing.

"Her pain, her illness, is greater than I expected. I find my ability to ease it weakening greatly." His voice was soft, pleading almost, as he held limply to his charge.

"It is just pain, then?" I asked as I knelt next to the two, finding Sloane's pulse with my fingers on her exposed neck. Her heart was beating frantically but strongly. "Or is there more to it?"

"She sweats, though it is cool in here. Her pulse races. But nothing is as terrible as the pain. I can ease her fever, but I could never cure pain as effectively."

I grabbed the box of medical supplies I had left carelessly at the end of the bed and produced a needle and a vial. "I will sedate her so at least she does not feel it," I replied.

"Would pain medication not be effective?" he asked.

I filled the needle, taking a moment to calculate the amount of medication based on Sloane's scant weight, before I answered him. "It is pain medication, but it will also knock her out."

He relaxed almost minutely, his head falling back to the wall behind him. "Very well," he answered as his eyes closed.

It took only minutes before Sloane's whimpers died and her struggling movement stopped. She relaxed into her protector, her head resting comfortably against his collarbone. When she was finally asleep, he tried to lift her, but had grown too weak to do so. When he tried again, I lifted Sloane gently from his arms and laid her in the recently remade bed, covering her nakedness with the replacement comforter before I turned back to the Fairy. "Are you not well?" I asked as I watched him struggle to get to his knees.

"I need rest," he replied, "but I am too weak to cloak myself from you."

My eyebrows furrowed as he collapsed back to all fours, his head bowed. "I do not understand," I said as I lifted the taller man to his feet and helped him to the bed.

"I am Fae," he said as he collapsed into himself, his hands on his knees as he sat at the end of the bed. "I will not be able to hide that from you. Will you and the others be strong enough to resist my call?"

"I fear not," I replied. "What do you suggest?"

"I cannot merely lock you out," he replied. "And I cannot risk that Sloane would need assistance with no one to help her." He moved slightly then grimaced, as if his entire body was beaten and sore. "Perhaps the Garou would stand watch."

"Alec?" I asked. "I will find him for you. Would you like something to ease the pain, as well?"

He shook his head, his silver hair falling in waves around his shoulders. "I will feel stronger once I rest."


	167. Chapter 167

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

That post-flu grogginess had taken up residence in my entire body as I regained consciousness slowly, piece by piece. First, I noticed the enveloping warmth of the comforter that was wrapped around my body, the silky feel of the expensive velvet fabric as it rubbed against my bare skin. I could smell the scent of woodsy warmth and cool, fresh air. I heard the familiar soft, low bass mumble in the background. And I could feel my stomach growl.

I took a deep breath, enjoying the overlapping scents, and turned onto my back. "I'm hungry," I said before I even opened my eyes, goofy smile tugging my lips.

"I think you read my mind," Alec replied.

"I'm too comfy to move," I added.

There was a pat of my shoulder, then Alec's voice came from much closer. "So what are the orders for today?"

I frowned, thinking about the question, trying to piece together the last few days in my head as I finally cleared the last of the fog. I opened my eyes to query the wolf staring back at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the subtle movement of a silver halo. "Hi, Achrann," I said, surprise in my voice. "When'd you get here? Did you fight the…other Garou?"

He and Alec both looked at me, surprise on their faces. "You do not remember?" he asked.

I shook my head, my brow furrowing. "I remember the vision, then I remember waking up in David's arms while he was being a dick to Emma, and then I don't remember anything but pain."

"He popped in and you tore his shirt off and then crawled into his lap," Alec said, smirk on his face.

"Next time we do something that intimate, I would request you cut your nails, first," Achrann replied.

I took a minute to digest what they had said, the fact that I wasn't wearing any clothes. When it dawned on me, I blushed heartily. "Oh my God," I replied as I buried my head. "I'm never coming out from under this blanket, ever."

Alec laughed, Achrann made no noise what-so-ever. "Oh, it's not that bad," Alec said.

"The hell it isn't!" I yelled. "Please, God, tell me I didn't at least make David and Cian watch."

"David, no," Alec said. "Cian liked helping to get you naked very much."

"Oh God," I mumbled again as I curled into a ball. "Nope, I'm never coming out."

"Thought you were hungry?" Alec said.

"I'd rather starve to death in here with my embarrassment."

"Why are you so embarrassed, Ga Binne Ri?" Achrann asked.

"I'd like to remember having sex with someone new," I replied. I paused for a moment, then replied, "No, actually, I'd like to remember every time I've had sex."

Alec burst into laughter so hard, I wouldn't be a stretch to assume tears were falling down his face. "We did not have sex, Ga Binne Ri," Achrann replied softly. He used to say Ga Binne Ri as if he'd meant to say _you annoying flea_. Now he said it as if it were a caress. I momentarily wondered what had changed, but he continued, "I merely held you to better divert the illness from your body to mine."

"Then why am I naked?" I whispered. Alec was still laughing, but somehow, I knew Achrann would be able to hear me through the blankets.

"To answer your question, I needed more skin contact. But you should be wearing shorts. If you are not, it is not my doing."

I had to feel down around my waist since the blanket blocked all the light from the room. I was not wearing shorts. I wasn't even wearing panties. I was one hundred and ten percent naked. "Then why am I naked?" I asked, venom finding it's way into my voice. "Alec?"

"Wasn't me, I swear," he replied, all his giggles gone.

"Who, then?"

"Moose took the first shift," Alec replied. "You've barely moved since I took over."

"You think Moose stripped me?" I asked. I couldn't help but keep the disbelief out of my voice. I was having a hard time believing that Alec would do something like that, but it was just ludicrous to think that Moose would. No, it was more of a certain vampire's move to strip me while I slept. "Cian," I said, answering my own question.

"There weren't supposed to be any vampires allowed in the room," Alec said.

"When has that ever stopped him?"

"True."

"I'm going to get him back for this, somehow," I mumbled as I rolled onto my back. "I don't know how, but I'll think of something."

.

I made the guys leave the room before I even lifted my head back out of the blankets. It took a moment for all my muscles to settle back in, but eventually, I stood without more than a sigh. It wasn't anything compared to the pain I had felt just hours ago; it was just more of a soreness, as if I had run a marathon as I slept.

A nice, hot shower would help to loosen me up. I padded naked into the large granite bathroom, forcing myself not to cover myself with my hands and starting the hot water as I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess, but that was to be expected. My skin gleamed white, slight bruises visible at my shoulders. It looked as if I had been pulling against a harness too hard, and the harness had left a mark. I was puzzled by the bruises, but only mildly so. My hands were much more distracting. Under my fingernails were red and, when I turned my hand over, faint red lines were visible in the creases of my palm. Why did I have blood under my nails and on my palms? I looked myself over one more time, head to toe, front and back. The blood, as far as I could tell, wasn't mine. So whose was it?

"Alec?" I called through the closed bathroom door. "Achrann?"

"What?" Alec replied; his voice came from just the other side of the thick, wooden door.

"Did I hurt someone? I have blood on my hands…"

"That would be me," Achrann replied calmly.

"Oh," I replied through the door. "I'm sorry. Are you OK?"

"Just fine, Ga Binne Ri," he replied consolingly. "The scratches have already faded. Take your shower, then we will eat."

.

I took another faster-than-the-speed-of-light shower and was downstairs in the lobby in less than fifteen minutes. Alec and Achrann were scheming quietly, huddled together as Alec talked with his hands and Achrann just listened. I took a moment to stand at the top of the stairs and just watch. Knowing their background made watching them not only get along, but work together (on whatever it was they were talking about) even that much sweeter. "What are you looking at?" Moose asked as he sidled up next to me.

"Those two," I said quietly as I nodded to the two in question. "I don't know why, but seeing them work together makes me smile."

"What are they talking about?" he asked.

With a shrug, I answered, "No idea."

"They could be plotting your assassination, you don't know. But you're still smiling."

I shrugged, but the smile never left my face. How could I explain? Watching Alec and Achrann, two people that, through no fault of their own, were destined to grow up enemies throw aside their notions and preconceptions about each other and just listen—it made me hopeful for the future of the country, of the world, as a whole.

After taking a mental photograph, I descended the stairs, Moose on my tail, and said, "Come on, boys." Both of their heads swiveled toward me at once. "Food time."

.

Alec was the only one who still sat in the car with me. I had to kick Moose out of my car on the corner of Farm Lane and Shaw Avenue, just outside the engineering building, so he'd actually go to class. Achrann, with a cryptic comment to Alec about keeping ready, popped right out of existence just after I parked the car. Now, as we sat in my car on the parking ramp, I was having to give Alec the same talk I gave Moose.

"You have things to do," I said to him. "Degrees to earn. Go do that."

He shook his head. "You sure you'll be alright? What if you…relapse, you know? Or a vision? What if the paparazzi find you?"

I laughed. "Wow, Den Mother. I feel fine, and if, for some odd reason, I do relapse, I'll call you and curl into a ball in the corner. As for the visions, I've been having those long before I had a 24-hour wolf detail. I managed then, I can manage now. And the paparazzi seem strangely absent at the moment, but if they do show up, then I can handle it. It's not like they're going to start throwing daggers at me, they just want a scoop. Since I'm good at being scoop-less, they'll lose interest soon enough."

His brows furrowed at me as he studied my face. "I don't like it."

I patted his scratchy cheek. "You're just a phone call away, Alec. And a couple of blocks."

Oh, that hadn't been the right thing to say. His face crumpled into a look part consternation, part stubbornness. Before he could open his mouth to speak, I added, "How about this: you go do your thing and let me do mine, and I'll let you attach yourself to my hip tomorrow. OK?" When his face turned from worry to contemplation, I added, "And I'll make lasagna for dinner tonight."

He tried to hide it, but his eyes lit up with pleasure. "Deal. But I want garlic bread, too. And something for dessert."

I laughed. "Alright. Now go."

Once I finally shooed Alec out of my car, I took a deep breath and sat back. Alone. Once again. For a moment, I just enjoyed it. My thoughts, me, and a cooling car. _What could be better?_ I asked myself rhetorically. I instantly knew the answer: a phone call to Syd.

"Hi, hun," she said as she answered on the second ring. "How're you feeling?"

"Better," I answered, "now that the whole shifter thing's resolved." There was an audible cringe on the other line, but I didn't want to hear it. "So, was there a formal ceremony where you handed your den mother duties over to Alec?" I asked lightly. "If there was, I'm hurt I wasn't invited."

Sydney laughed, more in relief than because it was funny. "That bad, huh?"

"Driving me up a wall," I replied. As I told her about some of Alec's clingier moments, she laughed, and I realized how much I missed her. "What are you doing today?" I asked. "I miss you. And I want to make fun of your plump little belly."

"Be nice to the pregnant woman," she replied. "I got the kids until four. Dinner?"

"I suppose you could join us," I said before I told her of the deal I'd made Alec. "I'll have to double the lasagna, though. I assume you'll bring RJ?"

"Sure," Syd replied.

I grabbed my purse and slung it over my shoulder before getting out of the car. "Have the press been hounding you?" I asked as I crossed the parking ramp to the stairs. "They've been strangely absent around me lately."

"Oh, they've been around," she responded.

"Oh?" I asked. "Bothering you? Sorry about that."

She giggled. "No, not anymore. I might have flipped out the first time they tried it. Haven't been back since."

"Flipped out?" I asked.

"I blame the hormones," she replied matter-of-factly. "Down side? They think I'm crazy. Up side? No more paparazzi bothering me."

"Fair trade," I commented just as I spotted the first shadow-dweller with a camera, just past the massive hand-carved doors to Giltner Hall. "Speak of the devil."

"Paparazzi?" she asked, her tone lowering to show her distaste.

"Yuppers," I replied just as two camera-laden men rushed up to me. I didn't stop walking, I just trusted that the two of them would fall in step with me. After all, I had places to be.

"Sloane, Sloane," they both asked as they aimlessly clicked pictures, clamoring to backpedal fast enough that they could remain in front of me.

"Hi," I replied to them as I covered the receiver. "Lovely spring day, eh?"

"Where are you going?" asked the one on the left. "Are you in trouble with your department? Are you getting kicked out of school?"

"Well, I certainly hope not. Not when I'm so close to being out of their hair, anyway," I replied absently. "Now, you know my name, I don't know yours. You are?"

They both stopped, looking a little shocked. "Rob," said the shorter one on the left.

"Jim," said the other.

"Nice to meet you Rob and Jim," I said. I could hear Sydney giggling on the line, sensing that I'd stymied them.

"Who are you talking to?" Jim asked.

"Sydney." Both of their faces paled. I held the phone out to them and asked, "Want to chat?"

They both refused politely. With a shrug I reattached the phone to my ear. "Hear that, Syd? You scared them."

"I'd apologize, but I'm not sorry," Sydney replied though her giggles.

I covered the receiver again and told the paparazzi, "She apologizes."

"I did not!" she yelled through the line. I giggled.

"You'll have to excuse her. Almost losing me, then the pregnancy—she's gone a bit off the deep end lately." In the receiver, I added, "But I love you, so no pouting over there."

She replied quietly, "I'll pout if I want to."

Quietly, just for Syd, I said, "I got to go, Syd, call you back later." With mutual goodbyes, I hung up the phone as I stood just outside Jeanne's office, shoving it back into my coat pocket. "Any last questions before I go to my meeting?"

"What's the meeting about?" asked Rob.

I shrugged a bit, adding, "Well, I think she feels slighted that I haven't stopped by by now. Plus, we need to regroup and redo the time line for the end of my research. If we have time, we'll go over the changes I made to my thesis just before I got sick, then we're done."

"When are you supposed to graduate?" asked Rob. "Do you have any plans for after graduation? Any job offers?"

"Well, I was _supposed_ to graduate in August. Don't know about that anymore; I'll know more after the meeting, but I'm thinking that might get pushed back to December. And no, no job offers yet. Not sure what I want to do. Maybe I'll start college all over again," I said with a giggle.

"Like, getting another degree? In what?"

"_If_ I got another degree, it'd be in something completely different. Like hospitality management or journalism."

"Why something so different?" Jim asked.

"I like a challenge. I've proven competent at science. I'd want to try something outside my comfort zone."

"Sloane?" Jeanne asked, her head popped out of her office. "I'm ready for you, if you can get away."

With a smile for her, then another for the two paparazzi in front of me, I excused myself. "Sorry, boss is calling. But if you're looking for lunch, I recommend a place called The Post downtown. Best hoagies ever." With another wave in their stunned faces, I turned and waltzed right in to Jeanne's office, shutting the heavy wooden door behind me.

"Were those reporters?" Jeanne asked as she took a seat around the small kitchen table she'd moved from her own house. Files upon files were piled up next to her small laptop with seemingly no rhyme or reason.

I took my usual chair and produced a notepad and pen from the bottom of my purse before answering, "Paparazzi. They've been hanging around lately."

"You and that man of yours made big news," Jeanne added. "There were articles about how he never left your bedside for those 6 weeks. Called your parents every night to give them an update. Even flew Sydney out so she could be with you, too."

I sat, stunned for a moment. I had no idea he had done that. I had figured that Sydney had wormed her way onto David's plane, but sitting at my bedside _every night_? Once or twice a week, sure. But _every _night? And calling my parents? I just stared at her, slack jawed, as she continued.

"I stopped by, too. I was at a symposium in Glasgow the week between finals and Christmas and stopped in before my flight. You looked awful. And he…he just sat there, holding your hand and watching the machines breathe for you. He offered to leave the room so I could have some alone time with you, but the look on his face…he'd looked like the very thought of leaving the room was killing him. It was…very sweet."

"So now you approve of our relationship?" I asked, disbelief dripping from my voice. "You didn't hide your dislike of him before."

Her brows furrowed slightly in indignation, but she recovered quickly, replying, "I just want you to be happy with someone who loves you. Before, I had doubted that he returned your feelings, but now I don't." When I cracked a small smile, she added, "Not that you needed it, but you two have my blessing."

I laughed lightly. "Thanks, Jeanne. That actually means a lot."

"Yea, well," she replied as he bristled slightly, refusing to look me in the eye. She turned her computer, revealing a hydrology map of Michigan. "Back to your research. If you cut the time it'd take to collect and run these last few samples from this region," she said as she used her capped pen to circle the area around a small lake about a fifty miles north of East Lansing, "you could finish on time."

I shook my head. "I want to do this right, even if it takes me a little longer. If I keep these samples, do you think a December graduation is possible?"

"For anyone else, no," she replied. "But for you? Yes. But I have new rules regarding you in the lab. I want full gear on at all times. I don't care what you're working with. Hair piece, face shield, and the coat. Even if you're just making media."

I looked up at her, my expression half shock and half anger. "Why are you being so cautious?"

"You were just in a coma. You died twice, if the articles were correct. I'd rather err on the side of caution. At least until they figure out what happened in the first place."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine, but if it'll make you feel better, I'll humor you. You are the boss, after all. What about hiring me an undergrad?" I said with hopeful eyes.

She laughed. "You know what? Sure. I've got a sophomore that's been hounding me for a position for a while. Plus, it's a girl, and I feel I owe you some estrogen."

"Yes!" I said over-enthusiastically as I cocked an elbow. "Jackpot. Anything else you want to give me? A raise? A position after I graduate?"

She laughed. "We'll talk about it later." I yawned, stifling it with the back of my hand. Jeanne's brows furrowed in worry. "Are you alright, Sloane?"

"Yea, perfect," I said. "The doctors said I'd be tired for a while until my body re-equilibrates to, you know, moving. Just have to throw myself back into it."

"You should go home," she said, "get some rest."

"Don't be ridiculous," I said. "I'm not saying I'm ready for one of my usual 16 hour days, but I want to run in to lab for at least a bit and get some things ready for sampling." After another yawn, I stood, packing my notebook back into the depths of my purse. I needed to go before Jeanne reevaluated what she had just promised me and took it all back. We could talk about my thesis later.

Jeanne gave me a bit of a stare-down, but I won with a smile and a quick, "See ya!" before bouncing back out the door.

.

I shot upright as I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I must have fallen asleep as I waited for the autoclave to finish cooking my latest batch of media in preparation for the samples that I would be bringing in hopefully at the end of the week. "Wha?" I asked tiredly as I turned around. Behind me, Matt, Karthik, and Jon were all waiting, big grins on their faces.

"Welcome back!" Matt said as he scooped me into a big hug. He held on just a touch longer than was comfortable, and when he finally let me go, he said, "We're so glad you're OK."

"Thanks," I said as I turned to hug Karthik, who blushed and returned my hug sheepishly. Next up was Jon, who merely extended a fist for me to bump. He was quite possibly the only germaphobic microbiologist I've ever heard of, and didn't like physical contact above and beyond a fist bump.

"So what happened? Is it like the newspapers said?" asked Matt, who had pulled up a chair and lowered himself into it.

"I don't know," I answered as I heard the door swish open, breaking the airtight barrier between the lab and the hallway. I was about to say, "I haven't read the papers," where I turned, catching Freddy just as he looked up. I didn't have to be Sookie to see his thought process. First was surprised to see me, then anger bubbled over, shortly followed by guilt. When he finally set his things down on the desk, his face was right back to amiable.

"Hey, there, Zombie Woman," Freddy said almost too cheerily. I caught Matt's face; he had noticed Freddy's thought process, too.

"Hey, Freddy," I replied carefully. When he just nodded and turned his back on the group, I shrugged, asking, "Hey, what time is it?"

Matt glanced at a watch. "Just after four," he replied.

I shot to my feet. "Shit! I'm late, I gotta go…" I said as I started piling things back into my purse just before I tore the lab coat from my shoulders. "I told Syd I'd meet her at the house at four. Hey can you…"

Matt laughed. "Back to your old self, I see," as he turned me toward the door. "I'll pour your plates and put them in the fridge, but you owe me."

With another small hug for the man who was finishing what I started, I bolted out the door. "Anything. Thanks!"

.

I could hear the music thumping through my house before I even opened the front door. When I finally did open the door, my ear drums about burst. "Are you sure that's healthy for the baby?" I yelled over the music as deposited my stuff on the foyer table.

Sydney yelled something back, but I couldn't quite make it out over the thumping bass. When I rounded the corner to the kitchen and toward the origination of the rap that was seeping its way into my brain via brute force, I almost wish I hadn't. Though the beat to the music was decidedly upbeat, RJ had Sydney's hips pressed up against the counter, one of his hands gripping the counter on either side of her. He was grinding his hips up against hers painfully slowly, still managing to move in time with the music. Her hands trailed just as slowly down his back. "Whoa!" I yelled as I spun immediately, putting them at my back. Sure, they were both still completely clothed, and I've seen people doing much worse say, on the dance floor, but the act was so intimate my cheeks flamed. "Well…uh…OK." Once I was done stuttering, I marched myself upstairs without looking back, even when Sydney, laughing, apologized.

Zeus and Lola were both lying on my bed, looking fairly miserable. "Hey, guys," I said as I sat between them. Zeus harrumphed once before wiggling himself closer to me, giving me those sad eyes. When I didn't immediately respond as he wanted, he wormed his nose underneath my hand. "I get the hint," I said as I stroked his ears back. "Is this what you wanted?" He merely closed his eyes, his face slack with pleasure. "If only all guys were this easy to please."

One handed, I pulled the phone from my back pocket and sent off a text. _Oh, God, I think I'm going to be sick_, I typed before sending it to Alec.

I should have seen his response coming. _You OK? Do I need to find you?_

I laughed aloud before responding, _I'm fine. Just walked in on Syd and RJ. In the kitchen. Eeehhyuck._

His response was almost immediate. _Don't scare me like that._

_I'm sticking my tongue out at you_, I responded, adding as an afterthought, _When should I pick you up?_

My phone rang seconds later. "So?" I asked without even checking the caller ID.

"Depends," Alec replied. "When's dinner?"

"Sometime after I decontaminate the kitchen," I replied seamlessly. He chuckled. "I still need to run to the store; do you want me to pick you up before or after?"

I could almost hear him cringe over the phone line. Throw that man into a pit of angry bears and he wouldn't bat an eyelash, but a grocery store? Freaks him out. Still, I could hear the anxiety in his voice; it was the same one I heard just before I kicked him out of my car for the day. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of leaving me alone just yet. "Before," he finally gritted out.

I sighed. "Is there a reason for your over protectiveness? Because, I can assure you, I've never been assaulted in the grocery store before."

"I was talking to Wings," he replied. When he mentioned it, I smiled again, remembering seeing them conspiring in the front hall. "There's usually a rhyme to their reason, you know? The target Fae living within a certain geological region, or all members of a single family. But Wings said there have been attacks from Delaware to Colorado, and none of the victims seemed to have anything in common."

"So you're worried that…what? Father's finally gone off the deep end?" I asked.

"I'm worried that there's a rhyme to their reason, and I can't see it," he replied.

I took a moment to mull that over before it hit me with a skipping beat of my heart. "You mean, you think that they've changed up the game plan because you knew the old one?"

"Exactly," he answered. "If they do anything by the book, I'll see it coming a mile away. So they had to change tactics because they were afraid of tipping their hand."

"So you think they've finally gotten around to coming after you?" I asked.

He was quiet for a moment before he answered. "I don't see how attacking a few Fae, people I've never met, in states I've never been to, leads to that conclusion, but the whole idea still has me on edge." There was another few moments before he added, "And I have no idea why they would _take_ them. The Garou don't take hostages. They just kill."

My heart rate doubled. "They're taking them _hostage?_" I asked, panic clear in my voice.

"Yea," Alec replied. "Every night for the past week, at least one Fae has gone missing."

I was silent. My heart beat was drumming so loud in my ears that I couldn't hear if Alec had said anything else. Finally, I managed to say, "I'm leaving now, be there in ten," before I hung up the phone and rushed down the stairs.

"Hey," Syd called over her shoulder as she heard me coming.

"Be back soon," I called as I rushed out the door. "Gotta go get Alec." _And scrub my brain clean of that image…_


	168. Chapter 168

Alec was already waiting when I pulled up outside his building. He was standing in the space between two massive upright support beams his hands shoved in his pockets. It was too cool to be in just his jeans and a t-shirt; it was so close to dusk I, for one, was wearing a coat. Most other pedestrians I passed on my way here were doing the same. Still, Alec didn't look out of place in just his light clothing. It seemed that there were always a handful on campus that never owned or wanted a winter coat. In fact, I knew one guy my junior year who wore flip flops the entire time. He didn't even own socks. People on college campuses seem to take those kinds of idiosyncrasies with a shrug.

When he lowered himself into the passenger seat, he immediately asked, "Are you OK?"

I looked at him, my brow furrowed in confusion. "Yeah. Why?"

His eyes scanned my face for another moment before he turned forward and put on his seat belt. "Just jumping at shadows, I guess."

I wasn't sure that idiom applied, but I let it go as I accelerated. I drove, Alec sulked, his anxiety turning into full-fledged panic as I pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store. His eyes were wide, and, consciously or not, he was gripping the door handle like a lifeline. "You don't have to come in," I said gently. "You can wait out here. I'm just going to be a minute."

His eyes darted to me for just a split second before they settled back on the door to the store. He seemed to be rallying, and just a few moments passed before he shook himself and said, "No. I want to go."

"Really?" I asked, a disbelieving eyebrow raised.

He nodded his head and, in his resolve, opened his door. "I need to learn to handle this," he replied.

He got two steps inside the door before he froze, a deer in the headlights look on his face. I couldn't for the life of me understand what had him so spooked about the idea of grocery shopping, but everyone has their petty torments. He was willing to look into the face of one of his greatest fears. I commended him for that.

"Hey," I said gently as I rolled up an empty shopping cart, the handle still chilly from being outside. "Hey, look at me."

It took a minute, but his gaze flickered down to my face. I smiled at him as I took his hands, gently placing them in the shopping cart handle. His fingers tightened against the cool plastic as his shoulders relaxed infinitesimally. He swallowed hard before asking, "In and out?"

"Ten minutes," I replied, my smile deepening. "Tops."

With a fervent nod of his head, I grabbed the front of the cart and started pulling it (and Alec) around the store. Not five minutes in to the trip, right when Alec started to look like he was really going to lose it in the pasta aisle, I heard a gasp from behind me. I froze in place, my mind automatically running through the millions of doomsday scenarios that could cause someone to have such a pronounced reaction. Alec must have picked up on the sudden tension in my shoulders; he was at my side in an instant, hovering over me. "What's wrong?"

I was just about to turn my head and search for the origin of the gasp when I heard a high female voice whisper, "No, it's her, I'm sure of it. And she's with some other dude." There was a moment of silence when I glanced at Alec, who heard the same conversation, now coming from one aisle over. When you can hear someone whispering in the grocery store from an aisle away, maybe that person shouldn't try and whisper anymore. Or I've had enough vampire blood in my system that I was hearing things I shouldn't be able to. Either way, Alec's brow furrowed in concentration as I subconsciously took a step closer to him. "What do you mean, get a picture?" the person whispered, this time more emphatically. "She'll totally catch me!" Another moment passed; Alec motioned for me to stay here as he circled around the aisle, peeking his head to get a look at the woman who was talking. I would have followed him, but my feet were strangely glued to the floor, my hands gripping the cart like a lifeline. "Get an_ autograph?_" she whispered, more furiously. "You think she'd give me one?"

Alec returned at a slow gallop, rolling his eyes for dramatic effect. "Gawker," he said. "I could snap her in half, if you want."

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes at him, shooting him an unamused glare as I did. "Not funny," I said after a deep breath. "That scared the devil out of me."

"Let's just get out of here," he replied. "I've still got the heebie jeebies."

.

The four of us—RJ, Syd, Alec, and I—were squished sitting hip-to-hip on the couch in the living room watching the end of Breakfast at Tiffany's, much to the guys' dismay. Sydney was scrunched down, balancing a large bowl of Oreos and mint ice cream on her growing belly and licking the back of her spoon. RJ was watching her with rapt attention, his hip rolling every once in a while against mine as he attempted to get more comfortable in his pants. I was smirking at not only the look on RJ's face, but Sydney's complete oblivion to what was going on next to her. When she took another spoonful of ice cream and licked it free of the spoon and RJ's hip rolled against mine once again, my giggle was covered by my phone buzzing itself across the table.

I picked it up and displayed the text message. Cian asked, _I feel you are happy. Are you naked?_

Quickly, I answered, _I might be. Alec's right here, let me ask him._

He responded immediately, and I could almost see Cian's fingers fly across the keyboard as only a vampire's can. _I will skin that mutt._

I laughed out loud, garnering the attention of the other residents of the couch. "Sorry," I mumbled as I attempted to keep my giggles to myself. _That would be messy,_ I replied. Immediately after sending the first text, I added, _Are you coming over tonight?_

_Alas, no_, he replied, and I could almost hear the exaggerated sigh that would come with that statement. _I am administering an exam at the moment._

_After?_ I asked.

_It will be quite late, but if that is what the lady commands, so shall it be done, _he replied.

I giggled and got another look from Alec, who was not-so-subtly reading over my shoulder. When he popped an eyebrow in disbelief, I said, "That line only works because he's that old, and I can just see him bowing gracefully with that statement. Wearing tights."

"Uh huh," he grunted with a smirk. "I'll still remember that line, just in case."

I gave him a considering look before angling myself as much as I could away from the nosy wolf and typed, _I'll be here. Do you want me clothed so you can unwrap your present, or would you like me naked and ready?_

There were a few long moments before he replied, where I had to imagine he was sitting at the head of the class, shifting in his seat similarly to the way RJ was, suppressing a predatory growl. Then, finally, a response: _Perhaps nude. I will no doubt shred anything that comes between my hands and your body._

It was my turn to do a little uncomfortable shifting before I caught Alec's eyes on me and blushed. Strangely, he blushed right back at me. "Thanks for dinner," he said after clearing his throat.

That was not the first time he'd thanked me for making him the lasagna I'd promised him. I had barely been in the kitchen for ten minutes, browning the meat in the skillet, when the panic grew so overwhelming, so all encompassing, that I had to turn off the burner and stumble outside for some fresh air. It was either that or faint, and I wouldn't be able to look myself in the eye if I had fainted because I was in _my_ kitchen. He'd followed me out the door and sat next to me silently, letting me steal a little bit of his heat as I relearned how to breathe. And that wasn't the last panic attack that room provoked tonight. I had been rummaging around in one of the bottom cabinets, looking for the top that matched the skillet I was using, when I found the rolling pin. My mind flashed back to my frantic searching for that particular weapon and my chest seized. The lid clattered to the floor. I was almost there, too, when RJ this time caught me and gently lowered me so I was sitting on the cold wood floor, my head between my knees. Neither time had Sydney offered to finish making dinner, or had Alec offered to just order a pizza. They both knew I needed to do this. I needed to be able to function in my own kitchen again.

"You're welcome," I answered quietly. Alec threw his arm behind my head on the lip of the couch as I tucked my feet up underneath my hips.

I was just starting to go into that trance where all you can hear is your own thoughts and the beating of your own heart when my phone rang in my hand, reminding me that, not only did I have a hand, but I was also sitting on a couch with three other people, supposedly watching a movie.

I shook off the feeling and looked at the caller ID. David. "I'm going to take this upstairs," I said quietly as I lifted myself off of the couch and took the long route through the dining room to the foyer, then up the stairs. I didn't even think about avoiding the kitchen, it just happened. "Hello?" I asked half way up.

"Hello, Love," he replied. "How has your day been?"

I waited until I was sitting on my bed to answer. "Oh, OK. Went in to lab for a little while. Managed to fall asleep making media." There was a short pause while David tried to understand exactly what that meant when I added, "You know the only reason you're not in the dog house for being a dick to Emma is because you obviously feel bad about it and you've already apologized, right?"

He sighed as papers shuffled in the background. "She will not take my apology. She avoids me."

"I'm not surprised. After all she's done for you, you basically called her a waste of time and dismissed her," I replied.

"She is not a waste of time," David said emphatically. "And she should know how very much I love her."

"Have you shown her lately?" I asked.

"Shown her what?" David asked, which pretty much answered my question for me.

"That's a no, then," I replied. "Look, I'm an only child, so I have no idea what sibling relationships are like, let alone one that's spanned over a hundred and twenty five years. But as a woman, let me tell you what I would be thinking at the moment. For all of her life, you've been there for her. She could take any problem to you, and you'd kiss it and make it better, right?" When there was no response to my not-so-rhetorical question, I just kept on going. "Then all of a sudden, I come along. She's happy because you're happy, but part of her realizes immediately that now she's not the only woman in your life. She has to compete for you."

"She never has to compete for me," David interrupted. "I will still always be here for her."

"Not the point," I added. "She _feels_ like she has to compete for you. She wants your attention, but she doesn't necessarily have it anymore. Your focus has shifted to me, on whom you _attempt_ to lavish with gifts and make happy. She thinks, 'well, when was the last time he gave me a gift? When was the last time he asked me how _my_ day was?'"

There was a long silence as I let David take in that information. When the silence turned from thoughtful to ominous, I asked, "Emma's talent is to absorb the talents of those around her, right?" When there was an affirmative grunt, I asked, "So that's why you both feel so…well, normal? Because you've still got so much of you still in there, and she picked that up, too?"

"I suppose," he finally answered.

"She said that because you've retained so much of your humanity, that's why you struggle with…I think she said, 'Time wears on him more harshly than others of our kind.'"

"I suppose that is true."

"Does she do that, too?"

With both the bond and the phone line, I almost felt his body jerk in surprise. There was a moment before he mumbled something then added, "I must go, Darling. I love you."

"I love you, too," I added. "I know you'll do the right thing."

"You have too much confidence in me, Sloane," he replied before he hung up the phone.

.

I had every intention of staying up until Cian got here, but it just didn't happen. As Breakfast at Tiffany's ended, RJ all but threw Sydney over his shoulder and took her back to what he was now calling 'their place'. When the couch had freed up, I leaned over so I could stretch out along the entire thing, pushing my feet onto Alec's lap, and asked, "What are your plans for the rest of the night?"

"I got a lot of work done on my program today; I was thinking I would try to test it out and see if I could plug a few holes," he replied. When I just gave him a blank stare back, he asked, "You?"

"Thesis? Maybe? Or maybe another movie. I'm having a hard time concentrating."

I made it through another movie before I forced myself up the stairs and into bed. I was planning on it just being a quick nap before Cian came, but just in case it turned out to be something longer, I stripped all the way down and crawled into bed. Once the comforter was pulled up to my ears, I promptly fell asleep.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I had cracked the door to Sloane's room open before I followed her lead and went to bed. She was lying there, cocooned in her comforter, breathing deeply. Taking air in through my nose, I smelled no blood, and she wasn't tossing or turning, so I closed the door again and walked into what was now my room, the walls still a light lavender from its last resident. Sydney had promised to help me paint it over, but I had just shrugged. I don't really care one way or the other—I just sleep here.

I glanced at the clock after a quick shower. It was already one in the morning, and I was exhausted. Stress from the Garou attacks had worn me thin, even if Achrann was right and there was nothing I could do about it. Plus, Sloane had wanted her alone day, which ratcheted up my stress level even more. As I sat in my office, waiting for the day to pass me by, I couldn't help but get that inkling of a bad feeling out of my head. The Garou had apparently been going after Fae that had made lives in the human word, blending themselves into a normal, human life. But I couldn't help but wonder: why? What do they gain? In a war, you don't single out and kill civilians, you go after the warriors, the soldiers. And why would they abduct the Fae instead of just kill them? They had to be looking for something, but what? With a panic, part of me thought they were looking for me, but I had immediately dismissed that idea. If they were looking for me, why were they hunting Fae? Shouldn't they be hunting the Weres, looking for someone that knew something about a wolf that just didn't fit? What if they had changed tactics and were looking for RJ, knowing that I wouldn't be far away? But RJ wasn't Fae.

I drifted in and out of sleep, my worries waking me before I could get any real rest. As I lay there in my bed, staring at the ceiling, I frowned. What was that sound? I sat up, listening not only for the sound, but for the directionality of the sound. The rustling was coming from the hallway.

I threw off the covers silently and palmed the gun that I had hidden underneath the mattress. With the weapon tucked in close to my thigh, I silently padded barefoot across the floor, then cracked the door open. With just the sliver I had given myself, I couldn't see anything hostile, so I opened the door and stood in the middle of the hallway, listening again for the sound. When I didn't immediately hear it, I thought for sure that I was imagining things and turned back toward my room. When I heard it again, I froze.

Sloane's room. It was coming from Sloane's room.

I put my ear up against the door. If there's one thing I know, it's never to just barge in to a woman's room at night, especially when she's dating two vampires whose day had just started. On one hand, there was no moaning, no gasping. On the other, the faint rustling I heard was rhythmic. There was only one thing I could think of that you'd do in bed that would result in a rhythmic pattern, and I didn't want to walk in on it.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the door. I had other senses, I might as well use them. I took in a deep breath through my nose, hoping for a hint, but I got nothing. No blood, which was a good thing, but no one but Sloane was in there, either. At least, no one with a smell. And everyone has a smell. Which means she could be doing a whole other type of rhythmic movement that I _really_ didn't want to walk in on.

I bit the bullet and just opened the door. If she was really…touching herself, then I'd blush a deep crimson, apologize profusely, and shuffle back over to my side of the house, but at least I'd know she was OK. And if I didn't look, I'd be worrying about her all night.

But when I opened the door, she wasn't pleasuring herself. She was sitting up in the middle of her bed, her knees tucked into her chest, rocking back and forth as tears fell from her eyes. "Sloane?" I asked as I rushed across the room, setting my gun on the bedside table. "Hey, Sloane?"

She didn't even acknowledge my existence, she just continued to rock and sob, quietly chanting something so low I couldn't quite make it out. That was, until I crawled onto the bed beside her and put my hand on her shoulder. Then she whipped around, flinging the comforter off her naked body before grabbing my arm with one hand and laying the base of her wrist against my chest, her hand moving as if she were writing something. My brows furrowed in concern as she looked directly into my eyes and repeated herself, speaking in a language I couldn't even place.

"OK, Sloane," I said as I attempted to extract myself from her reach. She was obviously mid-vision, and she wasn't hurting herself, so I was going to go back to my room and try not to think about Sloane being bare-ass naked just across the hall, maybe take a cold shower or two. But she wouldn't let me. Her hand tightened around my arm as she crawled into my lap, attempting to push me down so I was lying beneath her. That was so not going to happen. I scooted back until my back hit the headboard and she followed angrily planting herself back in my lap, getting more violent in her anger. I obviously wasn't doing what she wanted me to, and I couldn't understand what she was trying to tell me.

When I didn't oblige her, she wilted a bit, her anger turning into a sad desperation. "I'm sorry, Sloane," I said as she tucked her naked body along mine, curling her face into my chest as she sobbed again. _Oh, God,_ I thought as I wrapped my arms around her. _She's so warm from her blankets, and Jesus, she feels good…_ I shook the thought from my mind, saying, "I'll do what you want, but you have to tell me in English." _Focus, Alec. She's not yours, so stop thinking about letting her push you down. Just stop._

But, of course, she didn't reply in English. She just kept talking into my chest, her hand continuing to draw the same repetitive motion in the air just above my chest. Maybe she was trying to write what she wanted me to do?

Without letting her go, I rummaged one handed through the top drawer of her night stand, hoping I wouldn't come across something of a private nature. Without looking, I grabbed the first pen-shaped item from the drawer: a red sharpie. Shoving the cap between my teeth, I yanked the marker free from its sheath and put it in her hand, having to wrap my other arm around her so I could steady her still-moving hand just long enough to put the marker in it.

She put the marker just above my heart and started drawing. I was the only one that was watching as the image took shape; Sloane's eyes were unfocused and staring straight ahead as her hand worked. First came a four-clawed paw, followed by two crossed swords behind it. My heart jumped into overdrive as I recognized that symbol: I, along with all the other recruits that had passed the training, had it tattooed on the back of our necks, just at the base of our skulls. It was the symbol of the Garou. When that was done, in each of the four corners of the large wolf's paw that was now in the middle of my chest, a separate symbol I didn't recognize took shape. She was almost done with the second symbol when the door opened. "Wolf," Cian said angrily, his fangs clamped shut in his mouth. "She is mine."

I shot him a look over Sloane's head, hoping how much I was enjoying having a naked Sloane pressing herself against me didn't show in my eyes and whispered, "Come look at this."

"I see plenty," Cian said tightly.

"Look, I heard something, so I came to investigate," I whispered. "She was sitting in the middle of her bed, rocking back and forth, crying, mumbling to herself in a different language. When I tried to get her to snap out of it, she locked on like a little spider monkey and started this," I said, finishing with a nod to my chest. By now, most of the expanse was covered with red sharpie, symbols taking shape in geometric order.

He circled the bed, finally getting a look at Sloane's handiwork. "I recognize a few of those symbols from myths I heard as a boy," he said as he mentally cataloged each marking.

When I moved my arm and tapped the Garou symbol in the middle of my chest Sloane adapted easily, working around the obstacle of my arm without so much as a hiccup in her rhythm. "I've got this one tattooed on my neck. It's the Garou symbol. Do you understand what she's saying?"

He took a minute to listen as well as graze his eyes over scenes I knew he wasn't going to approve of; Sloane's naked legs wrapped around my hips, her chest against my ribcage, her head tucked into my shoulder. "She best be wearing panties," he said finally.

"I didn't dress her for bed, asshole," I replied sharply. "Do you or do you not understand her? Because I don't think she's going to stop until I do what she's telling me to."

His jaw worked as his he ground his teeth again. "I do not. But I know someone who might. I will call him."

Cian pulled his phone from his pocket, shooting daggers at me from his eyes the entire time. He put the phone on speaker as it rang. "Speak, childe," said a deep, male voice.

"Hello, Master. I hope I did not interrupt," Cian replied.

"You did. However, I am adept at multitasking," he said with a purr. A muffled feminine giggle came through the line as fabric rustled.

"I should warn you, Eric, you're on speakerphone. The Garou is here, as is Sloane, in a sense."

"Sharing, are you?" Eric asked. "How very unlike you." Cian hissed into the phone, which caught Eric's attention. "What has happened?" he asked, the teasing purr now gone from his voice. The small, feminine voice I assumed to be Sookie's asked, "Eric? What's wrong?"

"Touchy subject at the moment, it seems," Cian answered, trying to reign in his anger before he asked, "I was wondering if you recognized a language. It is not one I can translate."

"Written or oral?" Eric asked.

"Oral," Cian replied. "And, perhaps later, written. Sloane has been a very busy girl tonight."

"She is speaking another language?" Eric asked. "How interesting. Alright, let me hear it."

Cian held the phone close to Sloane's lips. After a moment of her chanting, Eric said, "It's perhaps an old form of Hungarian. She says, 'And the fanged that protect their sacred masters shall ever be drawn forth, but this…I do not know that word…shall deepen a divide between them. It is only when evil turns anew that the balance will be restored.'" As soon as Eric had translated, Sloane fell silent, focusing on her drawings that were staring to work their way up my shoulders.

There was a moment before I bit the bullet and asked, "OK, what the hell does that mean?"

"Sounds like a prophecy," Eric replied. "Why are you there, Wolf?"

Cian answered before I could speak up, saying, "He is acting as canvas. I will show you Sloane's artwork when she finishes."

"I don't think she's going to finish until we figure this out, and I'd like to keep the amount of sharpie I'm going to have to scrub off to a minimum, so let's figure this out," I said.

When Sloane ran out of reachable canvas, she repositioned herself so that the split between her legs was resting directly over something that was already very hard. I tried to stifle a groan, but it didn't work. Cian glared and said into the still connected phone, "Feel very lucky, Eric, that you do not have a 50/50 shot of walking in on your naked lover wrapped around yet another man." There was a beat of silence before he continued, "And I cannot even be angry with either of them."

"Whoa," Sookie said, the tenor and clarity of her voice indicating that both she and Eric were now on speakerphone. "She's _where_?"

I blushed before saying, "She was sitting in the middle of her bed crying. When I touched her, she kind of, um, well she pushed me down and crawled on."

"And she's naked?" Sookie asked.

"I didn't dress her for bed, people!" I yelled.

"That would be my fault," Cian said. "I did not want to shred her favorite pajamas."

"Oh," Sookie said blankly. A moment later, she repeated, "_Oh_," this time with a whole lot more understanding in her voice.

"Why are you in her house at three in the morning, Wolf?" Eric asked.

"I live here now. Syd and RJ moved in together because they're having a baby."

"Congratulations!" Sookie said immediately.

I was aware that the slick head of the marker was working its way closer and closer to my neck; I grabbed Sloane's hand, saying, "Not the neck, please. Nowhere that shows." Amazingly, she understood, giving up on her quest to draw up my neck. Unfortunately, I was running out of skin space. She put the pen in her mouth and started searching—not with her eyes, but with her hands—for a blank space to start drawing. I fidgeted uncomfortably as her fingers ran over my chest, down my abs, and to the top of my shorts, which she started to push down off my hips. "Fuck," I said as I grabbed her wrists.

Cian burst out laughing. "You are so uncomfortable, Wolf, it makes this whole ordeal bearable. I wish I had a video camera."

"This is not funny," I told Cian as I repositioned the marker in her hand and put her hand over my bicep. She latched on, drawing out new characters as she worked from my shoulder down.

"Why do we not just ask her what she means?" Eric said. Before either Cian or I could answer, he said something in an authoritative voice that matched the tone and tenor of the language Sloane had been whispering for an hour.

When she heard him, she lifted her head, stopped her drawing, looked me in the eye and spoke. When she was done, she went right back on to her designs, taking over my other arm when she ran out of room. "What did she say?" Cian asked.

"I asked her what she meant, and she replied, 'The black prince has risen.'"

"What?" I asked.

"I do not speak psychic, only Hungarian. I do not know what she means," Eric answered flatly.

"Ask her who the black prince is," Cian said.

When Eric repeated his question, Sloane drew a big X through the Garou symbol at my brestbone and slumped into my chest, her hands dropping to her sides.


	169. Chapter 169

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Ugh, hangover. Complete, utter, whole-body hangover that made getting out of bed sound just as likely as running a marathon.

_I am getting out of bed_, I thought with conviction. My limbs didn't move. _I'm not fucking around. I will roll out of bed if I have to._

Finally, movement. If only to roll onto my side and swing my shins over the edge of the bed, it was at least progress. Another moment passed and I thought, _Phase two: upright. Come on. Upright._ That's it. Sitting up. I felt like cheering, but I wasn't sure my hangover could take it.

I thought back to last night; I couldn't remember drinking this much. In fact, I didn't remember drinking at all. I didn't remember Cian coming over, either. The last thing I remembered, I was climbing into bed naked for a short nap.

I looked down. I wasn't naked anymore, either. I was wearing a pair of boxers and an oversized t-shirt that I remembered Cian had left over here at some point. Well, color me confused. Usually, when Cian comes over, he leaves me more, not less, naked. I coughed, testing out my voice. It was hoarse, but still there. "Hello?"

I managed to move from sitting on the bed to sitting on the floor beside my bed, which was not an improvement. My head was buried in my hands when I heard the door creak open. "Morning, Sunshine," Alec said flatly. "What's up?"

"Did you get me drunk again?" I asked without lifting my eyes from the heels of my hands.

With a morose laugh, he plopped himself onto my bed beside me and said, "No."

"God, I feel hung over," I replied.

"You and me both," he answered. We sat there in silence for a few moments before he stood and padded into my bathroom. "Water?"

"Ugggggh," I replied as I looked up. And caught whatever was going on all over his chest. "What the hell?" I asked.

He glanced down as if he had no idea. "Oh, yea," he said dismissively as he handed me the water.

The water could wait; I set it down on the floor beside me. "What the hell happened to you?"

He flopped back onto my bed, causing my upper body to move with the mattress. "You happened," he replied. "When am I going to learn not to touch you when you're in the middle of a vision?"

There was a moment of silence before I burst out laughing, much to my head's dismay. "I _drew_ on you?" I asked.

"Yea," he replied. "In sharpie. Although the sharpie part was my fault, I guess."

"Oh, this I have to hear."

I just barely managed to get back up onto the bed as Alec told me what had happened last night. I couldn't stop laughing; by the time he told me about when Cian stopped by, I was laughing so hard I found it hard to breathe and the lights were dimming. "Oh, God," I wheezed as I started to calm. "I wondered why I was clothed this morning. Oh….God, yes. I knew I'd get him back for leaving ass-naked yesterday."

"Excuse me?" Alec asked.

"What better way to get Cian back for leaving me naked under the blankets in the presence of at least two other guys?" I laughed again, then added, "Good thing I find this so funny, or else I'd be really embarrassed about the whole nudity thing last night."

When Alec just grunted an answer, I forced myself to sit up and look at his chest. The designs were intricate and strangely beautiful. I felt a moment of pride at my handiwork before I grabbed for my phone. "I'm taking a picture of this." When Alec groaned, I added, "What? It's lovely. And you better get used to it, because I'm going to show this thing to everyone I know."

"Fine," he answered tautly.

I snapped the picture and sent texts off to both Sydney and Moose with the subtitle, _look what I did last night,_ then asked, "So what do they mean?"

"No idea," Alec replied. He pointed to the one in the middle of his chest, arguably the largest of the drawings, and said, "This, without the X through it, is the Garou symbol. Other than that…don't know."

Sydney was the first to text back; I flopped on to my back on the bed, my head close enough to Alec's that we could both read the text, both of our legs hanging over the edge of the bed. _Bad psychic. No cookie._ A few seconds later, she sent another: _Is that marker?_

_Sharpie_, I replied.

"I just want to go back to sleep," Alec said. "I don't do well with sleep deprivation."

"Me too," I replied, "on both counts."

"But you need to go in to lab," he finished.

"You read my mind," I answered. "Just not now. Nap first, lab later."

.

I had intended on moving before I fell back asleep. I really had. Instead, when I opened my eyes three hours later, both Alec and I were in the exact same positions we had been in; me flat on my back, legs dangling off the edge of the bed, my phone still in my hand. The only change in Alec's position was that he had moved one of his arms so the back of his hand was resting against the hollow above my hip. When I looked over, his face was turned toward me, still slack in sleep.

I carefully removed his hand from my hip before I sat up, waiting for the room to stop spinning before I attempted to stand. Once completely upright, the lights dimmed for a moment. My head pounded. Once the lights returned to normal, I shuffled across the room and into the bathroom. Hot shower. I so wanted a hot shower.

I had enough time to start the shower and pile what's left of my hair on the top of my head before I really needed to sit down. When I felt up to it, I got about halfway through the shower before I took another breather, leaning against the shower wall and taking a few deep breaths before I could continue. After the second time I had to take a quick rest, I gave up on the whole shower idea. The hot shower wasn't helping; arguably, it was hurting my post-vision recovery.

Both Zeus and Lola were asleep on the bed, each taking their own pillow. For the most part, Alec hadn't moved. His head had turned, and his hands were resting closer into his side, but not much else had changed. Not bothering to change out of the towel and back into my pajamas, I crawled back onto the bed. It was only 11AM, I could take another nap and still have time to get something done this afternoon. I sure as shit wasn't going to get anything done without it.

Alec shot awake as I collapsed next to him. "Sloane?" he asked groggily.

"Hmm?" I responded, my grumpiness coming through in my voice.

Still flat on his back, he rubbed his eyes. "Time?"

"Eleven," I answered.

"Plan?"

As he threw one arm over his eyes, I answered, "Sleep."

"OK," he answered with a sigh, forcing himself up and off the bed. "I'm going for a run. Don't leave the house without me, OK?"

I grunted an affirmative answer just before passing back out.

.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

_Left, right, left, right…_ The repetitive motion of the act of running was strangely calming. My lungs burned, my legs stung, my body was getting sluggish, but my mind was sharp. And it'd only taken 10 miles.

_I'm getting sloppy,_ I thought. Ten miles used to be a warm up and nothing more; it was something I did before an hour-long sparring session or spending some quality time with some iron. Ten miles had never been the complete workout before. I'd liked to have told myself it's just because I was getting old, but I hadn't even tipped the scales at a quarter century yet. I was supposed to be in my prime.

_Living with Sloane is making you complacent._ I actually shook my head as this thought passed my consciousness. In fact, it wasn't even until I moved into the lavender room across the hall that I'd even considered a need to get back in the race, as it were. No, living with _RJ_ had made me complacent.

Funny; when the thought crossed my mind blaming Sloane for the fact I hadn't been logging enough time at the gym, my chest immediately tightened with a pang of regret, as if the act of just _thinking_ like that was wrong and dirty. RJ, though? Blame away. The blame was misplaced in both instances, but only one thought had made me grimace.

_This 'mate' shit has got to stop. _But that wasn't really what was going on here, was it? I wasn't acting this way toward Sloane because my wolf happened to like her, I was acting this way because _I_ liked her.

My mind flashed back to last night; alone with my pounding feet and my heavy breathing, I was able to pull out what happened and examine it. I was free to consider how _right_ it had felt for Sloane's body to be pushed up against mine. I could acknowledge that, at least for a split second, I had hoped that I also slept naked so when she climbed on top of me, she'd noticed the Empire State Building of woodies I had been rocking at that moment, or that Cian hadn't shown up, or, hell, that Sloane had even been in that brain of hers.

And when the vision ended and she had slumped back into my body? I could acknowledge the momentary impulse to string O'Smythe up by his entrails so I wouldn't have had to hand her off to his gentle embrace. I wouldn't have needed to limp my blue balls into the bathroom off the main hall and take a cold shower, either.

_Stop thinking about it,_ I told myself. And, like all the other times I've told myself to stop thinking too hard, it didn't work. Instead, my mind flashed to Sloane's smooth legs wrapped around my hips…

I stumbled a step or two, finally regaining my footing after I had listed into the bike lane and trudged back up onto the sidewalk. I took another few long strides, focusing on getting my rhythm back and my breathing even when the sight of Sloane asleep on her bed this morning plastered itself across my cerebellum, the towel she'd hastily wrapped around her torso coming free as she flopped onto her back in her sleep.

_Fuck, I need to cut this shit out._

I picked up the pace as I finished the route that took me from Sloane's house to Old Town and back around to Sloane's again. _Maybe this run wasn't a good idea—at least not during the day with no one there to watch her._

_She's not a child,_ I chided myself. _She's a capable adult who can more than handle herself. _ After repeating that mantra a couple of times to myself, my tired, heavy legs taking me as fast as they could reasonably go, it still didn't make me feel any better.

_If anything's happened to my Sloane while I was gone, I'll never forgive myself._

That thought stopped me short, my legs stumbling over my brain's command to come to a complete stop. As I stood on the middle of the sidewalk, my hands grasping my hips as I struggled to take in enough air, I felt as if I was being blindsided. I had called her mine. Not my wolf, me. And I, not my wolf, was being suffocatingly overprotective.

_She's not yours,_ I reminded myself. _Not by a long shot. So drop this right now._

With that final admonition, I start back into a slow jog, picking up the pace until I was back at my punishing speed. But I didn't trust myself to keep my mind where it needed to be; instead, I counted in intervals of 7, starting at 2, just to keep my mind occupied.

I made it over ten thousand before I stepped through the front door.

Even though my legs felt like lead and I was breathing so hard, my ribs cracked as I heaved breath in and out of my lungs, I shot myself like a cannon up the stairs and almost barreled into Sloane's room. Oh, yea, I was _really_ getting that 'she's not yours' shit through my skull, alright.

But when I opened the door, she wasn't in there. She wasn't in the bathroom, either. Or in the guest room, my room, or the hall bath.

Maybe I shot past her on my way up here? _God, I hope so…_

I all but fell down the stairs, a hand on each railing to steady myself, finally coming to a stop on the landing just at the base of the stairs. My mind was pelting me with reasons to panic: her debilitating visions, Victor Madden and the upcoming auditions, the Garou—there were literally hundreds of things that could have gone wrong. "Sloane?" I asked, standing still to better detect any minute movement. But there was nothing beyond my still heavy breathing. "Sloane?" I asked as I circled the banister and shot back toward the kitchen and living room. Hopefully she was sitting at the kitchen counter, eating breakfast.

But she wasn't. The empty dining chairs were pushed in neatly. She wasn't in the living room, either. Out of sheer desperation to quell the panic that was tearing my heart into pieces, I tore the door to the laundry room. My knees went weak when I saw her, standing with her back to the door, bulky Bose headphones over her ears, bopping along to the music as she sorted the laundry into the washing machine. "Jesus," I mumbled as I reached out to hug her. At the last moment, I stopped. _She's not yours. She's not yours. She's not yours…_

"Alec?" she asked as she turned, pulling the headphones from her ears. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said with a cleansing sigh. I perched my hands on my hips, giving them something else to do besides reach out and grab her.

"Liar," she said as he face softened. "Just tell me, what's up?" When I didn't immediately answer, she added, "Dammit, you're scaring me. You look like you're about to cry."

"I left you alone. I left you alone, and when I got back from my run, I couldn't find you. I panicked," I finally spat out, turning my back on her so I could walk back into the kitchen.

"Oh," she said as she followed me, tossing her phone and the attached headphones onto the kitchen island. "Come here." My brow furrowed as I turned back toward her. She was leaning against the island, her arms out in front of her. "I'm sorry I scared you." When I just stared at her for a moment, her arms still welcoming, she waved her hands toward me as if to invite me in. "Come on, now. Come give me a hug, then go take a shower."

I couldn't resist. As she wrapped her arms around my waist and tucked her head into my chest, her ear resting against where she'd drawn the Garou symbol, I took a deep breath. "Your heart's still pounding. Good run?"

"Yea," I answered.

"You're all sweaty," she added.

With a smile, I replied, "Running will do that. Sorry."

"It's OK. You're so warm." I just smiled and rested my cheek on her hair. After a few moments, I got bolder. I turned the two of us so I was leaning against the counter top and pulled her into me, so we were touching from knee to head. Or, in my case, knee to chest. Sloane giggled. "You _are_ happy to see me," she said.

I blushed heavily as I gave myself a little more room in that area. "Uh, yea…running…blood flow…," I stumbled trying to put together a coherent and not completely implausible lie. The real reason I was rock solid had little to do with my workout and more to do with what was pressed up against me.

She laughed, cutting me off. "Don't worry about it." When she disengaged from the hug, she stood before me, one hand out. "Give me that shirt. I'm starting a load of darks."

My brow furrowed at her, my mind screaming, _She asked you to strip! Take it off! She wants you naked!_

"Laundry?" she added. "Give me that shirt and I'll put it in this load."

"Oh," I mumbled as I pulled the sweat-soaked shirt from my chest. Wordlessly, I handed it to her.

She took it gingerly, pinching the corner, and tossed it into the washing machine. "Go shower. It's lab time."

.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Alec was the epitome of anxious today. After nearly losing it in my kitchen, he took the world's shortest shower, nearly bowling me over as he catapulted himself back down the stairs, his jeans barely fastened, his button down tossed over his shoulder. And he may have thought he covered it well, but I still caught when the panicked look on his face melted into relief as he saw me. I was about to ask him what the hell was wrong with him, but I didn't want to push it. Knowing my luck, I'd end up eating apples all day again.

So I didn't bitch and moan when he attached himself to my hip as soon as we got on campus. For one, I kind of promised him some quality bodyguard time after my freedom yesterday, and secondly, I don't think his psyche could take it. He was seriously losing it.

As we stood at the corner of Hagadorn and Hannah Roads, waiting for the light to turn so we could cross the street to the small shopping center that housed the best Indian restaurant in town, Alec was pacing beside me. Three steps in front of me, turn, then three steps back to my side. Repeat ad nauseum. But instead of telling him to plant it, I just gritted my teeth and looked the other direction. Maybe if I couldn't see it, it wouldn't bother me.

Nope, not true. I still knew it was happening. And it still bothered me.

I let out a sigh of relief as the light turned, allowing Alec to put all that pent-up energy into crossing the street. "Are you sure you're OK?" I finally asked.

"Yea, sure," he added, his gaze scanning the trees that surrounded the railroad tracks. "Why?"

"Because you're wound tighter than a spring. That's why."

He finally looked down at me for a split second before his gaze started searching for threats again. "Just hungry," he replied absently.

"Well, then, for God's sake, let's feed you. You're driving me apeshit."

He looked down at me again, making a conscious effort to relax his shoulders and release his fists. "OK," he said as we walked into the small buffet-style restaurant. "Sorry."

"It's OK," I answered as we weaved our way to the hostess' desk. "You're just scaring me. You're not usually this tense. You'd tell me if something was wrong, right?"

His brow furrowed in concern as he looked at me. "Of course. It's just…I don't know why, but I feel like we're on the edge of something. I just don't know what it is."

"Sloane!" someone called from the other side of the restaurant. I lifted my head, turning it toward the small section of tables and chairs, finally finding who was calling me. Titus was sitting with a petite woman, smiling like an idiot and waving. I smiled and waved back, willing to leave it at that, but he waved us over. Begrudgingly, I went. I wanted to talk to Alec about his doomsday feelings. Alone.

"Hey Sloane, Alec," Titus said as he pulled his light coat from the chair beside him. "Why don't you join us? We just sat down."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Sure! I want to catch up with my two favorite students," he said. After introducing us to the petite woman (Ann, his wife) as we sat, he asked Alec, "Where's the third of your merry little band?"

His brow furrowed, so I answered for him. "RJ's with Sydney. At the OB-GYN."

Alec's eyes showed surprise for a moment before he recovered. Titus' eyebrows just about shot off his face. "What's this about?" Titus asked. "Is RJ going to be a dad?"

"Yea," Alec answered. "And a husband."

"Well, who's the lucky lady?" Titus asked.

"My best friend," I replied. "Sydney."

"Wow," Titus replied. "Well, tell him congratulations from me."

"From the both of us," Ann added.

With an 'of course' nod, Titus moved right along to the dirt. "So, Sloane."

I laughed. "Titus?"

"Would it be bad form for a former professor to ask about your love life? Because yours is all over the press."

"So I've heard," I replied. "What do you want to know?"

At least he blushed as his wife motioned for him to drop the subject. "I don't want specifics," he said as he shot a look at his wife. "I just want to make sure you're happy."

I smiled and did a bit of blushing myself. "Yes, I'm happy," I replied. "You're not going to try and talk me out of it?"

"No," he answered. "Do you get that a lot?"

"I think I'm missing something," Ann added. "Can I get the Cliff notes version of this conversation, just to get me caught up?"

Titus answered for me. "Sloane is rather notoriously dating the most famous man in Michigan. Remember a few months ago when I showed you that article about a student of mine falling ill in England? That's her. Their romance is…well, if the articles are right, fairy tale."

"Oh," Ann replied as she thought about it. But then her face scrunched into confusion. "Why would anyone try and talk you out of dating someone?"

"He's a vampire," I answered. "My mom's not happy because she wants grand kids, my mentor's not happy because David's a vampire, the rest of the female population between the ages of 15 and 45 are disappointed David's no longer on the market…I think the only people that are happy about this are David and me."

"And me," Alec added.

"Well," Titus added, "I'm happy for you, too. But while we're on the topic of inappropriate questions, what about you, Alec? Any love interests?"

Alec blushed as he grabbed his half-empty water. "No," he said. "No one for me."

"Well, that I don't understand," Ann said. When Titus turned to his wife, shocked look on his face, she shrugged, adding, "What? I'm not a professor, so I don't have to worry about sexually harassing the students. And even a blind woman can see he's a looker."

"You hear that, Alec?" I said as I nudged his leg with my boot. "You're a _looker_." His cheeks turned from cherry pink to atomic red as he subconsciously folded in on himself in embarrassment.

"Well?" Ann said as she nudged my shoulder. "Don't tell me you don't see it."

"Ann," Titus chided. "Don't get her in trouble with that man of hers."

"No, it's OK," I said as I turned to Ann. "I definitely see it. I'd go so far as to call him a total fox, but that might insult him."

Titus and Ann seemed stumped by my statement, Alec snorted a singular guffaw. "Good one," he replied into his water. At least he was smiling in his bright red face.

.

We said our goodbyes to Titus and Ann after lunch and headed off toward Giltner Hall. For one, I needed to grab my lab notebook, which I remember I'd left on my desk what felt like eons ago. Secondly, I was hoping I'd catch Deb and Melissa in the office, just to say hello. As we walked through one of the many 'pocket forests' on campus, I glanced at Alec. He was right back to anxious, which bothered me somewhat, but it wasn't what was making my spine tingle. "What?" he asked frantically as I stopped to look at him. "Did you see something?"

"No," I replied absently as I checked out the woods around us. We were the only ones on the footpath that generations of students had carved as a short cut, and a quick scan of the trees let me know we were completely alone. "I just feel kind of…I got a feeling…" Quickly, I pulled my backpack off my shoulders and set it on the ground beside me. Next went the coat. When the my shirt sleeves went up to better expose my hands, Alec started following my lead, taking off anything that would encumber him in a fight and took in a deep breath through his nose.

"I smell…"

"Shh…" I said, cutting him off. "Stand very still." I knew what was coming. It wasn't a vision, it was just knowledge; like I knew that the sky was blue or that the sun would rise again tomorrow. I just _knew_ that, even though I couldn't see them, we were surrounded.

I stepped into his body and wrapped my arms around his torso, trying to make it look like we were just a couple of lovers stopping for a nookie break. He froze for a minute, but after I lifted my face to his, he caught on and slid his arms around my back, lowering his face so his lips just barely brushed mine as he asked, "Garou?"

"Half a dozen," I replied before tilting my head as if I were going in for a more satisfying kiss.

He brought one arm up and cradled the back of my head before asking, "Where?"

I kissed him once and the hard-on that I'd felt in my kitchen came roaring back to life. _Ignore it for now, Sloane_, I told myself as I snaked my arms up his chest. "Surrounding us," I finally whispered into his mouth.

"Are you armed?" he asked after nipping at my lower lip. I wasn't sure if he remembered that as being one of my triggers or not, but either way, it had the same effect. I gasped as my arms tightened around his neck, my head falling back just a touch.

Concentrating on the question and not his body, I smiled seductively and purred loud enough for the intruders to hear, "You bet, big boy." I snaked one hand down his neck, to his chest, then straight down to the top of his pants; he gave me a confused, searching look just before I commandeered his mouth again, giving him a deep kiss (and earning a satisfied groan in response). I was already standing on my tip-toes, so he had to bed down slightly to hear me whisper, "They're going to wait until we're the most distracted. I've got two dirks on my back, handles at my hips. Now groan and say, 'God, yes'."

Following directions, his arms around my waist tightened as he threw his head back slightly, moaning, "God, yes," as he did.

I smiled and giggled before I demanded his ear again, continuing, "I'm going to unbuckle your pants and unbutton your shirt so you can shift easily." I started rubbing my finger back and forth between the lip of his jeans and his skin for effect, but he was responding; his hips started roll back and forth in time with my fingers. "When I'm done, lay me down in that pile of leaves like we're about to go at it, but pull my dirks out, OK? Just lay them in the leaves beside me. I'll need them fast."

He didn't moan or exclaim his willingness, he just cupped the back of my head and passionately pushed his lips to mine, crushing my body to his. "OK," he said between kisses that left me breathless, "strip me."

So I did. With shaky hands, I unbuckled his belt, then unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them to the ground. When his jeans were pooled around his ankles, I painstakingly undid each of the buttons on his shirt, until I pushed his shirt off his shoulders and watched it flutter to the ground. As soon as I had done my part, Alec braced his hands around my back, his fingers following the line of the crossed blades in their holsters until he found the grips of the weapons. By the time he was lowering my head to the debris, he had quickly pulled them free and slid them under some fallen leaves from last fall within inches of where my hands would fall.

I opened my legs for him, allowing him to settle between my jean-clad thighs after he kicked his own jeans from around his ankles into the brush. As he held himself up, keeping his body from crushing mine, I pulled his lips towards mine, whispering, "Wait for my go." After he nodded his understanding, I curled my legs around his, kissing him, waiting for our attackers to decide we were sufficiently preoccupied.

It didn't take long. It felt like just seconds before they rushed us. I pushed at Alec's shoulders, and before my hands landed perfectly on the dirks Alec had laid out for me, Alec's towering black wolf with a white harlequin was standing a few feet from me, the neck of another, smaller wolf between his teeth. But I didn't have time to marvel. I grabbed the dirks and swung one arm over my head, nailing another black wolf in the neck with my blade.

The blade got stuck in his neck as he fell; I didn't have time to get off my back _and_ kick the wolf over so I could retrieve it. I had just barely gotten to my feet when someone yelled, "He's _my_ mate, cunt!"

I turned toward the voice. Julie, Alec's former flame, was in the process of stripping out of her clothes. The wolf I had hit was motionless on the ground, as was the one that Alec had torn out their throat. The one that Alec was going after now wasn't long for this world, either; teeth marks raked over one eye and they only had one ear remaining, as well as a pretty nasty looking limp as Alec circled them. Alec, on the other hand, looked mostly untouched. Only his heaving chest indicated the fight.

That left three more wolves to deal with. Well, if we were being accurate, that left three more Garou; two of which were in the process of shifting into wolves. The other hung back with a worried look on his face.

Julie looked over at Alec and his target, who was now on the ground and barely moving. In a matter of a second, she screamed, shifted, and rushed me.

I wasn't fast enough to fend her off with the blade. Instead, I shoved my arm out defensively and she latched on, her fangs tearing holes in my skin from shoulder to elbow. I kicked out, connecting with her flank, but it barely seemed to faze her. Instead, she swung her head so violently, my arm popped free from my shoulder and, ankles over elbows, I slammed into a tree trunk.

I screamed. I tried not to, because I didn't want to do exactly what I did: my scream whipped Alec's head around, allowing the second shifting wolf to lunge at him. Alec focused his attention back on the attacking wolf just in time; instead of striking at the neck, the attacking wolf glanced off the top of Alec's head as he ducked. I should have taken a note from Alec, though; as I was watching him fight, Julie bit me through the thigh, yanking me onto my back. My head bounced against the ground as I struck out with my dirk. I knew I buried it home. Not because I recognized as my blade hit resistance; that's how sharp the new dirks were. No, I recognized the painful yip that came from above me.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position and, using only one leg and one arm, scooted myself back away from the now limping wolf, still attempting to brandish the dagger at her. Just when she was about to lunge, protecting the shoulder that was now bleeding profusely, Alec let out a howling roar.


	170. Chapter 170

And she ran.

Alec limped over to me, whining as he watched her go. "Go," I said as I pushed him in her direction. I gritted my teeth against the pain and added, "Go get her, or you're never going to be free."

He seemed to have come to the same conclusion; his big golden eyes looked at me, the hesitation plain in them. "Go, Alexei," said the one Garou that never actually shifted. Alec turned, placing himself between me and the man who was approaching at a slow clip, his hands raised in surrender. Light brown, almost copper hair was cut stylishly short, and chocolate eyes contrasted beautifully with his rich tan. He was tall, and through his black fitted t-shirt, he could give Alec a run for his money in terms of size. Alec lowered his front just slightly, ready to pounce as he growled low in his chest. "I'm not going to hurt your friend, but you have to end this between you and Julie. Now. Before she tells Father where you are."

Alec's growl deepened in his chest, ending in a snarling yip before he took off, his limp barely noticeable as he disappeared into the trees. Once he was gone, the chocolate eyed Garou approached. "I'm Jakob, or Jake."

I leaned my head back against the tree I was resting against. "Sloane."

He smiled. "We know who you are. In fact, I would be hard pressed to find someone who didn't." When he knelt next to me, he calmly lifted his shirt over his head and, carefully lifting my injured leg onto his thighs, folded it and tied it tightly over the wound. With a glance over his shoulder, he said, "I have to get rid of the bodies. Nice fighting, by the way. Are you going to be OK for a minute?" When I nodded my head before closing my eyes, his hands lifted my leg free of his lap and disappeared.

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I had killed Julie. _Killed_ her, as in, gone forever. And what's more, when I shifted back to human and stood over her cooling human body, I felt nothing. The first woman I had ever loved was dead, and I couldn't muster more than, 'wow, I really hope Sloane's OK.' That's how I knew I was over Julie and her bullshit. That, and deep into another woman-fueled neurosis.

I picked up Julie's body, flinging it over my good shoulder, and ran further into the wooded area, finding a natural dip in the terrain and covering her body with a large downed log. I drifted leaves and debris up around the log to make it look like it's been there forever and, favoring my broken collarbone, hoofed it back toward where I'd left Sloane in Jake's hands.

Jake. He was a merciless Garou, with specialties in 'up-close work' as well as a fantastic sharp shooter. Way back when, when I had still been in the Garou, still training with them, Jake and I would split our sparring sessions 50/50. And that worried me, because he knew that, too. And I was favoring my shoulder…at the moment, my threat wasn't as much of a threat as it should be. And that terrified me for Sloane.

I took it slow once I happened back on where the fight had started, sneaking in among the trees. I caught sight of Jake; he was coming from the opposite direction at a quick jog, water dripping down his now-bare chest. My lips lifted off my teeth, baring a set of elongating fangs. I didn't want him and his perfectly unmarred chest anywhere near Sloane. _My mate_, I thought as my wolf snarled within me.

I had taken a step to tear Jake away from Sloane, her eyelids closed as she leaned against the tree, but when he grabbed my shirt from the ground and carefully tucked two fingers onto the pulse point at her neck, I calmed. He made no move that he'd noticed my presence, and that didn't surprise me. I had always excelled at immersing myself, blending into a situation. I knew how far back to stand, which direction the wind was coming from to hide my scent, how to use cover to camouflage my body.

I stepped into view, walking slowly, and grabbed my pants. Jake glanced back, catching my eye. "You alright?" he asked. With a painful grimace, I nodded, noticing the tendrils of pain that movement shot through my shoulder and into my arm. He shot me a disbelieving look, but went back to tend Sloane without another word.

When he was satisfied she had a pulse, he tore my shirt in half, folding half into a pad and wrapping the rest around Sloane's upper arm, tying it tightly over the wound. I had just barely gotten my jeans up my hips one-handed when she jerked awake. "Sorry," Jake responded quietly.

"Alec?" she said frantically as she searched what woods she could without moving her head too much.

"I'm alright," I said as I moved closer into her view. I was still struggling to buckle my belt using just my off hand when she slowly rotated her head, finally relaxing once she caught sight of me. My heart rate rose slightly when I caught her eyes. They were unfocused as a slight sheen covered her skin. "You have a car, Jake?" I asked quietly. "Sloane drove, but her car's across campus."

Jake nodded, adding, "Rental's back up at the access gate, that way," pointing with his head. As he finished tying my shirt around Sloane's bicep, he settled her arm in securely in her lap. I was positive he caught the same uneven quality to her shoulders as I did; something was either broken or dislocated. Knowing her history, dislocated was a good bet.

Her face distorted in pain as he moved her arm, her breath coming in sharp, shallow pants against the pain. "Mind if I pick you up?" he asked Sloane. I growled low in my stomach, the vibrations barely making any sound at all before she bit out, "It's not like I'm about to walk," her shallow pants cutting the sentence in half.

Jake slipped her backpack over his shoulders, laid her coat over her body, and said, "I'll take that as a yes," just before lifting her from the ground and into his arms. With a look over his shoulder to me, he said, "Let's move."

I followed behind them as we walked through the brush, paralleling the line of the trail but walking several yards away. From this distance, we were far enough off the trail that anyone that might be happening along it wouldn't immediately see us, giving us enough time to hide, but we were close enough to the trail that we could still easily walk through the relatively light brush without too much effort. As we walked, Jake steadying his steps as not to jostle Sloane, I could see the very top of her head resting against his shoulder, see her feet bob in and out if view around his body to the same beat as his footsteps. For the umpteenth time, I had to fight the urge to ask how she was. Finally, once the car was in view, I broke down and asked, but not how she was doing. "Why?"

His shoulders tightened , but the pattern of his foot falls didn't miss a beat. "Why did Julie take her team AWOL so she could hunt you down, or why am I helping you?"

"The first doesn't matter anymore," I replied. I remembered how the Garou worked; Father had a bit of a 'as long as you get the job done, I don't care what else you do' mentality. He rarely checked in with his units in the field, and if he did, it wasn't for GPS locations. I was pretty confident that, now that Julie was gone, my location was safe again. I just needed to plug whatever hole allowed her to find me so no one else could. "The second is more what I'm interested in."

"I'm sick of slaughtering families," he said sadly without turning his head to look at me. When I didn't respond, he added, "I can't look at myself in the mirror anymore." That's when he turned to look at me. And as much as I trusted his words, I trusted his face even more. He looked haunted as his eyes met mine. "I want out, and I'm not the only one. You did it. You got out. You have friends and a life that's meaningful…I want that, too. We want that."

"Black prince," Sloane slurred, her eyes barely opening as she spoke.

I froze in place. _Black prince_. She had said that before, last night. This black prince was important. Finally, when I found my voice, I asked "What did you say?" I couldn't help but sound a little urgent when I asked, my voice now commanding rather than conversational. When she didn't immediately answer, I took a step toward her and palmed her face, turning it to face me, and asked again, "Sloane, what did you say?"

"I…" she slurred painfully. Her eyes were unfocused and heavily lidded, her breathing slower, but still shallow. "I…black…the black prince…has risen."

Jake looked between the two of us, confusion clear on his face. "We need to get going," he finally said as he hefted her a bit higher in his arms and started back toward the car.

I grabbed his arm, spinning him back toward me. "No, wait." Jake came to a halt and turned back, his face angry. I didn't care how pissed he was, I needed to know. "Who, Sloane? Who is the black prince?"

"It hurts," was all she could mumble in return as her eyes closed.

"We have to go, Alexei," Jake said quietly. "The bodies are gone, but the blood's still there. Someone's going to find it. And she's still hurting."

"Shit," I replied under my breath.

.

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I don't know if I was actually feeling better when my eyes cracked open, or my body had decided that the pain wasn't going anywhere and decided to just deal with it and move on. "Ouch," I mumbled as I attempted to sit up, finally deciding that it wasn't going to happen with just my strength alone.

"Hey," Alec said as he helped to lift me into a sitting position. Jake was standing behind him, leaning against the wall of my basement light-proof room, watching the two of us like a hawk. "You've got about five minutes before sunset, so I give you about seven before they arrive."

I nodded as I got comfortable against the pillows Alec had leaned up against the wall. Well, at least that explained why I didn't feel like I'd been hit with a wrecking ball anymore; as night approached, Nailan's power grew, which meant my power grew. However, that did not mean I was hunky dorey. I struggled for the energy to sit, and talking was just a convenient way to forget about the ever-present throb that was taking over my body. "Thanks for setting my shoulder."

"I didn't," Alec replied. "Jake did. We figured you'd rather have it happen while you were out of it."

"Very true," I replied as I looked past Alec and into Jake's eyes. "Thanks."

He shrugged, his hands never emerging from his pockets. "You're welcome." Now that the attention was on him, he seemed strangely shy, his hawk-like gaze dropping to the painted cement floor. "How…are you…is there anything I can get you? You know, for the pain?"

I shrugged. "It's actually not that bad, now that my shoulder's back in. On a scale from one to worst I've ever had, I give it a three and a half." I grimaced slightly as I repositioned my freshly bandaged leg on the comforter, adding, "David's gunna be mega-pissed at you, Alec."

Something close to fear passed through Alec's face as Jake just looked confused. "Why?" Jake asked.

"Because I have to assume I smell like him. Hell, after what we did in the woods, I'll _taste_ like him. And David's already warned him twice—"

"—Three times—" Alec amended.

"—this _week alone_ to keep his hands off me."

"I'm not worried about David," Alec replied. "I'm more worried about Cian."

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. Cian? The level-headed jokester? I was expecting him to smell Alec on me, snicker, and make some comment about smelling like a canine and how he can help me fix that problem. "Why?" I finally asked.

Alec flushed. It would have been cute if I hadn't had the sinking feeling that whatever he was going to say was going to have the same effect on me. He rubbed his chest absently, replying, "Because of…what we did last night."

Yup, I flushed too. But at least my flush was accompanied with a grin. "Did he lose that patented Cian cool?" When he turned his flushed cheeks away, I knew the answer. With a painful shift, I settled my head back against the chilled wall. "Well, in that case, I suggest you both leave the house. Or at least the room. Maybe go upstairs or something. Out of sight, out of mind. At least until I can cool them down."

"Can I ask a question?" Jake asked calmly. When both Alec and I turned our attention to him, he asked, "Who is Cian? And what happened last night that has him so pissed off?"

Alec looked at me to answer at least the first question, which had me stammering. "Uh, well…" I said, shooting Alec a look that read, _are we sure we should tell him this? What if he goes to the press?_

His answering look was calm and read, _I trust him._ I couldn't help but think, _yea, and you trusted Julie too. And now look where we're at._ But I hoped that my face didn't show it as I turned back to Jake and just spat it out. "Cian's my other boyfriend. I have two lovers."

As if the Fates had a cosmic sense of drama, both David and Cian burst into the room at the same time. David completely ignored Alec and Jake, hovering over me on the bed but carefully not touching me. Cian, on the other hand, had Jake on his knees in front of him, blade to his neck, as he snarled at Alec. Neither Garou moved. Alec just stood in the corner, the one hand that wasn't attached to an arm in a makeshift sling up in surrender. Jake, now on his knees, also had his hands out, a calm look on his face. But below that calm, you could see the rage in his eyes. He wanted to turn on Cian and tear him apart. The scary thing was—I wasn't sure who'd win right now. In a rational, even-handed fight, I'd take Cian above just about anyone else. With that crazed, irrational look on Cian's eyes? "It's OK, I'm OK. Cian, you have to let him go."

David's fingers landed butterfly soft on my cheek as his eyes grazed over me. "Love," he whispered. "I can smell the blood. You are still bleeding beneath those bandages. What happened?"

"Alec saved my life," I said, focusing my attention on Cian, who was yet to release Jake. "So did Jake, Cian. You have to let him go." When that didn't work, I let my voice go pained and weak as I whispered, "Cian, please come here. I need you."

His fangs were still out, he was still snarling with a blade cutting into Jake's skin, but his eyes flickered to me. Then softened. The hand holding the blade so steady against Jake's skin wavered. "He smells of your blood," Cian said.

I nodded as David undressed my thigh wound slowly. "He carried me after I was hurt. He helped me."

His brows tightened slightly as Cian let his hand with the blade in it fall to his side. Jake was still on his knees; Cian had him by the hair and was still pulling his head back to expose the neck, but at least the blade had dropped. "He did not hurt you?" When I shook my head, grimacing against the movement at my leg, he asked, "Who did? I will murder them."

"Already taken care of," Alec said gently. "She's safe now."

Cian's eyes flickered back toward Alec for a moment before turning his attention back to me, letting go of Jake's hair. Before Jake could even relax to his haunches, Cian was kneeling on the bed beside me, my face in his hands. "You have _got_ to be more bloody careful." I leaned up to kiss his lips, but my arm wouldn't let me put enough pressure on it to leverage myself up that high. With gentle hands, he pushed me back down, leaning in for a chaste kiss before he started unraveling the bandage at my arm.

David finally exposed the wound on my leg. His body tensed as he hissed. "Report, Bourdain. I want a full report. Now."

"I'll give you the report, David," I replied. "I think Alec needs to get that shoulder looked at, and Jake needs to regroup. He's had a rough day, too." With a look to Alec that said, _I'm about to tell him what we did. You best run like hell_, I all but punted them out of the room. Jake wasn't having it, though. Alec grabbed Jake by the arm, but Jake stood his ground, eyes on me. "Go," I said a bit more forcefully.

"I don't trust that one," he said, pointing at Cian, who didn't help the situation by snarling back.

Alec, who I am sure thought was being stealthy with his back to us, whispered, "They won't hurt her. Besides, she can more than hold her own against them, even hurt. But us staying down here is just going to make things worse. We need to go. Now."

Jake took another long look at me before nodding, adding, "Upstairs. We'll be upstairs. If I so much as hear…"

"Go," David, Cian and I said in unison.

Once we were alone in the room, David ran his fingers feather-soft over the bite marks just as Cian revealed the punctures on my shoulder. "Tell us, Cupcake," Cian said as he lowered his head to my shoulder and extended his tongue to the line of teeth marks. David was doing the same, his lips landing on my hip just before his tongue darted out and tasted the wound. "Mmm," Cian moaned at his first taste of me. "What happened?"

Their tongues on me had a two-fold numbing effect. The tension melted out of my body as I focused on their movement, and their wet tongues acted as a local pain reliever and lust inducer. With a contented sigh, I started, "Alec and I were walking through that wooded area…oh, that feels nice…when I felt the Garou all around me." David's shoulders tensed for a moment before he continued, working his way from my hip to my inner thigh, following the line of the garou's teeth. As I leaned my head back again, this time less because of the pain and more because it just felt so damn good, Cian's hand snaked up from my waist, working its way under my sweater.

I had been quiet, just enjoying their hands and lips on me, for too long. In an almost creepy unison, both of their heads lifted from their respective wounds and looked at me. I groaned. "Don't stop, that felt so good."

David smiled knowingly before dipping his head back to my leg, bypassing my wound and moving just a touch higher. He flipped his fingers under the lip of my torn jeans, landing his fingers just above the line of my panties as Cian laid his lips just under my ears.

"Do continue," he whispered before he nibbled my earlobe.

All the sudden, I wasn't sure I wanted to tell them about my tryst with Alec. Not if there was a chance in hell either one of them would stop. "Just don't stop," I said. When neither of them did, I took that as agreement and continued, "In order to stall and formulate a plan, Alec and I…oooohhhh…may have…uhhhh…played like lovers…"

Both of them went from caressing my broken body to hissing through their extended fangs. I whimpered a pout. "Stop planning to tear him apart and help me feel better."

They weren't listening. David went to stand and was out of my reach before I could snag his hand and pull him back in. Cian was following shortly, both of them giving me hurt looks. Suddenly, I felt tears sting my eyes. "I'm sorry," I said, my voice slightly above a whisper, "but we needed to be close enough to whisper a plan without them hearing while looking oblivious and preoccupied. They needed to think they had the element of surprise, even though they didn't." I wasn't even going to touch the reason I had undressed Alec, mostly because I didn't want to make things worse and tell them I had. "I'm so sorry. Please come back."

David melted first. After a few tears, Cian followed. "Please don't be angry," I whispered over and over as David cuddled me in next to him on the bed.

"Shh," David replied. "I am not mad at you. You did what you had to in order to come back to me."

As Cian petted my hair, he added, "You know I cannot stand your tears. I am not mad."

**ALEC'S POINT OF VIEW:**

Jake was pacing as I attempted to care for my shoulder, a formal brace on the kitchen table in front of me. I had given him one of my shirts; the bottom half of his body looked like GI Joe, the top the College Joe. He didn't match, but it didn't seem to faze him. He was busy pacing. "What all do I need to run?" he finally asked.

"Where do you want to run to?" I asked, my head down as I unwrapped the gauze from my wrist. "A new name, for sure. License, social security card, passport, credit cards. Beyond that, it depends on the life you want to lead."

With a sigh, he said, "One like yours. Something solid."

"You want to go to college?" I asked.

He seemed to look at me for a moment, his gaze blank as he considered the possibility of what I'd said. It was almost as if he'd never considered an education an option. "You think I could?" he finally asked.

"Sure," I replied. "I can hack into just about anywhere. I can give you a high school diploma, college degree, Armed Forces records…just let me know the life you want to have lived, and I can give you the data to pull it off."

His brows furrowed in frustration. "No, I mean...we didn't go to high school. You think I'm ready for college? You think I'm smart enough?"

His questions caught me by surprise. Of all the Garou I knew, he was the most intellectual. He read biographies, studied the historical texts of the Garou, considered the philosophical differences between Christianity and Islam, and all in his spare time. "Are you kidding?" I finally asked. When his face scrunched in anger, I added, "You're the smartest guy I know. If I can fumble my way through graduate school, you should be able to pass just about any class you take."

He seemed to consider this. For a long while, he just stared into the distance, his eyes vacant and elsewhere, before he nodded once. "I want to go to college. I want to start from the beginning, though. I think…I think I'll get a degree in philosophy."

I just stared at him, gobsmacked. On one hand, that made total sense. On the other hand, my mind was yelling at me, _What the hell do you do with a degree in philosophy?_ "Uh, OK. We can do that. So you'll need a new name plus all the paperwork that goes with it, a back story—parents, address, grades, bank accounts…all that mundane stuff. You'll need something between high school and college, like a job or volunteering."

"Peace Corps," Jake said, cutting in.

"Alright," I added. "And you'll need to apply to college, but that's more you than me. All you'll really need from me, aside from a solid high school background, are a few letters of recommendation. Those are harder to fake, but I've got a method that worked…"

Both Jake and my head swiveled toward the front door as it opened. I had just enough time to think, _oh, shit,_ before Sydney came through, almost skipping, a picture in one hand and her purse in the other. RJ was behind her, a large smile on his face.

That is, until he saw Jake. At which point he paled, grabbed Sydney around the waist, pulled her behind him, and started threateningly backing the both of them away. "Where are we going?" Sydney asked, confusion on her face.

"You can take me, just don't hurt her, she's not a part of this…" RJ was pleading.

I popped out of the chair and jogged toward the young couple. "It's alright, RJ, he's not here for that," I said as I put myself between Jake and RJ's frantic eyes. It took a moment before he stopped mumbling and looked up, gauging the truth in my eyes. "It's OK."

"Why is he here?" RJ finally asked.

"Who's the Hollywood Hunk in my kitchen?" Sydney asked. Both RJ and I looked at her with consternation in our eyes. She just smiled for a moment before she replied to RJ , "Don't give me that look. You know you're the only man for me, Chuckles." Just before I could make fun of RJ's nickname, she turned her head to face me and asked, "Where's Sloane?"

"Just come sit at the table," I pleaded. "We can sit down and talk like normal people."

Sydney wasn't having it. Standing her ground, with one hand absently holding her belly with a panicked look on her face, she asked again, "Where. is. Sloane?"

"She's fine," I coaxed. "Downstairs with the O'Irish's. Come sit down."

She let out a breath she probably didn't even know she was holding, the tension melting out of her shoulders. "Don't scare me like that," she mumbled as she struggled to lower herself into the kitchen chair that RJ held out for her. It was then that I actually looked at her; she had gotten big, her stomach ballooning out in front of her. And that's when I looked up at RJ. He was still standing behind her, doing his best not to look like he was doing exactly what he was: hovering around her. Consciously or not, he had put himself between Jake and Sydney, always pivoting so he could see both of them at the same time.

I explained to them what happened today. I explained how Jake wanted to defect just like I had done, and how Julie had taken her team off mission to come and find me. Jake explained how she had done so; tracking down every pack-less wolf, one by one, until she found me (with the help of a vampire informant). Obviously, it had taken her the better part of 9 months of focused dedication to the hunt. "You need to talk to Dr. Lupe," Sydney said. "He could probably help you keep a lower profile, so nothing like this happens again."

"Lansing's packmaster," I translated for Jake, who nodded in understanding. "I don't know if that's a good idea. I would need to be 100% sure that he wouldn't sell us out before I make myself known to him."

Sydney smiled. "Hun, your past hunted you up from out of town. If the Garou could find you from across the country, what makes you think that he doesn't already know? Besides, if you take Sloane with you, he'll be putty in your hands. Well, putty in _her_ hands. And she'd do just about anything for you after the whole Nailan thing, so…" She spread her hands wide as if to say, 'see my point?'. "Now I'm going to check on Sloane, make sure she's still in one piece." Gingerly, she stood, one hand on her belly as the other gripped RJ's arm. Once standing, she held out the small black and white photo for me to take. "Here, Uncle Alec. Meet your nieces."


	171. Chapter 171

**EPILOGUE**

**SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW:**

I was in a bit of shock. Thanks to some topical vampire heals-all cream, my skin was again silky smooth. That did nothing for the aches and pains that result from being whipped around like a rag doll, but I was attempting to keep those to myself. I didn't want to have to take the medicine orally, especially since we had no idea what that would do to the barriers between Nailan and me. I was trying my damnedest not to put a crack in that wall. But that wasn't why I was in shock. Sydney was having twins. The Garou was fracturing apart, and Alec was the de facto leader of the rebels. Victor was trying to kill me again, this time by letting Julie do his dirty work. I shouldn't have felt so overwhelmed. This was kind of business as usual for me.

I was standing in the middle of The Palace's ballroom, and absorbed the familiar setup surrounding me. Guinevere and Fidel were sitting to my right, facing me. David, Emma, and Lee were sitting behind me. Just to spice things up a touch, Alec and Jake were sitting to the left, opposite Guinevere and Fidel, Cian standing beside them. Guin stared at me cordially. Fidel glowered at me, shooting annoyed glances at the Garou across from them. Cian smiled at me as if this whole thing was a joke only he got. Through the bond, David rumbled courage and pride at me. "God dammit," I mumbled with a sigh as I crossed my legs in front of me, folding myself onto the rug on the floor. "Number one, Idi."

"I object that Victor Madden is being excluded from these auditions," Fidel said _again_, spitting the word 'auditions' like it was the dog that bit his mother.

"Again, Fidel," I said without turning my head to meet his gaze, "I don't give a flying fuck."

Cian chuckled. David felt exasperated. Guin attempted to hide a smile, but had to turn her face away from Fidel's at the last moment. "Now, King Herrera, he is not being excluded," David said with false humility. "If he could find a way to audition in person without entering the state, then he is more than welcome to do so."

"You have stacked the auditions against him," Fidel spat. "He is being singled out for your ire because of who he is."

"Not true," David said again, just like he had the last seven times we'd had this conversation. "His actions, attempting to kill my bonded and pledged, is why he is no longer welcome in this state. Not because of who his maker is, or who his maker's maker, is."

Fidel just about turned pink with rage. "Victor had every right to attempt the human's life. She killed his maker!"

"And, consequently, I had every right to take offense and bar him from my state," David said, his own false cordiality fading away in his anger. "It is only because he seems curiously inept, unable to complete the task of killing this _mere human,_ that I have not dispatched a team to hunt him across the Earth and bring me back his scalp."

"Now children," Guin said, her voice bored. "We have had this conversation. I doubt it will end any differently this time. And before you appeal to me, Fidel, I will tell you exactly the same thing Sloane did: I do not give a flying fuck." With a smile to me, she settled more comfortably into the chair. "I rather like that term. Now, proceed."

Idi ushered contestant number one into the room. There were only three this time; Nevada had a large vampire population, but apparently David killed a large majority of the most powerful ones when he stormed the castle, so to speak, to get Moose and me. Take that and the fact that I scare the living bejeebies out of the rest of them—not too many contestants. Which was all the better for me.

The man stood before me, looking down. There are two ways you can look down on someone. There's looking down on someone simply because they aren't as tall as you or because they're sitting on the floor (or, on my case, option C: all of the above). And then there's looking down on someone because you deem them beneath you. He was doing both. "'Evening," I said dryly in greeting.

"Indeed," he answered as if he was amused that I had correctly determined the time of day. He stood his ground, a dozen feet away, making no move to come closer. It wasn't until I really looked into those dark chocolate eyes, set deeply into his pale face, that I realized what was wrong.

"Do I scare you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and a tentative smile.

Vampires pride themselves on being utterly unmovable, to be able to hide everything about themselves. Most of them were damn good at it. But with as much practice as I had reading them, I don't really miss much. Just a slight tension in the shoulders, the subtle grinding of teeth—it all means something. And if I was reading contestant number one right, I'd just hit the nail on the head. Still, he answered, "Of course not. Why would I be afraid of such a little girl?"

"Joan of Arc was a small woman, too, but that did not diminish the impact on the English," I answered, earning a coy smile from Guin.

His eyes narrowed slightly, followed by a slight release of the tension in his shoulders. "Very true," he finally answered. "Do you and Joan of Arc have much in common?"

I laughed. "I wouldn't know. Maybe we should ask someone who was alive at the time?"

"I will be sure to do that," he said, a small smile breaking his lips for just a split second before he returned his face to neutral. "You surround yourself with some interesting company?"

I nodded, adding, "I've been accused of that before. Which of my company do you find the most interesting?" He nodded to Alec and Jake, never taking his eyes off me. "Yea, well. David has it in his head that I'm fragile and need protecting."

"I would never accuse you of such a thing," David said dryly from behind me.

The man before me bowed slightly to David before asking, "And what would you need protecting from?"

I shrugged, adding, "Nuclear attack?"

David and Cian both laughed. "Do not give the Fates ideas, Love," David said, smile in his voice.

There was a lull in the conversation as the man that stood before me just looked at me, barely bothering to hide the curiosity on his face. Alec watched the contestant, Cian checked his nails, and Jake watched me. It was then that I realized that, to my knowledge, no one clued Jake in to my particular quirk.

Oh well. Either he freaks out, or he doesn't. I was hoping he didn't, because it was starting to look like he might like to set down roots here (which was good—Alec needed someone to run with). I wouldn't want to scare him away. _I'll go slowly,_ I thought. _After this guy, we'll take a little break and I'll explain._

I turned my attention back to the contestant in front of me. He was still watching me, waiting for some sort of cue as to what to do. I held out my hands and asked, "Do you mind? Just for a moment."

His brow furrowed. "For what purpose?"

Oh, tricky question. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to say when Cian spoke up, "If you want to be King, hold her bloody hands."

And so he did.

.

Three completely unremarkable candidates. "I feel like I'm picking between three mathletes for homecoming king," I said as I laid on my back on the plush rug that had been laid out for me.

"What's a mathlete?" Alec asked as David mumbled, "I thought you were a mathlete."

I looked over to the two Garou, who were pacing around the chairs that had been set out for them in a pointless game of musical chairs. Must be getting really close to the full moon. "I'll explain it later."

"Who will you choose?" Guinevere asked gently. She was sitting in an elegantly simple dining room chair, but she made the thing look like a throne in her black silk ball gown. I took another glance at her outfit, marveling at it once more. She had worn tailored suits to the first two of these auditions, but this one she came in silk that gathered around her waist and pooled at the floor elegantly. The rest of her, however, was much more casual. Her auburn hair, which had been tied up neatly in curls and twists the last two times, laid in waves down her back. She wore no jewelry and, strangely, no shoes. It was just her in the black gown. She seemed strangely at home.

I sighed and tilted my head back enough that I could see David, Emma, and Lee. David sat in the middle, his hands tented over his knee. Emma sat to his right, her eyes glued to me, struggling not to look like she was about to either break down in tears or throttle David at any moment, but failing. Lee wasn't watching me. He has his eyes glued to his love; eyes that were filled with emotion. Frustration, fear, helplessness. "I don't know," I finally said as I sat up. "Can I have a few minutes to talk it over?" When Guinevere nodded, I added, "Emma. I'd like to talk it over with Emma."

Emma looked shocked for a moment before her face fell back into the combination of sadness and anger she had been wearing before. "Alone," I added.

Everyone else shuffled out. Emma looked at me with confusion as she joined me on the floor, gently tucking her feet under her hips in a way that wouldn't flash me. "You want my council?" she asked.

"I'm more worried about you," I said as I held my arms out for her.

Her brows furrowed. "For what reason?"

I left my arms out for her, welcoming her in for a hug, while I replied, "Because even I can see how miserable you are. David sees it too, and it's tearing him apart. But you won't talk about it with him for some reason. Will you talk to me?"

She scootched in a little closer, even that movement looking graceful and lithe. She didn't so much as fall into my arms, but the small movement was all the invitation I needed to gather her in. She was stiff for a moment before she relaxed, even weakly wrapping her arms around my back. "I would like to talk to you, if you promise not to talk to anyone about what I tell you."

"I promise," I replied. But she didn't start talking. When a few more moments passed, I added, "If there's anyone in the state that could keep your secret from David, it's me. I can't be glamoured into spilling the beans, and I don't give a damn he's king. So spill, Em."

"I am so tired," she finally said.

I released her from the hug so I could look her in the eye. "I'm not sure I understand. You don't mean, like, you just want a nap, right?"

"No," she said with a sad smile. "I do not need a nap. I am…I feel as if my life is running away from me. It is as if I turned around one day, and my life had been hijacked."

"I think sometimes, everyone feels that way. What specifically don't you like?"

"I had no aspirations to be Queen. I did not want this spotlight."

I frowned, but only because the solution was so obviously simple to me, I was wondering if I said it out loud, I'd sound stupid. But I said it anyway. "Why don't you just tell David you don't want to be Queen anymore? Take a vacation. Do something that _you_ want to do for once."

Her face puckered in anger as she said, "I cannot tell David I do not wish to be Queen! He would be forced to take back the mantle, and I would merely be transferring my pain onto him." After a moment to cool down, she added, "It is my job to keep him stable, to keep him level."

"No," I answered. "Now it's _my_ job to keep him at an even keel. You get to take a vacation."

"But what if…"

"No what ifs," I interrupted. "No but maybes, no excuses. You are going to tell David that you want some time off, then you and Lee will take a vacation—at least a year—and rediscover what _you_ want."

Her face shut down as she said, "And if I do not do this? Will you tell him about or conversation anyway?"

"No," I replied, "I promised you I wouldn't. But I _will_ annoy the living hell out of you until you agree to what I know you already want and just do it."

She smiled then, and it looked more genuine than any other smile I'd seen on her face. "I will take Lee around the world," she said, as if she were just trying the idea on for size. "I will do what I wish. I will visit places I had always wanted to. I will…"

"Good," I said. "I'm giving you a week to tell David what's up before I start Operation: Annoy Emma. First thing: I'm stealing all of your good shoes. You know I've had my eyes on those black leather lace-ups for a while."

"You cannot have my Lanvins, sister dear."

"Then I suggest you get your ass in gear," I added. As I tapped my temple, I said, "Don't even think about hiding them. I'll find them."

She smiled again and gathered me into a bone-twisting hug. "I will tell him tonight. Thank you."

"You're welcome," I said with what little breath I had left in my body. "Breathe, Em."

"Indeed," she said as she let up, rising to her feet before me, "you should breathe."

I carefully got to my feet, trying not to look as sore and battered as I was, and peeked my head out the door to allow the rest of the group back in. "I'm ready," I said as I left the door cracked open just a touch. I was just lowering myself to the floor in the center of the rug again as David and Lee entered first. Emma skipped toward Lee and, when she threw her arms around his neck, he stopped short, his eyes on me. When David's attention turned from his children to me, he looked 90% shocked, 10% curious. I just smiled at the both of them as the rest of the group filed in.

When the three contestants filed in, standing before me in a semi-circle, I looked up at each of them. None of them held any emotion on their faces; they were all like blank slates. The woman, the second of the contestants I had interviewed, was young—couldn't have been turned more than 10 years ago, yet she had the trained blankness down pat. It made me wonder what she needed to learn to hide so early, and who from. The appreciation in her eyes when I had confirmed that, in fact, I had killed Felipe answered at least part of that question.

"I've seen the future," I started, watching their faces for cues as to their state of mind. The older two, both men, gave nothing away. The woman's shoulders tensed as her eyes raked over my body. I suppose the younger you are, the easier you are to surprise. "I have seen what will happen during each of your reigns." Again, I searched their faces. Now all three had some sort of interest on their face. Now's the time to deliver the punch to the gut. "Not a one of you will live through your first year."

That information threw them all slightly off kilter. Each one of them fidgeted in their own way, taking in that uncomfortable information in their own ways. When they each in turn focused back on me, I asked, "Knowing that, who would still like to be King," with a glance to the woman, I added, "or Queen?"

There was a beat of silence before the three of them stepped forward in unison. I smiled. "You will tell us how we die? So we may prevent it?" asked the first man I interviewed.

"Unfortunately," I answered, "I don't know enough to keep you safe yet. Chances are, without attaching myself to your hip for at least the next year, I won't. And if I somehow were able to stop it, which, sometimes things are just meant to happen and there's nothing I can do to stop them, it doesn't mean that you'd be safe. It'd just mean I thwarted that attempt. Don't think that being in charge makes you safer; I'd argue the opposite." I glanced over at Fidel, a knowing glare on my face, adding, "Not that I wouldn't love to hand the murderous vampire in question his ass on a platter." Because I knew: it didn't matter who was going to rise to the throne, Fidel and Victor wouldn't rest until they controlled Nevada again. Which meant someone had to die.

And Fidel knew what I was thinking.

Alec and Jake seemed to immediately understand. They both started growling low in their throat, the sound being transmitted more as a vibration through my bones than a sound in my ears. I glanced at the two Garou; they were both snarling, leaning forward, on the edges of their seats. "The wolves agree."

"I would still like to be Queen," said the woman, whose voice was on the meek side. Her voice might have been meek, but her face was staunch, strong, and committed. "Nevada needs a leader after being without for so long, no offense Majesty."

I waved her off with a "None taken."

"I will attempt to protect myself better, to be more vigilant, but if I am only meant to rule for a year, that's fate."

I nodded before looking to the two men behind her. "Anything to say to that?"

"I have lived too long to willingly face certain death," said the first man I interviewed. "If she wants to walk into the fire, so be it."

The third man, whose accent placed his roots in Australia, added, "Aye, I'm with this bloke," with a nudge to the man beside him. "I've no need to walk into any blues."

I just looked at the Aussie for a moment, trying to translate what he'd just said into some form of English I could understand. Finally, I asked, "Blues?"

It was Cian who answered with a laugh in his voice. "He says he'd prefer to not go asking for trouble. I can see how that concept would be foreign to you."

"Oh," I answered with a glare for Cian. When I turned back toward the three contestants, I added, "OK, then. Looks like we have a new monarch."

The woman smiled tightly as the two men backed away slightly. As Guinevere took the necessary oaths from the two men and explained how the transfer of power from me to her would go, I glanced back to David, Emma, and Lee. Emma was sitting on Lee's lap, fingering his hair and smiling. Lee and David both looked a little awestruck, but Lee was managing to respond to her, holding her hips in his lap as his fingers played along the line of her waist.

Guinevere dismissed the Nevada contingent and she and Fidel followed them out. I wasn't worried about our newest monarch, Leslie, just yet. Guinevere would make sure that she was at least safe until she got home. Next to go were Alec and Jake, Alec approaching only to ask I was going to stay, and if so, could he take the car home. After handing over the keys, they disappeared quickly. Next was David. "What did you say to Emma?" he asked.

"Can't tell you," I replied as I watched Lee carry Emma past, her giggles still echoing in the grand hall long after he had taken her upstairs.

"Can't, or won't?" he asked.

"I promised I wouldn't," I replied, "so I won't."

"Hmm," he murmured as he extended me a hand. I reached up and grabbed it; in seconds I was upright, my legs wrapped around his torso as he held me up with just one arm. "If you won't tell me, then I suppose we should go to our photography shoot." I groaned. This was photography shoot number two, and if it was anything like the last one, it'd be beyond cheesy. The last one the photographer wanted to dress us up like characters in famous vampire movies and reenact their most favorite scenes. Nosferatu just didn't work; David wasn't an ugly, scary ghoul and there wasn't much anyone could do to change that. Dracula (the 1979 version, the photographer was sure to tell me, not that it mattered much) worked better; Count Dracula was _supposed_ to be a drool-worthy hunk. David matched that to a tee. However, the costume that portrayed me as Mina was restrictive and heavy. Both David and Cian (who had tagged along purely to ogle the costumes, I'm sure) enjoyed the bodice that displayed my curves generously, though. Personally, my favorite was a tie between Interview with a Vampire (David as Louis, and me as 'Danielle' Malloy, the journalist) and Jean-Claude and Anita Blake from the Anita Blake book series (not a movie, but popular enough to warrant a picture or two). Why did I like those? Because I didn't have to wear some giant monstrosity of a dress. In fact, both of the outfits for Danielle's and Anita's role could have been taken from my own closet (including the weapons—all stage fakes, of course).

"I do hope there are more bodices in this shoot," Cian said as David smiled. "Or more leather. That Anita Blake costume just screamed for a pair of handcuffs and black satin sheets."

"I hope there are more jeans and t-shirts," I replied as I wiggled out of David's arms and put my feet flat on the floor. "Or pajamas." I slipped one hand into David's, the other into Cian's, and started toward the kitchen, which had a back staircase up to the media room. Each of them fell in step with me, matching my slow and achy pace without a word.

"Mmmm," David moaned seductively. "Knowing what you like to sleep in—or don't like to sleep in, as the case may be—I think I would prefer pajamas."

I grumbled about my concern for my clothing staying in one piece and how overzealous vampires are counterproductive to that cause as we climbed the stairs. They both laughed before I cocooned myself in the cashmere throw on the back of one of the many couches in the media room. "When's this photo shoot?" I asked, the question coming out as more of a whine.

"Scheduled for one in the morning, Love," David said as he settled himself onto a couch. With a beckoning hand, he added, "We would need to leave here in an hour to get there on time, but I had planned to feed you well first."

I frowned as I sat next to him. David had asked me when I first arrived at The Palace if I had eaten; with a grumble I had responded that I was capable of caring for myself. Undeterred, he'd asked Alec, who confirmed that I'd eaten dinner just before we came. So he should know that I was properly fed and wouldn't need any meddling vampires to force food down my throat. "Are you trying to fatten me up so I'll taste better fire-roasted?"

Cian laughed and sat right beside me. There were three of us on the couch, and we only took about half of the seating available. I turned my back and nestled it against David's side, tucking myself under his arm, and opened my arms for Cian, inviting him to lie between my legs with his head on my chest. As Cian settled in with a very masculine purr, David answered, "They saw fit to inform me that they would like a bite. In anticipation, I have not eaten today."

Ah, it made a little more sense now. David was planning on satisfying America's morbid curiosity and feeding himself all in one bite. Normally, I wouldn't need to shovel food down my throat to cope with a little love nip, but the stress of forcing three visions in a row on top of a slight loss in blood volume; I needed every advantage I could get if I didn't want to look tired and washed out on camera after the bite, or worse, pass out cold. Plus, he was still being annoyingly overprotective about the whole I-was-sick-months-ago thing. I found myself reminding him at least weekly that I'm not made of china. "How about an hour of this," I said as I curled David's arm around my waist tighter and settled Cian's head more comfortably into my collarbone, "then we can grab some fast food on our way to the shoot and I can eat while they're playing with my hair?"

"Deal."


	172. Chapter 172

**PART 12**

_Eric Northman has the worst timing,_ I thought as I checked the caller ID on my ringing phone. I ignored his call for now; I had bigger issues than whatever Eric needed from me. Sydney, RJ, Alec, and I had been getting ready to take Alex and Carter, whose parents were on yet another honeymoon vacation without the kids, to the midnight showing of the most recent blockbuster movie when Sydney, sitting on the couch waiting for Alec to get dressed after his shower, had gasped and taken a tight grip of my badly healed, previously broken hand. I cringed along with her. "Damn girl, what steroids are you on?" I asked. Concerned, Alex looked up from her drawing of something that could have been either a pony or a house, her ringlets bobbing with the sudden motion. Carter was so involved with his brand new portable gaming device he couldn't be bothered to care.

Sydney was breathing tight and light, her breaths coming in little pants. "Contraction," she gasped. "And I think my water just broke."

I gave her a wide eyed, deer-caught-in-the-headlights stare for a moment. Then chaos erupted. "RJ!" Sydney screamed, alerting, if not the entire neighborhood, at least the entire house, that something was wrong. "Get you're a…butt down here!"

RJ came flying down the stairs as slapped myself internally, finally snapping into gear. "Breathe through it, Syd," I said as I mimicked the deep, calming breaths she should be taking. She glared at me for a moment before RJ arrived, taking her hands in his own the grimacing against her grip.

"What, Babe? What is it? Are they coming?" he asked in rapid succession as he glanced down to Sydney's rather large belly. It was four weeks until her due date, but the doctor had warned RJ and Syd that twins have a slightly higher rate of premature births.

"Yes, they're coming!" Sydney seethed at RJ as she tried to remember how not to hurt.

"OK, Babe, OK. Let's just get you to the car…" he said as he tried to help her to her feet. She was almost there when another contraction hit, doubling her over and making RJ stumble with the added and unexpected weight.

Alec rounded the corner, his shirt not quite on right, saying, "I got her," to RJ while gently lifting Sydney into his arms. Even pregnant, he looked like it was no trouble lifting the weight of three into his arms. "Is the bag in the car?" he asked as he carried her to the front door.

"No, it's too early," RJ said, a touch of shock in his voice. He was now wearing that same wide eyed, blindsided look that I'd had earlier. "It's back at the house," he mumbled as he and I followed Alec and Sydney out the front door.

Alec settled Sydney into the front seat of the car, even buckling her in, then finished putting on his shirt as he loped back toward us. Placing one hand on each of RJ's shoulders, Alec dipped his head until his face took up the entirety of RJ's vision and said, "Take your fiancée to the hospital. I'll get the bag and meet you there."

"Sloane!" Sydney yelled loud enough that I could hear her through the closed car door. "The kids!"

I ran to her side of the car, reaching it just as she managed to roll down the window. "Don't worry about a thing, Hun, I got them. You just go have my beautiful nieces, OK?"

She was sweating, wisps of her hair sticking to the sides of face, when she nodded. I leaned through the open window, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, before RJ slammed the car into gear and left tire treads on my driveway.

Alec and I looked after them for a moment before he turned to me and said, "It'll be a miracle if he gets the car there in one piece."

I scanned the future forward for a moment, my eyes losing focus. "They'll be fine," I said with utter confidence. "She's going to need that bag, though. This is it."

As it was now, I was just strapping a shaken Alex into her child's seat so I could try and pawn the kids off on someone else for a few hours when that phone rang. I rolled my eyes and tucked the phone back into my pocket when it just rang again. "Dammit," I said.

Carter's head snapped up. "We're not supposed to say that word."

"Maybe not around your parents," I said with a wink. When a mischievous light came to his eyes, I said, "Just remember who the cool babysitter is, OK? And tomorrow? We're getting ice cream."

Alex's eyes lit up in excitement. It didn't take much to sidetrack a girl her age. Just as I answered Eric's third call in a row, Alex was trying to decide—verbally—between vanilla and chocolate. "You are so freaking persistent," I said into the phone. "What do you want?"

"And good evening to you, too," said Eric's smooth as snakeskin voice.

"I'm busy, Eric. Spit it out."

"What is that I hear in the background?" he asked curiously. "Children?"

"Sydney just went into labor and I don't have time for this. So spit it out, Eric," I snapped back as I threw the car in reverse and started toward campus. There were a few people I'd leave two children with: two (Moose and David) were currently out of town, Sydney was having kids of her own. That left one person. Cian. He was going to be on campus almost all night, teaching back to back summer classes, then getting ready for the beginning of the fall semester. Which, incidentally, was why I had the time to go see a midnight showing with Alec, RJ, and Syd tonight.

"I fail to see how your friend finally entering the workforce would make you too busy…" he didn't finish his sentence before I burst out laughing. "What?" he asked. "Do I amuse you?"

I could barely breathe, I was laughing so hard. "Yes, Eric. You amuse me." Shooting a glance in the rear view mirror to make sure the kids were OK (they were oblivious to my driving), I had an epiphany. "Here, talk to Alex for a minute."

"Sloane, I…" he managed to say before I pulled the phone from my ear and handed to Alex.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice just naturally sweet as molasses. "Do you know what I get tomorrow? Ice cream!" she said without a break. And she was off and running.

.

Alex was still happily chatting away on the cell phone, using both hands to hold it to her ear, as I lofted her onto my hip and carried her into the old psychology building on campus. She'd been talking for fifteen minutes straight, barely pausing to take a breath between sentences or thoughts. It was just one long semi-coherent ramble of a child's mind that had quickly melded into the background. I was paying attention long enough into the drive that I caught her one-sided conversations on ice cream, Barbies, and the varying shades of pink (and which was her _favorite_ favorite). As I carried her into the art deco building, Carter trailing behind, his eyes glued to his gaming console, she was yapping on about 'her furry pony' (Alec) and how he gives the best pony rides.

I was lucky to catch the tail end of Cian's lecture. Because Alex was still chattering on, I set her down on one of the long, ornately carved benches outside the lecture hall and peeked my head in the door. When he turned to look at his audience from the small lectern, his eyes caught mine. He looked surprised for a moment, then bewildered. "I think that is quite enough for tonight," he said, never taking his eyes off me. "Have a nice night, everyone."

A smattering of 'goodnights' and 'you toos' sounded throughout the small class before the sound of the students' talking filled the room. I lifted Alex back onto my hip and nudged Carter through the doorway.

Alex looked up from simultaneously talking Eric's ear off (if he was still on the phone) and twirling my hair through her fingers. When she caught sight of Cian, her eyes lit up. She dropped my phone, simply forgetting she was in the middle of a very one sided conversation, and squealed "Cian! Cian!"

He chuckled, taking Alex's squirming form from me and saying, "There's my princess!" before he lofted her onto his shoulders.

On a normal night, the first thing I would do upon seeing my British vampire was fall so deep into a kiss from Cian that my head spun. Tonight, however, we had an audience. One that, somehow, despite all the media coverage we'd gotten in those first few months home, still thought I was deliriously and monogamously in love with David. Deliriously, yes. Monogamously, no. It was a miracle that we didn't blow our cover; so much so that I suspected bribe money and exchanged hands and a glamour or two had been doled out.

His eyes softened minutely, letting me know that he was thinking the same thing I was: how much I wanted to kiss him right now. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked as Carter lowered himself into one of the back row seats as I bent down to pick up my still connected phone, letting it hang limply in my hand.

"Syd went into labor," I said quickly. "Can you watch the kids? Just a few hours. I'll come get them when Syd's all settled in."

"I will watch them until sunrise," he said, Alex grabbing onto his dreadlocks and attempting to spur him into action like a horse. He was not going for it. "She is early, correct?"

I nodded, remembering finally that Eric was on the phone. "You still there?" I asked into the receiver.

"That was uncalled for," he grumbled angrily. "Does that child even breathe when she talks?"

I giggled, responding, "I was thinking the same thing. So what do you need, Eric?"

Cian's eyebrow quirked up in question as Alex continued to shout, "Up! Up!" Cian had once made the mistake of levitating with Alex on his shoulders, and now that's the only thing she ever wanted from him. When I gave him a 'one minute' signal, he sighed, levitating about a foot in the air. She squealed in delight before urging him higher. The few straggling students that were still in the classroom gaped.

"You had requested that if I ever saw an opportunity…" he started.

"I remember," I interrupted, turning my back on Cian for a bit of privacy. I had asked Eric to, if he ever saw an opportunity or thought of a way for me to take Victor out of the picture, to let me know. I hadn't told David or Cian about that request, mostly because I knew that they would demand Eric tell them and not me and attempt to take care of it for me. Because I was technically still his queen, my request overruled David's and Cian's, but that didn't mean that I was going to put him in that awkward position with his friend and his childe. "I'll call you back in a second, I just need to get the kids settled with Cian."

He sighed as if he were put upon. "Fine. Call Fangtasia." Without any pleasantries, he hung up.

I scowled at the phone before tucking it back into my pocket. Cian, still hovering a foot above the ground with Alex squirming on his shoulders, shot me a rather questioning look. "It's a surprise," I said with a wink and some quick thinking. "Are you going to be OK? With the kids?"

His questioning look melded into a disbelieving stare. "My little princess and I will be fine. And I assume Carter will only be interested in his video game. Go to the hospital."

Alex stopped trying to spur Cian higher and frowned down at me. "Are you hurting, Sloane-y?" she asked in her high pitched voice. "Hospitals are for boo-boos."

"No, Sweetheart, I'm OK," I replied. "Miss Sydney is having her babies at the hospital."

"Why?" she asked, her eyes wide and fearful. "Is Miss Sydney hurting?"

I chuckled, thinking, _Oh, yea. She's probably cursing RJ up and down at the moment._ Outwardly, I answered, "No, Baby, she's OK, too. But they have people there that can help her, make it easier for her. Hospitals aren't just for boo-boos."

Her scared expression softened slightly. "I wanna see the babies!" she finally exclaimed. "Can I come with you?"

"Not yet, Sweetheart. Maybe tomorrow, before we get ice cream, we can go visit Sydney, OK?"

She pouted for a moment before Cian jolted up just a few inches higher, which got her squealing with delight again. I glanced around, noting that if was just the four of us in the room, the doors shut tight, before I grabbed Cian's sweater and pulled him down until he was standing on his feet again. His mouth formed into a surprised 'o' as I grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him down until I could press my lips against his. As my tongue darted into his mouth, just a quick feel, his arm wrapped around my back and held me tightly to him before he returned the idea with gusto, kissing me so deeply that a weaker woman would have fainted. When he finally pulled away, I was left breathless and shaky while Cian simply grinned at me, knowing immediately what he did to me. "Not fair," I said breathlessly.

"Very fair," he replied as he ran his fingers down the side of my face. He looked as if the thought of going our separate ways physically hurt him. "If you can get away…"

"I'll try," I said. "But I have to go." Another quick peck and I was gone.

I was still attempting to regain my ability think straight as I slid into the driver's seat of my Mustang. Physically shaking it off with a promise that I was going to do nasty, naughty things to him later, I dialed up Fangtasia's number and threw the car into reverse.

"Fangtasia, the bar with a bite and Shreveport's number one vampire bar, this is Ginger, how may I help you?" asked a cheery voice.

"Hello, Ginger. I need to speak with Eric Northman."

"Oh," she said, her voice falling a bit in deference. "The Master is very busy. May I take a message for you?"

I've called Fangtasia before. Turns out, I can't really just hand over my queenly duties and think I've washed my hands of the problem. I still have to keep in contact with Eric (and Nala and Leslie, too). Which was why I knew a bit of rough handling was the only way I was going to get Eric on the line in the next hour. "Ginger, if you do not put Eric on the line this moment, I will personally come down there and drain you."

A slight gasp caught in her throat that was not entirely fear. Some of it was anticipation, too. "Ginger," I repeated, "Now."

"Yes," she said, her voice breathy. "Let me get him for you. One moment, Mistress."

Eric's voice was on the line in an instant. "What did you threaten this one with?" he asked. "She looks…titillated."

"I said I'd come down there and drain her," I answered as I turned off Collingwood Street and onto Grand River Avenue. I turned back to the reason for the call and asked, "So, you have an idea?"

Eric hissed and I heard Pam in the background yell, "Back off, vermin! I will skin you!" Moments later, the background noise of a bar all but disappeared.

"So?" I asked impatiently. "Let's hear it."

"I know where he will be," Eric replied. It wasn't a plan, per se, but at least it was a start. Pinning him down seemed to be the hardest part; no one seemed to know where he was hiding and trying to 'look' for him in the future just ended up giving me a migraine. "The Vampire Summit for the west region begins in a week."

My brows furrowed. I remembered, via visions, Sookie's expedition to the central region's vampire summit. It did not end well. In fact, it ended with a few well placed explosions and a collapsed vampire hotel. Still, my interest was piqued. "Where?"

"Los Angeles," he answered. "Hollywood, to be specific."

I groaned. I'd _just_ gotten rid of the last transplant paparazzi not even a week before, seeing him to the airport myself. And now Eric wanted me to just waltz right into their den? Was he crazy? "Are you _certain_ he'll be there?" I whined.

"He must if he is going to garner support," he replied. "And there have been rumors that he is planning to resurface soon. I can think of no better place."

I sighed, resting my head against the wheel while waiting at one in an endless line of red lights. Only when angry honks started sounding behind me did I lift my head and drive again. We sat in silence, only the occasional rustle as he shifted his position letting me know that Eric was even still on the line. Was I really going to do this? _Could_ I really do this? Could I fly across the country for the sole purpose of killing someone? I had no illusions—if I went after Victor and, after that, Fidel, it would be a fight to the death. There was no getting either of them to back down, either by negotiation or some sort of incarceration. They were too shifty, too well connected. Even if I could get them somehow locked away, they'd find a way to send someone else for Leslie, then they'd come looking for me with a vengeance. Guin had it right those months ago: kill them or die.

The idea of going up against the two of them frightened me. It wasn't so much that they were vampires—I'd proven myself against vampires time and time again. They were both just so unpredictable. They were unpredictable, ruthless, and I couldn't see a damn thing about them. And they knew I would be coming. I knew I had a chance to out_fight_ the vampires, but could I out_think_ the vampires? That's what worried me.

"Sloane?" Eric asked.

"What?" I asked, the question coming out markedly whinier than I had been going for.

"This does not have to be your fight," he said, more softly this time. "Leave this one be."

"Eric," I started, exasperated. "We've had this conversation. It's my problem to fix. Besides, I'm not putting you in the firing line. You have Sookie to protect." I maneuvered my car into the parking ramp for the hospital, circling up and up until I could find a spot. "If not plausible deniability, you at least have to be able to rustle up a convincing alibi. I'm not going to let this backfire onto you."

I could almost hear his teeth gnashing on the line. "I also have you to protect, Sloane. David saw to that. If I willingly allow you to do this alone, I will have to answer to him. If you get hurt, even one little scratch, it'll be my head."

"No it won't," I replied. "I'm your queen, there was nothing 'willing' about it. I forced it the info out of you, then forced you to stay home with your mouth shut."

"I doubt David will see it that way," he replied. "I do not want war between Louisiana and Michigan, but it seems you do. Besides, you are my queen in name only and only because I allow it. If I did decide not to take this order, there isn't much you could do about it."

Well, what a cocky little shit. "Would you feel better if I came down there and compelled you to keep your mouth shut? I could do that."

I threw the car into a spot and then into park as he said, "You will not."

"Piss me off and I will," I replied quickly, which only earned a low chuckle in response.

"_Lilla,_" he said, a nickname he'd started calling me when I think he wanted to start swearing at me but couldn't. I'd asked Cian; he says it means 'little one' in Eric's native tongue. Which really only served to piss me off more. "I could snap you in half."

"No you couldn't," I replied quickly, disappointing the adult in me. What's next, I start saying, 'I know you are, but what am I'? I took a deep breath and added, "Besides the oath to David you're so adamant to keep, what about Cian? You'd do that to him?"

There was a pause before he asked, "Do what to him?"

"You'd snap me in half knowing it'd kill him?" I asked, a familiar twinge shooting through me at the thought. After the whole thing in France, even just joking about Cian dying made my heart clinch. Not to mention that age old feminine question: 'Does he _really_ love me? Does he love me as much as I love him?' I may be a highly educated, prescient, Fae-human hybrid, who has a Fae Goddess locked in their head, but I'm still plagued by human self esteem issues. Some things you just can't escape.

There was a moment of silence before Eric exploded in what I assumed was a stream of expletives in another language followed quickly by my name. I cringed as an automatic response. Oh, someone was unhappy. Finally, once Eric's listing of my faults was over, he said, "You are simply not going alone. I will not allow it."

"I didn't say I was going alone," I replied, "Just that I was doing this alone."

Another moment of silence before he said, "I do not understand."

I pulled my car onto the fifth floor, finally pulling into a free spot as I answered, "Well, unless I want to go all Dark Avenger again, this needs to be a little more subtle. I can't just go in there with my katanas swinging unless I want to end up in a coma…again."

"Wait…" he interrupted, confused.

"Didn't Cian tell you how I freed him?" I asked.

"He glossed over it," Eric replied tightly.

"Oh, well, the long and short if it is that I stormed the castle, using whatever mojo I had left over from Nailan…." Did he know about the Goddess in my head? I couldn't remember. Instead of starting from the very beginning, I continued, "you know what? Never mind, not important. What is important is that I can't go in there all guns-a-blazin' without ending up in a coma again, which I promised I'd try not to do. So my options become a little more subtle in nature."

"You cannot go in so blatantly on the offensive without risking your life, so you must appear to be on the defensive instead," Eric surmised.

"Yes." I turned off the engine and added, "So…so now what? You're the schemer, so scheme."

He grunted once. "I will contact Nevada, perhaps we can come up with something," he said patronizingly before hanging up the phone.


	173. Chapter 173

Hours later, RJ was still in Sydney's room, so I assumed things were going well. Sydney's mom, Jen, was a bundle of nervous energy across the way from where Alec and I were sitting holding my mom's hand for support. Both women were eying Alec and me curiously.

I was on the verge of falling asleep, my head in Alec's lap. Alec was already there, his long arms splayed over the back of several chairs, his head leaning against the wall as he wheezed lightly. Just as my eyes were closing for what felt like the last time, my phone buzzed in my pocket, making me jump just enough to disturb Alec's breathing pattern.

I yawned, tacking a "Hello?" onto the end of it.

"Good morning, Love. Did I wake you?" asked David's velvet voice, a touch of amusement following a hint of his natural brogue. I hope that no matter how long I have with him, the sound of his voice never stops sending a thrill down my spine.

"No," I replied with a sigh. My mom's brows furrowed at the dreamy sound of my voice. "How's Mississippi?"

"Lonely," he replied, his voice going deep and husky. Another thrill shot straight to my core, causing me to fidget against Alec's side. "Are you in bed, then? Is that why it is so quiet around you? Tell me what you're wearing, and please be very specific."

I laughed low, blushing under my mom's measured stare. I shifted position, putting my back towards the room. It meant that my forehead was pressed against Alec's hip bone, but at least I could pretend my biological mother and the woman that sometimes had been even more of a mother to me weren't able to watch my expression. "You're so bad," I finally said. "I'm at the hospital."

I could feel the jolt of panic through the bond before David could talk himself into calming down. "For what purpose? Are you hurt? Do I need to come home?"

"I'm fine you overprotective worry-wart, but if you'd like to come home anyway, I'm all for that," I replied, my voice playful.

My nonchalant tone did not do what it was supposed to; his voice was still threaded with tension as he asked, "Why are you at the hospital? Is it Alec?"

"Jeez," I sighed. "Alec's also fine. As are RJ and Jake. Syd, on the other hand, is having her babies."

There was a moment of silence before he asked, "It is too early, correct?"

"Yea," I replied, "but she and the babies are fine at the moment," _and will continue to be,_ I added mentally.

"Then give the family my _comhghairdeas_," he said, a smile in his voice.

My brow furrowed for a moment as I tried to figure out what he'd just told me. When I gave up, I asked, "Uh, will do. What does that mean?"

"My felicitations. My congratulations," he replied. After a grunt of understanding on my part and a few moments of silence on the line, he asked out of the blue, "Do you want children?"

I was stunned into silence for a moment. Truthfully, I had never thought about it. Before David and Cian, I'd never dated anyone seriously enough to have it even cross my mind. Now that I had found the men I love, I guess I hadn't considered it because I knew they couldn't give me children anyway. No point thinking about what's never going to happen. So when he asked, I was completely blindsided.

"Sloane?" he asked, making sure I was still on the line and hadn't somehow fainted.

"Uhh," was about all I could muster in response. After another moment of mental stuttering, I added, "I don't know. Why?"

"Do you fear I would be a poor father because I am a vampire?" he asked. He had attempted to keep the pain and anger from his voice, but there's no substitute for the bond, and I felt his pain as if it were my own.

"No, Honey," I cooed at him. "Nothing like that. I know you'd be a great dad, I've seen you with Carter and Alex, remember? But I guess, since you can't…I mean…"

"Ah," he said, some of the anger falling away, leaving just the pain. "You hadn't considered it because you knew it was an impossibility."

"Something like that," I said. "And that's OK, David. I don't need kids, I have you." _And Cian_, I added mentally. I'd gotten better about not mentioning our little love triangle since the paparazzi had been following me around, lurking behind every corner. And just because the photographers had gone home, didn't mean that someone else wasn't within earshot. Both David and I understood the unspoken words.

"I would give you whatever you wanted; you know this, right?" he said. "If there were a way…"

"I know," I said, a smile covering my face, "you'd find it. And I find that so sexy," I said, my voice dipping a few notes as I purred the end of that sentence. "Maybe when you get home, we can practice…"

"Perhaps I should leave tonight," he said, "If I leave now, I could be home in enough time…"

I laughed, cutting him off. "And then Russell would feel slighted and the alliance would suffer," I said quietly, keeping the conversation between just him, me, and Alec (were he awake). "Stay, be your charming self and get him to agree to the world, then come home and we can _celebrate_ all night long."

He growled possessively, the sound barely coming through over the line before he asked, "Just tell me this and I will stay at this blasted meeting: what color panties are you wearing?"

In my most innocent voice, I replied, "What makes you think I'm wearing any?"

He growled again, this time accompanying the sound with a string of expletives in his native Gaelic. Seamlessly, he transitioned into a heavily accented English to say, "You better not be wearing any when I get home or I will shred them off you."

Breathlessly, I replied, "Is that an order?" Recently, David liked playing with a few of dominance moves in bed, which I do my damnedest to defy. If he told me to lay down, I'd stand defiantly. If he told me to hold still, I'd squirm until he held me down. And if he told me to be naked, well…I'd make sure I was wearing something painfully complicated to get off.

"It is," he replied deeply, his voice holding no negotiation. Another shot of lust crackled down to my lady business, causing my back to arch oh so slightly as I gasped.

"We'll see," I said, my voice breathy as I planned my outfit for that night. I needed to go shopping. Maybe a corset. With metal boning, and maybe some chains so he can't just rip down the fabric. Do they make chain mail corsets? I needed to find out. ASAP.

.

RJ had emerged from Sydney's room around 5 in the morning, triumphant smile on his face, excited to give everyone the details of his beautiful baby girls. Sydney was resting, and considering the night she'd had, she would need at least a few hours until she was ready to have any company whatsoever. That left me enough time to give RJ and Jen a hug and a small kiss for my mom before I stumbled back toward the stairs, anxious to get to my car. I was exhausted, mentally and physically, and I just wanted to fall into bed. Not to mention the promise of Cian still waiting for me at home, probably in my bed, most definitely naked. Talking to David had just whetted my appetite, and Cian was going to get the raw (or the good) end of the deal for as long as I could stay awake.

Alec loped up behind me saying, "You look tired, I'm driving," as he pulled the car keys from my hand. I didn't fight him; it was probably better that he did the driving.

"Thanks," I mumbled as he wrapped an arm around me. Probably to keep me from veering into the wall, which I'd almost done twice.

"Piggy back ride?" he asked after I sighed, noting how I seemed to have been walking forever, but hadn't gotten any closer to the parking ramp.

"Just lay me on a gurney and wheel me to the car," I said lightly. After a yawn and a hearty stretch to get the blood flowing again, I added, "I have to stay awake, Cian's at the house…" And because I was having a mentally slow day, I only remembered who I'd said that to after I said it, causing a fine blush to cover my cheeks.

"Just because you're getting some doesn't mean you have to brag about it," Alec said lightly, trying to hide his own reddening face. Things had been awkward since we'd moved in together. It had been fine for a few weeks, until the both of us relaxed and I walked into what I sleepily thought was Syd's room to find him in the process of pulling up some boxers, his hair still damp from a shower. Or the time he'd walked into my room to try and knock me out of a vision, instead letting me climb bare-ass-naked onto his minimally covered body and draw all over him. It was the little things that wouldn't have embarrassed me if it were Sydney, but caused a fine pink to stain my cheeks with Alec. And it wasn't even that he was male and I was female; I could get past that and just treat him like any other friend. It was the fact there was some attraction there, some sexual tension. I couldn't help the fact that each time he came home from a run, sweat-slicked and bare-chested, all I could do was think, _Ohh, pretty_ as I ogled him for a moment.

Not that I'd ever do anything about that attraction; I liked Alec, I'd even go so far as to say I loved him, but I loved him as a friend and nothing more. I knew he had feelings for me; it'd be obvious even if I didn't sometimes dream his future, but he was just as determined as I was to leave this relationship in the friends department. So that's what we were trying to do. I had a feeling he would move out on his own, no matter how much that scared the living hell out of him, before he let it get too far. And for that alone I could love him.

"You could get any girl you wanted," I replied, more than happy to play into his charade. "What about that one girl from the structural engineering program? She'd jump at the chance."

He shrugged dismissively. "Katie? She's nice enough."

"But not for you?" I asked. I had been actively attempting to set him up with someone else, hoping that if he were taken, I wouldn't think about the delicious wolf just across the hall from me. Jake, the other Garou who had taken up residence in my home, was currently seeing a cute journalism senior. I was hoping that if Alec was seeing someone, then I would start to see him more like I saw Jake: the roommate, the friend, the sometimes-babysitter.

Alec looked down at me, his look made purely of want. "Not for me," he confirmed. "She's just not my type."

I grunted a conciliatory response. Every time I'd asked him about a girl, I'd gotten much the same thing: dismissal. Instead of asking what was his type and setting me up for an answer I knew but wasn't sure I was ready to hear, I said, "If you don't start taking some chances, you're going to end up a lifelong bachelor."

It was his turn to sigh frustratedly as he opened the door for me, ushering me into the still heated night and towards the car. "I'm not sure I could go for normal," he finally said. "All the girls you ask me about as just so…normal. What if I start to really like a girl and I have to tell them what I am? What if they can't handle it? I'm not just a Were, Sloane. I'm a Garou. That's a whole different ballpark. And with everything that's going on with the defections…"

I got into the passenger side of my Mustang and waited for Alec to adjust the seat enough that he could fold himself into the driver's side. "So what? You're holding back based on what _could_ happen?" I asked, my voice holding exactly what I thought about his stupid plan.

"Sloane," he started, frustration mounting, "you don't understand. You don't know what it's like…"

"To be different?" I finished. "Right. Completely normal over here."

He harrumphed, something between a growl and a snicker. He put the car in reverse, squealing out of the spot and raced down the parking ramp. "That's different. You know how it ends."

"_Exactly,_" I said. "Every man I ever dated, I knew how it was going to end before we even started. So why did I even start dating them?" I asked.

He stopped in the middle of the parking ramp, mere feet from the exit and yet another few meters from the gatehouse. "God, I hadn't thought of that," he mumbled as he looked at me. "Why did you?"

"The sex, for one," I said, meeting his challenging stare. He blushed and looked down. "And because they may have not been the one, but they were one. I knew it was going to end, but I had fun while it lasted. When was the last time you had fun?"

Without an answer, he refused to look at me, instead focusing rather intently on the drive ahead of him. It wasn't until I was almost asleep and we had pulled into the driveway when he asked, "Do you know how David and you end? Or Cian and you?"

"No," I said, my voice sleep-addled. "And I don't want to."

"Have you ever seen anything you truly didn't want to? Like a death in the family, or David with another woman?"

I cringed involuntarily. I saw AJ's death, and that haunted me. In fact, my number one nightmare was a replay of that vision that had ingrained itself onto my retinas. I hadn't seen much; I hadn't been powerful enough to see much at that point, but I could remember in full HD clarity AJ's mangled face as his unseeing eyes looked out the window of the crushed car. Even the first EMT on the scene had trouble with that vision. And he'd been an experienced EMT at that point, seen hundreds of accidents. I was just a kid when I'd seen it through his eyes.

Unbuckling my seat belt and letting myself out of the car, I said, "I'm tired, Alec. I'm going to bed."

Alec scrambled to catch up, slamming the car door behind him as he jogged up behind me. "Sloane, wait," he said as one of his large hands landed on my shoulder, spinning me around. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"I know," I replied, giving him my back once again as I took a few more steps towards the front door. Really, I just wanted him to drop it. It was too painful for me, and I was too tired to put on a strong face. Without my strong face, I was most likely going to break down, which I definitely didn't want to do. "Please, Alec, just…later."

Alec went silent behind me as I fumbled with my keys. Before I could find the correct one and open the door, it opened for me, Cian on the other side. "Sloane?" he asked, his face instantly falling from his previous happy expression to a concerned one. "You look destroyed. What happened?"

I couldn't wait to be in his arms. Photographers be damned, I slid my arms around his waist and buried my face in his clean scent before the door closed behind me. "Nothing," I said into his shirt, letting it muffle my words. "How are the kids?"

Cian pulled me just far enough away from his body so he could see my face, one arm wrapping around my back to hold me close while the other wound its way into my hair. "Asleep in your bed. Tell me what bothers you. Is Sydney alright?"

"I'm going to bed," Alec mumbled behind me just before the old wooden stairs creaked under his weight.

When the creaking stopped, signaling that Alec had hit the top of the stairs, I slid my arms from around his back, up his shoulders to around his neck. "She's fine. Babies are fine. I just wanted you to hold me."

As my arms drifted higher, Cian's drifted lower until his hands were cupping my ass. Without warning, he used his height to lift me straight up from the floor and wrap my legs around his waist, earning him a girly yip in response. "I am happy to oblige," he responded before he kissed me deeply. Instantly, my entire body went soft, melting into the lines of his body. I was barely aware of the fact he'd lowered us onto the couch or that my shirt was no longer on when he disengaged from the kiss, letting me breathe and catch my bearings. "Now," he said as his eyes dipped down to my lingerie. His fangs came down at the sight of my breasts restrained by black lace, when he looked up again, his face was undeniably hungry. "Where were we?"

"You were going to strip me with your teeth," I answered breathlessly. "Then you're going to give me a little strip tease." He moaned deep in his throat as his hands tightened on my ass, grinding me into a very happy Mr. Happy. My breath caught in response, my head falling back in ecstasy at the sensation. "And then you are going to hold still while I lick whipped cream off your body."

I didn't even have time to hold on before he lifted me again, carried me downstairs into the light-tight room in the basement and tossed me onto the bed. Before I had even come to a complete stop, his hands landed on my hips, lifting me off the bed again and flipping me in mid air before he lowered me back onto the bed, this time facing down. I was in the process of pushing myself up when his hand landed on my lower back, pushing me right back down to where I was. "This bra is too edible to destroy," he said, his voice devolving to a barely intelligible British growl. Kisses landed just south of my tattoo, sending shivers up and down my spine before he stopped at the clasp of my bra. His fangs grazed over my skin before he continued, "I'll just have to be creative."

"Oh, God," I mumbled as the clasp loosened seconds later, and my breasts sprang free. In less time than it took me to mumble those two words, Cian had flipped me over and had a grip of both breasts, one in his mouth and the other filling his hand while the opposing hand slipped down my belly to the top of my pants. By the time the snap was released and the zipper undone on my jeans, my legs were wrapped around his hips, pulling him into me.

"You're not naked yet," he growled as he pulled my legs from around him. I squirmed and gasped as he kissed and licked a trail down my body, finally ending at the fastening at the top. And then my jeans were magically gone.

I looked down, a shocked 'o' covering my face as he smirked up at me. "Apologies. I'll continue with my teeth," he said, grinning widely so I could get a prime view of his fangs. My head fell back, my back arched as his canines grazed my hip, finally catching on the panties that he then slowly, painfully, masterfully, pulled down my legs and off my body. It was only when I was completely naked in front of him that he palmed my thighs and held my legs open, landing a sucking kiss right on my most sensitive spot.

My back arched so severely it lifted me off the bed, my head fell back as I screamed in release. That's all it took, just one simple, searing kiss, and he could bring me. As his hands held me wide open for him, despite my legs' natural instinct to clench together, he continued to lap at me, making the orgasm last and last until I was nothing but a panting pile of over sensitized flesh. He gave me a momentary break before he leaned in to do it again. "Wait, wait," I gasped. "Not so soon. Give me a minute."

"No," he growled against the soft skin on the inside of my thigh. "Now." When he licked me again, my screams became breathy cries, then finally there was nothing.

.

I didn't feel like I had been out of it very long, left in my own world, but when I opened my eyes, Cian was looking down at me, his eyes unfocused as he drifted in downtime. He had propped himself up on his elbow after covering the both of us with the thick quilt I kept down here. When I sighed and curled into his body, his hand on my stomach spasmed as he came back to Earth. "Again?" he asked, his eyes mischievous.

"How long have you been laying there, staring into space?" I asked.

"Twenty minutes or so, ever since you went limp," he said, a self-satisfied grin on his face. "Round two?"

I pushed him onto his back, swinging my leg over his hips so I straddled him. "Round two is my turn," I said as I ran my hands up his chest. "Don't move."

He reached over, grabbing a can of whipped cream he'd stolen from my fridge. "I am yours to enjoy," he said as he trailed a line of foamy cream down his chest, stopping just shy of his piece. With a devilish smile, I snagged the can from his hands, pushed his legs open, and trailed a line of whipped cream from the tip down to his sack. Then completely ignored it.

The nice thing about whipped cream and vampires is they are room temperature; no need to worry about the cream melting and sliding out of place. By the time I managed to work my way from his chest, down his torso, and finally teasing my way around his hips, Cian might have felt like he was on fire, but the whipped cream was as perfectly whipped as it had been when I spread it on his body. So when I bypassed his cock for the umpteenth time in favor of his hipbone, earning myself a growl of dissatisfaction from him so feral that I was sure it was only a matter of seconds before that whipped cream was going to be inside me if I didn't do something, it tasted just as good as it did from the can when I finally closed my lips around him and sucked.

He released immediately into my mouth and I kept on sucking, giving him a taste of his own medicine. When he shuddered beneath me, I gave his sack one cleansing lick, forcing another shuddering yell form him, before I climbed on top of him; dragging my fingers over his smooth chest, I rubbed myself against him. "All's fair," I said when he finally opened his eyes and looked at me.

"If only I had the time to repay you for that," he said as he pulled me down to him, laying my head on his chest. My eyes closed involuntarily as I nestled my head into his neck, pressing my forehead against his jaw line. After a satisfied sigh on my part, he wrapped his arms around my back. "But the sun is coming and I must go home."

Now that the adrenaline was abating, I was having a hard time staying awake. All I could manage was a disappointed, questioning moan. He chuckled lightly before saying, "The children are here, Sloane. It would be safer for me at home. Besides, I would not want to scare them should they walk in."

All I could manage was a pout before I asked, "You want to eat before you go?", my voice slurred from sleep.

"I do not think that is a good idea with David out of town," he replied as he rubbed my back. "What if someone sees it?"

A let out a line of internal curses. Personally, I didn't give a damn if anyone else saw it; it was David and Cian that were determined to keep this looking like a monogamous relationship. I was more than happy to allow Cian the same privileges as David: going to a movie, holding hands as we walk across campus. Hell, even just the walk across campus with him would be nice. I felt like the deal Cian was getting just got shittier and shittier, and I was not going to lose him again because of it. I forced myself to lift my head from its perch and look him in the eye. I bared my neck for him and said, "Drink. Now."

"Sloane," he started. But before he could spout the same crap he'd been saying for the past few months, I said, "Drink." He must have seen something in my eyes, because with one last stubborn look, he extended his fangs and pressed them into my neck.


	174. Chapter 174

"I wanna watch cartoons!" said a shrill voice in the morning. It was coming from so close, I wasn't sure it hadn't originated in my head to begin with. It wasn't until I heard the deep, rumbling voice that followed, saying, "Shh, she's sleeping," that I started to put two and two together.

"But I wanna watch cartoons and she's hogging the couch!" said Alex again, her voice getting whinier as she complained. "And she promised we could get ice cream and see the babies. How are we going to do that if she's sleeping?"

I didn't even open my eyes before I replied, "It's too early for ice cream."

When a small hand poked me in the shoulder, I opened one eye playfully. Alex was standing before me with her hands on her hips, Alec behind her looking apologetic. She chirped, "Why are you sleeping on the couch?"

I closed my eyes again, leaving just a crack open and making a show of getting comfortable again. "Because you were asleep in my bed," I responded with a yawn. And because Cian knew how disorienting it was to me to wake up in the basement. There's something about being below the ground that just gets your primal instincts going. It was either below ground or the couch, and Cian knew which I'd prefer. I also hoped he'd dressed me appropriately. I was willing to bet he'd learned his lesson, though. I hadn't woken up in my birthday suit since he'd walked in with me wrapped around Alec's body, no matter how I fell asleep.

"By the time you eat your cereal, I'll have her off the couch, OK Allie?" Alec said, causing Alex's head to whip around so she could look up—and up—at him. He'd started calling her Allie as their names were so similar; it was something that had caught on in our household so seamlessly that I even switch between calling her Alex and Allie without thinking about it. She was still Alex when we were alone or Alec wasn't with me (which was rare during the day), but when Alec was around, she was Allie.

Her face turned into a disbelieving pout before she asked, "How are you going to get her big butt off the couch?" Which had both Alec and me laughing immediately. She harrumphed and stomped her way towards the kitchen before plotzing up to the kitchen table.

Alec disappeared from view, which was followed by the unmistakable sounds of cereal being poured. "Eat your breakfast and I'll show you," he said.

I was just about asleep again when I heard the spoon clunk to the bottom of the bowl, signaling that Alex was finished with her breakfast. Whispering, Alec said, "Shhh, watch this."

His footsteps came loud and heavy, I knew because he wanted to let me know he was coming and not because he was a loud walker, with Alex's heavy elephant steps following behind. I could hear her muffled giggles following behind him. And when they rounded the corner and Alec's hands lifted me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, I played up the girly squeal that escaped my lips as I wrapped my hands around his waist from behind, as if I thought he might drop me.

Alex giggled furiously as she usurped my spot on the couch, bouncing up and down as Alec settled me over his shoulder. I protested loudly when Alec carted me away, at least until he got to the stairs, at which point I quieted and asked, "Carter's still asleep?"

"Yup, and Jake's out for a run with the dogs." Which could mean another few hours until he came back. Instead of dropping me to my feet outside my room or even the hall bath he and Jake shared, he took a left into his room, pulled down the covers from his queen-sized bed that Sydney had left, and tucked me in. "Cian left me a note to 'let you sleep in'. I figure you can get a few more hours here before Allie comes looking for you."

"I could kiss you," I mumbled, curling into his blankets, his pillow, and just the comforting scent of him. I was asleep before the door closed behind him.

.

No need for Alex to come looking for me. When I had that nightmare again, the one where AJ's sightless eyes are staring at me, his lips begging me to save him, I woke up with a gasp, tears trickling down my face, my body trembling, the button down shirt Cian had dressed me in for bed glued to my body with sweat. My body trembling, I sat in Alec's bed, clutching his quilt to my chest, my back against the headboard for what felt like hours. It wasn't until I heard my ringing phone climbing the stairs that I shook myself, pulling myself from what was left of the nightmare and looked up toward the door just in time for it to open. "Emma's…." Alec started as he opened the door. The two dogs, obviously back from their run with Jake, slithered past Alec's legs and up onto the bed, curling around me with vexed eyes. When Alec's eyes fell on me, his brow furrowed. "You OK?"

"Yea," I said, my voice croaking before I cleared my throat. I buried a hand in Zeus' fur and continued, "I'm fine. Emma's calling?" She was still circling the globe with Lee, sending home small trinkets and calling every once in a while for the current gossip. If she was calling at 9 in the morning our time, she was probably across the globe, in some opposite time zone. Last time she'd called it'd been a little after ten in the morning our time, and she'd been in Madagascar.

Alec ignored my question completely. "Did you see something?" he asked, plunging my phone into his pocket as he approached the bed.

I rolled my eyes. Den mother, for sure. With forced exasperation, I said, "No. I have normal dreams, too."

"You don't look like you woke up from a dream," he said, eyebrow cocked. "More like a nightmare. Are you sure you're OK?"

I shot him a look the read _drop it_ and reached out a hand. "Phone, please."

His eyes narrowed on me before he handed me the phone that had already stopped ringing. I'd wait for it to ring again; Emma is nothing if not persistent. She gets it from her brother, I think. "It's just a nightmare, Alec. I'm a big girl, I'll be OK."

His eyes narrowed again as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and took a very determined stance. "You're into something. I want in."

My eyes widened in fear before I could remind myself that there was no way he knew about the conversation Eric and I had the night before. A nightmare is just a nightmare and not an admission of any kind of guilt. No matter how much my guilty mind had convinced myself otherwise. "Don't be silly," I finally said with an over exaggerated brush-off.

"Don't bullshit me," he said, catching me before I could escape to the bathroom and planting me right back on his bed. "Cian said you had some surprise for him. I want in."

I'm sure the look on my face bordered on extreme confusion for the moment it took me to realize what he was saying. Then I just dropped my face into my palms. "Oh, crap," I mumbled.

"What?" Alec asked. "He said you told him it was a surprise…was he not supposed to know or something?"

"No, it's just…" I started. _It's just that there is no surprise, I just gave him that excuse to have a private conversation._ I knew that if I told him the reason I told him about the 'surprise' was because I didn't want him eavesdropping, he'd be hurt. Hurt that I didn't want him to know, and angry at _what _I didn't want him to know. And the only way to not to have see those hurt puppy dog eyes is to actually give him a surprise. At least then I all I have to deal with in the anger, and hopefully that would be after Victor and hopefully Fidel were…dealt with. So what the hell do I give him?

"What?" Alec asked.

"It's nothing," I finally whined. "Just might have bit off more than I can chew."

Alec chuckled, adding, "You have a habit of it. What was the nightmare about?"

I was just about to answer him before I caught on and glared up at him, throwing his blankets off my still covered legs before I slammed my feet to the ground. "Are you taking Manipulation 101 or something?" I growled at him.

"Somehow I knew you wouldn't fall for it," he grumbled in response. "Just tell me this: did you see something bad?"

"No," I replied as I walked past him. "I didn't see anything. I told you; nightmare."

He hand landed on my shoulder, gently turning me to face him again. "Is it related to what I asked you last night? What made you look like you were dying from the inside out?"

My cringe must have answered his question better than anything I could have said. His face softened as his hand fell from my shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

It was the look on his face that did me in, that made that first tear fall. His face fell even further, surpassing regret and sinking straight into a torn, panicky despair. And that made the first hiccuping sob escape. The more miserable he looked, the harder it was to fight the coming avalanche of pain that usually reserves itself for AJ's birthday. "I just can't get AJ's face out of my head," I finally sobbed as the floodgates opened. I cleared my eyes and, before Alec could reach out and reel me in, I flitted out of the room, careful to keep my head down to make sure I could see past the pooling tears. Alec followed up until the point I locked myself in my bathroom and started the water for a shower.

.

I was pruny by the time I'd gotten the tears under control; the bathroom was so steam-filled it was making me lightheaded. When I wrapped one towel around my hair and another tightly around my body, finally opening the door and letting the steam free, I found a cold 20 ounce Pepsi, a scone, and a bowl of fruit waiting for me on the floor just outside the bathroom. I just looked down at the spread for a moment; we stocked the fridge so heavily with Pepsi that we'd be ready if the apocalypse ever did come. Fruit was less common, but sometimes I'd get a carton of strawberries if they were on sale. But the scone—I don't think I've ever stocked scones in my kitchen. Meaning Alec (or someone) had gone out to get one.

I bent down, using one hand to make sure the towel stayed secure, and picked up the Pepsi first. It's amazing how that first sip always seems to calm me, to let me shake off whatever it was I'd dreamt or seen the night before and allow me to start the day on a clean slate. And it seemed I was seeing more, dreaming less. Sometimes it worried me; I never woke as rested after a night of seeing as I did after a night of dreaming. I'm sure there were sleep scientists out there that would argue because my mind wasn't dreaming, I wasn't doing that necessary cataloging that a healthy brain required. But who's really to say? It's not like there's a lot of science out there on the sleep patterns of precognizant part-Fae women out there.

Once I had chugged the first quarter of the bottle, I bent down and grabbed the scone, leaving the plate it was sitting on where it was and only taking the scone. Breaking off a piece, I put it in my mouth. Raisins and walnuts? And it was still warm, as if it had just come out of the oven (more likely, the microwave). If this was Alec's apology, it was readily accepted. I broke off another piece and popped that in my mouth, too.

I finished the scone as I pulled on underwear, half of it sticking out of my mouth as I pulled on my panties. Once I had use of both hands again, I took another bite of the scone, chewing enough that I could use my teeth to secure the baked goods as I clasped my bra. It was gone before I even got out the sun dress.

Once dressed, I grabbed the Pepsi and the bowl of fruit and settled on my rumpled bed. This wasn't just my customary bowl of strawberries. This had melon, blueberries, blackberries, grapes—much more than I'd ever stock in my fridge. I ate every last little morsel before I swigged down another quarter of my Pepsi in a few gulps and headed downstairs.

Alex was waiting not so patiently at the base of the stairs. "Sloane-y!" she yelled as I started down the stairs, the plate, bowl, and half-empty Pepsi in-hand.

"Hey there," I said with a bright smile. She hopped to her feet, scrambling to wrap her arms around my hips as I reached the bottom of the steps. As I laughed at her enthusiasm, Alec rounded the corner. I gave him a look that clearly said to get his ass over here as I disengaged Alex from the hug. "Hi, Sweetie. Can you do me a big favor and take these to the kitchen?" I asked as I handed her the plate and the bowl. "Then get your brother around and we'll go get that ice cream."

She greedily took the bowl and plate from me before skipping out of the foyer while simultaneously calling for Carter to get his stinky butt ready. I slid my sandals on and looked up at Alec, who hadn't moved from the entrance of the dining room. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you," I said. "Thank you for breakfast."

"Jake's idea," he said as Jake bounded down the stairs behind me. Since moving into the guest room and doubling my Garou occupancy in the house, Jake had lost a bit of that shy, quiet demeanor. Watching him eat up his new violence-free life was like watching a flower bloom. He smiled now. Often. He joked, he laughed, and most importantly, he looked forward. It had only been a few months since he'd left the Garou behind, but he was a completely different person than he had been that first time he'd come to my rescue. He really enjoyed life. And that terrified me because it was only a matter of time before my life came crashing down around me again, crushing anyone even remotely near me. I wasn't sure he could handle the realization that he'd run from the pot and landed directly in the fire. Or, as the case may be, the line of fire.

I wasn't sure I could handle watching life crush him again.

He wrapped me up in a bear hug, lifting me feet from the floor momentarily before lowering me back to the ground and patting my head twice. The lifting was new, but the double head pat was a normal thing between us. If I could reach it, I'd return the gesture, but being barely over 5 foot was a serious obstacle to that. Without carrying around a ladder, it wasn't going to happen in a regular basis.

As quickly as it had started it was over and he was on his way to the kitchen once again. "He's really sorry," Jake called over his shoulder as he rounded the island, making a direct bee-line for the fridge, as usual. With having the two of them in residence, my monthly grocery bill was quickly surpassing my mortgage payment.

"I am," Alec said as he stared wearily after Jake. The two of them were friends; even in the Garou's camp they'd been friends, but I could almost read the jealous hesitation in Alec's face. He was afraid that Jake was going to steal me away from him. We both knew how ridiculous that thought was, but it was something he couldn't help to think on occasion.

I wrapped my arms around his waist as he was still gazing at Jake's back, startling him before he returned the hug. I had a momentary urge to tell Alec my worries about Jake's bubble bursting, but immediately squashed it. It wasn't one of those precognizant urges, just a very human urge to halve my own worries by giving them to someone else. Instead, I just squeezed harder.

That's when Alex corralled her brother into the foyer to meet us as she practically buzzed with anticipation. Carter sighed, barely glanced up from his new appendage, the video game, and asked, "Are we _finally_ getting ice cream?"

"Yes," I answered as I disengaged from the hug. "Haven't you beaten that game yet?"

"Two times," he replied without taking his eyes off the screen. "But this time I'm playing as a zombie hunter. I get a chain saw."

My eyes narrowed slightly. He was just barely nine years old; I was willing to bet any video game that required your character wield a chain saw was meant for the older kids. I circled around him to get a better look; I could see just as a squirt of digital blood landed on the screen and dripped ominously before the screen blinked that he'd made 100 kills.

"Did your parents buy that for you?" I asked.

"Yea," he replied. His voice dripped angst as he added, "Right before they left again."

This time I rolled my eyes as Alec lifted Alex onto his back. "Already a maudlin teenager, I see," I said as I ushered him toward the door. Over my shoulder, I called, "Coming, Jake?"

.

Amazing how, after getting ice cream, neither of the kids were all that excited to go see the babies anymore. Alex was in the middle of a sugar high while Carter had taken a rare break from his video game, probably because Alex was bugging him so much to 'play princess' with her in the maternity waiting area that he'd given up on ignoring her all together. I took another pitying look at Jake; he was sitting in the corner, his back to both walls (some habits die hard), his unsure eyes glancing back and forth from the kids to Alec and me. He didn't like kids. Actually, that's inaccurate. He's uncomfortable around children. Knowing his life, the way he was raised, I could definitely understand his hesitation. However, the only other option besides watching the kids in the waiting room would be to go look at a room full of newborns, which he said gives him 'panic attacks'. To him, he'd chosen the less of two evils and was going to watch the slightly older kids who were basically entertaining themselves. But the look in his eyes made me think he was regretting his decision.

"You going to be OK?" I asked one last time before Alec and I worked our way back toward the nursery.

"Sure," he said just a little too tightly.

I wasn't going to tell him he looked like as nervous as a boy on his first date, I just turned on my heels after one last reassuring smile and walked away. Maybe giving the kids sugar right before plunking them in his care wasn't the best idea.

"He's not bad with kids," Alec said as we turned the corner and were out of Jake's earshot. "It's just…"

"I think I get it," I replied before he was forced to explain. Their childhood had been short and strained while in the Garou training program, then they were thrown directly into a life of violence. Looking at Alex, so bright and innocent and pure, it made even me feel like maybe I wasn't pure enough, and that was an uncomfortable realization—even subconscious—for any person. I could only imagine the kind of uncomfortable realizations someone like Alec or Jake had around children. Alec seemed to handle them fine, but it seems they still haunted Jake.

"He's getting better," Alec said, more as a conversation starter than because he felt that I needed to know. I lived with Jake, too; I knew. I'd seen those boulders on his shoulders crumble piece by piece, but I also could see that they weren't completely gone yet.

"I know," I whispered as we turned another corner. Suddenly, just before us was a room filled with newborns. I stopped short, causing Alec to stumble into me before he could catch himself. "Oh my God…" I whispered shakily as I looked at them all. Lined up in neat little rows, bundles of pure innocence staring back at me. "Oh my God," I repeated again, this time my voice on the brink of devolving into sobs. Because suddenly, in blinding clarity, I could see how none of that was ever going to be for me. I would never get to hold my own little bundle in my arms and look down on their smiling faces. Never have a legacy to carry my name. Never leave a little piece of me for the world when I'm gone. Never shape someone into the person I wished I could be.

Strong, warm fingers intertwined with mine, gently pulling me away from the glass. I hadn't even noticed that I was pressed up against the glass, one hand outstretched against the cold window until Alec gently pulled me back. I turned, tear-laden eyes searching Alec's face. "Look at them all, Alec."

"I know," he cooed carefully. Gently, oh so gently, he pulled me away from the window, steering me toward an open door. One hand in mine and the other on my shoulder, he held me in place, standing in the open doorway. Sydney was sitting up in the small hospital bed, RJ sitting in a chair beside her, each of them holding a baby.

Sydney looked up, confused at my teary eyes. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable, didn't want to bring a tension into what should be a happy occasion. Covering the real reason for my tears quickly, I smiled and said, "You did it, Syd. Look at them!"

"I know!" she answered as she subtly scooched to the side, allowing me to climb on the bed with her. She settled a little bundle wrapped in pale pink between us and I had to fight the urge to shy away. _I'm too dirty,_ I thought instantly. "Aren't they beautiful?" she asked.

"Of course," I replied, my voice falling a bit. They were beautiful; almost too beautiful to touch.

"Here," Sydney said as she lifted the little bundle and held her out for me. "Hold your niece. This is Evelyn."

I panicked. I held my hands up and away, scooting to the edge of the bed and away from the mother and her new daughter. "Oh, no, no, Syd, I'm dirty, and…" I said, excuses spewing from my mouth.

"Dirty?" Sydney asked, her brow furrowing. She gave me a good once-over before she said, "Don't be silly. Come on, hold her."

"No," I insisted, my panic ratcheting into the stratosphere. "What if I see something? What if I hurt her? I can't…it's not…"

"Shhh," Sydney said soothingly, using one arm to reel me back in. She pulled me in until my hips brushed up against hers, settling me under her arm. "We'll hold her together, OK?"

"This is a bad idea," I mumbled as she slid Evelyn into my arms. She was sleeping soundly, her cheeks and lips puckering and relaxing in rhythm to her dream. God, she was such tiny perfection; I felt my breath hitch, signaling the beginning of a panic attack. I looked up, Alec had much the same look on his face as RJ tried to hand him baby number 2, Lucia.

"See?" Sydney said after a moment. She giggled low, a carefree sound, as she tucked me tighter into her side, saying, "It's supposed to be the mother who freaks out, Pony. Not the aunt."

"The mother's not a walking, talking, tragedy magnet," I replied in short breaths as I tried to fight the oncoming attack. "The mother's not prone to violent attacks of precognition," I added. I tried to hand Evelyn back to her mother, a move Sydney rejected, pushing the small bundle back into my arm before I muttered, "The mother deserves this. I don't."

"You get some good, too," she whispered into my shoulder.

"I'm _going_ to hurt them, Syd," I said as I tried to shuffle the baby back off to her. "I couldn't…" What I meant to say was I couldn't bear it to hurt them, because I knew eventually I would. Not intentionally, of course, but eventually the free-fire zone that is my life would spread to them and they'd end up getting hurt. Sydney, too. After Felipe had taken her and Moose, then Moira kept (and hurt) Cian—I just don't know how to keep everyone safe. Before, I could take a little solace in knowing that they were adults, able to take care of themselves. But Evelyn and Lucia—just the thought of them in the hands of someone like Felipe made the slight tremor in my hands multiply to a full on shake, my breathing hitch even faster, my heart race erratically.

There must have been something in my eyes because when I handed the small bundle back to Syd, she took her, allowing me to scramble off the bed and out the door. I made it almost all the way out to the waiting room before a hand on my arm spun me into a hard chest, gathering me in tightly with one arm behind my back. "Alec," I said as he backed me into the wall, crowding me between the light green wallpaper and his warm chest. His hands landed on either side of me, his forehead pressed against my hair.

"Shh," he said. "Calm down before you go out there with Carter and Allie. Just take a few breaths."

My hands clamped onto his shirt, my forehead falling against his chest. "What if I hurt them, Alec? What happens when my life gets one of them hurt, or worse, killed? Syd will hate me. I'll hate me. Alec, I can't…"

"Syd won't hate you," he answered.

"Yes she will, you don't know…" I took a deep breath, calming myself with the scent of Alec and the comfort of just the two of us, no babies, no crushing responsibility, no death, just two friends, before I started over. "What do I do?"

"One day at a time," he said, adding, "that's how I've been doing it. Just take one day at a time and when you see a threat, destroy it before it can come after you. OK? It's that easy."

I leaned my head back against the wall and looked up. He was looking down at me, his dark chocolate hair cascading around his shoulders in an enviable wave. When it was clear I was getting a hold of myself, he dropped his arms that had been caging me in to his sides and leaned against the wall beside me. "That's not easy," I grumbled as I play punched him in the chest.

"We will protect them," he replied strongly.


End file.
